Day: 26 December 2020

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Antitrust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with almost every state attorney general, filed lawsuits against Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) this month alleging it is a monopoly and seeking to break up the social network.

Yet Facebook tried to head off the legal showdown by offering to license its code and its members’ connections to another company or developer to create their own platforms to compete against it.

As the subsequent lawsuits make clear, the offer was too little, too late.

The lawsuits primarily stem from Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, purchases the FTC itself approved of at the time. The social network was able to turn them into juggernauts in their respective spaces, a success the lawsuits are now using against it.

But The Washington Post reports Facebook maintains that the lawsuits are misguided since the internet is highly competitive. It says the suits amount to “revisionist history” considering the significant competitive pressure applied from the likes of Alphabet‘s (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google, Snap, TikTok, and Twitter.

Yet as Facebook has squelched user ability to freely express opinions on the site by either blocking content or putting warning labels on posts with which it disagrees, other social networking sites with a greater laissez-faire attitude toward regulating speech such as Gab, MeWe, and Parler have sprung up in response.

The advent of those new sites suggests Facebook’s code isn’t the problem, but rather Facebook’s willingness to acquire the competition to squash it.

Facebook is also moving forward with its plan to integrate its disparate services to allow users to interact with one another across the platforms, a move that might make it more difficult to break up the tech giant, but also one that could prove the antitrust regulators point, too.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Report: authorities rejected Facebook offer to foster competitors’ growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Are you looking for some new additions to your portfolio in January? Then you might want to get better acquainted with the ASX 200 shares listed below.

Both companies have been tipped to grow strongly over the 2020s. Here’s what you need to know about these ASX 200 shares:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is an electronic design software provider which has been growing at a very strong rate over the last few years. Pleasingly, management remains confident that it still has a long runway for growth. This is thanks to its exposure to the growing Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence markets, which are underpinning solid demand for subscriptions. Also supporting its growth will be the recent release of its cloud-based Altium 365 platform, which has been well-received by users.

It is aiming to almost double its subscriber numbers to 100,000 and its revenue by ~150% to US$500 million by 2025/26. Analysts at Credit Suisse are positive on its outlook. They have an outperform rating and $42.00 price target on its shares.

Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN)

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that infection control is very important. This must be music to the ears of this infection prevention company. It is the company behind the industry-leading trophon EPR disinfection system for ultrasound probes. In addition to this, the company is hoping to launch several new infection control products in the near future which reportedly have similar addressable markets.

One broker that thinks investors should be buying Nanosonics’ shares with a long term view is UBS. The broker notes that Nanosonics is a high-quality and structural growth story. It is expecting the company to benefit from post-COVID infection prevention tailwinds. Its analysts have a buy rating on its shares.

More reading

• 3 reliable ASX 200 shares that keep growing
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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 2 ASX 200 shares to buy in January appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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If your risk profile allows you to invest in small cap ASX shares, then you might want to take a look at the ones listed below.

All three of these small cap shares have been growing strongly and have been tipped to continue doing so in the future. Here’s what you need to know:

ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)

ELMO is a cloud-based human resources and payroll software company which provides a unified platform to streamline processes for employee administration, recruitment, on-boarding, learning, performance, remuneration, compliance training and payroll. It has a massive opportunity in the ANZ and UK markets and the option to expand internationally in the future thanks to its jurisdiction agnostic platform. Morgan Stanley currently rates ELMO as overweight with a $9.70 price target.

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

Nitro Software could be a small cap ASX share worth keeping an eye on. It is a software company aiming to drive digital transformation in organisations around the world across multiple industries. Its core solution is the Nitro Productivity Suite. This provides integrated PDF productivity and electronic signature tools to customers through a horizontal, software-as-a-service, and desktop-based software solution. Analysts at Morgan Stanley are also positive on Nitro and have an overweight rating and $3.50 price target on its shares.

Whispir (ASX: WSP)

Whispir is a software-as-a-service communications workflow platform provider which allows businesses and governments to deliver two-way interactions at scale using automated multi-channel communication workflows. Its platform was used to great effect during the height of the pandemic when 22 government departments used it for COVID-19 communications. Management estimates that the Workflow Communications platform as a Service market could reach US$8 billion per year by 2024. This compares to the revenue of $39.1 million it recorded in FY 2020, which was up 25.5% year on year. Wilsons has an overweight rating and $5.10 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• 5 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch in 2021
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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Elmo Software and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elmo Software, Nitro Software Limited, and Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 3 small cap ASX shares that could have a big 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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