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.

What happened

2021 was a rough year for many manufacturers, as businesses were forced to navigate cost increases and supply chain constraints. Electric-vehicle (EV) leader Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) handled those issues and thrived. As a result, its business continued to grow, and investors pushed its shares up 49.8% in 2021, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That jump came after a torrid year for the stock in 2020, when shares rocketed more than 700%. Many investors are now wondering whether the stock will continue rising in 2022. 

So what

Tesla finished the year strong, reporting more than 308,000 vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter. That brought its 2021 total deliveries to 936,172, representing an 87.4% increase over 2020. When the company reports its full-year 2021 results, investors will probably hear that revenue for the year exceeded $50 billion. And the business is profitable. Net income through the first nine months of 2021 was nearly $3.2 billion. Investors are now looking forward to new catalysts on the way. 

The company should begin production this year at both of its two new facilities in Austin, Texas, and near Berlin, respectively. The Texas plant will be the first to begin making the Cybertruck. Widely followed Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives believes the Austin plant will begin production as soon as next week, reports Barron’s. 

Now what

2022 looks to be the first year that Tesla won’t be the only big game in town. Competition from traditional automakers and EV startups is coming online. Ford, for example, has already begun selling its Mach-E SUV in the U.S. and China at a starting price that competes with Tesla’s midsize Model 3 sedan. And startups including Lucid Group and Chinese EV maker Nio are bringing luxury electric sedans to market in 2022 that customers might prefer over the Model S. 

But those startups have yet to prove they can manufacture vehicles at scale. Tesla itself recently was forced to recall 475,000 vehicles for issues including potential front hood latch and camera problems. 

It may be the traditional manufacturers that are converting from internal combustion to electric-powered vehicles that bring the biggest competitive threat to Tesla in 2022. But the market for EVs looks set to grow in accordance with the increased availability of new offerings.

It remains to be seen how investors will continue to value Tesla stock. But with two new plants beginning production, and the introduction of the Cybertruck, Tesla’s business looks like it should have another big year of growth in 2022. 

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

The post Why Tesla shares jumped 50% last year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Howard Smith owns Lucid Group and Nio. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and recommends Nio and Tesla. 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.

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

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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) posted a slight move to the downside. At the end of the session, the benchmark index fell 0.08% to 7,447.1 points.

It was a mixed session on the ASX today, with the market split in two directions. Unfortunately, the gains from mining and energy shares weren’t enough to compensate for the undesirable segments of the share market. The most disappointing performances were witnessed across the consumer discretionary, healthcare, tech sectors today.

However, the question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the top ten stocks that came through for investors:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the battery technology company jumped 10.91% after announcing its plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange in the United States. Find out more about Novonix here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL). The energy giant experienced a positive session to the tune of 8.60% today following an upgrade on the company’s shares from analysts at Credit Suisse. Uncover the latest AGL Energy details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX)	$10.37	10.91%
AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL)	$6.82	8.60%
Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)	$20.63	6.95%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.905	5.64%
South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)	$4.07	3.83%
AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)	$0.895	3.47%
Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA)	$5.97	3.47%
Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN)	$1.35	3.45%
Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS)	$2.15	3.37%
Alumina Ltd (ASX: AWC)	$1.935	3.20%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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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Due to favourable tailwinds such as ageing populations and improving technologies and treatments, demand for healthcare services is expected to grow strongly over the next few decades.

In light of this, the healthcare sector could be a good place to consider investing with a long term view. But which shares should you consider buying? Two highly rated ASX healthcare shares to consider are listed below:

Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN)

The first ASX healthcare share to look at is Nanosonics. It is a leading infection prevention company behind the popular trophon EPR ultrasound probe disinfection system. Last year this system was protecting an estimated 80,000 patients from the risk of cross contamination each day.

And while this is generating strong revenues, management isn’t settling for that. The company is also busy researching and developing a number of new products which are due to be launched in the coming years.

One of these is AuditPro. It is a digital platform that has been designed to improve traceability, reporting, and compliance of infection prevention measures for medical devices. Another is the Nanosonics Coris platform. This new platform, which is expected to be launched in 2023, is for cleaning flexible endoscopes. This could be an even bigger market than ultrasound probe disinfection.

Morgans is positive on the company and has an add rating and $6.97 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Nanosonics share price of $5.87.

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)

Another ASX healthcare share to look at is Ramsay Health Care. It provides quality healthcare services to over 8 million patients each year through a network of facilities across 10 countries and over 500 locations.

Although trading conditions have been tough over the last 18 months and recent elective surgery restrictions are weighing on its performance, the company has been tipped to bounce back strongly when trading conditions normalise. Particularly given the pent-up demand for healthcare services and its proposed acquisition of Elysium Healthcare.

Goldman Sachs is a fan of Ramsay. It currently has a buy rating and $74.00 price target on the company’s shares. This compares favourably to the latest Ramsay share price of $67.25. The broker believes Ramsay’s valuation is undemanding for a defensive asset leveraged to improving vaccine rates and a favourable growth profile.

The post 2 ASX healthcare shares to give your portfolio a boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 3 top ASX 200 shares to buy in January
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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 and has recommended Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care 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 Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) share price had a rough year in 2021.

Shares in the company fell from $4.70 to $4.26 during the year, a 9% fall.  In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gained around 13%

Let’s take a look at how the year played out for the insurance group.

Tough end to the year

The IAG share price was up and down like a rollercoaster in 2021 before a huge slump at the end of the year.

In an early high for the company, IAG shares soared 8% between market close on 8 February and 11 February. Strong financial results were received well by investors, with the company reporting a 3.8% rise in gross written premiums. Insurance profit also surged by 33.1% due to a low level of claims.

However, shares in the company then fell dramatically by nearly 15% between market close on 11 February and 10 March. Shares crashed on 9 March before being put in a trading halt. Media speculation on exposure to the Greensill collapse weighed on investors minds. However,  IAG informed the ASX it had “no net insurance exposure to trade credit policies including those sold through BCC to Greensill entities”.

The company’s share price then recovered this loss, soaring more than 15% between 10 March and 8 June. Several new leadership changes were announced by the CEO.

In August, the IAG share gained on the back of a major board reshuffle and positive FY21 results. Between 4 August and 12 August, the company’s shares gained 12%. The company saw a 3.8% increase in its gross written premium to roughly $12.1 million.

September saw the ING share price plummet nearly 12% between 6 September and 24 September. Investors reacted to news CMC Hospitality had filed an application to start Federal court proceedings against the company. This hit the share price hard.

Then between 11 October and 17 November, the share price took another massive hit amid news ASIC had taken IAG subsidiary Insurance Australia limited to court. Severe storm and hail activity also negatively impacted the company’s claim costs, further driving down the share price.

Share price recap

The IAG share price performed roughly 22% worse than the benchmark ASX index in 2021. On a positive note, the new year is starting well for the company, with shares up 4.23% so far this year.

Shares in the company are down 1.33% in the past month.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $10.9 billion based on the current share price.

The post What happened to the Insurance Australia (ASX:IAG) share price in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Insurance Australia 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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