Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) managed to eke out another green day after swinging violently to the downside following reports of action on the Ukraine-Russia border. At the end of the session, the benchmark index finished 0.16% higher at 7,296.2 points.

While the Aussie index might have ended higher, there were a few sectors hit hard today. The worst impact landed on the doorstep of the consumer discretionary sector, running 3.4% into the red. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) was the anchor holding the sector down, revealing the first half being the most disrupted by COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Fortunately, the healthcare was the stitching holding the market together on Thursday. Another big performance from CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) bolstered the index.

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, Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the financial services company rallied 6.65% after reporting a 21% increase in normalised net profit before tax to $238 million in its half-year result. Find out more about Challenger here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO). The specialised small and medium business lender received a 5.69% boost in its share price despite there being no announcements released today. Uncover the latest Imugene details here.

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

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF)	$6.74	6.65%
Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO)	$1.95	5.69%
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	$277.00	5.05%
Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA)	$3.73	4.78%
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)	$9.44	4.43%
Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY)	$2.99	4.18%
Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL)	$27.72	4.09%
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH)	$5.36	4.08%
EBOS Group Ltd (ASX: EBO)	$38.30	4.08%
Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV)	$6.59	3.62%

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. owns and has recommended CSL Ltd. and Judo Capital Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Challenger 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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Looking for growth shares to buy? Well, here’s some good news! Listed below are two growth shares that have recently been named as buys.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Nitro Software. It is a global document productivity software as a service company.

Thanks to its Nitro Productivity Suite, Nitro is a global player in the eSign and workflow productivity market. It allows organisations to drive better business outcomes through 100% digital document processes and fast, efficient workflows.

At the last count, Nitro had over 3 million licensed users and 13,000+ business customers across 157 countries. This includes over 68% of the Fortune 500 and three of the Fortune 10.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company and recently initiated coverage on its shares with a buy rating and $2.95 price target. It believes Nitro’s revenues could explode over the coming years as its market share growth.

It said: “We estimate Nitro can increase its TAM penetration from 0.15% to 1.4% by FY40 implying 9x uplift to Nitro’s current revenue base.”

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

Another ASX growth share that is highly rated is Pro Medicus. It provides industry-leading software that facilitates the clinical assessment of medical images.

Pro Medicus has been growing at a very strong rate in recent years thanks to the rapidly increasing demand for solutions that can process, transfer and store this type of data efficiently. This is particularly the case given that speed and accuracy is fundamentally linked to both treatment success and commercial incentives.

The company’s strong form has continued in FY 2022. This week it released its half year results and reported a 40.3% increase in revenue to $44.3 million and a 52.7% jump in net profit after tax to $20.7 million.

The team at Bell Potter was pleased with this result and appears confident this strong growth can continue. This morning the broker retained its buy rating and $55.00 price target on the company’s shares. Its analysts are forecasting full year revenue growth of 36% in FY 2022, 19% in FY 2023, and then 33% in FY 2024.

The post 2 exciting ASX growth shares analysts are tipping for big things appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. 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 Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price finished in the red today. Shares in the Australian e-commerce company slipped 1.4% to $6.17.

For three weeks now, the Kogan share price has been roughly bouncing between $6.00 and $6.50. The initial breakdown below $7.00 per share followed the release of its first-half trading update last month.

Disappointingly, active customer growth had slowed to 10% year-on-year (YoY). Likewise, gross sales were up 9% YoY to $698 million. For reference, these metrics are down from 77% and 96%, respectively, in the previous year.

ASX investors might take heed of warnings disclosed by Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP) last night. If the situation for the US-based e-commerce company is anything to go by, the Kogan share price might be in for more challenging times.

Let’s take a closer look at what was disclosed in Shopify’s full-year results.

Pandemic-fuelled growth expected to fade in year ahead

Much like ASX-listed Kogan, Shopify posted growth for the latest period across many of its headline figures. These included:

• Revenue up 41% to US$1,380 million in the fourth quarter
• Gross merchandise volume (GMV) growing by 31% to US$54.1 billion
• Monthly recurring revenue increasing 25% to $102 million

However, the forward outlook from the company created some concerns for shareholders. Due to the absence of government stimulus and inflation, Shopify is forecasting some tapering in growth ahead.

The e-commerce giant is now forecasting FY22 revenue growth to be lower than the 57% increase witnessed in FY21. Investors were clearly displeased with the outlook as the Shopify share price tumbled 16% on the news.

On the earnings call, Shopify chief financial officer Amy Shapero said:

For 2022, we expect year-over-year revenue growth to be lowest in the first quarter of 2022 and highest in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to three factors. First, we do not expect the COVID-triggered acceleration of e-commerce in the first half of 2021 from lockdowns and government stimulus to repeat in the first half of 2022.

The other two reasons given by Shapero were more specific to the company’s platform headwinds.

For Kogan shareholders, the uninspiring forecast lands only eight days out from its own earnings call. The local e-commerce company plans to announce its results for the first half of FY22 on Friday, 25 February. At that time, shareholders will find out what ASX-listed Kogan is expecting for its own future.

How has Kogan performed on the ASX?

Unlike Shopify, Kogan has the added strain of managing physical inventory. The challenging environment created by COVID-19 contributed to the company being strapped with excess inventory. This led to higher warehousing costs for the Aussie e-commerce company.

As demand dwindled, while supply was high, investors hammered the sell button on the Kogan share price. In turn, the company’s shares have sunk 62% in the past year. Meanwhile, the Shopify share price is down 47.6% over the same time period.

The post Why Shopify’s latest update could raise red flags for e-commerce shares like Kogan (ASX:KGN) appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares in Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com 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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ASX 200 property shares climbed today amid NSW lifting a recommendation to work from home. Victoria also flagged a removal of a mask mandate for office workers could be imminent.

Three ASX 200 property shares with strong office portfolios include the Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS), Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR), and Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP).

The Dexus share price gained 1.23% today, Mirvac climbed 1.16%, while Abacus leapt 0.86%.

Let’s take a look at what could be impacting these companies today.

Work-from-home recommendation lifted

In a boost to ASX 200 property shares, the NSW Government announced an easing of COVID-19 restrictions today. The recommendation to work from home will be removed from Friday and it will now be up to the employer to decide where people work. Masks will also no longer be required at the office.

Commenting on the changes, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said:

As we continue to move forward out of the pandemic we are ensuring that we keep people safe and people in jobs so life can return to normal as quickly and safely as possible.

In Victoria, health authorities are set to reconsider requiring workers at the office to wear masks, The Age reported. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said:

We’re confident that we’ll be able to get to a situation next Friday where masks are off in the office and the advice changes — people will then be free and, in fact, we’ll be encouraging them to go back to the office.

Dexus has an office portfolio of $24.9 billion. This includes 52 properties across the major CBDs including Sydney and Melbourne. Despite a difficult operating environment, Dexus reported a 95% occupancy in its office portfolio in its H1 FY22 results on Tuesday.

The Mirvac Group has $8.1 billion of office assets, with 85% of these in Sydney and Melbourne. Mirvac also has a $3.2 billion retail portfolio, which may benefit from more foot traffic in cities. In its H1 FY22 results last week, this ASX 200 property share said its CBD retail assets remain a major drag on performance but “remain will positioned for resumption of immigration, tourism and return to office”.

Finally, Abacus Property Group reported its half-yearly financial results today. The company has a commercial office portfolio worth $1.7 billion, or 36% of its total assets. Its retail portfolio of $485 million represents 11% of its assets.

The company said 96% of office rents were collected during H1 FY22.

ASX 200 property shares recap

The Dexus share price has shed 3.6% year to date, while Mirvac has dived 10.31%. Meanwhile, the Abacus share price has dropped 6.6%.

For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen 2% year to date.

Dexus has a market capitalisation of $11.5 billion. Mirvac has a $10.3 billion market cap and Abacus is worth $2.9 billion.

The post Return to the office: Did this decision help boost ASX 200 property shares today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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 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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