Andrew Todd
February 13, 2026 — 5:02pm
Friday the 13th has delivered once again.
The market is looking bruised and battered to end the week, with US tech and the NASDAQ slipping again overnight, leaving the ASX in a panic this morning.
Apple slid 5 per cent and dragged six of the Magnificent Seven down with it, as delayed January jobs data, courtesy of the government shutdown hangover, also landed mid-week and was hotter than expected, firing up the dollar and cooling those aggressive Fed-easing bets.
This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runner of the Week is… Great Dirt Resources. Word on the street is that rates might stay “higher for longer,” and as such, the tech unwind got another nasty shove.
Back home, the ASX wasn’t throwing any confetti either.
Friday was gruesome as the index took a dive, capping off a week where the biotech industry copped a particular hiding.
The fading prominence of vaccines as a growth driver and AI-replacement fears have turned what was already a terrible year for the sector into a full rout – plenty of names halving in value and more.
Pro Medicus tried to buck the trend with a half-year report that looked flashy on paper, with net earnings up 230 per cent, thanks to a tidy $149 million windfall from its timely punt on ASX peer 4D Medical right before the latter nabbed FDA approval for its lung imaging gadget.
Revenue jumped 28 per cent to $124.8 million, and the official net profit hit $171.2 million.
But punters zeroed in on the underlying story – it fell short of expectations once you strip out the 4D market punt and its shares took a proper battering all the same.
CSL’s dismal half-year numbers were never going to end well for the plasma and vaccines giant, with investors wiping out a further 12 per cent yesterday.
Once the biggest name on the ASX, CSL is down a whopping 40 per cent in under six months – ouch.
Cochlear joined the party, also shedding 25 per cent to close the week. The b
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