ASX Blood & Beauty: Monadelphous (ASX: MND) Surges 10% to Fresh Highs as Nine (ASX: NEC) Rewrites Its Media Script

Key Highlights:

• Monadelphous jumps 10.94% to $33.97 after record revenue and profit
• $1.4 billion in new contracts signals Mining Boom 2.0 momentum
• Nine lifts profit 30% despite revenue dip, exits radio assets
• Digital strategy accelerates as Stan posts 24% EBITDA growth
• Markets reward infrastructure strength and strategic reinvention
  
   

It was a tale of two Australias on the ASX today.

On one side, hard hats and high visibility vests. On the other, studio lights and streaming platforms.

Monadelphous Group surged 10.94 percent to $33.97 by early afternoon, brushing near record territory and capping a remarkable 110 percent gain over the past year. Meanwhile Nine Entertainment edged 3.07 percent higher to $1.093 after unveiling a radical transformation that effectively marks the end of its old radio empire.

One stock represents industrial muscle. The other, digital reinvention.

Monadelphous: The Pilbara Engine Roars Again

Monadelphous delivered a result that reads like a mining boom checklist.

Revenue for the first half of FY26 hit a record $1.53 billion, up 45.6 percent on the prior year. Net profit after tax climbed 52.6 percent to $64.9 million. The interim dividend rose to 49 cents per share, fully franked.

Even more striking was cash flow conversion of 186 percent, lifting cash reserves to $322 million.

Managing Director Zoran Bebic struck a confident tone in the report. He said, “The strength of our performance reflects sustained demand across iron ore and energy infrastructure, together with our vertically integrated delivery model which is capturing larger, more complex projects.”

This is not incremental growth. It is expansion at scale.

The Engineering Construction division grew revenue 67 percent to $677.8 million, driven by major contracts including BHP’s Jimblebar Train Loadout and Rio Tinto’s Brockman Syncline 1 integrated project. 

The Maintenance and Industrial Services division rose 32 percent to $852 million, supported by turnaround work and relentless iron ore maintenance demand in the Pilbara.

Since July 1, the company has secured $1.4 billion in new contracts.

For context, Monadelphous is often viewed as a proxy for capital spending by miners. When companies such as BHP and Rio Tinto invest heavily in infrastructure and upgrades, Monadelphous is frequently on site. In previous commodity cycles, engineering contractors have been early indicators of sustained resource investment. 

According to historical ASX data during the 2003 to 2008 mining expansion, contractors consistently outperformed in the early phases of capital deployment.

Today’s numbers suggest that Australia’s mining services sector is entering another high intensity phase.

Bebic reaffirmed guidance for full year revenue to be approximately 30 percent higher than FY25. He highlighted iron ore as the bedrock while noting that copper, lithium and battery storage are emerging growth pillars.

In a market wrestling with global tariff concerns, Monadelphous offered something rare. Clarity.

Nine Entertainment: Trading Antennas for Algorithms

If Monadelphous is doubling down on physical infrastructure, Nine Entertainment is dismantling parts of its past.

Nine reported a 30 percent jump in net profit to $95.2 million for the half, despite group revenue slipping 5 percent to $1.05 billion. Group EBITDA rose 6 percent to $192 million.

The improvement was largely driven by lower interest costs following the sale of its stake in Domain. Nine now holds $158 million in net cash.

Chief Executive Officer Matt Stanton framed the result as strategic repositioning rather than short term earnings management. He said, “We are reshaping Nine into a digitally powered media company. By FY27, we expect 60 percent of revenue to come from digital growth businesses, up from 45 percent today.”

Source: Nine Company Announcement

That reshaping involves selling Nine Radio to the Laundy Family for $56 million and restructuring regional television assets into affiliate arrangements. At the same time, Nine is acquiring QMS Media for $818 million, expanding its digital outdoor advertising footprint.

The pivot is bold.

Stan delivered record EBITDA of $36.6 million, up 24 percent, with subscriber numbers reaching 2.4 million. Stan Sport, boosted by Premier League and UEFA coverage, saw average subscribers rise 40 percent.

Publishing showed digital subscription revenue up 17 percent. For the first time, digital growth is consistently offsetting print declines at mastheads including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review.

Nine has also delivered $43 million in cost efficiencies under its Nine2028 program and has begun licensing content to Australian corporations for training proprietary artificial intelligence models.

The strategic divergence between Nine and rival Seven West Media has become stark. While Seven has consolidated traditional broadcast reach through its merger with Southern Cross Media, Nine is tilting toward higher multiple digital assets. Industry research typically values digital outdoor advertising at EBITDA multiples between 6 and 8 times, compared with 2 to 4 times for legacy television assets.

The market appears to be cautiously endorsing the shift.

Blood and Beauty on the Boards

Monadelphous now trades on a price to earnings ratio of 40.39, reflecting expectations of sustained growth. Nine sits at 16.55 times earnings but carries a negative one year return of nearly 33 percent, underscoring the scale of its transition challenge.

Today’s moves capture a broader theme in Australian equities.

The industrial backbone of the economy remains strong. Infrastructure, resources and energy transition projects continue to attract capital. At the same time, traditional media models are being dismantled and rebuilt around streaming, data and targeted advertising.

One company is benefiting from trucks, steel and conveyor belts. The other is betting on billboards, apps and algorithms.

Both stories reflect adaptation.

In a market wrestling with global policy shifts and tariff headlines, the real narrative may be closer to home. Australia’s industrial core is flexing again, while its media landscape is undergoing structural reinvention.

On the ASX today, that contrast was on full display.