Month: May 2022

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

Cryptocurrency prices are falling hard across the board today, with Maker (CRYPTO: MKR) being a notable exception. At 11:15 a.m. ET, the price of Maker tokens was up a whopping 19% over the previous 24 hours. And it’s likely because TerraUSD (CRYPTO: UST) and Terra’s Luna tokens (CRYPTO: LUNA) are trending toward zero at the moment. 

So what

For context, a stablecoin is a cryptocurrency for which the price is supposed to always be equal to a government-issued currency — most often the U.S. dollar. MakerDAO is the organization behind a stablecoin called Dai (CRYPTO: DAI). Terraform Labs is behind a stablecoin called TerraUSD. 

There are other U.S. dollar stablecoins as well, including Tether and USD Coin. And to be clear, different stablecoins use different mechanisms to keep their values, well, stable. And right now, these various stablecoin models are trying to demonstrate their merits in order to gain widespread adoption.

Tether and USD Coin both hold real U.S. dollars in reserve, making them close competitors. By contrast, Dai issues new tokens based on crypto assets locked up in the system. Similarly, TerraUSD isn’t backed by dollars but rather by a burning-and-minting symbiotic relationship with Luna.

Without going too far into the weeds, the rivalry between TerraUSD and Dai isn’t imaginary. On March 23, Terra founder Do Kwon said on social media, “By my hand Dai will die.” 

The sad irony is that over the past couple of days, TerraUSD and Luna entered a death spiral, with the value of each declining faster than its algorithmic mechanisms can repair the damage. As of this writing, TerraUSD has bounced off its lows, but it’s still down more than 50% from $1, and it’s fair to wonder if it will ever recover.

Now what

While TerraUSD’s demise would be good for Dai because there’d be one fewer player, I’d be cautious approaching the stablecoin space right now. I believe the true takeaway with TerraUSD’s decline is that these models are still new and still being tested. Because of this, weaknesses are sometimes unexpectedly uncovered, and the fallout can be swift. 

Therefore, if you do chose to buy Maker tokens because of what’s happening with Terra, be sure that — like always — it’s a disciplined investment and not more than you could afford to lose if something goes wrong. 

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

The post Why a crypto called Maker is surging higher as others fall apart appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Broker says Webjet share price is a buy ahead of its FY22 results
• Why did the Maggie Beer share price just crumble 17%?
• Scentre share price defies ASX 200 sell-off to lift on strong earnings outlook
• Here’s why the Incannex share price is rocketing 18% today
• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy to beat inflation

Jon Quast 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 Scott Phillips. 

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

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The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is sliding lower with the market on Thursday.

In afternoon trade, the online travel agent’s shares are down 2% to $5.39.

This latest decline means the Webjet share price is now in negative territory for 2022.

Is the Webjet share price in the buy zone?

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have reiterated their buy rating and $6.90 price target on the company’s shares ahead of its full-year results release later this month.

Based on the current Webjet share price, this implies potential upside of 28% for investors over the next 12 months.

What did the broker say?

Firstly, Goldman is expecting a soft result from Webjet in FY 2022 due to COVID headwinds. Its analysts have forecast FY 2022 revenue of $143.6 million and EBITDA of $1.5 million.

However, the broker believes that this release will signal the end of the market’s willingness to look through weak results. Particularly given how in April passenger traffic numbers reached 90.5% of pre-COVID levels in the US and 81.4% in London’s Heathrow Airport. It explained:

In our view the market will no longer look through weak results beyond FY22 and we expect stock prices to start being more correlated to company fundamentals as opposed to trading based on news of travel recovery.

However, that shouldn’t matter because Goldman is expecting strong results from Webjet in FY 2023 and FY 2024.

What is expected?

Goldman is bullish on the Webjet share price due to its belief that the company is well-placed for strong growth over the coming years. This is thanks to its Bedbanks business, acquisition opportunities, and the ongoing shift to online booking. It said:

We reiterate our Buy rating on WEB due to the stronger outlook for the Bedbanks business in the longer term, favorable exposure to the growing online channel and the strong balance sheet offering the opportunity to explore bolt-on acquisitions as well as weather interim volatilities driven by COVID-19.

The broker is expecting revenue growth of 152% to $362.2 million in FY 2023 and then 20% to $434.7 million in FY 2024.

Things are expected to be even better for its EBITDA, with Goldman pencilling in a material lift in EBITDA from $1.5 million to $155.4 million in FY 2023 and then a 32.8% jump to $206.4 million in FY 2024.

All in all, this could make Webjet a share to consider if you’re looking for travel sector exposure.

The post Broker says Webjet share price is a buy ahead of its FY22 results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Own Webjet shares? Here’s what to expect from next week’s FY22 results
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• 2 top ASX growth shares Goldman Sachs rates as buys

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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Maggie Beer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MBH) share price is sinking after the company released a trading update for financial year 2022.

While sales continued to increase at the company’s core businesses, it’s faced notable unforeseen costs. In reaction, the company dropped its earnings guidance and upped prices charged for its products.

At the time of writing, the Maggie Beer share price is 40 cents, 13.04% lower than its previous close.

However, that’s an improvement on its earlier performance. The stock was swapping hands for just 38 cents at its intraday low, representing a 17% tumble.  

Maggie Beer share price plummets as costs surge

Some of the key points from the Maggie Beer trading update include:

• The company’s core business Hampers and Gifts Australia saw pro-forma sales increase 25.6% over the financial year to April compared to the same period of last financial year
• Fellow core business, Maggie Beer Products, saw a 19.3% increase in sales over the period
• Maggie Beer’s e-commerce sales rose 165.6% while its net sales increased 13.1%.
• The company dropped its earnings guidance by $4.2 million
• It’s on track to announce its maiden dividend at the end of the financial year

What’s happened over the financial year so far?

The Maggie Beer share price is plunging on bad news regarding the company’s full-year earnings.

The company has realised $4.2 million of unforeseen and higher than expected costs. Many of these were born from floods in Australia, the war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, and global fuel and freight costs.

Maggie Beer’s dairy segment accounted for around $2.8 million of the expenses. It was hampered by ongoing COVID-19 impacts, a shortage of milk, and high commodity prices.

Paris Creek Farms’ branded milk’s launch into 400 stores – scheduled for March – was delayed by COVID-19 disruptions and flood events. The milk reached 200 stores in May with the remainder expected to be on shelves by September. That will dint the company’s earnings for this financial year.

Additionally, its Saint David Dairy has struggled through skills and labour shortages, resulting in the loss of some customers.

The company noted it has now labelled its dairy businesses “non-core”. It expects to outline the segment’s future in its full-year results.

Maggie Beer started working to increase the price of its products to offset the additional costs in March.

However, such increases are slow to hit the major supermarkets. The price rise should be reflected on grocery store shelves later this month.

What did management say?

Maggie Beer CEO and managing director Chantale Millard commented on the news driving the company’s share price lower today, saying:

As with all businesses, the second half of [financial year 2022] has seen many new challenges arise, with further flow-on effects of COVID-19, increases in costs due to the devastating floods in Central Australia and Northern NSW and QLD, and the war in Ukraine.

The group and in particular [Maggie Beer Products] and [Hampers and Gifts Australia] have continued to perform well, with its diversified revenue stream, whilst absorbing the higher costs and delivering industry leading gross margins.

With price increases being implemented across the group we expect to see our earnings growth return to expected levels in [financial year 2023].

What’s next?

The Maggie Beer share price is likely also being dinted by a guidance downgrade.

It’s on track to reach its previously given net sales guidance of between $95 million and $100 million.

However, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for the full year is now expected to fall between $9.25 million and $10.5 million. Previously, its financial year 2022 EBITDA guidance was $13.5 million to $15.5 million.

The company has also brought forward its working capital requirements on the expectation of increased demand and supply chain issues next financial year.

Finally, Maggie Beer expects to declare a maiden dividend or capital return of no less than 1 cent per share alongside its final results.

Maggie Beer share price snapshot

Today’s fall included, the Maggie Beer share price has tumbled 27% in 2022.

Though, it’s 25% higher than it was this time last year.

The post Why did the Maggie Beer share price just crumble 17%? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Scentre share price defies ASX 200 sell-off to lift on strong earnings outlook
• Here’s why the Incannex share price is rocketing 18% today
• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy to beat inflation
• Blockdown! Why is the Block share price crashing by 16% today?
• Thursday thrashing: ASX tech shares tumble

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 Scott Phillips.

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The Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price is shaking off the wider market sell-off to gain 0.4% at the lunch hour.

Scentre shares closed yesterday at $2.77 and are currently trading for $2.78. This comes as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1%.

The Australian real estate investment trust (REIT) released its first-quarter update for the three months ending 31 March today.

What happened during the quarter?

Scentre compared many of its quarterly performance statistics to 2019 — before the global pandemic ushered in lengthy store closures for the retail group.

The Scentre share price could be getting a boost today from its report, which shows customer visitation numbers are back to 88% of the 2019 figures and 112% of the 2021 numbers.

The company’s total majors and specialty sales were 7.1% higher in the first quarter of 2022 compared to Q1 2019.

Scentre also reported strong occupancy across its portfolio, with 98.7% leased as of 31 March. The company said that some 80% of its specialty leases are inflation-linked with average annual rent increases of CPI plus 2%. Specialty rent represents approximately 90% of its net operating income.

Stepping a month beyond the Q1 update, Scentre reported its gross rent collections for the first four months of 2022 (through to 30 April) came in at $800 million.

In Q1, the REIT also completed 536 leasing deals. Those deals included signing on 237 new merchants, with 50 new brands introduced into Scentre’s portfolio.

During the first quarter, the Scentre share price fell 6.5%.

What did Scentre management say?

Commenting on the first-quarter results, Scentre CEO Peter Allen said:

I am very pleased with the Group’s operating performance for the first quarter. We have continued to drive more visitation and saw a significant increase in sales for our business partners, above pre-pandemic levels…

During the quarter, we opened the $55 million rooftop entertainment, leisure and dining precinct at Westfield Mt Druitt. During the first month of trading, customer visitation and dwell time has significantly increased, with an overall increase of 56% compared to the same period last year.

Addressing Scentre’s preparations for higher interest rates in the years ahead, Scentre’s CFO and CEO-Elect Elliott Rusanow added:

The Group has restructured its interest rate hedging profile to increase hedging in 2023 and 2024. Interest rate hedging at January 2023 has been increased from 50% to approximately 65%, with a weighted average rate of 1.87%. At January 2024 interest rate hedging has increased from 40% to approximately 50% with a weighted average rate of 1.79%.

What’s next for Scentre Group?

Looking ahead, Allen said he was confident about the future of the business.

“The underlying structure of our revenue with inflation linked leases, provides long-term growth for our securityholders,” he said. “In light of the improving conditions and strong performance of our business, earnings are expected to grow in excess of 5.3% in 2022.”

Scentre said it expects to distribute at least 15 cents per security in 2022, an increase of at least 5.3% year-on-year.

Scentre share price snapshot

The Scentre share price is up 3.5% over the past 12 months. That compares to a 0.5% full-year loss posted by the ASX 200.

The post Scentre share price defies ASX 200 sell-off to lift on strong earnings outlook 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 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 Scott Phillips.

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The Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL) share price is on the move today following a company’s latest acquisition.

At the time of writing, the healthcare company’s shares are trading at 43 cents, up 17.81%.

Incannex progresses on APIRx takeover

According to its release, Incannex announced it has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement to acquire APIRx Pharmaceuticals.

Based in the United States, APIRx is a leading pharmaceutical company specialising in cannabinoid active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products.

The acquisition will be made by an all-scrip transaction of 218 million Incannex shares at a value of $0.573 per share.

This requires Incannex’s shareholders to approve the issue of the new shares to the sellers under ASX Listing Rule 7.1.

A shareholder vote will be held at the extraordinary general meeting in June 2022.

If green-lit, the shares will be issued at the completion of the acquisition and thus APIRx will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

Incannex noted that the acquisition of APIRx delivers a strong portfolio of patented drug candidates. This includes 22 development programs covering a total addressable market of US$400 billion per annum.

Together, Incannex and APIRx will form the world’s largest portfolio of patented medicinal cannabinoid drug formulations and psychedelic treatment protocols.

The takeover is expected to be seamless, as APIRx’s assets are similar to Incannex’s operational capabilities and pharmaceutical development strategy.

Incannex CEO and managing director, Joel Latham commented:

The acquisition of APIRx presents us with clear long and short-term opportunities for significant value growth. Several drug candidates have shortened regulatory pathways to break into areas of patient need representing very large global markets. These candidates are our initial development priority.

Incannex’s strong cash position allows us to pursue these near-term product opportunities at the same time as moving at pace to develop the Incannex combination drug candidates. Once the acquisition of APIRx has been finalised, Incannex will have many diverse projects under development, the progress over which we will update the stock exchanges with ongoingly.

Incannex share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Incannex share price has surged close to 60%.

While investor optimism took hold late last year, this hasn’t been the case in 2022 with losses sitting around 31%.

The company’s shares reached a multi-year high of 75.5 cents in early March, before giving up their astonishing gains.

On valuation grounds, Incannex presides a market capitalisation of around $549.97 million.

The post Here’s why the Incannex share price is rocketing 18% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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Listed below are a couple of dividend shares that brokers believe are in the buy zone right now and offer yields that could help combat inflation.

Here’s what income investors need to know about these dividend shares:

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Long Wale REIT.

The Charter Hall Long Wale REIT is a property company that invests in high quality ANZ real estate assets that are predominantly leased to corporate and government tenants on long term leases.

At the last count, the company’s portfolio weighted average lease expiry (WALE) stood at 12.2 years. Management believes this provides long-term income security.

The team at Citi is very positive on the Charter Hall Long Wale REIT. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $5.71 price target on its shares.

In respect to dividends, the broker is forecasting dividends per share of 30.8 cents in FY 2022 and 30.9 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current Charter Hall Long Wale REIT share price of $4.84, this will mean yields of ~6.3%.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Another ASX dividend share that could be in the buy zone is Wesfarmers.

It is the conglomerate behind businesses including Bunnings, Catch, Covalent Lithium, Kmart, Officeworks, and Priceline.

Analysts at Morgans are very positive on Wesfarmers. They recently put an add rating and $58.50 price target on its shares.

The broker likes Wesfarmers due to it having “one of the highest quality retail portfolios in Australia” and “a highly regarded management team.”

As for dividends, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of $1.62 in FY 2022 and $1.81 in FY 2023. Based on the current Wesfarmers share price of $49.21, this will mean yields of 3.3% and 3.7%, respectively.

The post Analysts name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy to beat inflation appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Wesfarmers share price beating the ASX 200 this week?
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• 2 ASX shares to buy as Aussies tighten their belts
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• Broker names 2 of the ‘best’ ASX dividend shares to buy next 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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is once again falling over this Thursday’s trading session thus far. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down by a depressing 1.02% to just under 7,000 points. But things are faring far worse today with the Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price.

Block shares are getting a hammering today. The US-based fintech company and new owner of Afterpay is down by a nasty 15.63% at $102.30 a share as it currently stands. That puts Block very close to its 52-week low of $102 a share. It also means the company has fallen close to 30% over just the past five trading days. Not to mention more than 37% over the past month.

So what’s going on with Block today that has elicited such a sharp selloff?

Why are Block shares getting smashed today?

Well, it’s not entirely clear. There hasn’t actually been any news or developments out of Block itself that might explain this tanking share price. However, there are still several factors that we can look to. The first is the Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) stock price, the original US listing of Block.

SQ2 shares are simply an ASX-listed version of Block’s American SQ shares. They are more or less the same investment, just priced on a different stock exchange. But last night (our time), Block’s US shares were also smashed. The company dropped 15.61% in last night’s trading down to US$71.22 a share.

This seems to have been sparked by both the ongoing sell-off in the US tech shares sector and a sharp plunge in the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). Block famously has a large stockpile of Bitcoin. But unfortunately for the company, this would have dropped a hefty 7.5% or so over the past 24 hours thanks to the price of Bitcoin itself dropping by that number.

But Block wasn’t the only US tech company copping a pounding last night, although it was one of the larger fallers. We had Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) drop more than 8%, and Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) fall by more than 5%.

Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is also taking a beating, down 5.41% at the time of writing.

It sure is a tough time to be a tech share.

At the current Block share price, this ASX 200 fintech share has a market capitalisation of US$41.34 billion.

The post Blockdown! Why is the Block share price crashing by 16% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Thursday thrashing: ASX tech shares tumble
• ASX 200 midday update: CBA’s Q3 update impresses, Xero and Block crash
• Zip share price tumbles 5% to another multi-year low
• How much further can ASX 200 tech shares tumble? Macquarie weighs in
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Apple, Bitcoin, Block, Inc., and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Apple, Bitcoin, Block, Inc., and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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ASX tech shares are having a tough day today. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is currently down by more than 5%.

Some of the biggest names in the technology sector are seeing the worst falls. For example:

• The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is down 12%
• The Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) share price is down 9.5%
• The Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price is down 15%
• The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is down 11%
• The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price is down 4.5%
• The REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) share price is down 3.5%
• The SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) share price is down 3.7%

Not every business in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is seeing a decline, though the index is currently down 1%.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price is up 1% after the big four bank reported its quarterly update. The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is up 0.3% as well.

Why are ASX tech shares hurting so much?

Sometimes, the ASX tech sector is influenced by what happens to international tech shares during the US trading session.

Overnight, the Nasdaq 100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX), which is made up of many of the world’s largest tech names, dropped by 3%. The Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) share price fell 5.2% and the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) share price dropped 3.3%. The Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: FB) share price declined 4.5% and the Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) share price dipped by 3.2%. The Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) share price sank 8.25%.

But there’s another question – why did those shares fall so much?

There has been a lot of market focus on how strong inflation is at the moment. The latest US inflation data was just released and the 12-month percentage change for the consumer price index was 8.3%.

This wasn’t quite as strong as the 40-year high of 8.5% registered in March but it remains elevated. Seasonally adjusted, there was a month-on-month increase of 0.3%.

According to Bloomberg, the core CPI was higher than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The news outlet reported that investors are expecting ongoing strong moves by the US Federal Reserve to try to control inflation. There are more expectations for four straight 50-basis-point increases.

Bloomberg reported that Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said: “The peak of inflation may be behind us, but today’s CPI report points to a long, slow descent or maybe even a plateau around 8%.”

Why interest rates are important for asset valuations

Interest rates are seen as an important influencer on asset prices, including ASX tech shares.

Warren Buffett once said:

The value of every business, the value of a farm, the value of an apartment house, the value of any economic asset, is 100% sensitive to interest rates because all you are doing in investing is transferring some money to somebody now in exchange for what you expect the stream of money to be, to come in over a period of time, and the higher interest rates are the less that present value is going to be. So every business by its nature … its intrinsic valuation is 100% sensitive to interest rates.

The post Thursday thrashing: ASX tech shares tumble appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Blockdown! Why is the Block share price crashing by 16% today?
• Why is the WiseTech share price slipping 5% lower today?
• ASX 200 midday update: CBA’s Q3 update impresses, Xero and Block crash
• Zip share price tumbles 5% to another multi-year low
• How much further can ASX 200 tech shares tumble? Macquarie weighs in

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Altium, Amazon, Apple, Block, Inc., Life360, Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., Microsoft, Tesla, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc., WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Inc., REA Group Limited, and SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price is tracking lower today and is now down 4.67% at $39.15.

While there’s been no market-sensitive information released by the company today, in wider market moves, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is 5.19% in the red at the time of writing.

What’s up with WiseTech?

Tech and growth-type shares have each taken a beating in 2022 and the downward momentum appears to have carried into the third quarter of this financial year.

WiseTech shareholders have seen their positions oscillate over the past three months with shares collapsing from a high of $53.21 in early April.

In the last month of trade, WiseTech shares have sunk almost 20% into the red. They are down 33% this year to date and are now resting at six-month lows.

Both upward momentum and sentiment appears to be lowly in the WiseTech share price.

In fact, analysts are even calling for the company to create a catalyst to drive its shares higher – perhaps through an acquisition, according to the team at Macquarie.

“A transformative acquisition could provide a positive share-price catalyst for WiseTech,” Macquarie analysts wrote in a recent note.

However, the broker also thinks WiseTech won’t spend more than US$400 million, even though it could probably search for a transaction in the realm of US$1 billion.

Macquarie is neutral on WiseTech and values the company at $45 per share, holding the same view as six other brokers – 50% of coverage, according to Bloomberg data.

Meanwhile, the consensus price target from all analysts is $48.57 per share, implying around $10 of further upside if the crowd has it valued correctly.

WiseTech share price snapshot

In the last 12 months, the WiseTech share price has held onto a 46% gain, However, it is trading deep in the red for 2022.

It is also down 7% over the past week.

The post Why is the WiseTech share price slipping 5% lower today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 tech shares are staging a remarkable recovery today
• Why did the Xero share price just rebound 6%?
• Here’s why ASX 200 tech shares are having such a disastrous run on Friday
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Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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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

Cryptocurrencies continued to struggle today as the market continues to navigate a worrisome macro outlook that is leading to a sell-off of riskier assets.

Over the last 24 hours, the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), was trading roughly flat at 10:56 a.m. ET today. However, Bitcoin briefly dropped below $30,000 today for the second time this week and is down more than 12% over the last five days.

The price of Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) had fallen roughly 16% over the last day at the same time, and the price of Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) had fallen roughly 17.5%.

So what

Cryptocurrencies haven’t fared much better than tech stocks in recent months, as the Federal Reserve first tightened and then raised its benchmark overnight lending rate, the federal funds rate. It has raised that rate roughly 0.75% over its last two meetings, including with a half-point hike at its meeting earlier this month. When the Fed hikes rates, it makes safer assets like U.S. Treasury bills, which are guaranteed by the U.S. government, yield more. That makes investors demand higher returns from other riskier assets, which can put pressure on them.

“This further supports the case that bitcoin investors were seeking to de-risk, sell or add collateral to margin in response to market volatility,” analysts from the blockchain company Glassnode wrote in a report earlier this week.

Additionally, inflation has remained high. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the prices of common everyday goods and services, was up 8.3% year over year in April. That’s down slightly from the increase in the CPI in March but more than the 8.1% increase that experts and analysts had been predicting. 

“We’re starting to see energy [costs] pull back a little bit, but it’s not enough,” said Kathy Jones, the chief fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab, according to CNBC. “The markets were hoping for a better number and it’s not good enough to rule out more Fed tightening.”

Many have long seen Bitcoin as a good hedge against inflation due to its finite supply of 21 million tokens. But so far there’s been no real proof of that, as the price of Bitcoin is now down more than 50% over the last six months.

Now what

I don’t see much news on the meme tokens Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, but I think they are struggling along with the broader altcoin market.

While they definitely trade with some correlation to Bitcoin, altcoins like this are arguably even riskier because they are not being driven by any kind of fundamentals in the first place, but really by their ability to build a community and investor excitement around themselves.

Additionally, there is likely no chance that either Dogecoin or Shiba Inu could ever hedge inflation due to their huge supplies. Dogecoin has no supply limit, while Shiba Inu’s is 1 quadrillion tokens, although there are currently 549 trillion tokens still in circulation.

Ultimately, I am pretty bearish on Dogecoin and Shiba Inu but still believe in Bitcoin as a long-term buy and hold. Every day, more of the traditional financial system seems to adopt Bitcoin and use blockchain technology.

I also believe there is the potential for cryptocurrencies to gain more adoption among consumers for daily transactions and payment purposes, which would also likely be good for crypto prices. 

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

The post Why Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are tumbling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Ethereum, Dogecoin, and The Sandbox dropped today
• Here’s what happened with Dogecoin in April
• Why Shiba Inu was falling today
• Why Shiba Inu, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are sinking today
• Why Dogecoin is rising today

Charles Schwab is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Charles Schwab. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips. 

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

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