The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has continued to recover strongly.

Over the weekend New Zealand officially declared itself COVID-19 free. Most Australian states reported no new cases. International share markets performed well on Monday, so it was not surprising to see the ASX do well too.

Unloved shares keep bouncing

Some of the ASX 200 shares to have seen the biggest selloff during the coronavirus crash are among the ones bouncing back the hardest today.

The Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP) share price jumped 15.7% today.

The Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR) share price increased by 14.6%.

Virgin Money UK Plc (ASX: VUK) saw its share price rise by 14.3%.

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price soared 13.8% higher.

The Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) share price went up almost 10%.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) retail trading update

The (mostly) retail ASX 200 conglomerate released an impressive trading update today.

In the second half of FY20 to 31 May 2020, Wesfarmers has seen strong growth. Bunnings sales were up 19.2% compared to the prior corresponding period. Officeworks sales were up 27.8%. Catch’s gross transaction value was up 68.7%. Kmart sales were up 4.1%. Only Target has seen a revenue decline in the second half, with sales retreating 1.8%.

Excluding Catch, Wesfarmers’ online sales are up 60% in the financial year to date.

However, whilst sales are up strongly, costs have risen too for the ASX 200 company because of coronavirus restrictions and expenses to ensure safe stores.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price drops on acquisition

The ASX 200 biotech giant’s share price fell over 2% today after announcing an acquisition. The falling US dollar isn’t helping either.

CSL is exercising its option to acquire biotech company Vitaeris. This company is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the phase III development of a treatment for rejection in solid organ kidney transplant patients.

CSL said the cost of the acquisition is modest and does not materially change the company’s profit expectation for 2020. However, there will be extra R&D expenses in FY21 estimated to be between $30 million to $50 million.

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Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Scentre Group. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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 Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price was one of the standout performers on the ASX today, finishing the day 76.64% higher at $1.21. This rise takes the company’s current market capitalisation to just under $260 million.

Novonix is an integrated developer and supplier of materials, equipment and services for the global lithium-ion battery industry.

The company has operations in the US and Canada, and sales in more than 14 countries across the globe. Its customer base comprises leading global brands like Samsung, Apple, Honda, Panasonic, and Sanyo.

What caused the Novonix share price to surge?

This morning, Novonix revealed it has developed an advanced cathode material manufacturing method using its proprietary dry particle microgranulation (DPMG) technique. The manufacturing method relates to new single crystal cathode materials and processes.

The breakthrough of the DPMG technique was reported to the market on 15 May 2020. The company believes that today’s announcement further demonstrates the commercial application of DPMG.

Single crystal cathode materials have reportedly demonstrated outperformance over the current standard, possessing enhanced energy density and ultra-long life when used in electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems.

The significance of single crystal cathode was highlighted in The Journal of The Electrochemical Society. A 2019 paper published by Professor Jeff Dahn and his team concluded that cells of this type should be able to power an EV for over 1.6 million kilometres and last at least 2 decades in grid energy storage.

The new single crystal cathode materials and DPMG method were developed by the Professor Mark Obrovac Research Group at Dalhousie University. This group has been funded by Novonix in partnership with the Canadian government.

Under the commercialisation arrangements with Professor Obrovac and Dalhousie University, Novonix owns the intellectual property rights to the new single crystal cathode technology on an exclusive and royalty-free basis.

Novonix, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Novonix BTS, has filed a patent application to protect these new single crystal cathode methods. This is on top of the patent applications already filed to protect the DPMG process.

What now?

Commenting on today’s update, Novonix managing director Phil St Baker said:

The Single Crystal Cathode development complements NOVONIX’s PUREgraphite anode product, both addressing the ultra-long-life battery performance requirements critical to the achieving the million-mile battery life being sought by leading EV automakers.

Meanwhile, Professor Mark Obrovac, lead inventor of the DPMG and new single crystal cathode materials, shed some light on the research project by stating:

A major focus of my lab’s research is the development of elegant dry processing methods for battery materials that are amenable to scaling, while simultaneously increasing yields, eliminating waste, and enabling the use of inexpensive feedstocks. Along the way we found out that these new methods can enable the synthesis of new advanced materials with properties that have not been previously accessible by more conventional methods. This has created a tremendous opportunity for the advancement of practical battery materials.

More details regarding the developed methods and materials will be published by Professor Obrovac and his team in the coming months. 

More reading

• Why the CSL share price continues to trail the ASX 200
• The ASX bank dividend recovery may be better than what the market thinks
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• ASX 200 jumps 2.4%, unloved shares keep rising
• Why Credit Corp and Zip Co shares jumped over 15% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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