Champion Iron shares slide as Macquarie, Citi cut price targets
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More news: Champion Iron shares fell in morning trade after Macquarie downgraded its rating on the iron ore miner following a weaker-than-expected trading update on Wednesday.
Shares were down 5.9% to $4.52 at 11:10am AEST, having retreated nearly 30% over the last 12 months. Larger rivals Rio Tinto (-2%), Fortescue (-1.8%) and BHP (-1.5%) were also lower amid sweeping declines across mining stocks.
Macquarie downgraded Champion Iron from 'outperform' to 'neutral' and cut its target price 10% to $5. Citi also reduced its target price, by 4.6% to $6.20, but retained its 'buy' rating.
Macquarie downgrades Champion Iron on Q1 result, weaker outlook
The news: Macquarie has downgraded its rating on Champion Iron after the iron ore miner reported a weaker-than-expected trading update for the June quarter.
The numbers: Macquarie lowered its recommendation from 'outperform' to 'neutral' and cut its target price 10% to $5 per share. Champion Iron shares last closed at $4.80 after falling 1.2% on Wednesday.
The context: Macquarie's analysts said Champion Iron's first-quarter production of 3.5 million wet metric tonnes was 5% short of market estimates, with operations continuing to be affected by ore hardness and lower head grades. Quarterly cash costs of C$81.9 ($91.9) per dry metric tonne was also a 6% miss to average forecasts.
Macquarie slashed its earnings-per-share estimates on Champion Iron by 36% between FY26 and FY28, with average cuts of 475% between FY29 and FY32 due to higher mining costs.
The source: Macquarie research
