Treasury Wine Estates Shares Jump as U.S. Overhaul Lifts FY2026 Outlook 
Apple Tests China’s CXMT Memory Chips for iPhones and MacBooks Amid AI Supply Crunch 
Shein Scales Back Vietnam Operations as US Trade Rules Shift 
ADNOC Gas Targets Up to $4B Profit in 2026 
Mercedes-Benz Stock Offers Deep-Value Potential as Citi Sees Recovery Catalysts 
Moderna Wins FDA Approval for mFLUSIVA mRNA Flu Vaccine for Adults 50+ 
Airbnb Stock Jumps After Q2 Earnings Beat, Strong 2026 Outlook 
Berkshire Hathaway Cash Falls as Abel Boosts Stock Buybacks 
UOB Q2 Net Profit Rises 10% as Wealth Management Growth Boosts Earnings 
Daimler Truck Q2 Profit Falls 18%, 2026 Outlook Raised 
OpenAI Restricts Astra AI Over Cyberattack Risks 
SK Hynix, Samsung Lead Asian Chip Stock Selloff After Sandisk, Western Digital Outlook 
Deutsche Bank Upgrades Persimmon to Buy After Strong First-Half Results 
Meta Ordered to Pay $567M Over Child Safety Violations in New Mexico 
Nintendo Shares Jump as Switch 2 Sales Boost Earnings 
Nvidia Seen Beating Q2 Targets as Vera Rubin Cycle Begins 
Sinopec Boosts Russian ESPO Oil Purchases as Middle East Supply Tightens 
National Australia Bank (NAB) shares surged to a record high after the lender posted a strong 16% rise in first-quarter cash earnings, driven by solid growth in business lending and home loans. Investors pushed NAB’s stock up as much as 5.8% to an all-time peak of A$47.96, marking its best trading session since April last year.
Australia’s largest business lender reported cash earnings of A$2.02 billion ($1.43 billion) for the quarter ended December 31, up from A$1.74 billion a year earlier. The robust performance highlights NAB’s resilience amid intensifying competition among Australia’s “Big Four” banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corp, and ANZ Group.
NAB’s core business banking division, its largest segment, recorded a 7% increase in quarterly volumes, with Business & Private Banking delivering 3% growth. Housing loan volumes also climbed 5%, with Australian home lending growth outperforming the broader market when excluding runoffs from the Advantedge unit. NAB previously confirmed it will migrate all Advantedge home loans to NAB-branded products by late 2026, a move aimed at streamlining operations and strengthening its retail banking footprint.
The bank’s net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of lending profitability, edged up 2 basis points to 1.80%, reflecting improved margins and disciplined cost management. However, NAB’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a crucial capital adequacy metric, slipped to 11.48% from 11.6% last year, raising some concerns among analysts.
Citi analysts described the result as a strong earnings beat, supported by an impressive quarter in Markets & Treasury and improved asset quality, though they flagged the lower CET1 ratio as a potential overhang.
NAB’s results cap off a positive earnings season for Australia’s major banks, following record half-year earnings from CBA and profit beats from Westpac and ANZ, underscoring the sector’s competitive momentum and solid financial performance.
