Retail investors are keenly buying into shares of Maas Group and several lithium miners after both sectors experienced significant price corrections. Individual investors are capitalising on price reductions, often counteracting institutional selling. Maas Group, a construction business established 24 years ago, has recently pivoted towards artificial intelligence-related data centre development. It was once a small-cap market favourite.
Maas Group’s share price nearly halved last week following the collapse of Firmus Technologies’ planned IPO. Individual investors aggressively bought Maas shares, pushing it to April last year’s lows, even as institutional investors pulled back. The company was a top-traded stock on CommSec and CMC Markets, with buys strongly outweighing sells. CMC Invest market analyst Henry Fisher noted that “retail investors seem to think the Maas Group sell-off has gone too far,” but cautioned about unknowns regarding Firmus’s future funding. Founder Wes Maas had invested $410 million into Firmus and secured a substantial electrical work contract, with Firmus now reportedly exploring a Nasdaq IPO.
In parallel, retail investors have been scooping up ASX-listed lithium miners like PLS and Liontown Resources, despite the battery metal’s price plummeting since May. Both companies have seen their share prices fall over 50 per cent in five months. Bell Potter analyst Stuart Howe identified both as “oversold opportunities.” While retail interest surged (PLS was CommSec’s most-traded stock), hedge funds are also actively shorting, betting on further declines, with short interest notably increasing for both. Betashares’ Tom Wickenden linked pressure on lithium stocks to expectations of increased supply and the emerging threat of sodium-ion batteries.
