Category: Stock Market

It was a great day for the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) this Wednesday. The All Ords ended up closing at 7,187.4 points, up a healthy 0.52% for the day.

But it was an even better day for quite a few All Ords shares. So let’s now go through three that have recorded new, 52-week and multi-year highs today.

3 All Ordinaries shares hitting multi-year highs today

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

First up is QBE Insurance. QBE shares had a very strong start to the trading day, rising as high as $13.10 a share soon after market open. That was despite the QBE share price falling for most of the afternoon and finishing up at $12.92 by the end of the trading day.

That was despite no real news coming out of the insurance giant this Wednesday. $13.10 a share is QBE’s highest share price level since the pre-COVID highs of February 2020 when QBE was a $14 share.

Mader Group Ltd (ASX: MAD)

We had a rather strange day for this All Ords share. Mader Group started out strong this morning, rising to a new high of $3.85 after closing at $3.75 yesterday.

But investors seemed to have gotten cold feet over the rest of the day, with Mader Group finishing down by a meaty 3.7% at $3.61. Still, this is a new all-time record high for Mader, as well as a new 52-week high. All this despite no news out of the company whatsoever.

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

Last but certainly not least is All Ords mining company Mineral Resources. Mineral Resources had an exceptionally strong day. The company finished up at $82.70 a share this afternoon but rose as high as $83.07. Not only is that a new 52-week high for Mineral Resources, but another all-time record high.

Again, there is nothing out of the company itself. But lithium shares, of which Mineral Resources is often associated with, had a strong day overall as well.

The post 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares that hit multi-year highs today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today  
• 3 ASX All Ords shares cracking new 52-week highs on Tuesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why are ASX lithium shares smashing the market today?
• Planes, rains and automobiles: Fund names 3 ASX shares to back right now

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 positions in and has recommended Mader Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Mader Group Limited. 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 Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price finished today’s trading session in the red, down 0.78% at 64 cents. In comparison, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) was up 0.5% to 7,187 points.

Zip shares have dropped a hefty 58% since late July, underlining what has been a year from hell for Zip shareholders.

But at last week’s annual general meeting (AGM), CEO and managing director Larry Diamond sought to reassure those still invested in the ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider.

Diamond said the company’s “refreshed strategy” of pivoting from growth to profit was working, and the future was bright.

In his AGM address, Diamond said the past 12 months had made it clear that “a focused, agile business, guided by its purpose and mission, can emerge stronger from challenging times”.

Zip to become ‘a very profitable business’

Diamond went on to explain how Zip could emerge stronger from these tough economic times:

We believe Zip’s differentiated business model will prove resilient in the current operating environment, when coupled together with our innovative products, and position us well to continue to grow market share.

We have simplified the business following adjustments to strategy, underlying monthly cash burn is
improving and we are well funded, with approximately $141 million in available cash and liquidity. We are confident that we have the balance sheet to fund the company through to cash EBTDA profitability.

We have clear medium term targets we are driving the business towards as we scale. Revenue as a percentage of TTV is targeted at 7.0% to 7.5%. Cost of sales as a percentage of TTV targeted at 4.0% to 4.5% and we expect to deliver a cash transaction margin of 2.5% to 3.0%.

He said achieving these targets would deliver “a very profitable business”.

As we reported last week, Zip expects to turn cash EBTDA (earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortisation) positive as a group in the first half of FY24.

The key to that is getting Zip’s United States business cash flow positive. Diamond said at the AGM he expected this to occur by the end of FY23.

The US market is ‘critical’ to success

Diamond told shareholders that building scale in Zip’s core markets was “critical” to the business’s future success and the primary reason why he relocated to the US recently. He added:

While our near-term focus on profitability has tempered our top-line growth rate, the continued growth of the business across key metrics in the face of external challenges, reflects the incredible opportunity that exists.

In the US, the addressable market is estimated to be over US$10 trillion and BNPL penetration is still
under 2%, including just 4% of e-commerce and 1% of in-store spend. This demonstrates the sheer size, and early stage of the BNPL opportunity that we are positioned to capture.

How is Zip overcoming inflation headwinds?

Diamond outlined how the company was dealing with rising inflation and interest rates. He said Zip was “well-placed with its unique product offering and business model … to deliver results despite challenging external conditions”.

With interest rates rising we are strongly focused on how we maintain margins in this environment. Our product construct and repayment velocity mean that the US business in particular is well-placed to
mitigate interest rate rises, with any 25 basis point rise in base rate only impacting cost of funds by ~2
basis points on a per transaction basis.

At a time of heightened inflation, we believe our product offering becomes even more important to consumers who are looking to manage their monthly cashflows … It’s also a real necessity for merchants to drive conversion at the checkout and we continue to deliver value by driving new and repeat customers and increased order values.

Zip provided an investor presentation at the meeting. The Zip share price is down 85% in the year to date.

The post Down 60% since late July, can Zip shares really ’emerge stronger from challenging times’? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These 10 predictions could help you profit from the stock market regardless of inflation, interest rates or even another bear market
• Why is the Zip share price dropping today?
• Zip share price slides despite CEO pinpointing profit timeline
• What could this proposed regulation mean for Zip shares?
• Why is the Zip share price up 5% on Tuesday?

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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.

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The Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) share price has dumped 33.78% of its value after reaching a high of 37 cents per share on 13 September.

Shares of the lithium producer closed Wednesday’s trade at 24.5 cents.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was easily the best-performing sector indices today, finishing up 2.47%.

Let’s cover some recent developments in Sayona’s fundamentals to see if we can piece together why its shares have been sold off.

What’s going on with Sayona shares?

Most recently, Sayona made the list as one of the top 10 most-shorted ASX shares with a short interest ratio of 8.9% when the article was published.

Some good news for the company came on 27 October, which is when the company released an update for its North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec, Canada.

The update contained news that production at NAL will restart for the first quarter of 2023.

And then on 16 October, the Fool covered previous developments for Sayona. These included its pre-feasibility study for its Moblan Lithium Project, which is also located in Quebec.

Also, predicted price increases for lithium hydroxide and spodumene concentrate were anticipated to take hold in 2023 before levelling off and pulling back in 2024.

So, by most accounts, there has been nothing but good news to report on for Sayona. So why are its shares down by 33% in two months?

This question has been asked before. The most plausible explanation seems to be that investors have been selling shares to take profits from their investments. My colleague James noted this profit-taking at the start of October.

Sayona Mining share price snapshot

The Sayona Mining share price is up 88% year to date. That’s beating the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by a wide margin, down 6% over the same period.

The company’s market capitalisation is around $2.03 billion.

The post Why has the Sayona Mining share price dumped 33% in 2 months? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Coles share price slips as boss says ‘best is still to come’
• Top fund manager has ‘never seen’ ASX share price moves like we are witnessing
• Whitehaven share price dives 9% as floods hit guidance

Motley Fool contributor Matthew Farley 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.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) surpassed a major milestone for the first time in nearly two months today. The index lifted 0.58% to close at 6,999.3 points.

However, it reached a high of 7,012.4 in intraday trade, marking the first time the ASX 200 has surpassed 7,000 points since mid-September and a fourth consecutive gain.

Its day in the green followed a decent session on Wall Street as the United States market anticipated the outcome of the nation’s midterm election.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) rose 1% overnight while the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) lifted 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) gained 0.5%.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) led the way on the Aussie bourse on Wednesday. It gained 2.5% despite falling iron ore prices.

Iron ore futures slumped 2.1% to US$85.33 a tonne while gold futures lifted 2.1% to US$1,716 an ounce.

The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ), meanwhile, underperformed, falling 0.1%.

The Brent crude oil price slipped 2.6% to US$95.36 a barrel overnight while the US Nymex crude oil price fell 3.1% to US$88.91 a barrel.

All in all, three of the ASX 200’s 11 sectors closed higher today. But which share outperformed all others to take out today’s crown? Keep reading to find out.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

The best-performing ASX 200 share on Wednesday was gold miner St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM). Its stock jumped 13% despite no news having been released by the company.

Today’s biggest gains were made by these shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM)	$0.565	13%
Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL)	$1.78	12.66%
De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG)	$1.22	9.42%
Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)	$2.35	9.3%
Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU)	$2.05	9.04%
Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM)	$4.17	8.88%
West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF)	$1.145	8.02%
Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR)	$1.53	7.75%
Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI)	$15.07	6.96%
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	$19.41	6.88%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making 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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More reading

• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday
• Why Allkem, Newcrest, Orica, and SSR shares are rising today
• Coles share price slips as boss says ‘best is still to come’
• Why is the Newcrest share price surging 5% on Wednesday?
• Top fund manager has ‘never seen’ ASX share price moves like we are witnessing

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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.

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Writing in its October monthly update, the Chester High Conviction Fund said it is “less than convinced banks offer any real downside protection should economic conditions worsen over the next 12 months.”

The comment came after the fund noted the strength in the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) in October was led by the banking sector, with Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) reporting results that highlighted an increasing net interest margin, a key driver of profitability for banks. 

For the month of October, the Bank of Queensland share price jumped 13% higher. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price soared 15% for the month, a great return for shareholders, but solidifying itself as even more expensive than when reporting results in August. 

The Chester High Conviction Fund said “banks are capturing the benefit of higher interest rates, without yet feeling the impacts of those higher rates on impaired loans.”

Yet the fund views banks as “leveraged exposure to the Australian economic cycle,” effectively sounding the alarm bells for bank shares should the economy weaken. The sharp increase in interest rates will hit many mortgage-holders from next year onwards as they transition off low fixed rate mortgages. 

Chester notes the rising pressure on commercial property pricing. Writing on Livewire Markets, Christopher Joye recently said commercial property owners and residential developers “have been the single biggest bank killers over the last 150 years,” noting “ANZ and Westpac almost went bust because of their commercial property exposures in the 1991 recession.”

Most economists are forecasting Australia will dodge a recession, but clearly economic growth is set to slow next year. Recession or not, bank shares, for so long the darlings of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), could be in for rougher days ahead.

The post Top fund manager sounds alarm bells for bank shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Looking to buy CBA shares? Here’s the latest on the bank’s class action
• Are Bank of Queensland shares worth buying in November?
• Are ASX 200 bank shares a no-brainer buy in an inflationary environment?
• Experts name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy next week
• Why Morgans added CBA shares to its best ideas list

Motley Fool contributor Bruce Jackson 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 Westpac Banking Corporation. 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 drama surrounding and following Elon Musk just doesn’t seem to dissipate. Musk is, of course, the head of several companies. There’s the publically listed Tesla. But there are also his private companies like SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

And Twitter.

Twitter was dramatically bought out by Musk, with the final deal going through last month. The company will now be taken private at US$54.20 a share. We’ve seen the news of massive staff layoffs and the departure of Twitter’s old CEO and chief financial officer since.

But we have also just seen some fresh news regarding Musk.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Musk has just offloaded 19.5 million shares of Tesla, worth close to US$4 billion.

Musk has been selling down his Tesla stake for a couple of years now. But 2022 has seen the selling accelerate, with this latest tranche taking total sales this year to almost US$20 billion.

Why is Elon Musk selling his Tesla shares?

So it’s unclear why Musk has stepped on the gas when it comes to selling his Tesla shares. Uncharacteristically, he hasn’t taken to Twitter to explain his motives. But we can probably conclude that the sales have at least something to do with his Twitter deal.

It cost Musk around US$44 billion to buy out Twitter. As we covered at the time, much of this funding came from loans and significant private investors like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

But Musk is still on the hook for a big chunk of change for the US$44 billion deal. So it’s very possible that Musk is battening down his own financial hatches and just making sure he has plenty of liquid capital on hand in case he needs it for his Twitter deal.

Or he could just be trying to diversify his wealth. Musk still has more than 445 million Tesla shares to his name, an amount worth approximately US$85.25 billion or around 14% of the company’s total share count. Perhaps he is branching out. It can be risky to have so many eggs in one basket.

But seeing as Musk is offloading so many Tesla shares at 2022 prices (which are a lot lower than those we saw in 2021), we’d have to conclude it’s probably the former.

The post Why did Elon Musk just sell $6 billion worth of Tesla shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Tesla hit a new 52-week low today
• Why Tesla shares dropped below $200 on Monday
• Forget Dogecoin, this crypto could be the even bigger winner from Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover
• Tesla sees a China slowdown, but this Nasdaq stock is faring much worse
• Why Tesla shares dropped Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Tesla. 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.

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Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares could be great value at current levels.

That’s the view of analysts at Morgans, which have named the telco giant on the broker’s best ideas list for November.

Morgans’ best ideas are those that the broker believes offer the highest risk-adjusted returns over a 12-month period. They are also supported by a higher-than-average level of confidence and are its most preferred sector exposures.

What is the broker saying about Telstra shares?

According to the note, the broker is feeling positive on Telstra for a number of reasons. This includes Optus’ recent cybersecurity incident, strong earnings momentum following its turnaround, and the recent company restructure.

In respect to the latter, the broker feels that this restructure could unlock significant value for shareholders from assets sales etc. It explained:

After a major turnaround, TLS has emerged in good shape with strong earnings momentum and a strong balance sheet. In late CY22 shareholders vote[d] on Telstra’s legal restructure, which opens the door for value to be released. TLS currently trades on ~7x EV/EBITDA. However some of TLS’s high quality long life assets like InfraCo are worth substantially more, in our view. We don’t think this is in the price so see it as value generating for TLS shareholders. This, free option, combined with likely reputational damage to its closest peer, following a major cybersecurity incident, means TLS looks well placed for the year ahead.

Morgans has an add rating and $4.60 price target on Telstra’s shares.

Based on the current Telstra share price of $3.95, this implies potential upside of 16.5% for investors over the next 12 months.

Morgans also expects a 16.5 cents per share fully franked dividend in FY 2023. This represents a dividend yield of 4.1%, stretching the total potential return to almost 21%.

The post Why Telstra shares could be ‘worth substantially more’: Morgans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Telstra share price trailing the ASX 200 on Monday?
• What is the current dividend yield on Telstra shares?
• Morgans names 3 of the best ASX 200 shares to buy in November
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• How did the Telstra share price fare over October?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. 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’s looking like three for three days of gains so far this week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). The ASX 200 is again in the green this Wednesday, currently enjoying a rise of 0.65%, which puts the index back over 7,000 points for the first time in almost two months.

So time now to dig deeper into these share market moves and check out the shares that are topping the ASX 200’s share trading volume charts right now, according to investing.com.

The 3 most traded ASX 200 shares by volume this Wednesday

Lottery Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLC)

First up today is a newcomer to this list in Lottery Corporation. This Wednesday has had a significant 19.98 million Lottery Corp shares traded on the share market thus far. There’s been no news out of Lottery Corp today.

But the ASX 200 company did hold its annual general meeting yesterday. Perhaps investors liked what they heard because Lottery Corp shares are up a healthy 2.24% to $4.57 apiece today. Perhaps this is why we are seeing the high volumes that we are.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)

Next up today is the ASX 200 coal miner Whitehaven Coal. Whitehaven has seen a chunky 23.38 million shares change hands as it currently stands. Whitehaven issued a guidance update today, probably the source of the elevated trading volumes we are witnessing.

The company has told investors to temper their expectations over FY2023, with flooding affecting several of the miner’s sites. Whitehaven shares are down close to 10% today at $8.52 a share.

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

Our final share today is the ASX 200 gold miner Evolution Mining. This Wednesday has seen a whopping 25 million Evolution shares dug up and sold. All ASX gold miners are having a stellar day on the markets today, thanks in most part to higher gold prices.

Evolution has been one of the biggest beneficiaries, banking an 8.8% gain to $2.34 a share. Such a large rise is probably behind Evolution taking out the top spot on this list today.

The post Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Magellan, News Corp, REA, and Whitehaven Coal shares are dropping today
• Coles share price slips as boss says ‘best is still to come’
• Top fund manager has ‘never seen’ ASX share price moves like we are witnessing
• Whitehaven share price dives 9% as floods hit guidance
• Nervous about buying ASX shares right now? Here are some top tips from Scott Phillips

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 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.

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I’ve been warning investors off BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) shares for a while now.

If you stayed away, then you’ve managed to save yourself from watching your wealth go up in smoke as the semiconductor company’s shares dropped from a high of $2.34 to 62 cents today.

That’s a decline of approximately 73%, which would have turned a $10,000 investment into approximately $2,700.

Given BrainChip shares have fallen so heavily, some investors may now be considering picking up a parcel “on the cheap”. However, I believe this would be a mistake and would suggest investors avoid this meme stock.

Listed below are five key reasons I would stay away from BrainChip’s shares.

BrainChip share price valuation

The first reason I would avoid BrainChip shares is the company’s valuation. Although its shares have pulled back materially from their highs, that doesn’t necessarily make them good value. In fact, with a market capitalisation of $1.1 billion and next to no revenue, I would argue it remains vastly overvalued.

For example, Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) has a similar market capitalisation but with US$174 million of annualised recurring revenue. Furthermore, Life360 is bordering on being profitable and has a hefty cash balance. Whereas BrainChip is burning away at its cash and has six more quarters of funding before another capital raising will be required. Raising more capital, whether it be through LDA Capital or the market, will dilute shareholders further.

Competition

BrainChip focuses on edge artificial intelligence (AI). This is the deployment of AI applications in devices throughout the physical world. However, the computation is done near to the user at the edge of the network rather than centrally in a cloud computing facility or data centre.

Competition in edge AI is fierce, with major players such as Nvidia and Qualcomm all pursuing dominance in the market. US$360 billion tech behemoth Nvidia recently unveiled the Jetson Orin Nano series of system-on-modules (SOMs). Nvidia highlights that Jetson Nano has “set the new standard for entry-level edge AI and robotics applications”.

Whereas US$130 billion semiconductor giant Qualcomm’s Snapdragon has been winning plaudits. Dave Altavilla, a semiconductor expert writing for Forbes, recently commented:

Qualcomm’s previous-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 platform led the field with respect to the various smartphone AI workloads, and its Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 platform is currently unmatched across the board.

And with both Nvidia and Qualcomm pouring billions into their research and development (R&D) activities each year, I have serious doubts over BrainChip’s ability to compete. In my opinion, big users of these technologies are more likely to go with a brand they can trust than a small player with no track record of success.

No takeover?

This brings us neatly to the next reason I would avoid BrainChip shares. When a small company has a game-changing technology that is going to disrupt an industry, the incumbents will often acquire it.

However, BrainChip has received no takeover interest from its larger rivals. That’s despite them spending billions on R&D each year. Nvidia spent US$1.82b on R&D during the last quarter, which is enough to buy BrainChip twice. If the big boys really feared BrainChip’s technology, they would surely acquire it. Particularly while the Australian dollar is so weak versus the US dollar.

We’ve been here before

If you’ve followed the BrainChip story long enough, you’ll know that the company has been talking up its growth potential for many years. For example, back in 2016, the company projected the “neuromorphic chip market alone to be $4.8bn by 2022 [and] consist of abundant opportunities”.

Anyone reading that presentation six years ago would likely have imagined that BrainChip would now be commanding a decent share of this huge market. Particularly given the list of its partnerships, which were supposed to create “significant” license opportunities and related revenues. A quick look at its income statement is enough to see that these partnerships didn’t deliver the goods.

Fast forward and BrainChip has a number of new partnerships which open up “new global opportunities for the Akida technology”. Yet, there is little revenue to speak of.

Announcements going nowhere

This leads on nicely to the final reason I am staying away from BrainChip shares. The bulls will point to its NASA announcement as a testament to the supposed quality of its product. That announcement revealed that BrainChip was collaborating with VORAGO Technologies. The ASX tech company was to support a Phase I NASA program for a neuromorphic processor that meets spaceflight requirements.

However, since the announcement of an evaluation kit order several months later in December 2020, the company has said no more. And neither VORAGO nor NASA are mentioned in its latest annual report. Furthermore, as far as I can see, the work with NASA appears to have ended after just three weeks on 18 January 2021 based on NASA data without comment from BrainChip.

This is another case of déjà vu if you’ve followed the BrainChip story as long as I have. Remember the French National Police evaluation of its SNAPvision technology? The countless major casinos trialling its Game Outcome solution? The “large market opportunity” for BrainChip Studio?

I suspect in a few years we could be asking the same about Akida.

The post 5 reasons I would avoid BrainChip shares at all costs appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Life360, Inc. 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.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 6,999.1 points.

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

Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE)

The Allkem share price is up 2% to $15.78. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie. According to the note, thanks to stronger than expected lithium prices, the broker has upgraded its earnings estimates. This has led to Macquarie retaining its outperform rating and lifting its price target to $21.00.

Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)

The Newcrest share price is up over 6% to $19.32. This follows a rise in the gold price overnight and the release of the gold miner’s annual general meeting update. At the meeting, management spoke positively about its response to inflationary pressures. Thanks to the implementation of measures such as long-term and fixed-price contracts for maintenance, fuel, and energy, and logistic costs, Newcrest expects to contain cost growth to a range of around 6% to 8% in FY 2023.

Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI)

The Orica share price is up over 7% to $15.13. Investors have been buying this commercial explosives company’s shares following the release of its full year results. For the 12 months, Orica reported underlying EBIT of $579 million. This was a 36% increase year over year. Management advised that this was driven by its refreshed strategy and improved market conditions.

SSR Mining Inc (ASX: SSR)

The SSR share price is up 9% to $21.64. This morning this gold miner released its third quarter update and reported production of 106,919 ounces and an AISC of $1,901 per ounce. However, SSR still posted a quarterly loss of US$25.8 million and downgraded its full year guidance. Investors appear to have been expecting an even worse update.

The post Why Allkem, Newcrest, Orica, and SSR shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Newcrest share price surging 5% on Wednesday?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Why did ASX lithium shares smash the market on Tuesday?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today  

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Allkem Limited. 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.

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