Month: October 2022

The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is outperforming the market on Monday.

In morning trade, the lithium miner’s shares are flat at $1.15.

This compares favourably to a 1.4% decline by ASX 200 index.

Why is the Core Lithium share price outperforming?

The Core Lithium share price is performing better than most today after the market responded positively to an announcement this morning.

According to the release, Core Lithium’s managing director, Stephen Biggins, will bring forward his resignation from the role and exit the company with immediate effect.

Mr Biggins had announced his resignation in March and planned to step down from the role before the end of 2022.

However, with the recent official opening of the Finniss Lithium Mine and appointment of Gareth Manderson as CEO, Biggins has decided it is the appropriate time to complete his role as managing director and as a director of Core Lithium.

He commented:

The Finniss Lithium Mine official opening was the culmination of 12 years of rewarding dedication to achieve this rare milestone and I feel that now is the right time to step down as Managing Director.

Now is the ideal opportunity to hand over the leadership to Gareth as he has settled into the role as CEO. The business is now in great shape, the financial performance is strong, and at the Finniss Lithium Project, we have built a platform for sustainable growth for many years to come.

Core Lithium’s chairman, Greg English, notes that Biggins “has left a significant long-lasting legacy and has set Core up for strong earnings growth.” He concludes:

On behalf of the Core team, I would like to thank Stephen for his outstanding contribution to the Company, and we wish him well in his other ventures.

The post Why is Core Lithium share price outperforming the ASX 200 today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s the outlook for ASX battery metals shares in Q2?
• Could Rio Tinto be coming for your ASX lithium shares?
• Why is the Core Lithium share price lagging the ASX 200 on Thursday?
• Can ASX 200 lithium shares bank on the price of lithium to keep soaring?
• Despite recent volatility, Core Lithium shares delivered a 16% gain in Q1. Here’s how

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 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 WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM) share price is down 5.42% in early trading on Monday at $1.745.

But don’t worry, it’s just a simple case of the listed investment company (LIC) going ex-dividend today.

WAM is set to pay its final dividend for the 2022 financial year on 28 October.

Here’s the lowdown.

WAM Capital’s next dividend coming soon

WAM Capital will be paying a final dividend of 7.75 cents per share to its investors later this month.

The dividend is 100% franked, which means investors will benefit from franking credits at tax time.

WAM has paid 7.75 cents per share in dividends twice per year for the past five years.

One of the reasons WAM Capital’s dividend is so stable is that the fund saves profits in strong years.

This profit reserve enables WAM Capital to keep paying the same or similar level of dividend each period.

Based on today’s share price, WAM Capital has a trailing annual dividend yield of 8.64%.

As my Fool colleague Tristan reported last week, WAM Capital has generated gross total returns of 14.7% per annum since its inception in August 1999 through to 30 June 2022.

WAM’s latest monthly update

WAM released its latest monthly update on Friday.

The value of the WAM Capital fund went down in the month of September.

The net tangible assets (NTA) per share before tax at the end of the month was 140.53 cents. This is down from August when it was 152.35 cents.

WAM reported that Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) was a strong performer for the fund in September.

Conversely, Event Hospitality and Entertainment Ltd (ASX: EVT) was a drag.

The post Why is the WAM Capital share price having such a lousy start to the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Want to snare the next WAM Capital dividend? Here’s how
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 2 little-known ASX shares that this fund manager says have ‘strong’ outlooks

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in WAM Capital 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 Premier Investments 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 Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) share price is in the green this morning after the company posted a trading update for the first quarter of financial year 2022.

The liquor and hotel giant’s shares are currently trading at $6.97, 1.46% higher than their previous close.

That’s compared to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s 1.32% tumble at the time of writing.

Endeavour share price lifts as quarterly sales reach $3 billion

Here are the key takeaways from the Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) spin-off’s unaudited sales for the 14 weeks ended 2 October:

• Retail sales came in at $2.49 billion – a 6.2% fall on the same quarter of last financial year
• Hotels sales lifted to $538 million – a 90.8% improvement
• Total sales increased 3.1% to around $3 billion
• On a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the company’s retail sales lifted 4.4%
• Its hotels sales also increased 4.8% on a three-year CAGR basis.

Endeavour’s sales continued to grow on a multi-year basis in the first quarter as its hotel and retail portfolio cycles through previous COVID-19 lockdowns.

The first quarter of financial year 2022 saw key population centres in Victoria and New South Wales impacted by lockdowns and restrictions. That negatively impacted the company’s hotels segment, with 40% of its hotels closed in the prior comparable period. However, it saw sales at its retail portfolio – housing brands such as Dan Murphy’s and BWS – surge.

Compared to the same period of financial year 2020 (pre-pandemic), Endeavour’s hotel and retail businesses saw sales increase 15% and 13.9% respectively last quarter.

What else happened in Q1?

The Endeavour share price fell 7.5% over the first quarter of financial year 2022 amid rising inflation and interest rates.

It also plummeted 12.3% on the back of the company’s full-year earnings, released in August.

The company added one Dan Murphy’s store and seven new BWS stores to its portfolio last quarter. It also acquired three hotels, leaving it boasting 347 hotels at the end of the quarter.

What did management say?

Endeavour managing director and CEO Steve Donohue commented on the results driving the company’s share price today, saying:

Our hotels are thriving, as Australians embrace both large and small social occasions after years of COVID-19 disruption.

There has been a rebound across all hospitality categories, with bars, food, gaming, and accommodation all performing strongly. Live entertainment is also becoming a feature of our business again, with music fans enjoying a range of sold-out gigs across our hotels.

We’ve also seen consistent, strong sales in retail. Our year-on-year comparison shows a predictable decline as we cycle the unique spikes in demand created by COVID-19 restrictions … This cycling impact is easing as we head into the second quarter.

What’s next?

The company is gearing up for a busy holiday period, set to mark the first restriction-free festive season in three years.

Donohue noted function bookings are already strong in the company’s hotels and its retail brands will offer a range of products to meet various tastes, trends, and price points over the holiday season.

The company will also host its annual general meeting (AGM) tomorrow.

Endeavour share price snapshot

The Endeavour share price has outperformed the broader market so far this year.

The stock has gained 2% since the start of 2022. It’s also trading 1% higher than it was this time last year.

Meanwhile, the ASX 200 has fallen 11% year to date and 8% over the last 12 months.

The post Why is the Endeavour share price having such a great start to the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the company’s buyback helping boost the AMP share price?
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• Opportunities across the mining sector: Expert names ASX 200 shares to buy
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• ‘Excellent buying opportunity’: Expert reveals the ASX 200 share he just bought

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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Unfortunately, the major influence on ASX shares in 2022 has been external factors, not company performance.

Inflation, fear of interest rate rises, actual rate hikes, supply chain dysfunction, and surging energy prices have all brought the market to its knees at one point or another.

It’s kind of crazy if you think about it. 

Shares are a part-ownership in a business. For the worth of that to swing wildly up and down despite not much variation in the underlying business is pretty illogical.

This is why more than one expert will tell you to ignore all the “noise” and just buy ASX shares on business fundamentals.

Because eventually this craziness will abate, and investors will once again start paying attention to the quality of companies.

With this in mind, the team running the IML Australian Share Fund explained why it is backing two ASX shares with great conviction, even though one rocketed up last quarter while the other plummeted. 

This business will perform through tough economic times

In the winner’s corner was Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB), which went up 8.2% over the quarter ending 30 September.

The IML team was impressed with the pallet and supply chain company’s reporting season update.

“It reported a very strong result, with profits up 11%, helped by the company’s margin expansion in its US operations thanks to its ability to pass on costs despite strong inflation,” read its memo to clients.

The outlook continues to look positive for Brambles, as the IML analysts feel the business will be resilient through an economic downturn.

“Given Brambles’ strong market position, its pricing power and customer base of predominantly food and beverages companies, we remain confident in the company’s ability to continue to perform well despite uncertain economic times.”

Many of IML’s peers agree with the bullish view on Brambles.

According to CMC Markets, 11 out of 17 analysts currently rate the stock as a buy. However, four of the dissenters do recommend it as a sell.

‘Offers outstanding value’

Not so fortunate during the quarter was the Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI) share price, which fell 16.2%.

IML analysts attributed this to the dilution from a capital raising round.

“Investors reacted poorly to a capital raising at $16 a share which the company earmarked to fund the acquisition of Axis, as well as to help bolster its working capital position.”

Despite this fall, Orica shares have held up fairly well in a year when many other stocks have stumbled. Orica is down just 2% so far in 2022.

The team at IML is ignoring the recent market hate and is keeping the faith in the industrial explosives provider.

“We believe it offers outstanding value,” he said.

“It has a reinvigorated management team and we believe its earnings are set to benefit greatly in the years ahead from higher explosive prices and the repricing upwards of many of its contracts.”

The IML Australian Shares Fund actually increased its holding in Orica during the September quarter, taking advantage of the discount.

The post 2 ‘outstanding value’ ASX shares to buy now going in opposite directions: fund appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Macquarie reveals ASX 200 shares ‘more likely to outperform in a bear market rally’
• Looking to buy ASX shares? Expert reveals ‘one metric to assess the quality of a business’

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is starting the week in the red.

At the time of writing, the biotherapeutics giant’s shares are down 1.5% to $276.17.

Why is the CSL share price falling?

The weakness in the CSL share price today has been driven by a broad market selloff following a very poor finish to the week on Wall Street.

Unfortunately, this has offset any positives from the company’s briefing on its new CSL Vifor business.

In respect to its briefing, this morning CSL outlined the market opportunities that this newly acquired business has.

CSL Vifor’s massive market opportunities

CSL highlights that iron deficiency (ID) is a massive market. In fact, it estimates that there are over 3 billion people suffering from ID and around 1.2 billion people suffering from iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). This gives its Ferinject therapy a major market opportunity.

Management also notes that the renal disease market is expected to grow from US$13 billion in 2020 to US$25 billion in 2026.

Furthermore, it highlights that Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity around the world. In the United States, approximately 15% of adults suffer from CKD. Despite this, there is a “significant lack of access to therapies to support CKD patients.”

Overall, this gives the CSL Vifor business a major growth opportunity over the long term, which will be supported by its strong product portfolio and ongoing investment in research and development.

CSL guidance for FY 2023

As expected, management has now revealed its guidance for FY 2023 including the CSL Vifor business.

CSL was previously guiding to constant currency net profit after tax of US$2.4 billion to US$2.5 billion excluding Vifor Pharma.

Including an 11-month contribution from the business, it expects net profit after tax before amortisation (NPATA) of US$2.7 billion to US$2.8 billion. This represents annual constant currency growth of 13% to 18%.

The post Why is the CSL share price dropping today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Which ASX All Ords shares could perform well in a recession?
• Could CSL shares capitalise on the next pandemic?
• Here are 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares to add to your portfolio: brokers
• The ASX shares I’d buy now to put away for 4 years: advisor
• If I’d invested $5,000 in these 5 ASX shares five years ago, here’s what I’d have now

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 positions in and has recommended CSL Ltd. 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 Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price has come under pressure on Monday morning.

In early trade, the horticulture company’s shares are down 14% to $1.98.

Why is the Costa share price sinking?

Investors have been selling down the Costa share price on Monday after the company released an update on its earnings guidance.

According to the release, Costa is expecting its full year earnings for the Citrus category to be considerably lower than previously forecast.

The release notes that lower quality levels across all citrus regions have continued, which has resulted in considerably lower packouts, as well as reduced volumes of first grade fruit for export. This has been driven by adverse weather conditions, including both higher rainfall and cooler temperatures.

One positive, though, is that market demand and pricing in its export destinations remain very strong which bodes well for the 2023 season.

In addition, the company notes that the effort to produce the crop in challenging conditions has also caused an increase in labour expenditure, as well as higher spraying costs in relation to pest and disease control.

What does this mean for its full-year profits?

Costa advised that it currently expect full year group EBITDA-S to be marginally ahead of last year’s results.

This will be a sharp slowdown on its first half performance, when it delivered EBITDA-S growth of 12.6%.

Management also warned that while it does not expect any additional material impact from recent heavy rainfalls experienced across the country, further downside risk is possible if the extreme adverse weather continues.

Finally, Costa also confirmed that despite its EBITDA-S being lower than previously forecast, debt levels and related ratios remain comfortably manageable for the company.

The post Why the Costa share price is crashing 14% to a 52-week low appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• This ASX 200 company has just been hit by its own Optus-style cyber attack. Here’s the latest.
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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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended COSTA GRP FPO. 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.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) isn’t my favorite e-commerce stock (I prefer Shopify‘s mission to put the power of commerce back in the hands of smaller merchants). Nevertheless, I’ve been buying Amazon because I think it’s too cheap to ignore — especially when considering the company’s main breadwinner, public cloud computing pioneer AWS (Amazon Web Services).

After yet another dip for the stock in the last month or so, I recently went shopping for Amazon stock again, because I think the e-commerce segment is essentially a “freebie” at this point. Here’s why Amazon is a top stock to buy for the long term right now.

Valuing different business segments can be hard

As has always been the case with giant and complex businesses, Wall Street has a difficult time getting a handle on how to value Amazon. It’s a particularly hard case due to how the company attributes its revenue and operating income (or in the case of 2022, operating losses — more on that in a minute). 

Broadly speaking, sales and operating profit are broken down into “North America” and “International” (which are further segmented into online and physical store sales, third-party seller services, advertising, and subscriptions), and also “AWS.” 

The problem is these operating segments couldn’t be more different. North America and International are largely consumer-facing e-commerce businesses, with some lucrative services like digital ads riding sidecar. As impressive as these businesses are, Amazon’s e-commerce empire doesn’t really pay the bills for shareholders these days. That’s the job of AWS, the high-tech cloud titan that’s still booming and ridiculously profitable. 

Amazon Segment	Trailing 12-Month Revenue Q2 2022	Trailing 12-Month Revenue Q2 2021	YoY Change
North America	$291.6 billion	$266.6 billion	9.4%
International	$122.2 billion	$124.0 billion	(1.4%)
AWS	$72.1 billion	$52.7 billion	36.9%
Total	$485.9 billion	$443.3 billion	9.6%

Data source: Amazon. 

Amazon Segment	Trailing 12-Month Operating Income (Loss) Q2 2022	Trailing 12-Month Operating Income (Loss) Q2 2021	YoY Change
North America	($1.5 billion)	$11.8 billion	N/A
International	($5.6 billion)	$2.4 billion	N/A
AWS	$22.4 billon	$15.5 billion	45.0%
Total	$15.3 billion	$29.6 billion	(48.4%)

Data source: Amazon. 

In the first half of 2021, AWS generated over half of Amazon’s overall operating profit, even though it accounted for just 12% of total revenue. Things have changed dramatically this year as e-commerce has slowed, and Amazon has begun investing heavily to promote its next run of growth. Thanks to continued rapid growth in AWS, the cloud segment now makes up nearly 15% of revenue and is the only segment generating positive operating income.

Nevertheless, operating profit overall has been cut in half over the last year because of North America and International slipping back into the red. The market seems to be following this headline number and has punished Amazon stock accordingly, while overlooking the fast-and-steady advance of AWS. Shares are down over 40% from their all-time high as of this writing. 

Buy one AWS, get an e-commerce empire free

After enduring market punishment, Amazon has an enterprise value of $1.14 trillion. But here’s where things get interesting: If AWS were a stand-alone stock right now and still valued at $1.14 trillion, it would currently trade for 51 times trailing 12-month operating profit (based on AWS operating income of $22.4 billion). An expensive price tag? Sure. But not an unthinkable one considering this is a massive computing technologist that still grew its operating income at a 45% pace over the last year. Quality generally fetches a premium. 

What seems off to me is the current valuation seems overly focused on operating losses in the North America and International e-commerce segments. Sure, as stand-alone e-commerce businesses, they are no AWS. Even in mid-2021 when e-commerce was still going full-force during the pandemic, North America and International generated trailing 12-month operating income margins of just 4.4% and 1.9%, respectively (compared to an operating margin of 29.4% for AWS). Nevertheless, even at these slim margins, Amazon’s e-commerce (and related services) juggernaut can generate significant cash given the hundreds of billions in sales it does every year.

What I’m saying here is that AWS is the workhorse that’s driving Amazon’s financials, but Wall Street seems hyperfocused on the e-commerce segments that have temporarily fallen into loss-generating territory. If you believe the e-commerce segments’ red ink will be temporary, this stock looks mighty cheap. That’s especially true if AWS continues to grow and churn out a high level of profits along the way. Buy the stock now for the cloud computing business, and get Amazon’s e-commerce ecosystem as a “free” bonus.  

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

The post Buy Amazon stock for AWS, get the e-commerce business for ‘free’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why I just bought Amazon stock
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Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients have positions in Amazon and Shopify. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Amazon and Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2023 $1,140 calls on Shopify and short January 2023 $1,160 calls on Shopify. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. 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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Are you looking for dividend shares to buy? If you are, then you may want to look at the ASX dividend shares listed below that have recently been named as buys by the team at Morgans.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be worth considering right now:

GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG)

The first ASX dividend share that Morgans rates as a buy is beaten down fund manager GQG Partners.

The broker believes that its shares have fallen to a very attractive level, particularly given its strong relative investment performance. It commented:

GQG’s strong relative investment outperformance through the current market weakness should solidify the near-term flows outflow. GQG has diversified earnings (by strategy and clients); solid performance track-record; and ongoing growth prospects. In our view, the current ~10x PE (versus a sector medium-term average of ~16x) is attractive.

Morgans has an add rating and $1.93 price target on the fund manager’s shares.

As for dividends, the broker is expecting fully franked dividends per share of 7.5 cents in FY 2022 and 7.4 cents in FY 2023. Based on the current GQG share price of $1.44, this implies yields of 5.2% and 5.1%, respectively.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Another ASX dividend share that Morgans rates highly is telco giant Telstra. The broker likes the company due to its positive outlook and attractive valuation. It commented:

TLS currently trades on ~7x EV/EBITDA. However some of TLS’s high quality long life assets like InfraCo are worth substantially more, in our view. We don’t think this is in the price so see it as value generating for TLS shareholders. This, free option, combined with likely reputational damage to its closest peer, following a major cybersecurity incident, means TLS looks well placed for the year ahead.

Morgans has an add rating and $4.60 price target on Telstra’s shares.

In respect to dividends, its analysts are expecting fully franked 16.5 cents per share dividends in FY 2023 and FY 2024. Based on the latest Telstra share price of $3.84, this will mean yields of 4.3%.

The post Morgans names 2 ASX dividend shares to buy right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Which ASX All Ords shares could perform well in a recession?
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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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation 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 AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) share price has been a strong performer in 2022. In the calendar year to date, it has risen by 19%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen 11% in 2022 at the time of writing.

The diversified financial business has managed to beat the ASX share market by an impressive 30%. Of course, it’s still down by more than 70% over the past five years, but this short-term performance has been a welcome change for shareholders.

How is AMP generating value for shareholders?

The business has been working on realising value for investors. This is because the company believed that AMP’s market capitalisation was significantly smaller than the total value of all of its business segments.

AMP had told investors a while ago that it was going to return money to investors, before announcing its share buyback.

For example, on 28 April 2022, the business announced it was selling its Collimate Capital’s international infrastructure equity business for an upfront $462 million and a total value of up to $699 million.

Combined with the $430 million from the sale of the domestic infrastructure equity and real estate business announced on 27 April 2022 and the $578 million from the sale of the infrastructure debt platform completed in February 2022, that valued the total Collimate Capital business at up to $2.04 billion, including the value of retained assets.

In that April announcement, AMP said that it “intends to return the majority of net cash proceeds from the recent transactions to shareholders”. It also said it would use some of the proceeds to pay down corporate debt.

Since 27 April 2022, the day before the announcement, the AMP share price has risen 16.7%.

Share buyback

In August, when AMP announced its share buyback, it said it was going to return a total of $1.1 billion to shareholders, starting with a $350 million on-market share buyback which would “commence immediately”.

A further $750 million of capital returns are planned in FY23, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. That $750 million return is expected to be a combination of capital return, special dividend, and further on-market share buyback.

The idea of a share buyback is that the business will buy shares back from investors and that reduces the amount of shares that are on issue. Assuming the underlying value of the business doesn’t change, it increases the value of each remaining share. In theory, that should help the AMP share price.

Think of it this way, imagine someone is splitting up pies or pizzas. If the number of slices (shares) is reduced, then each slice becomes bigger for the people who get a slice. The people that still own a slice see their value increase and that means they own more of the pie.

In its latest update on 14 October 2022, AMP revealed that it had bought back more than 130 million shares, so it has already made good progress on spending that $350 million.

The AMP share price is only up by 1.7% since the actual share buyback was announced, but some investors were likely already factoring that in.

The buyback is proposed to finish on 30 June 2023. Though I think it’s possible that it could finish sooner if the business spends all of the $350 million quickly.

What next for the AMP share price?

Don’t forget that another $750 million is expected to be coming in FY23, which is more than double the size of the first buyback. This could be supportive for the business in the future.

It will be interesting to see how the business’ underlying performance goes. Will the bank segment benefit from rising interest rates? Will AMP be able to stem the outflows from its asset management?

At least for now, investors seem to be backing AMP.

The post Is the company’s buyback helping boost the AMP share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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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At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues to be the most shorted share on the ASX with short interest of 14.75%. This is a small week on week increase. Short sellers appear concerned over the travel market recovery amid rising living costs.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest ease to 14.3%. This betting technology company’s shares trade on lofty multiples, which could have caught the eye of short sellers.
• Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) has seen its short interest rise to 11.4%. Investors appear worried that a global recession could have an impact on this payments company’s growth.
• Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest remain flat at 10%. This appears to have been driven by valuation concerns and ongoing weakness in the tech sector.
• Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) has short interest of 9.9%, which is down week on week again. Short sellers have doubts over this lithium developer’s DLE technology.
• Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) has seen its short interest jump to 9.3%. There are concerns that cost inflation could be weighing on its performance.
• Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) has seen its short interest jump to 8.7%. Short sellers may not be overly keen on its proposed $2.5 billion acquisition of rival Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL).
• Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) has short interest of 8.4%, which is up week on week again. There are concerns that this infection prevention company could underperform due to a disruptive business model change in the key US market. Delays to new product launches have also hit sentiment hard.
• Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) has short interest of 8.3%, which is flat week on week. This fund manager’s shares have fallen heavily this year due to significant funds under management weakness. Short sellers don’t appear to believe the worst is over.
• Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG) has seen its short interest rise to 8%. Investors appear concerned that the uncertain economic backdrop could impact consumer spending on kitchen goods.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares 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. has positions in and has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Block, Inc., MEGAPORT FPO, and Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. and Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and MEGAPORT FPO. 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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