Investors piled into Kogan in afternoon trade after the e-commerce group reported a solid rebound in both sales and earnings for the 10 months to 30 April. The stock jumped 15.12% to $3.96 by 12:38pm AEST, putting it among the day’s strongest performers on the ASX.
RBC Capital Markets kept an “outperform” call in place and set a $6.50 price target, highlighting that Kogan’s core operations and group EBITDA came in well ahead of forecasts. The sharp move showed the market had been braced for something weaker.
Kogan’s update showed group sales climbing 13.2% year-on-year to $875.6 million over the 10-month period, helped by an 18.2% lift from the flagship Kogan.com business. Group revenue also improved, rising 6% to $433.7 million as the company converted more of those sales into booked income.
Profitability metrics moved faster than revenue, with group gross profit up 11.1% to $177.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose 17.4% to $37.5 million and highlighted the operating leverage in the model.
Management pointed to a meaningful recovery at its New Zealand-focused Mighty Ape unit as a key driver of the positive EBITDA result at group level. Mighty Ape’s performance improved materially over the period, reversing earlier weakness that had weighed on consolidated earnings.
Kogan.com itself continued to deliver strong profitability, giving the group a more balanced earnings mix across its core online retail brands. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets flagged the combination of higher margins and better execution as the main reason earnings beat their expectations.
Kogan’s latest numbers showed the retailer’s post-pandemic reset is gaining traction, with tighter cost control and a healthier product mix lifting profitability faster than sales. The strong share price reaction indicated investors are willing to re-rate online retail names when they show disciplined growth and clear progress on margins.
Kogan is now positioned as a potential turnaround story in the ASX e-commerce space, but expectations are reset higher after such a sharp single-day move. The next key test will be whether the company can sustain this earnings momentum as consumer conditions shift.
