PRE-MARKET AUSTRALIAN STOCKS NEWS: Woolworths (WOW AT) tops Q1 sales forecasts

Boss Energy (BOE AT) - Co. Q1 Honeymoon uranium production fell 1% Q/Q to 359k lbs U3O8, C1 cost rose 5% Q/Q to AUD 47/lb, all-in sustaining cost rose 13% Q/Q to AUD 79/lb, realised price rose 9% Q/Q to USD 82/lb, sales fell 8% Q/Q to 301k lbs, reaffirmed FY27 production and cost guidance. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Iluka Resources (ILU AT) - Co. Q3 mineral sands rev. AUD 219mln, zircon, rutile and synthetic rutile production 76.1k tonnes, sales 115.2k tonnes, weighted average realised zircon sand price USD 1,685/tonne, expects Q4 zircon sand sales of around 35k tonnes and will focus on improving grade consistency at Balranald. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Ingenia Communities (INA AT) - Warburg Pincus has reportedly partnered with one of Australia's largest superannuation funds and the billionaire Lederer family in its bid to take the Co. private. (AFR Street Talk)

Monadelphous Group (MND AT) - Co. secured contracts worth around AUD 150mln, including a four-year services contract for Rio Tinto's marine infrastructure at Dampier and Cape Lambert, a BHP Ministers North project contract expected to be completed by mid-2028, and a three-year extension of shutdown services at Whitehaven Coal mines. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

NEXTDC (NXT AT) - Co. confirmed compliance with both financial covenants as of June 30, reporting a gearing ratio of 8.2% and pro forma interest cover ratio of 5.91x against limits of no more than 60% and at least 1.5x, respectively, and expects to remain compliant at December 31; separately, the Victorian government approved the Co.'s AUD 2bln M4 data centre in just 75 days without responses from the electricity or water utilities required to support the project. (Dow Jones Newsplus/The Australian)

PLS Group (PLS AT) - Co. Q1 (AUD) rev. fell 24% Q/Q to 563mln, production rose 25% Q/Q to 267.6k tonnes, sales fell 11% Q/Q to 223.6k tonnes, unit operating cost fell 12% Q/Q to AUD 539/tonne FOB and realised price fell 14% Q/Q to USD 1,809/tonne; Co. signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Fortescue to supply a minimum of 325 GWh annually to its Pilgangoora operation. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

REA Group (REA AT) - Co. announced that Tracey Fellows will step down as director on November 13, with Damian Eales joining the board on November 14 as News Corp Australia's nominee. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

Woolworths Group (WOW AT) - Co. Q1 (AUD) group sales rose 4.7% Y/Y to 19.4bln (exp. 19.3bln), Australian Food sales rose 6.9% Y/Y, eComX sales rose 20% Y/Y and New Zealand Food sales rose 2.9% Y/Y, with New Zealand growth moderating following the end of the Ooshies campaign. (Dow Jones Newsplus)

• Amotiv (AOV AT) price target cut 12% to AUD 8.70/shr by UBS, price target cut 32% to AUD 7.90/shr by Macquarie.
• Elevra Lithium (ELV AT) price target cut 22% to AUD 9.00/shr by Macquarie.
• Kelsian Group (KLS AT) price target cut 5.2% to AUD 5.45/shr by UBS.
• Perseus Mining (PRU AT) raised to outperform from neutral by Macquarie, price target raised 7.7% to AUD 7.00/shr.
• Reece (REH AT) cut to sell from neutral by Citi, price target cut 5.3% to AUD 16.10/shr.
• Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (SXE AT) price target cut 6.7% to AUD 5.60/shr by Macquarie.
• Universal Store (UNI AT) price target cut 2.7% to AUD 9.00/shr by UBS.

Australian quarterly sales updates of this kind are typically traded against the food retail duopoly's comparable momentum rather than the headline beat itself; a modest top-line surprise of this scale has historically mattered less than the composition, here the strength in Australian Food and the continued double-digit growth in eCommerce against a moderating New Zealand contribution. The established read on Woolworths prints of this kind is that attention shifts quickly to margin and cost lines in the full result, since sales beats driven by volume or mix have often been partially given back through price investment and wage and logistics inflation. The New Zealand moderation flagged around the end of a promotional campaign fits the usual pattern where campaign-driven comparables distort quarterly reads and then normalise. What has tended to matter next is the peer response from the competing grocer and any broker revisions to margin assumptions, both of which usually follow within days of the update. The surrounding pre-market wrap, a superannuation-backed private equity tilt at Ingenia and covenant and capex colour from the data centre and resources names, is consistent with an active corporate calendar rather than a single-stock story, and the rating changes scattered through the note are routine end-of-season housekeeping.