On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a day to forget and sank deep into the red. The benchmark index fell 2% to 8,614.4 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday and end the week on a high? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rebound

The Australian share market looks set for a better session on Friday following a positive night of trade in the United States. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 48 points or 0.55% higher this morning. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 0.05%, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq edged 0.05% higher.

Oil prices charge higher

ASX 200 energy shares Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)could have a strong finish to the week after oil prices charged higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 3% to US$93.13 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 4.6% to US$102.57 a barrel. This follows reports that the US has sent a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

Megaport shares given buy rating

The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price could be heading even higher according to Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has initiated coverage on the cloud infrastructure provider’s shares with a buy rating and $27.00 price target. It commented: “We initiate coverage of Megaport with a BUY recommendation and $27.00 target price. […] In our view Megaport looks value trading on an FY28 EV/EBITDA multiple of c.7x when the median multiple of the domestic comps is c.15x (based on FY28 forecasts) and international comps is c.11x (based on 2027 forecasts).”

Gold price rises

ASX 200 gold shares Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) could have a good finish to the week after the gold price rose overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.5% to US$4,207.6 an ounce. Easing US Treasury yields gave the precious metal a boost.

Buy Netwealth shares

It could be a good time to buy Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) shares according to Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on the investment platform provider’s shares with a trimmed price target of $25.00 (from $30.00). It said: “Given interest rates,we have moved our valuation multiple to 2022-23 levels with a class action provision. Our flow expectations are below FY27 guidance. NWL has operated in similar environments, with large withdrawals and clients moving off platform.FY23 flows landed -10% below the guidance and growth was restored in 12mths. Our $17.9bn matches this experience. So far, we are 6mths into the cycle.”

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Bell Potter just put a buy rating on Megaport shares with 33% upside
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why is the ASX down 176 points today?
• Which were the best-performing ASX 200 shares in September?
• How high does Macquarie think Megaport shares will go?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Megaport and Woodside Energy Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport and Netwealth Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Netwealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Scores of S&P/ASX All Ords (ASX: XAO) shares are set to pay dividends this month following the recent reporting season.

To receive a dividend, you must own the ASX share before its ex-dividend date.

We’re helping you keep track of ex-dividend dates with an article every Friday.

Here are the ASX shares going ex-dividend next week.

ASX shares with ex-div dates next week

Verbrec Ltd (ASX: VBC)

This ASX industrials share will pay a 100% franked dividend of 0.002 cents per share on 20 October.

The ex-dividend date is Monday, 5 October.

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN)

Harvey Norman shares will pay a fully-franked dividend of 13 cents per share on 12 November.

The ex-div date is Tuesday, 6 October.

Ridley Corporation Ltd (ASX: RIC)

This S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) consumer staples share will pay a 100% franked dividend of 5.3 cents per share on 22 October.

The ex-dividend date is Tuesday.

Reece Ltd (ASX: REH)

This ASX All Ords industrial share will pay a 100% franked dividend of 13.4 cents per share on 21 October.

The ex-div date is Tuesday.

MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF)

MFF Capital Investments will pay a 100% franked dividend of 11 cents per share on 29 October.

The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, 7 October.

WAM Capital Ltd (ASX: WAM)

WAM Capital shares will pay a 60% franked dividend of 7.75 cents per share on 21 October.

Wilson Asset Management shocked investors by forecasting a near-halving in the annual dividend for FY27.

WAM Capital shares vastly underperformed the market in FY26, falling 10.5% in value.

That compares to a 2.4% increase for the ASX All Ords index.

The ex-dividend date for the next payment is Thursday, 8 October.

ARB Corporation Ltd (ASX: ARB)

This S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) consumer discretionary share will pay a 100% franked dividend of 35 cents per share on 23 October.

The ex-div date is Thursday.

Clime Capital Ltd (ASX: CAM)

This ASX financial share will pay a 50% franked dividend of 1.4 cents per share on 23 October.

The ex-dividend date is Thursday.

Naos Emerging Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX: NCC)

This ASX listed investment company (LIC) will pay a fully-franked dividend of 2.1 cents per share on 30 October.

The ex-div date is Thursday.

EQT Holdings Ltd (ASX: EQT)

This ASX All Ords financial share will pay a 100% franked dividend of 20 cents per share on 23 October.

The ex-div date is Friday, 9 October.

The post 10 ASX shares with ex-dividend dates next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 great ASX dividend share buys for passive income in October
• Where to invest $20,000 in ASX dividend shares for passive income
• How much is needed in superannuation to target a $10,000 monthly passive income?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Buy, hold, sell: BOQ, Harvey Norman, Lynas shares

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in Wam Capital. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ARB Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman and Mff Capital Investments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It is fair to say that Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) shares have been on fire this year.

Since the start of the year, the cloud infrastructure provider’s shares have risen a massive 70%.

As a comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down around 1.1% over the same period.

But if you thought the gains were over, think again. That’s because Bell Potter has just initiated coverage on Megaport and believes there’s plenty more upside on offer here for investors.

What is the broker saying?

Bell Potter notes that Megaport provides investors with exposure to the strong growth in inference compute demand. It explains:

Megaport provides one of the few direct exposures on the ASX to a neocloud provider and, in particular, the strong growth in inference compute demand. Even if and when other neocloud providers like Firmus and/or Sharon AI list on the ASX, Megaport provides differentiated exposure as it is building a globally distributed AI inference cloud – which is less capital intensive – rather than building the physical AI factories or data centres themselves.

The broker was also pleased to see that the company is collaborating with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), which provides better access to in-demand GPUs. It adds:

Last month NVIDIA announced it was “collaborating with a growing ecosystem of Australian NVIDIA Cloud Partners (NCPs) and AI infrastructure partners to expand land, power and shell capacity” and Megaport was named as one of the partners. This collaboration provides numerous advantages – including better access to GPUs and improved ability to sell to AI native companies – and also validates Megaport’s model and its differentiated approach to providing inference compute.

Strong growth

Bell Potter believes the above leaves Megaport well-placed to deliver very strong growth over the coming years.

In fact, it expects EBITDA to grow from $77 million in FY 2026 to $726 million in FY 2028. It explains:

We forecast underlying EBITDA to grow from $77m in FY26 to $329m in FY27 and $726m in FY28. This forecast strong growth is largely underpinned by strategic contracts which are being rolled out this year. Our forecasts are also supported by Megaport saying the annualised EBITDA run-rate will be >$650m once all the strategic contracts are billing. Importantly, all the capex required for the roll out of the strategic contracts is fully funded.

Should you buy Megaport shares?

According to the note, Bell Potter has initiated coverage on Megaport shares with a buy rating and $27.00 price target.

Based on its current share price of $20.25, this implies potential upside of 33% for investors over the next 12 months.

Commenting on its recommendation, Bell Potter said:

We initiate coverage of Megaport with a BUY recommendation and $27.00 target price. The TP is generated through a blend of an EV/EBITDA and DCF valuation where we apply a 10.0x multiple to our underlying FY28 forecast in the former and a 10.1% WACC and 3.5% terminal growth rate in the latter. In our view Megaport looks value trading on an FY28 EV/EBITDA multiple of c.7x when the median multiple of the domestic comps is c.15x (based on FY28 forecasts) and international comps is c.11x (based on 2027 forecasts).

The post Bell Potter just put a buy rating on Megaport shares with 33% upside appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Which were the best-performing ASX 200 shares in September?
• How high does Macquarie think Megaport shares will go?
• Megaport shares fly 204% in just 6 months. Can they keep climbing?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.