ASX 200 tech shares have offered great returns to shareholders over recent years. This comes as the marketplace moves from brick-and-mortar businesses to online, and more and more people are using technology in almost every area of life. Technology companies are often known for their ability to deliver huge earnings growth, something that companies in other sectors cannot always provide.

While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 19.69% from highs reached in February, the S&P/ASX Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) is down just 5.67% in the same period. The newcomer, S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX), is down 2.17% since it launched in late February. This reflects the positive market sentiment towards technology companies and their ability to continue their growth during difficult economic times.

Technology companies often rely on changing consumer trends to drive their growth. Frequently, as a technology gains traction it has a rapid uptake by consumers and can quickly achieve huge market penetration. These technology shares have proven their capabilities and made it into the index of Australia’s biggest 200 companies. They also offer great value to shareholders.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

Afterpay is a financial technology company offering payment solutions to consumers. It operates in the United States, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Afterpay recently hit new highs as it announced that it had reached 5 million US customers, a proud boast for any Australian company. This takes the total customers signed onto Afterpay’s platform to nearly 9 million worldwide. The company has an average transaction value of $150. This suggests that there is plenty of room for Afterpay to derive profits from transactions. Its net margin from payments sits at around 2.1% (this is the amount Afterpay derives from its transactions after paying the costs of those transactions).

While Afterpay is currently turning a loss, this is not abnormal for a technology company in its growth phase. Currently, customer growth is soaring. For the first half of financial year 2020, customer growth was up 134% compared to the first half of 2019. Underlying sales were up a massive 109%.

In Q3 of the 2020 financial year, however, Afterpay processed $2.4 billion in sales for merchants. This was a massive 354% increase over the same period in 2019. Its payment platform is now offered or in the process of being offered by more than 15,000 brands and retailers. If Afterpay can continue to grow at this rate, it will soon be a well-established international market leader in consumer financing.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is a software company that provides solutions for engineers in circuit board design. Demand for Altium’s cloud-based design software is growing rapidly. The company boasts that its software allows engineers to work from anywhere and connect to anyone.

Altium is fast becoming a market leader in engineering software and has a solid balance sheet with healthy cashflow. The company previously announced that it expects earnings of around US$200 million in financial year 2020. It has since stated that weakness in the final quarter of the financial year will partly reduce expectations.

Altium also announced that it is moving toward high volume online sales, which will support revenue. It is also offering lower pricing and extended payment terms to customers during the current economic downturn. The company aims to attract 100,000 subscribers by 2025, which will provide revenue of an estimated US$500 million. In FY19, revenue was US$171.8 million and the company paid a dividend of 34 Australian cents.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)         

Xero is a New Zealand-based software company listed on the ASX. It provides cloud computing accounting software for small to medium size businesses. As at 31 March 2020, the company had 2.285 million subscribers with a life time value of $2,422 per subscriber. This equates to a total of $5.53 billion for current subscribers. Additionally, the company’s subscriber base is growing quickly with an increase of 467,000 during the 2020 financial year. Xero is working hard to increase the revenue earned from customers. In the 2020 financial year, it saw a 27% increase in the lifetime value of subscribers.

The company earns a gross margin of 85.2% from customers. This means that a massive 85.2% of the company’s revenue forms its gross profit. In the 2020 financial year, Xero then invested a significant amount in marketing, product development and paid administration expenses. It earned a net profit after tax of $3.3 million. This was the first time the company posted a full year net profit and reflects the growth of the company.

These numbers are just the beginning, with Xero boasting in its annual report that it has the opportunity to reach the entire global small business community.

More reading

• 3 timeless investing lessons from 2020 (so far!)
• Up over 100% in 2 months. Are Nearmap shares still a buy at current prices?
• How to pick better shares and earn better returns
• 4 reasons the Afterpay share price just hit $50
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today

Motley Fool contributor Chris Chitty has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Altium. 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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If you’re looking to add some dividend shares to your portfolio in June, then the three listed below could be great options.

Here’s why I think they are among the best on offer right now:

BWP Trust (ASX: BWP)

BWP is a real estate investment trust that invests in and manages commercial assets. These assets tend to be large format retail properties, which are predominantly leased to home improvement giant, Bunnings Warehouse. At the end of the first half of FY 2020, its weighted average lease expiry (WALE) stood at 4.3 years. While this isn’t the longest WALE you’ll find on the ASX, I don’t think there is any real danger of Bunnings packing up and moving to other properties. This is because Bunnings is owned by Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), which also own a ~23.6% stake in BWP. In light of this, I expect modest and predictable rental income growth over the next decade. Based on this, I estimate that its units offer a forward 5% yield.

Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)

Another dividend share to consider buying in June is Dicker Data. It is a wholesale distributor of computer hardware and software which has consistently grown its earnings and dividends at a solid rate for many years now. The good news is that this positive trend has continued in 2020 despite the pandemic. The company recently released a first quarter update which revealed very strong profit growth. As a result, management advised that it plans to lift its full year dividend by 31% to 35.5 cents per share. This represents a 4.55% fully franked dividend yield.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

A third option to consider buying in June is Telstra. I think the telco giant’s shares are very attractively priced at present for a patient investment. Especially as I believe Telstra is well-positioned for a return to growth in the coming years thanks to the T22 strategy and the easing of the NBN headwind. In the meantime, as I covered  here, I believe its dividend is sustainable at 16 cents per share for the foreseeable future. This equates to a fully franked 5% dividend yield.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today
• The ASX 200 just hit an 11-week high. Here are 3 reasons we might be in overvalued territory
• What ASX investors can do before 30 June to save tax
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy right now
• ASX 200 up 1.7%: Flight Centre and Webjet rocket, Afterpay hits record high

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Dicker Data Limited and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. 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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It is hard to believe that we are only halfway through 2020! The year has been such a rollercoaster that historians are probably racing to write the first books about it. There are certainly enough investing lessons we can take from the last 6 months to fill a book. In fact, I think there are 3 timeless investing lessons that are worth highlighting.

1. Always prepare for the unexpected

There have been plenty of ‘oh crap’ moments so far this year. Not only did we get hit by plunging share markets, negative oil prices, job losses and social isolation, but we faced a run on the one thing we rely on even more than a good hug; toilet paper. Talk about being caught short!

It goes to show how hard it is to forecast low probability events. As investors, we need to stay vigilant and stay ready. Preparing for the unexpected can be as simple as having a diversified portfolio, keeping debt under control and considering how exposed your wealth would be to an unexpected shock.

2. The benefits of automating investing

It hurts when we lose money. It’s often said that we feel the pain of a loss twice as much as the joy of an equivalent gain. So when the market plummeted in March, a natural reaction would be to sell everything and hide under the bed.

The investing lesson here is that by systematically buying shares throughout, even as share prices tumbled, investors could have dodged the pitfalls of emotional investing and scooped up beaten-down shares like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) at bargain prices.

3. Find companies that can endure

Some of the best-performing companies of the last six months are those with the capacity to endure. These are companies that had strong balance sheets, robust demand and wide economic moats. An example is A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) which seized the opportunity to deploy some of its huge cash pile and increase its stake in key supplier Synlait Milk Ltd (ASX: SM1).

We’ll come back stronger

I think we have all been tested on our capacity to endure so far in 2020. By reflecting on these experiences and understanding the investing lessons, we can grow and come back stronger in the years ahead.

More reading

• Why these 3 ASX 200 tech shares offer great value
• Up over 100% in 2 months. Are Nearmap shares still a buy at current prices?
• 4 reasons the Afterpay share price just hit $50
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to sell today
• The ASX 200 just hit an 11-week high. Here are 3 reasons we might be in overvalued territory

Motley Fool contributor Regan Pearson owns shares of A2 Milk.

You can follow him on Twitter @Regan_Invests.

The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk and AFTERPAY T FPO. 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.

The post 3 timeless investing lessons from 2020 (so far!) appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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