Imdex's exploration boom wallet share story keeps managers overweight

As gold and copper prices drive a global rebound in exploration drilling, fund managers have kept Imdex overweight through 2026, betting the mining technology company can keep growing faster than the cycle itself.

30 Jun 2026 · 5 min read

Fund managers have kept Imdex Ltd (ASX: IMD) near the top of their mining services picks through 2026, as a recovering global exploration cycle plays directly to a business built around taking a bigger slice of what miners spend on drilling. Longwave Capital's June 2026 update captured the shape of that recovery, noting Imdex now generates around 75% of revenue outside Australia, with offshore growth of roughly 22% year-on-year, led by 27% growth in the Americas and 28% in APAC.

IMDEX's growth profile remains far more tied to global mining technology demand, exploration activity, critical minerals, gold and copper investment, and productivity-led adoption of sensors, drilling optimization, and digital field solutions.

Longwave Capital, Newsletter, June 2026

A share-of-wallet story, not just a cycle story

Yarra Capital Management has held an overweight position through nearly every reporting period this year, and its reasoning has stayed consistent: Imdex's 1H26 results showed revenue up 16% year-on-year and EBITDA up 22%, and the fund's conviction rests on "the significant global market share opportunity for its portfolio of market leading mining technologies" rather than the commodity cycle alone. Spheria Asset Management has made a similar case, describing Imdex as a business that continues to take "share of exploration wallet" over the cycle, generating strong free cash flow with cash flow conversion around 81% over its history, and arguing that as miners seek efficiency, that growth is largely within Imdex's own control rather than dependent on drilling volumes rising.

The cycle itself is also turning in Imdex's favour

Beyond company-specific execution, the broader exploration cycle has been supportive. L1 Capital noted back in July 2025 that junior miner equity raising activity, a leading indicator for exploration spend, had increased 65% year-on-year and reached its highest levels since 2021. Pengana Capital Group flagged in February 2026 that Imdex upgraded its earnings outlook after a 32% rise in first-half profits, citing increased confidence in exploration-based products given a boom in capital raising by smaller gold companies. Lennox Capital Partners framed the setup in April 2026 as one of returning operating leverage, arguing that after streamlining through a multi-year drilling downturn, Imdex is well positioned to benefit as volumes recover.

Imdex has done a really good job of streamlining their own business over the past few years while the drilling cycle has been in effectively a downturn or a slowdown. Now that the cycle seems to be turning upwards quite strongly, Imdex are really well positioned to enjoy some pretty strong operating leverage there.

Lennox Capital Partners, Presentation, April 2026

Bolt-on technology acquisitions widen the moat

Longwave Capital has also pointed to Imdex's acquisition strategy as evidence its thesis remains intact, highlighting the 2024 Devico acquisition's early cross-selling success and two further bolt-ons, Earth Science Analytics and the combined Advanced Logic Technology and Mount Sopris Instruments deal, both funded from the balance sheet rather than through dilution. Investors Mutual Limited, initiating a buy in May 2026 even at what it called a valuation that is "not cheap," argued the real story is the expanding wallet share of exploration budgets Imdex is capturing by selling more software and services into its existing client base, describing the business as being "only in the early innings of this exploration boom."

A lone note of caution on valuation

Not every view is unqualified. Hayborough Investment Partners moved to a hold in May 2026, noting the stock "had a good run" and that valuation is "starting to look a little bit full," while also flagging that the expanded capital base following the Devico acquisition should be generating more earnings than it currently is. Elston Asset Management took profits in Imdex in March 2026 to fund other purchases, though it said it remained positive on the company's long-term prospects. With most managers still overweight heading into the back half of 2026, the key question is whether Imdex's wallet-share gains can keep outpacing a valuation that has already re-rated meaningfully off the lows.