HotCopper Highlights returns for Week 34, reviewing the ASX stocks that drew the strongest retail investor attention over the past week. As one of Australia's largest online share discussion forums, HotCopper offers a real-time read on where self-directed investors are focusing, and earnings season kept the spotlight on several popular growth names, making it another busy stretch for the platform's discussion boards.

Most watched

Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX: TLX) ranked among the most watched stocks of the week following its half-year results. Telix reported a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in first-half revenue and maintained its full-year outlook, guiding for 2026 revenue and other income above US$1 billion. The radiopharmaceutical company's commercial base is anchored by an approved prostate cancer imaging agent in the United States, and its results are watched as a measure of whether that base can keep funding a broader pipeline of diagnostic and therapy candidates.

Zip Co (ASX: ZIP) also featured prominently, and for good reason. The buy now, pay later operator posted record FY26 results and is now guiding to $340 million in cash EBITDA for FY27, representing a further 26 per cent increase. The result marks a sharp turnaround from the sector's 2022 downturn, when rising bad debts and funding costs forced Zip and its peers to retrench and refocus on core markets, and it comes as the US point-of-sale lending market remains fiercely contested by Affirm, Klarna and Block's Afterpay. The result fuelled extensive debate on HotCopper, with investors weighing whether Zip's US growth and improving margins can continue to drive the stock's rerating.

Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) rounded out the most watched list. Attention remains firmly on the company's rare earths strategy and its Morro do Ferro project in Brazil, with this week's HotCopper discussion continuing to focus on the drilling program and what results could mean for the broader rare earths story. Morro do Ferro is a historically recognised rare earths deposit in Minas Gerais state, part of a wider push into Brazilian projects as buyers seek supply outside China, which accounts for the bulk of global rare earths mining and an even larger share of processing capacity — the key inputs to magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics. That concentration has kept non-Chinese rare earths explorers in the spotlight even as prices have been volatile.

Most discussed

Liontown Resources (ASX: LTR) continued to command significant attention as investors assessed the ramp-up at Kathleen Valley and the company's FY27 outlook. Kathleen Valley, which began production in 2024, ranks among Australia's larger new lithium mines, and its ramp is being followed against a backdrop of spodumene prices sitting well below their late-2022 peaks after new supply entered the market faster than demand grew, compressing margins across the local producer sector. Recent market commentary has centred on operational delivery, lithium pricing and whether improving production can translate into stronger financial performance.

American Tungsten and Antimony (ASX: AT4) was another major talking point this week after its US subsidiary was selected to enter negotiations with the US Department of Energy over potential funding of up to US$18 million. The development has drawn fresh attention to the company's US antimony project and its potential role in strengthening domestic critical-minerals supply. Antimony, used in flame retardants, ammunition and solar glass, has been in tighter supply since China — the world's dominant producer — imposed export controls on the metal in late 2024, and the US, which currently lacks operating domestic antimony mines, has been backing non-Chinese critical minerals projects through agencies including the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

BrainChip (ASX: BRN) was also among the week's most discussed stocks. The company announced the launch of its Symphony Community Akida Bundle for IBM's workload management solution, and the conversation remains heavily centred on whether BrainChip can turn its AI technology pipeline into meaningful commercial adoption. BrainChip's Akida processors use a neuromorphic, event-based design intended to run AI workloads at low power on edge devices rather than in data centres, and as one of the ASX's few listed pure-play edge AI chip names, milestones involving established technology vendors tend to attract close scrutiny from retail holders.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult a certified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.