Lunchtime ASX small cap wrap: who’s jumping ahead

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Here are the key ASX small cap winners and losers at lunchtime Tuesday Aug 7:

The ASX Small Ords was down 14 points or 0.5 per cent to 2,824.9 at 12.55pm AEST.

GOING UP

AuMake (ASX:AU8), the retailer targeting “daigou” and Chinese tourists, jumped 23 per cent to an intraday high of 32c this morning after joining the ASX infant formula crew.

That’s quadruple its listing price last year — but still a long way short of its 84c high in December.

AuMake signed up a Kiwi dairy producer to develop an in-house range of milk powder formula products.

Pure Nutrition — part-owned by New Zealand’s second biggest dairy co-operative Westland Milk Products — will develop milk powder targeted to the demands of Chinese customers.

Drug-maker IDT Australia (ASX:IDT) moved ahead 35 per cent to an intraday high of 10.5c after signing a deal to help pot stock Cann Group (ASX:CAN) beef up its manufacturing capability as it seeks to acquire a licence to make cannabis products.

IDT chief Dr David Sparling told Stockhead the terms of precisely what they will be doing for Cann were confidential, but he was working on a “range of projects” as a contract manufacturer.

“IDT’s manufacturing facilities are ideally suited to undertake this work and our track record in completing highly complex projects to global quality standards ensures we can add significant value to Cann’s development efforts,” he said.

Cann shares were mostly unchanged at $2.90.

Shareholders backed veteran accounting software maker Reckon (ASX:RKN) this morning, after it reported a 6 per cent drop in half-year profit to $5.2 million.

Revenue also fell 6 per cent to $40 million compared to the same period last year.

The group said profitability had increased in the half-year, however, based on higher “underlying” EBITDA earnings and profit.

Investors supported that notion, pushing the stock up 18 per cent to an intraday high of $1.02. It was trading at 99c just after midday.

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Rare Earths wannabe Minbos Resources (ASX:MNB) gained 33 per cent to 0.4c early in the day after telling investors it had started drilling one of its seven targets at a project in Madagascar.

Minbos is hoping for a 3 per cent grading of total rare earth oxides (or “TREO”) “to set a viable target for follow-up drilling”.

Earlier surface samples returned grades of 0.14 per cent to 40.8 per cent.

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12.30pm Tuesday, Aug 7:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort

GOING DOWN

Investors decimated Neuren Pharma (ASX:NEU) today after the company signed a licensing deal that did not live up to expectations.

Neuren  — which develops therapies for brain injuries — signed a deal with NASDAQ-listed ACADIA Pharma to develop and commercialise its Rett syndrome treatment, a debilitating neurological disorder that occurs primarily in baby girls.

Investors had been hoping for a blockbuster deal. But the $US10 million ($13.5 million) up-front payment did not live up to expectations — and sent shareholders off the deep end.

The stock plummeted 45 per cent to an intraday low of $1.47, it’s lowest point since October last year. It recovered slightly to $1.54 by 11.20am AEST, valuing the company at about $265 million.

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12.30pm Tuesday, Aug 7:

Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort

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