If you’re wanting to invest in the tech sector, then the two ASX shares listed below could be worth considering.

Both have recently been tipped as buys with significant upside potential in 2022. Here’s what you need to know about them:

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Analysts at Citi are very positive on this data centre operator’s shares. The broker was pleased with NEXTDC’s performance in FY 2021 and expects more of the same in the current financial year thanks to accelerating cloud adoption and digitisation.

Citi commented: “With FY22e earnings largely contracted and customer expansion options underpinning our medium-term forecasts, we maintain our Buy call with a $15.40 target price. With bookings going forward skewing towards wholesale/hyper-scale, we expect revenue per MW to decline, however expect strong earnings growth underpinned by accelerating cloud adoption and digitisation.”

The broker has a buy rating and $15.40 price target on the company’s shares. Based on the current NEXTDC share price, this implies potential upside of 20%.

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

Bell Potter is very bullish on this document productivity company.

It is the company behind the Nitro Productivity Suite, which provides integrated PDF productivity and eSignature tools to businesses globally. At the last count, a total of 68% of the Fortune 500 were customers of Nitro, which appears to be a testament to the quality of its offering.

Bell Potter notes that the company has also just strengthened its offering further with a game-changing acquisition of Connective NV for US$81 million.

The broker commented: “The rationale for the acquisition is it will accelerate and enhance Nitro’s eSign, eID (electronic identity) and document workflow capabilities. It will also position Nitro to become the third global player in the enterprise eSign market along with DocuSign and Adobe.”

Bell Potter has a buy rating and $4.50 price target on the company’s shares. This implies upside of approximately 90% for the Nitro share price.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX tech shares with huge upside potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns NEXTDC Limited. 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 recommended Nitro Software 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 Falcon Metals Ltd (ASX: FAL) share price has started the year in style, surging to its highest point yet.

Shares in the gold explorer were swapping hands at 75 cents apiece at market close, up 30%. In afternoon trade, shares hit a high of 78 cents.

The company is going for gold in the Bendigo region of Victoria and also exploring in Western Australia.

Golden start to 2022

The Falcon Metals share price blasted ahead today despite no news from the company.

The gold price was up slightly by 0.24% at the time of writing to US$1,804.40 an ounce. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold miners Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) climbed 0.49% and 0.11% respectively today.

Falcon Metals listed on the ASX on December 22 last year. Investors could be still weighing up how to price the company following its initial public offering (IPO) of 50 cents per share. This offering was oversubscribed and raised $30 million.

Also impacting investor sentiment may be pending exploration activities at the company’s Pyramid Hill gold project in Victoria this month. The company has an “aggressive” drilling program planned this year at the mine.

The company demerged from Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) in December. Chalice spun off Falcon to focus on other projects.

Falcon Metals holds the largest exploration licence of any company in the lucrative Bendigo gold region of Victoria. The company also has two other early-stage gold projects in Western Australia. These are known as the Viking project and Mt Jackson Project.

Falcon Metals share price snapshot

The Falcon Metals share price is up 50% since the company joined the ASX and up 100% in the past week.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources Index (ASX: XJR) finished up 2.48% today and has risen 3.43% in the past week.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $135 million based on the current share price.

The post Why is the Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) share price flying 30% higher into the new year? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price surging today?
• 22% recovery: Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) share price regains on second day of trade
• Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) share price nosedives 28% on IPO

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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As Aussies rang in the new year with their own 2022 resolutions, these 3 ASX shares decided some record-high prices would be the first order of business.

Investors that snapped up these producers and retailers will be pleased.

Let’s take a look…

Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)

Graincorp Limited (ASX: GNC) is an Australian agribusiness and processing company operating primarily in grain and oilseed storage.

In addition to grain, infant formula products, and wood chips, this ASX share also has a recycling interest — it has interests in turning cooking oil into biofuel products and is invested in making eco-friendly animal feed derived from seaweed.

With strong global demand for Australian grain, the Graincorp share price performed exceptionally well last year — successfully finding markets outside China following the landslide of import bans on Australian products earlier last year.

At the start of January 2021, the Graincorp share price was $4.22. At the close of trading today, shares were swapping hands for $8.42 apiece — an increase of almost 100%.

The Graincorp share price was up 2% on the day to a new 52-week high.

Michael Hill International Ltd (ASX: MHJ)

Next up, the Michael Hill International Ltd (ASX: MHJ) share price hit the 52-week-high record bell again today, just a week after its previous record.

In fact, Michael Hill shares hit $1.53 just after opening — an almost 11% increase from their previous closing price on New Year’s Eve.

The pandemic seems to have not deterred shoppers — in its most recent announcement, this ASX share detailed strong sales through the recent holiday period despite the onset of the new COVID-19 variants.

And it’s not only foot traffic — the jeweller saw its website traffic go up by 35%, and its digital sales increase by more than 50%, up to almost $35 million.

As such, the company anticipates its first half-year results to be higher than that of last year.

All in all, the jeweller has seen a stellar 2021, shooting up around 110% since this time last year.

The Michael Hill share price closed today up 6.16% at $1.47.

Reece Ltd (ASX: REH)

Last but not least is the Australian-based plumbing and bathroom supplier, Reece Ltd (ASX: REH).

Just like the other ASX share gainers, Reece experienced a new record today following its previous 52-week-high achieved only last week.

At the market close, the Reece share price was up 3.4% at $27.95.

Reece hit its highest point at 11am, experiencing an increase of 3.9% from the previous closing price.

Last week’s holiday jump came off the back of a fairly quiet few weeks of news from this company.

However, back in October, it released a Q1 FY22 update, showing sales revenue of $1.7 million for the first quarter, an increase of 13% from the previous corresponding period.

Overall, in the last 12 months, the Reece share price has jumped 83%.

The retailer has a market capitalisation of more than $18 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 69.28.

The post These 3 ASX shares hit new 52-week highs today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Christmas highs: 3 ASX 200 shares hitting record highs today
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell

Motley Fool contributor Alice de Bruin 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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Have you checked the returns on your cash holdings lately?

If so, you’re likely not jumping for joy.

It’s no secret that interest rates have plunged to all-time lows over the past few years. A trend exacerbated by the onset of the global pandemic which saw the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) slash the official cash rate to an unprecedented 0.15%.

That’s right about in the range of what you can expect from a term deposit, by the way. With shorter-term cash holdings yielding an even more meagre 0.05%.

Those yields were minimal even when inflation was virtually absent. But with consumer prices now rising quickly across the globe, the real (inflation adjusted) returns from cash deposits are well into the negative.

Which brings us to…

Interest paying crypto accounts “a paradigm shift”

Darren Abrams is the chief investment officer of digital currency provider Aus Merchant Investments.

Asked about interest paying crypto accounts, Abrams told the Motley fool, “Yield bearing accounts are a paradigm shift from traditional banking. I believe that this will be the ‘killer app’ that bridges DeFi [decentralised finance] and mainstream bank users.”

Investors should take care to note that these types of yield bearing crypto accounts don’t come with the Aussie government’s deposit guarantee, as is the case with authorised deposit-taking institutions.

However, with inflation heating up and looking far less transitory than central bankers had hoped only a few months ago, Abrams says:

Applications such as Anchor Protocol (CRYPTO: ANC) offer a 19.5% yield on a USD pegged stablecoin. Compared to the average savings account that pays 0.05% interest, the impetus to utilise this functionality is immense and increasing exponentially as inflation erodes the purchasing power of fiat savings.

Digital assets still trade like risk assets

Having touted the potential game changing nature of interest paying crypto accounts, Abrams cautions that, “Currently, the whole digital asset market trades very much like traditional risk assets.”

But he sees that changing for select cryptos over time:

Digital assets have evolved. As such they have a broad array of benefits and negative attributes. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) – and some other deflationary coins – are essentially the digital versions of hard money and therefore will eventually act as haven assets. Smart contract platforms that facilitate the financialization of the crypto economy are more akin to traditional risk assets.

What about meme crypto assets like Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB)?

You won’t find Abrams lining up to snap up the next ‘hot’ meme crypto, like Shiba Inu. “As an investor, I see no inherent value in meme coins,” he told us.

“However, I understand the power of a sense of belonging, which was clear during the GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) saga,” he added. “Therefore, I believe these meme coins are here to stay. However, I would never advise investing in any of them. If you’re unsure, do some further research or seek professional advice before investing.”

The post How interest paying crypto accounts could be a gamechanger appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Why is the BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF (ASX: CRYP) share price leaping higher today?
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• Meme coin selling: Why Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, and The Sandbox are down

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company The Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and recommends Bitcoin. 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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