Lunchtime ASX small cap wrap: who’s raising a glass today?

Here’s an interesting factoid: of the 455 S&P 500 companies who have posted first-quarter earnings, 75.2 per cent have bested expectations.

Morningstar says analysts now see first-quarter earnings growth of 1.2 per cent, “a significant turnaround from the 2 per cent loss seen on 1 April”.

Both US and EU share markets posted solid gains on Thursday. Even ride-hailing trailblazer Uber enjoyed its second straight day of gains following an underwhelming debut.

It’s been a solid week for the ASX Small Ords index, which is up another 1.3 per cent to 2851.8 points in morning trade.

Here are the key ASX small cap winners at lunchtime on Friday May 17:

GOING UP

Battery-maker Redflow (ASX:RFX) will provide 10 of its ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow batteries for a six month demonstration of a 100 kilowatt hour (KWh) battery at a smart grid project in the Qinghai province, China.

It was the news Redflow’s share price desperately needed; the stock jumped 69 per cent per cent on Friday morning to a high of 6.6c.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) bounced by 50 per cent to highs of $1.55 this morning after reporting that its secondary drug candidate NNZ-2591 works in the lab.

In mice, NNZ-2591 improved symptoms associated with Angelman syndrome and Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, including anxiety, motor and cognitive performance, learning and memory.

Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at lunchtime, Friday May 17:

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

GOING DOWN

It’s been a rough morning for shareholders of IT services company Citadel Group (ASX: CGL), as the stock tumbled following an earnings update.

Citadel revised its projected underlying earnings for the 2019 financial year down to a range of $22-$24m.

In explaining the downgrade, the company pointed to delays in existing project extensions and changes to its revenue mix as it pivots to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) strategy.

Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at lunchtime, Friday May 17:

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