Are you on the hunt for new portfolio additions in July? If you are, it could be worth hearing what analysts are recommending this week, courtesy of The Bull.

Here are three ASX shares that have been named as buys:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

Catapult Wealth thinks that investors should be considering this mining giant. It has named BHP shares as a buy this week.

The wealth management firm highlights strong copper prices, a robust balance sheet, and an attractive dividend yield as reasons to buy. It said:

The global miner holds dominant positions in iron ore and copper and is leveraged to increasing demand during the energy transition. A review of the Jansen stage 2 potash project in Canada resulted in a cost blowout of about $US2 billion to $US6.9 billion. Despite the Jansen impairment and the risk of industrial action at iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, near term earnings momentum remains strong.

Elevated copper prices and strong iron ore prices supported performance in full year 2026. The balance sheet remains robust with low net debt, while a recent dividend yield above 3 per cent adds income appeal. BHP offers cyclical upside and long term growth exposure to copper.

Dexus Convenience Retail REIT (ASX: DXC)

Another ASX share that is rated positively is Dexus Convenience Retail REIT.  It offers service station and convenience retail assets exposure.

Sanlam Private Wealth has named its shares as a buy, highlighting its cheap valuation and big dividend yield. It said:

This real estate investment trust owns service stations and convenience retail assets, mostly on Australia’s eastern seaboard. The fund’s portfolio was valued at about $760 million on December 31, 2025. The company was recently trading at a significant discount to net tangible assets (NTA) and was yielding about 8 per cent. The trust has an attractive development pipeline, modest debt and recently increased its buy-back target.

Importantly, the NTA is supported by recent asset sales of 1.5 per cent above valuation. Recently announced capital gains tax changes make the company’s assets appealing to self-managed super funds looking for reliable income generating assets. DXC is a solid defensive play in the current environment.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

The team at Catapult Wealth is also bullish on this sleep disorder treatment company. This week, it has named ResMed shares as a buy.

The wealth management firm likes the company due to its defensive qualities and positive growth outlook. It said:

ResMed is a global leader in sleep apnoea devices and digital health platforms, benefiting from strong structural demand and resilient clinical positioning. Despite the progression in GLP-1 therapies for treating sleep apnoea, ResMed’s CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) treatments remain superior at this point in time. RMD continues to offer appealing growth, income and defensive healthcare exposure.

The post Why BHP and these ASX shares could be strong buys this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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

The ASX dividend stock Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV) has dropped heavily over the last year. The Lovisa share price has dropped 50% since August 2025.

Lovisa is one of the world’s leading affordable jewellery businesses, with its global store network spread across every continent.

In fact, the business has at least 20 stores in each of the following countries: Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, USA and Canada.

There are multiple reasons why the ASX dividend stock looks really appealing to me. Let’s dive into it.

ASX dividend stock credentials

As a retailer, I think it would be unwise to think that the business can grow its dividend every single year. But the long-term trend is very compelling.

In FY19 – the last year before COVID-19 impacts – the business paid an annual dividend per share of 33 cents. That compares with the two most recent half-year dividends declared by the business, which amounted to 80 cents per share. In other words, in seven years, the Lovisa dividend has grown by approximately 140%.

At the time of writing, its most recent dividends come to a dividend yield of 3.7%, excluding franking credits. Based on the latest dividend’s franking credit rate of 50%, that translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.4%.

Lovisa may not have the biggest dividend yield around, but it’s dividend growth that could make it particularly attractive today.

The Commsec forecast suggests the company’s annual dividend per share could climb to 89 cents in FY27 and 95 cents per share in FY28.

Business growth to drive passive income growth

All the ASX dividend stock seemingly needs to do to grow its payout is expand its global store network, as this will broaden its customer reach and provide scale benefits.

In the FY26 half-year result, the business reported that the global Lovisa store count increased by 15.5% to 1,089. The Lovisa store network achieved revenue growth of 22.7% to $498.1 million and 21.5% growth of net profit after tax (NPTA) to $58.4 million.

The company has also opened a new business in the UK called Jewells, with a higher price point, which gives Lovisa another growth avenue.

But, the most growth is likely to be found in expanding store networks in countries where there’s clearly a growth avenue for more locations (based that market’s population), such as the US, Mexico, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, China, Germany, France and Canada.

According to the Commsec projection, the Lovisa share price is now valued at 21x FY27’s estimated earnings. If its earnings can continue growing, I think it’s got a very good chance of hiking the dividend in the years ahead.

The post 1 ASX dividend stock down 50% I’d buy right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How much is needed in superannuation to target $60,000 in annual passive income?
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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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 Lovisa. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) shares had a standout FY 2026.

Over the 12 months to 30 June, the growing tech share rose almost 50%, while the benchmark ASX 200 index gained around 3%.

Let’s find out why the network services provider’s shares smashed the market.

The Latitude.sh acquisition changed the narrative

Megaport was already known for its network-as-a-service technology, helping businesses connect to cloud providers, data centres, and digital services.

But its acquisition of Latitude.sh pushed the company into a broader market.

Latitude.sh is a compute-as-a-service platform offering high-performance CPU and GPU infrastructure. That gave Megaport a new way to serve customers needing not only connectivity, but also the computing power sitting behind artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-native applications, and data-heavy workloads.

That shifted the market’s view of the company. Megaport was no longer just selling flexible digital connections. It was moving toward a platform combining compute, network, and storage.

In an AI boom, that suddenly looked much more interesting.

Contract wins backed up the strategy

The share price strength was also supported by major contract wins after the Latitude.sh deal.

In April, Megaport announced that Latitude.sh had secured a 36-month compute and storage contract worth approximately A$35.4 million. The company also said Compute annualised recurring revenue (ARR), excluding that contract, had lifted strongly since the acquisition.

The momentum then accelerated in May. Megaport announced three major GPU, CPU, network, and storage contracts across two US-based technology customers running AI applications and inference workloads. Those contracts had a combined total contract value of approximately A$254 million and were expected to add about A$90.6 million in ARR once fully deployed.

That was a major validation point. Investors could see the Latitude.sh acquisition turning into real contracted demand, not just a strategic idea.

AI infrastructure became the bigger opportunity

The excitement increased again in June, when Megaport announced four new major contracts with total contract value of approximately A$458.9 million and ARR of about A$199 million.

These contracts were linked to US-based technology providers running AI applications and inference workloads.

Megaport also announced plans for a globally distributed AI inference cloud, including an on-demand GPU pool. That pointed to a much bigger ambition: giving customers access to compute power closer to users, data, and cloud platforms.

The company backed this with an $827.3 million entitlement offer to fund new compute, network, storage, and GPU capacity.

Capital raisings can sometimes weigh on share prices. But in this case, investors had large contracts and strong AI demand to assess alongside the dilution.

A breakout year

Megaport shares smashed the ASX 200 in FY 2026 because its growth story became larger and more tangible.

The Latitude.sh acquisition gave the company compute exposure, while the contract wins showed real demand from AI-related customers.

It is worth remembering that Megaport still has to deploy capital well, deliver hardware, manage customer concentration, and prove that these contracts convert into attractive returns.

But FY 2026 clearly was the year Megaport moved from cloud connectivity story to AI infrastructure contender, and the share price unsurprisingly followed.

The post Why did Megaport shares smash the ASX 200 in FY26? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 10 of the best ASX shares to buy in FY 2027
• 3 ASX tech stocks tipped to rocket higher in FY27
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• These ASX growth shares are up 40%. Can they keep climbing?
• 3 super ASX shares that could be too good to ignore in July

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. 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.