The market may be charging higher today, but the same cannot be said for the Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price.

In afternoon trade, the health imaging technology company’s shares are down 4% to $55.72.

This is an improvement on earlier in the day when the Pro Medicus share price was down 5.5% to $54.81.

Why is the Pro Medicus share price sinking?

The weakness in the Pro Medicus share price on Monday has been driven by a broker note out of Goldman Sachs.

According to the note, the broker has downgraded the company’s shares to a neutral rating with a $55.60 price.

This means the Pro Medicus share price is now trading broadly in line with this price target.

Why did Goldman Sachs downgrade its shares?

The note reveals that Goldman Sachs made the move on valuation grounds. This follows a strong gain by Pro Medicus’ shares over the last six months.

The broker said: “After a strong period of share price performance, PME’s market cap is now challenging the perceived TAM. Whilst Visage is naturally expanding the market through an improved value proposition and higher price point, valuation is clearly elevated (71.7x NTM EV/EBITDA GSe), now trading +63% above 5-yr avg. on our estimates.”

And while Goldman remains a big fan of the company, it doesn’t believe the risk/reward on offer is sufficient.

“Whilst we continue to view the stock and the market opportunity favourably, we view risk-reward at these levels as more balanced, and thus we downgrade from Buy to Neutral, with our new 12m TP of A$55.60 implying 5% downside vs coverage median of +3%. Since we added the stock to our Buy list on Feb 17, 2021, the shares are +30.4% vs. the S&P/ASX 200 +7.7%,” the broker explained.

Despite to today’s decline, Pro Medicus’ shares are still up 129% over the last 12 months.

The post Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price tumbles 5% on broker downgrade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These ASX 200 CEOs have the most wealth tied up in their companies
• Why the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price is up 3% in a week

Motley Fool contributor 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 has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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A takeover offer from financial services and payments giant Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) has sent the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price 22% higher to $118 on Monday.

In good news for shareholders, it looks like the M&A activity has brought life back into the buy now, pay later sector, with gains across the board.

BNPL sector running hot on Monday

2021 has been a tough year for the BNPL sector following an onslaught of new competitors, margin pressures and headwinds for the tech sector.

Before today’s surge, the Afterpay share price was down about 18.7% year to date.

Other large-cap BNPL shares such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) have largely gone nowhere since February.

While smaller players, including Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) and Splitit Payments Ltd (ASX: SPT), have tumbled more than 50% in the last 12 months.

Encouragingly, the BNPL sector is posting some strong gains on Monday following the jump in the Afterpay share price.

On the larger end of town, Zip and Sezzle shares are trading 8.73% and 3.19% higher, respectively.

If Square successfully acquires Afterpay, Zip might rise to the occasion as the top ASX-listed BNPL stock.

Smaller, beaten up BNPL shares, including Openpay, Splitit, Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) and Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM), are also enjoying some gains, up 2.65%, 8.7%, 5.81% and 3.21%, respectively.

Why the Afterpay share price might be driving the BNPL sector higher

Square’s takeover offer will see Afterpay shareholders receive a fixed 0.375 shares of Square Class A common stock for each Afterpay share they hold on the record date.

This values the Afterpay share price at approximately $126.21 based on Square’s closing price of US$247.26 last Friday. Or a 30.6% premium to Afterpay’s last closing price of $96.66 on Friday.

A BNPL acquisition of this scale is the first of its kind, with Square willing to front up $30 billion (in shares) to acquire a company trading at around 30 times FY21 revenue.

The broader ASX-listed BNPL sector is likely pleased to see frontrunner Afterpay potentially getting taken over at a significant premium.

The post Surging Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price reinvigorates BNPL sector appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 midday update: Afterpay to be acquired by Square, Oil Search to merge with Santos
• What is the outlook for the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price?
• Who is Jack Dorsey and why is he buying Afterpay (ASX:APT)?
• The Square (NYSE:SQ) share price has gained 80% over the last year
• Here’s why ASX tech shares are up 6% on Monday

Motley Fool contributor Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Humm Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) share price is soaring on the back of the company’s fourth quarter report.

Lake Resources released its quarterly activities and cash flow report after the market closed on Friday. Today’s session is the first chance the market has had to react to the report and it’s seemingly thrilled.

The Lake Resources share price is currently trading at 53 cents, up 13.98%.

Let’s take a look at what the lithium explorer was up to over the 3 months ended 30 June.

Lake share price gaining on Q4 report

Lake Resources’ shares are gaining after the company released news of a successful quarter’s work.

Financial

The Lake Resources share price is up on the back of its quarterly financial report.

Within the report, the company announced it spent around $1.02 million on staffing, administration, and corporate costs over the fourth quarter. It also spent $1.68 million in exploration and development.

The company stated it financed through to the final investment decision and construction finance phase of the Kachi Lithium Project.

Over the quarter, listed 10 cent options, set to expire in June, were converted with an uptake of 93% – raising around $3.9 million.

Lake Resources ended the quarter with $26 million in the bank and no debt.

That’s enough cash to fund the company for another 75 quarters in which its activities are the same as the quarter just been.

Activities

The Lake Resources share price is gaining after its busy fourth quarter.

Over the final stint of the 2021 financial year, Lake Resources received interest from more than 6 major international banks looking to help fund the company’s Kachi Lithium Project.

Any funding decision is conditional upon the project receiving support from Export Credit Agencies.

The company also refreshed its pre-feasibility study (PFS) based on increased lithium prices, pushing the project’s value up to US$1.6 billion.

The company expects the project’s definitive feasibility study to be completed in the current quarter.

Additionally, the company says its received more interest in Kachi’s lithium products since they were found to be of exceptional quality with a low carbon footprint.

Lake Resources share price snapshot

Today’s gains have added to Lake Resources’ fantastic year on the ASX.

Right now, the Lake Resources share price is 563% higher than it was at the start of 2021. It has also gained a whopping 1,225% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $493 million, with approximately 1 billion shares outstanding.

The post The Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is soaring 14% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is charging 5% higher
• Why the Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) share price is storming higher

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Magnis Energy Technologies Ltd (ASX: MNS) share price has been frozen for almost a week.

Despite releasing its quarterly activities report late last week, shares in the lithium-ion battery manufacturer remain in a trading halt. The Magnis share price last traded on Tuesday last week at 27 cents.

Let’s look at how Magnis performed last quarter and the status of the company’s voluntary suspension.

Magnis share price unmoved on quarterly report

Magnis released its quarterly activities report to the market after the close of Friday’s trading session.

For the quarter ending 30 June 2021, the company highlighted production at its New York plant.

Magnis was able to produce its first full-sized prismatic cells using commercial grade components last quarter. As a result, the company expects to be on track for customer sampling in the third quarter of 2021.

The company also noted the US$85 million funding package for its New York plant. According to Magnis, the funding has allowed for the acquisition of new equipment to increase the battery plant’s annual capacity to 1.8GWh.

Magnis also highlighted the progress made with its technology partner Charge CCCV (C4V).  It has a 9.65% stake in C4V, which specialises in the accelerated charging of lithium-ion batteries.

Suspension and transaction update

In addition to its quarterly report, Magnis also provided an update on its voluntary suspension.

The company noted that securities in Magnis would remain in suspension until the release of its announcement regarding the proposed capital raising transaction.

Magnis noted that the announcement would be published by today. However, the company has yet to release an update.

Shares in the lithium-ion battery producer have been in a trading halt since last Tuesday.

Magnis initially expected its shares to come out of the freeze last Thursday. However, the company chose to extend the exclusion of its securities, requesting a voluntary suspension late last week.

The company cited the inability to finalise the outcome of its proposed capital raise.

Magnis has not provided further information on how much the company is looking to raise or where funds will be directed.

According to the Australian Financial Review‘s Street Talk column, Magnis is expected to reveal it has secured $20 million via a convertible note issue.

The post The Magnis (ASX:MNS) share price freeze continues, quarterly update released appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Magnis Energy (ASX:MNS) share price remains in trading halt
• Here’s why the Magnis (ASX:MNS) share price is halted

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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