F&P Healthcare powers NZX50 higher as ‘AI-pocalypse’ runs into earnings
Mercury NZ and NZME’s results found favour with investors.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 index rose for a second day as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare extended its run after a strong earnings upgrade, and as power companies such as Meridian Energy were seen as a relative safe haven in the latest bout of nerves over the encroaching reach of artificial intelligence.
Tech companies such as Serko, Gentrack, Vista Group International and Eroad didn’t fare so well as investors’ appetite for software firms is sapped by fears AI will undercut them, although Australian-listed Xero and WiseTech Global fared worse.
Earnings season continued on at pace with electricity generator-retailer Mercury NZ, media group NZME, commercial landlord Property for Industry finding favour with investors, while Vulcan Steel and PGG Wrightson were on the red side of the ledger after their respective reports.
Genesis Energy resumed trading after raising the $100 million institutional component of its $400 million capital raising, falling modestly to hold above the discounted offer price, much like Contact Energy since its placement last week.
Shelter from the storm
The NZX50 rose 111.88 points, or 0.8%, to 13,532.31, with 26 stocks gaining, 22 declining, and two unchanged. Turnover across the main board was $151 million, of which Fisher & Paykel Healthcare accounted for almost $19 million as it rose 2.4% to $39.69.
The country’s biggest listed company was again one of the main contributors to the index’s gain after raising its earnings guidance on Monday.
“They’re getting more and more penetration in the US hospital system, that’s the key thing,” said Matt Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management.
Meanwhile, companies typically held for their reliable dividends were among the beneficiaries of the heightened fears about what sectors AI will affect after a report by Citrini Research laid out a scenario tapping into some of those lingering fears.
Goodson said the fears about AI heightened volatility in the markets, causing sharp reversals in prices during the trading day: “We’ve got the AI-pocalypse overlaying on results season.”
Meridian Energy, which reports on Wednesday, gained 2.3% to $5.74, while Stride Property Group advanced 2.5% to $1.24, Kiwi Property Group rose 1.6% to 98.5 cents and Contact Energy advanced 1.2% to $9.33.
Mercury NZ advanced 2.4% to $6.30 after it lifted first-half earnings 28% and affirmed its annual guidance, while Property for Industry advanced 1.4% to $2.26 as its adjusted funds from operations jumped 24%.
Guess who’s back
Genesis Energy resumed trading after raising $100 million at $2.15 a share from institutional investors as part of a $400 million capital raising. The stock fell 1.5% to $2.38, and holding above the $2.05 rights price and the placement price.
Spark New Zealand was the most heavily traded stock on a volume of 4.1 million, as it rose 1.8% to $2.24.
Fishing group Sanford led gainers on the NZX50, up 3.3% at $7.85, while stock market operator NZX gained 2.8% to $1.45.
Local tech stocks joined the global selloff, with Serko posting the sharpest decline as it fell 2.8% to $2.05. Gentrack declined 1% to $7.20 and Vista Group International slipped 0.3% to $1.70, while outside the benchmark index, Eroad was down 2.8% at 88.5 cents.
They fared better than ASX-listed Xero, which was down 4.8% in late trading, and WiseTech Global, which dropped 4%, with the S&P/ASX 200 index nudging down 0.1% before the closing bell.
Stock markets across Asia were mixed, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 1.9% and Singapore’s Straits Times down 0.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 1.2%.
The kiwi dollar traded at 59.62 US cents at 5pm in Auckland, unchanged from 7am and down from 59.84 cents yesterday.
Among other companies to report today, NZME rose 3.5% to $1.17 after the media company returned to profit in calendar 2025, with earnings growing 15% as the media group stripped out costs.
PGG Wrightson slipped 0.9% to $2.30 after reporting an 11% lift in first-half earnings, while Vulcan Steel dipped 0.1% to $7.90 on a 1% decline in first-half earnings.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ gained 0.6% to $3.32 as the value of its net assets grew while pre-tax earnings dropped 43%. The hotel operator’s development subsidiary CDL Investments fell 2.6% to 74.5 cents as profit dropped in the subdued housing market.
