Oil prices are climbing hard again, and ASX energy shares are the most direct way to play the move.

The Brent crude price rose 3.4% overnight to US$94.07 per barrel, according to Bloomberg data.

That leaves the global benchmark up more than 31% since the beginning of July.

West Texas Intermediate has followed the same path, adding 3.3% to US$87.12 a barrel.

Renewed fighting in and around Iran, combined with fresh Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea, has put a war risk premium back into the crude market.

Traders are pricing the possibility that a meaningful volume of seaborne supply will not be able to reach the buyers who need it.

For Australian producers, these price rises flow almost straight through to the top line.

What higher oil prices mean for Santos

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) is one of the most direct ways to benefit from this trend on the ASX.

The company sells Brent-linked crude alongside LNG that is indexed to oil benchmarks, which means a rising oil price shows up in revenue with only a modest lag.

Shares closed yesterday at $7.85 and were changing hands for $7.94 in early trade on Thursday.

On top of the price rises, there is also volume growth helping to propel top line growth.

The Pikka Phase 1 development in Alaska is producing about 20,000 barrels per day.

Management is targeting a ramp to 80,000 barrels per day during the third quarter of 2026.

Barossa gas is now feeding Darwin LNG, adding a second source of oil-linked revenue, and as such, analysts are broadly positive.

TradingView data shows 12 of the 14 analysts covering the stock rate it a buy or strong buy, with an average price target of $8.48.

Beach Energy offers more leveraged exposure to oil prices

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) gives investors more a more leveraged way of benefiting from recent price increases.

The company is a smaller producer, so every extra dollar on the barrel is more important relative to a largely fixed cost base.

The catch is that around half of its sales volumes are east coast Australian gas, which does not track Brent tick for tick.

Bell Potter has retained a hold rating on Beach with a reduced price target of 95 cents, down from $1.15. The broker expects production growth to return in FY27 as capital expenditure eases.

That should enable positive free cash flow to support balance sheet deleveraging, as well as ongoing dividends.

The broker was also positive on Beach’s east coast gas exposure and cautious on global oil markets.

A closer look at the latest earnings

Santos released its June quarter update before market open on Thursday.

Sales revenue rose 6% quarter on quarter to $1.35 billion, with Barossa and Pikka both ramping up.

Beach reported quarterly production of 4.9 million barrels of oil equivalent and total revenue of $400 million for the June quarter.

Sales volumes fell 11% against the March quarter, largely reflecting the timing of Cooper Basin oil shipments.

The company also completed the sale of its operated interest in VIC/L35 for $70 million upfront plus a future gas production royalty.

A review of Beach’s capital management framework is underway, with an update expected at the full year result.

Foolish takeaway

Oil prices are doing most of the heavy lifting for both businesses right now.

What goes up can also come back down.

As a reminder, Santos fell 8% in a single session when an earlier peace deal broke down in June.

A geopolitical risk premium can evaporate as quickly as it appears.

I think investors buying either name today need to be comfortable owning the commodity cycle, not simply the company.

For those who are comfortable, higher oil prices make the short-term return potential considerably more attractive than at this point one month ago.

The post Oil prices are rising again. What does that mean for these ASX energy shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• Santos reports higher Q2 revenue as Barossa, Pikka ramp up
• Broker tips up to 72% upside for one of these ASX shares 
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• The Santos share price is in the spotlight this week. Here’s why

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven 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.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) shares have been one of the most painful holdings on the ASX this year, so any positive news is worth exploring further.

On 22 July, WiseTech announced that it had entered a binding agreement to acquire FRDM.ai.

At the time, shares were trading around $33.24 on Wednesday, down roughly 51% year to date and 72% below where they sat this time last year.

Let’s look at what the company has actually bought, and whether it changes anything for the underlying investment thesis.

What WiseTech actually bought

FRDM.ai is a California-based developer of AI-powered supply chain risk and compliance intelligence. Its software maps supplier networks across multiple tiers and scores risk in real time.

That coverage spans human rights, forced labour, sanctions, denied parties, cyber exposure and geopolitical risk.

WiseTech is paying an upfront consideration of US$10 million in cash and WTC shares, with all-cash earn-outs capped at US$14.31 million.

Completion is expected on 3 August 2026, subject to customary conditions precedent.

The technology will be combined with WiseTech’s existing BorderWise, Denied Party Screening and Global Knowledge products to create a new solution called VerifyWise.

Why this could mean for WiseTech shares

The deal size is immaterial against a company of WiseTech’s scale.

However, the strategic logic is rather more interesting.

WiseTech’s compliance capability currently operates at the level of an individual transaction. VerifyWise is intended to extend that to verification across an entire multi-tier supplier network.

This is a expansion of what the company can sell, into an area where regulatory pressure around forced labour and sanctions is only intensifying.

The distribution advantage is the real point, though.

WiseTech serves more than 22,000 logistics companies across 193 countries, including 46 of the top 50 global third-party logistics providers. Selling a new compliance module into that installed base costs far less than winning those customers from scratch.

Every supplier verified through the platform also enriches the underlying data set. This is the same network effect that has made CargoWise so hard for competitors to displace.

What brokers think of WiseTech shares

Citi retained a buy rating this month while cutting its 12-month target to $52, down from $65.65, while Bell Potter also rates the shares a buy with a $71.75 target.

Bell Potter has argued that the headwinds weighing on sentiment should begin to dissipate over coming months.

Both targets imply substantial upside from current levels, and both also assume the organic growth story reasserts itself.

Foolish takeaway

A US$10 million acquisition will not rescue WiseTech shares on its own.

What it does is give management new growth levers to help revive a share price that has fallen more than 70% in a year.

I think the August result matters far more than this deal. Investors want evidence that CargoWise organic growth has stabilised and that the e2open integration is delivering the margins management has promised.

If that arrives, the FRDM.ai deal will look like a sensible bolt-on rather than a distraction.

The post WiseTech buys FRDM.ai. What does this mean for WiseTech shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven 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 has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It was a pleasant Thursday session for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and many ASX shares today. After yesterday’s sunny showing, investors were keen to double down on the buying this session, with the ASX 200 remaining in positive territory all day, and closing 0.18% higher. That leaves the index at a flat 8,839 points.

This in-form display on the ASX boards follows a more downbeat session up on Wall Street last night.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) couldn’t hold on to an early lead and finished 0.012% lower.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) was more decisive, dropping 0.57%.

But let’s return to ASX shares now and check out what the various ASX sectors were up to this Thursday.

Winners and losers

Despite the market’s gains, we had an even split between red and green sectors today.

Leading those red sectors were tech stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) was hit hard, plunging 3.32%.

Consumer discretionary shares weren’t popular either, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) diving 1.52%.

Next came healthcare stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ) ended up slumping 1.43%.

Communications shares were also on the nose, evident from the S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ)’s 1.15% dip.

Consumer staples stocks were no safe haven. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) went backwards by 0.53%.

Our last losers were industrial shares, with the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) slipping 0.46%.

Turning to the green sectors now, mining stocks headlined the winners. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) soared 1.37% higher this session.

Gold shares were in demand as well, illustrated by the All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD)’s 1.34% surge.

Energy stocks ran hot too. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) saw its value climb 0.98%.

Utilities shares followed energy, with the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) lifting 0.65%.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) also enjoyed today’s market sunshine. The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) vaulted up 0.52% today.

Finally, financial stocks got across the line intact, as you can see from the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ)’s 0.29% bump.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Financial stock Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX: GDG) was our best performer on the ASX today. Generation shares rocketed a massive 37.13% this session to close at $4.58 each. This extraordinary leap higher followed an exceptionally well-received quarterly update.

Here’s how the rest of today’s top stocks tied up at the dock: 

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX: GDG)	$4.58	37.13%
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)	$10.19	11.61%
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX)	$36.99	6.14%
Minerals 260 Ltd (ASX: MI6)	$0.66	5.60%
Deep Yellow Ltd (ASX: DYL)	$1.43	5.56%
Liontown Ltd (ASX: LTR)	$1.28	3.64%
Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR)	$19.36	3.58%
Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR)	$1.62	3.53%
Alcoa Corporation (ASX: AAI)	$66.11	3.52%
Alkane Resources Ltd (ASX: ALK)	$1.40	3.32%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary that shows which companies made big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Generation Development Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.