ASX closes higher as Temple & Webster plunges 32% on sales slowdown
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as the materials sector led gains, but Temple & Webster’s share price plummeted after reporting that sales growth had slowed during its first-half.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.81% to end at 8,606.5 with eight of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The materials sector (+1.8%) finished higher as BHP (+2%), Fortescue (+2.4%) and Rio Tinto (+1.4%) finished higher.
Lithium miners like Pilbara Minerals (+7.2%) and IGO (+5.5%) also finished higher while Vault Minerals (-2.6%) reported it exited the first half of FY26 “materially unhedged - six months ahead of schedule”.
Biggest movers:
- Mesoblast (+14.3%) – Continued to rally after positions a 37% increase in quarterly revenue from Ryoncil sales on Tuesday. It was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200.
- DroneShield (+8.5%) – Continued to rally after announcing $5.2 million worth of European contracts on Tuesday.
- Fisher & Paykel (+4.8%) – Reported a 39% jump in net profit after tax for the first-half of FY26 and upgraded its full-year guidance.
- Temple & Webster (-32.3%) – First-half revenue growth was 18% year on year, below expectations and representing a deceleration from 28% growth provided at the company's August trading update. However, it reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
Other news:
- Electro Optic Systems (+3.6%) – Admitted to a breach of continuous disclosure obligations by failing to disclose a materially significant decline in its 2022 annual revenue forecast and has jointly applied with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to the Federal Court to impose a $4 million fine.
- Commonwealth Bank (+0.3%) – Named former executive Ranil Boteju as its chief AI officer, commencing early in 2026. He is currently based in London as Lloyds Banking Group’s chief data and analytics officer.
- National Storage REIT – Received an unsolicited takeover proposal, that values the company at $4 billion, from a consortium of Brookfield Property Group and GIC Investments to acquire 100% of the shares in the self-storage provider. Entered a trading halt.
- Harvey Norman (-1.4%) – Reported a 9.1% rise in aggregated sales revenue for the period of 1 July to 20 November, compared to the prior corresponding period.
What’s ahead:
- The UK Treasury will deliver its autumn forecast statement tonight at 11:30pm AEDT.
- The US Department of Labor will report weekly unemployment claims data on Thursday at 12:30am AEDT.
- NRW Holdings will hold its annual general meeting on Thursday.
