At lunch on Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has given back its morning gains and dropped into the red. The benchmark index is currently down 0.1% to 5,935.3 points.

Here’s what has been happening on the market today:

Carsales update.

The Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price has been a strong performer on Wednesday. Investors have responded positively to the release of a business update by the auto listings company which included guidance for the full year. Carsales expects to report adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in the range of $228 million to $232 million in FY 2020. This will be a 5% to 6% increase on FY 2019’s adjusted EBITDA.

Bank shares acting as a drag.

The big four banks have been acting as a major drag on the ASX 200 on Wednesday. At lunch, all four banks are trading lower despite there being no news out of the group. I suspect that investors may be taking a bit of profit off the table after strong gains on Tuesday. The worst performer in the big four has been the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price with a 1.5% decline.

CSL exec to join BHP

The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is pushing higher today despite announcing the exit of its chief financial officer. David Lamont, who has been in the role since January 2016, will leave the biotherapeutics company in October and join mining giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). Mr Lamont will replace Peter Beaven as the Big Australian’s chief financial officer on 1 December 2020.

Best and worst ASX 200 shares.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price with a gain of almost 7%. On Tuesday UBS retained its buy rating and ~$20.64 price target on the company’s shares. The worst performer has been the Mayne Pharma Group Ltd (ASX: MYX) share price with a 4.5% decline. Next week the pharmaceutical company will be kicked out of the ASX 200.

More reading

• Why a2 Milk, Carsales, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, & Starpharma are surging higher
• Carsales share price up 5% following solid trade update
• Is $1,000 invested in AGL Energy shares a smart investment?
• How to become wealthy by investing $1,000 into ASX shares
• 3 reasons to buy ASX 200 shares right now

James Mickleboro 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 A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com 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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After a strong start to the day, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently fighting hard to stay in positive territory. In late morning trade the benchmark index is up slightly to 5,944.4 points.

Four shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are surging higher:

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price has jumped 6.5% to $18.90. This may be in response to a broker note out of UBS on Tuesday. According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and NZ$22.00 (A$20.64) price target on the infant formula company’s shares. It believes there is some upside risk to its earnings guidance for FY 2020.

The Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price has stormed almost 5% higher to $17.77. This follows the release of a business update by the auto listings company this morning. That update revealed that Carsales expects to report adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in the range of $228 million to $232 million in FY 2020. This represents a 5% to 6% year on year increase in adjusted EBITDA.

The Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH) share price is up 5% to $27.59. This gain appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded the medical device company’s shares to an outperform rating. It believes current trading conditions bodes well for the company’s earnings growth in the near term.

The Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price has surged 7.5% higher to $1.14. Investors have been buying the company’s shares after it revealed the results of its first radiotherapeutic candidate. DEP lutetium showed highly statistically significant anticancer activity, tumour regressions, and 100% survival in a human prostate cancer model.

More reading

• Carsales share price up 5% following solid trade update
• How to become wealthy by investing $1,000 into ASX shares
• Here are 2 top ASX tech shares for your portfolio
• Why these ASX shares could help you beat the market
• Is the SEEK share price a buy right now?

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Starpharma Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com Limited and Starpharma Holdings 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.

The post Why a2 Milk, Carsales, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, & Starpharma are surging higher appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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There are some ASX shares where it takes years for the investment thesis to play out. There are other ASX shares that could be worth buying for what may happen in 12 months or less.

No-one can truly tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week with the share market. But I think 12 months is a long enough time period where your investment idea can prove you right through two reporting seasons, perhaps it only needs one result to prove you right.

With that in mind, here are three ASX shares that I think could produce good growth over the next 12 months:

Share 1: Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)

Costa is Australia’s largest agricultural businesses. It grows tomatoes, avocadoes, mushrooms, berries and citrus fruit.

The last couple of years have been very tough for Costa. There’s the COVID-19 global pandemic happening right now. Bushfires were a worry during last summer, a fire caused some damage at one of Costa’s farms. The agricultural ASX share has had to deal with the terrible drought. Fruit flies were an issue for its citrus division.

Can it get any worse after all of those issues in such a short time? Hopefully not.

Food prices are rising and this should help Costa a lot. It largely costs Costa the same to grow produce whether food prices are cheaper or a bit more expensive – so higher revenue is mostly just extra profit.

I think the higher food prices could have a very helpful effect on Costa over the next 12 months. The drought ending would also be very good if it keeps raining in those dry hard-hit areas.

Share 2: Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

Sydney Airport is one of those ASX travel shares that has suffered enormously because of the limitations of travellers coming to Australia. Domestic travel has also suffered a big hit. In April 2020 the airport operator saw total passengers decline by 97.5% to 92,000. International passengers were down 96.9% to 43,000 and domestic travellers were down 97.9% to 49,000.

However, the Sydney Airport share price is recovering as Australia’s domestic travel restrictions lift. Since 3 April 2020 the Sydney Airport share price has risen around 21%. But there’s still a long way to go before international travel restrictions improve. But there is some promising news regarding the treatment of COVID-19 with an existing drug seemingly helping some suffering COVID-19 patients recover. 

Share 3: Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

Macquarie is by far my favourite large ASX bank share. There are two key reasons why.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) are all heavily focused on Australia and New Zealand. Macquarie generates about two thirds of its earnings outside of the local region. I think that’s good international diversification.

The second reason is that the big four ASX banks generate most of their earnings from loans. Macquarie has a loan book too, but its earnings are more evenly spread across other divisions. For example, it’s one of the world’s biggest infrastructure asset managers. It also offers numerous investment banking services such as its involvement with initial public offerings, capital raisings, acquisitions and so on.

I like that Macquarie can pivot towards whatever sector or region it thinks is a growth area. A focus for the ASX share right now is renewable energy.  

I think that Macquarie’s share price can continue to rise into 2021 as the world economy heads towards normality again, or at least a new normal.

Foolish takeaway

I think these three ASX shares could produce solid returns over the next 12 months. If I had to pick one of three, I’d go for Macquarie. I think it’s a high-quality business that has very good management and is also focused on shareholder returns with a good dividend yield.

More reading

• Why Afterpay and these ASX shares just stormed to new highs
• Why I would buy CSL and these ASX blue chip shares
• 2 quality ASX 200 shares to buy for long-term growth
• Why I would buy Wesfarmers and these ASX dividend shares
• ASX 200 falls 2%, ASX travel shares drop heavily

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COSTA GRP FPO and Macquarie Group 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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