Category: Stock Market

The Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC) share price is outpacing the broader market as leading brokers reiterated their buy calls following its results release yesterday.

Shares in the packaging giant jumped 2.3% to $16.50 in morning trade. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) gained a modest 0.3% at the time of writing.

The gains by the Amcor share price comes on top of yesterday’s 0.7% advance when management posted a 12% increase in first quarter adjusted earnings per share to US17.7 cents.

Amcor share price gains on market-beating results

The results were ahead of consensus forecast of US17 cents a share, according to Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). The broker reiterated its “outperform” recommendation on the Amcor share price.

“Q1 is AMC’s weakest Q on seasonal basis given Northern Hemisphere summer,” said Macquarie.

“Q1 eps was 21.2% and 20.9% of FY eps in Q121 and Q120, respectively. Q122 represents 22.0% of our FY22 eps so running slightly ahead of traditional Q1 %.

“Quarterly dividend was increased to 12.0cps vs 11.75cps in the pcp.”

Macquarie’s 12-month price target on the Amcor share price is $18 a share.

Flexible earnings

Meanwhile, UBS also reiterated its “buy” rating on the shares after Amcor’s EPS came in 3% above its estimates.

“The EPS growth was underpinned by strong cost control/Bemis synergies as well as favourable product mix which more than offset significant raw material availability challenges,” said the broker.

Amcor’s flexible packaging division was the standout with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rising 9% in the September quarter to US$339 million compared to the same time last year.

In contrast, its rigid packaging division was weak as EBIT fell 14%. This is due to raw material shortages and supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full year guidance gives Amcor share price a boost

Despite the challenges, Amcor reiterated its full year earnings guidance. Management is tipping constant currency EPS growth of between 7% and 11%. Consensus has pencilled in a rise of 8% – the lower end of guidance.

But with the strong first quarter performance, consensus may prove to be too conservative. Earnings upgrades could be in the wings.

“We are attracted to Amcor’s leading position across key global consumer packaging markets,” said UBS.

“The defensive nature of these markets as well as Amcor’s significant scale is clearly supporting earnings growth and cash flows despite significant volatility in raw material supply and pricing.”

M&A opportunities could provide extra tailwind

Further, the broker believes Amcor could have up to $1 billion in balance sheet capacity that could be used for an earnings accretive acquisition.

Good luck in finding a bargain to buy in these markets though. But that challenge doesn’t take anything away from Amcor’s strong results.

UBS’ 12-month price target on the Amcor share price is $18.83.

The post Why the Amcor (ASX:AMC) share price is outperforming today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
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• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

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At lunch on Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on form again and pushing higher. The benchmark index is currently up 0.3% to 7,415.6 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Zip trading update

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is trading flat today despite revealing a record performance during October. At its annual general meeting, Zip’s Managing Director and CEO, Larry Diamond, advised that total transaction value (TTV) increased 94% over the prior corresponding period in October to over $770 million. This represents a 24% month on month increase and annualises at over $9 billion.

Square shareholders approve Afterpay takeover

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is rising today after its takeover by Square took a major step towards completion. This morning the payments company revealed that Square’s shareholders have voted in favour of the deal. Afterpay advised that it expects the transaction to complete within the first quarter of calendar year 2022.

Domino’s shares crash

The Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price is crashing on Thursday after investors responded negatively to its trading update. That update revealed a severe deterioration in the performance of the Domino’s Japan business once COVID restrictions lifted. As a result, management warned that it can no longer forecast whether FY 2022 Japan sales and earnings would surpass those recorded in FY 2021.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Thursday has been the NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price with a 5% gain. This follows the release of the private health insurer’s annual general meeting update. The worst performer has been the Domino’s share price with a 13% decline following its trading update.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Zip’s record month, Domino’s crashes appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is crashing 19% today
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price higher after record performance in October
• What’s going on with the Federal Reserve and how might it impact ASX shares?
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price on watch after Square takeover update
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday

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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited and NIB Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price will likely have a captivated audience on Thursday. Australia’s second-largest independent oil and gas company has drawn some attention after its prominent display at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The event hosted appearances by several Australian companies seeking to display their climate-targeted efforts. Attendees included Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s green-hydrogen protégé Fortescue Future Industries, alongside Sun Cable and Santos.

However, some criticism has been voiced regarding Santos’ prominent featuring at the event. Yet, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher is adamant the company’s ‘blue’ hydrogen strategy is a winner.

Let’s take a look at what unfolded.

ASX-listed Santos turns up the heat at COP26

Santos has not been secretive about its ambitions to be net zero emissions by 2040. The 67-year-old Australian oil and gas giant believes it can reinvent itself by utilising new technologies. One important tool at its disposal is carbon capture storage. This is an essential ingredient for Santos in its proposed blue hydrogen production.

On Monday, Santos announced it had decided on proceeding with its $220 million Moomba carbon capture and store (CCS) project. The project, which is expected to be completed in 2024, is expected to capture 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. By using CCS, Santos will be able to burn natural gas in a low-emission manner.

Following the announcement, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher has shared the opinion that fossil fuel companies will need to transition to new energy sources “or die”. In addition, the CEO pointed out that Santos is looking at green hydrogen plants. Although, Gallagher thinks that it won’t be economically viable for a decade.

Despite its endeavours to go net-zero, some participants at the COP26 summit weren’t happy with Santos’ featuring. In fact, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull went as far as calling ASX-listed Santos’ appearance “a joke”.

Day 2, COP26, where the star attraction of the Australia pavilion was a model of Santos’ Moomba CCS hub project, which was given the green light yesterday, with the help of the Australian taxpayer. pic.twitter.com/RWykkUAk7M

— Anna Freeman (@FreeAnna1) November 2, 2021

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

While the proposed project would enable the capturing of CO2, the company would likely be using this in conjunction with gas extraction. A concept that isn’t quite as green as producing energy directly through renewable sources.

What is blue hydrogen?

While green hydrogen is made by using renewable energy, blue hydrogen takes a different approach. Specifically, natural gas is burnt, with hydrogen being produced from the steam generated. From there, the carbon dioxide emissions are stored underground using carbon capture storage.

Gallagher is sceptical of renewables catering for all of the hydrogen required by 2050. Instead, blue hydrogen could fill this gap, as Gallagher stated, “We believe we can get it (blue hydrogen) to market quicker, and we have an abundance of natural gas in Australia which becomes a competitive advantage.”

Finally, ASX-listed Santos is trading at $6.86, down 2.83% at the time of writing.

The post Move over Twiggy, here’s why Santos’ (ASX:STO) boss is focused on blue hydrogen appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Could the Santos (ASX:STO) share price hit $10 by the end of 2021?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Bruce Jackson.

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October was a tough month for some of the biggest shares in the ASX transport sector. Fortunately, that allowed some of the market’s smaller transport companies to shine.

The ASX transport shares that outperformed their peers over the month of October probably aren’t those you’re thinking of.

5 top performing ASX transport shares in October

A quick note before we start; this list only contains shares with market capitalisations of more than $100 million.

Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX)

The REX share price outperformed its transport peers during the month of October, potentially on the back of optimism surrounding Australia’s domestic borders.

Over the month just been, the company’s business looked towards a brighter future without lockdowns and travel restrictions.

In fact, on 18 October, REX announced it plans to resume offering domestic flights from the middle of November.

The REX share price gained 5.33% over the course of October, finishing the month trading at $1.58.

Lindsay Australia Limited (ASX: LAU)

October was also a great month for the Lindsay Australia share price.

The integrated transport, logistics, and rural supply company’s stock gained 5.26% over the course of last month. It finished October trading at 39.5 cents.

The only price-sensitive news released by Lindsay last month was its annual investor presentation which, once again, detailed a strong financial year 2021.

K&S Corporation Ltd (ASX: KSC)

Another transportation and logistics company to make this list is K&S Corporation.

The K&S Corporation share price bested many other ASX transport companies in October. It gained 4.12% to end the month at $1.77.

The company’s gains came despite it maintaining its silence throughout the period.

Silk Logistics Holdings Ltd (ASX: SLH)

While October was a struggle for many ASX transport shares, one of the exchange’s new faces managed to end the month in the green.

The Silk Logistics share price gained 2.22% over the course of last month, finishing it at $2.30.

The ‘port-to-door’ technology-focused logistics company debuted on the ASX in July. Under its prospectus, shares in the company were offered at $2 apiece.

That meant investors who got in on the company before its initial public offering (IPO) could boast a 15% gain on their investment at the end of October.

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: DBI)

Finally, the fifth best performing ASX transport share for the month of October was none other than Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure.

Over the course of last month, the Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure share price gained 1.33% to end the month trading at $2.28

While there was no news from the coal transportation company in October, it did continue its ongoing on-market buy back.

The post Which ASX transport shares were the best performers during October? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is charging higher again on Thursday.

In late morning trade, the artificial intelligence data services company’s shares are up almost 3% to $11.65.

This means Appen’s shares are now up 30% since this time last month.

Can the Appen share price keep rising?

The good news is that one leading broker believes the Appen share price can keep rising from here. In fact, it has a price target well beyond where the company’s shares are trading today.

According to a note out of Citi from last week, its analysts have a buy rating and $17.10 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Appen share price, this implies potential upside of 47% over the next 12 months. Not bad considering its recent gains!

Why is the broker bullish?

Citi has been bullish on Appen for a while, believing that it is well-placed to benefit from increasing demand for high quality data for artificial intelligence and machine learning models.

These models require huge quantities of high quality data in order to make their models successful. And that data needs to be prepared before being used. So, with a million-strong team of experts across the globe, Appen is able to provide tech giants such as Facebook and Google with the data they require.

Recently, however, COVID-19 led to many tech giants holding back on their artificial intelligence investment. This put a dampener on Appen’s growth and significant pressure on the Appen share price.

But at long last, the tide appears to be turning. Citi’s note highlights that Facebook has recently revealed that it intends to lift its artificial intelligence investment materially in FY 2022. The broker feels this bodes well for Appen and could lead to an increase in demand for its services.

All in all, while the Appen share price has rallied hard in recent weeks, this broker doesn’t appear to believe it is too late to get on board.

The post Is the Appen (ASX:APX) share price a serious bargain? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Move over Appen: A new artificial intelligence stock to list on the ASX
• Analysts name 2 excellent ASX growth shares to buy
• These were the best performing ASX tech shares in October
• The Appen (ASX:APX) share price has jumped 23% in the last month
• 3 fantastic ASX shares that could be buys in November

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. owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Envirosuite Ltd (ASX: EVS) share price is climbing during morning trade on Thursday.

The Sydney-based environmental tech company has announced a strategic partnership with Aeroqual, which is a global leader in air quality monitoring technology.

At the time of writing, the Envirosuite share price is up 4.44% to an intraday high of 24 cents.

Envirosuite sets eyes on growth opportunities

In a statement to the ASX, Envirosuite advised it has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aeroqual.

The strategic partnership will see them pursue and develop joint market opportunities. This involves combining the two environmental technologies from both companies and packaging them together.

Aeroqual offers a global air quality monitoring platform based on smart sensing technology and advanced software algorithms.

Envirosuite’s proprietary software monitors and manages all-weather impacts, which allows customers to optimise their operations. The company hones in on air quality and metrology consultancy using real-time and predictive technologies.

Under the MoU, Envirosuite and Aeroqual will focus on driving revenue and customer traction across a number of industries.

The industries at the top of the list are mining, waste, wastewater, and industrial sectors in North America.

It’s worth noting that Aeroqual already has an established customer base in the United States. Clients include Anglogold Ashanti Ltd (ASX: AGG), the United States Environmental Protection Agency and New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Envirosuite and Aeroqual are already working on other projects together in Spain, Malaysia and the US.

What did management say?

Envirosuite CEO Jason Cooper said:

The Envirosuite team is excited to expand our opportunity potential with Aeroqual, a leader in air quality stations, monitors and technology, to complement our EVS Omnis platform, provide expertise and combined solutions for advanced air quality management and intelligence within our respective high-growth industries.

We believe this partnership has the potential to help industries to transform their environmental management practices and accelerate growth within Mining, Waste, Wastewater and Industrial facilities.

Envirosuite share price snapshot

The Envirosuite share price has risen by more than 20% over the past 12 months.

The company’s shares hit a rough patch during the middle of this year. That changed late last month when the share price accelerated to a 52-week high of 24.5 cents.

Based on today’s Envirosuite share price, the company commands a market capitalisation of $270.01 million. It has approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.

The post This deal just caused the Envirosuite (ASX:EVS) share price to pop appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Bruce Jackson.

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It has been a very disappointing day for the Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price.

In morning trade, the pizza chain operator’s shares are down 19% to $114.80.

Why is the Domino’s share price crashing?

Investors have been selling down the Domino’s share price this morning in response to its annual general meeting update.

That update, which was released yesterday after the market close, revealed a surprisingly weak performance from the company’s Japanese operations.

According to the release, during the first quarter, Domino’s Japan delivered strong growth prior to the government lifting national State of Emergency at the end of September.

Since then, with restaurants, bars, and shopping centres now reopened, network sales in Japan are negative on a one-year basis. Though, the company notes they are positive on a two-year basis.

Given current trading conditions and the material contribution of the Christmas trading period to Domino’s Japan’s full year performance, management warned that it was now unable to forecast whether FY 2022 Japan sales and earnings would surpass those recorded in FY 2021.

What about the rest of the business?

Domino’s revealed that first quarter network sales rose 8% or 4.3% on a same store sales basis over the prior corresponding period.

The company stated: “While this represents an improvement compared to the Full Year trading update, sales growth has been uneven across regions, with operations affected by local conditions including lockdowns and ongoing changes in customer behaviour, making short-term forecasts challenging.”

In addition, the company warned that currency and inflationary headwinds would impact its financial performance.

Nevertheless, the company’s CEO, Don Meij, remains positive on the future. Especially given its bold store rollout plans.

He commented: “While there are short-term challenges ahead of us as we transition to ‘living with COVID-19’, this is not new: our experienced teams have successfully navigated multiple challenges since the start of this pandemic.”

“Our network is already more than 7% larger this Financial Year (and 15% larger than this time last year), through continued organic new store openings and acquisitions, including the opening of 66 new stores and the addition of 156 stores with the acquisition of Taiwan.”

“We have a busy new store pipeline and this year we aim to open a record number of new stores; indeed, we are targeting FY22 to be the largest expansion of our store footprint in our Company’s history. We also remain active in pursuing additional markets.”

“A year ago, we noted: ‘We have the right product, value offering, and team members to confront this challenge’ – and our view remains unchanged,” he concluded.

Broker response

This update didn’t go down amazingly well with brokers, which goes some way to explaining why the Domino’s share price is performing so poorly today.

In response, the team at Credit Suisse retained their underperform rating and cut their price target down to $77.73.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs is likely to see the weakness in the Domino’s share price as a buying opportunity. While it was disappointed with its update, it held firm with its buy rating and trimmed its price target to $147.00.

It commented: “Overall, we believe that the longer term growth outlook driven by strong store growth remains unchanged. We make no changes to our store forecasts, but backend weight the rollout in FY22 in line with guidance. Overall, our revised forecasts still imply a 3 year CAGR EBITDA outlook of +14.6% driven by overall strength in Europe (+19.7%) and Japan (+15.3%).”

The post Why the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is crashing 19% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
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• 3 fantastic ASX growth shares named as buys
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• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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 recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares in this article might be good considerations to think about today.

Businesses in the ASX 200 are often among the biggest and strongest in their industry.

The two investments below are ones that may be able to deliver growth over the long-term:

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is a diversified business that has been operating for decades. It has some market-leading retailers including Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks and Catch. The ASX 200 share also has other operations including Target, a lithium project and various industrial businesses and investments.

The business showed how much essential consumer demand there is for its businesses including Bunnings, Officeworks and Catch. Wesfarmers was able to capitalise on the COVID-19 era demand.

Whilst people aren’t doing as many home projects or buying home office equipment, Wesfarmers is still experiencing higher demand than pre-COVID times.

It’s regularly adding to its portfolio to diversify its future profit. For example, Bunnings bought Beaumont Tiles. Wesfarmers is progress with its Mt Holland lithium project. The latest attempt by the company is to try to buy Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API). It’s in a battle with Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) for API.

Wesfarmers says that whilst it plans to invest in the API business, it would also provide the basis of a new healthcare division of Wesfarmers and a platform from which to invest and develop capabilities in the growing health, wellbeing and beauty sector.

According to Commsec, it is valued at 30x FY22’s estimated earnings with a projected grossed-up dividend yield of 4.3%.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Fortescue is one of the largest iron ore miners in the world.

Citi is one of the brokers that currently rates Fortescue as a buy, with a price target of $18.50. That implies a potential rise of close to 30% over the next year, if the broker is right.

The Fortescue share price is now a lot lower after a sharp decline of the iron ore price. The ASX 200 share has seen a decline of around 40% over the last three months.

Fortescue continues to produce enormous amounts of iron ore. In the first quarter of FY22, Fortescue shipped 45.6mt of iron ore, which was a 3% increase compared to the same period last year.

The average revenue was US$118 per dry metric tonne, whilst the C1 cost was US$15.25 per wet metric tonne (in line with the previous quarter).

Fortescue is making a number of headlines with its Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) division.

The goal of the ASX 200 share is for FFI is to take a global leadership position in the renewable energy and green products industry. It has a vision of making green hydrogen the most globally traded seaborne commodity in the world.

One of the key developments relates to the planned construction of the global green energy manufacturing centre in Gladstone, Queensland. The first stage of development is an electrolyser factory with an initial capacity of two gigawatts. It has also signed a letter of intent with Plug Power for a joint venture with the two gigawatt electrolyser factory, with the ability to expand into fuel systems and other hydrogen-related refuelling and storage infrastructure in the future.

Fortescue Future Industries has also signed an agreement with JCB and Ryze hydrogen to become the UK’s largest supplier of green, renewable hydrogen. JCB and Ryze will purchase 10 per cent of FFI’s global green hydrogen production.

The post 2 top ASX 200 shares that might be buys today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price have such a lousy month in October?
• Why did the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price have such a great month in October?
• What were the best performing ASX real estate shares to hold in October?
• Why is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price charging higher today?
• Which ASX shares are involved with green hydrogen?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Fortescue Metals Group 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 owns shares of and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) shares have just managed to squeak into the green so far in November, up 0.3% since the closing bell on the final trading day of October.

That comes after a fairly poor showing last month, where Flight Centre shares fell 7%, despite many international and domestic air routes slated for reopening.

With most ASX travel shares still trading below their pre-pandemic levels, companies like Flight Centre are eager for a full reopening, especially here at home.

While most Aussie states look set to end border closures over the coming weeks, Western Australia is dragging its heels, concerned about letting COVID into its virtually virus-free space.

And that has drawn the ire of Flight Centre’s CEO, Graham Turner.

Turner threatens legal action to open WA’s borders

Western Australia may, or may not, reopen its borders for out of state travellers once full vaccination rates hit 70–80%.

The state’s roadmap to reopening has yet to be clarified by Premier Mark McGowan. McGowan aims to brief the public on that plan this week — what effect that has on Flight Centre shares remains to be seen.

Should that roadmap not indicate the state will reopen when double dose rates hit the 70–80% mark, Turner said his company will take legal action.

Speaking about that potential legal action to the West Australian (and quoted by the Daily Mail), Turner said:

The constitution states very clearly about freedom of movement and freedom of trade. That’s the basic concept.

That’s why I think we have a good chance for success on this. Not everyone in WA will [support opening borders] as some people are quite happy to stay locked up forever, but our clients are not like that…

Obviously, they want to travel interstate and overseas to see their relatives, to see their parents and grandparents.

How have Flight Centre shares been performing longer-term?

Flight Centre shares may have slipped last month, but the share price is still up an impressive 55% over the past 12 months. That compares to a gain of 22% posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over that same time.

Flight Centre closed on Wednesday at $20.10 per share. In early trade today its share price has fallen 0.25% to $20.05.

The post Own Flight Centre shares? Here’s the company’s plan to reopen WA appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Travel is resuming but the Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) share price still lost 7% in October
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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 Flight Centre Travel Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is on the move on Thursday following the release of its annual general meeting update (AGM).

At the time of writing, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are up 2% to $6.35.

Why is the Zip share price rising?

While the event was focused largely on what has happened over the last 12 months and Zip’s plans for the future, the company also provided an update on recent trading. This appears to have gone down well with the market, giving the Zip share price a boost today.

Zip’s Managing Director and CEO, Larry Diamond, revealed that the company’s strong growth continued during October.

He commented: “October was Zip’s highest TTV month on record processing over $770m in transaction volume for the month, which was a 94% increase on October 2020, with the Company now annualising at over $9b. Off the back of the rebrand, October delivered a 24% MoM increase which provides outstanding momentum entering the seasonal peak period.”

Mr Diamond also spoke about recent partnerships that are expected to support the company’s growth. One, that is currently in the works, is with a bank in the United States.

He said: “We secured partnerships with major names including Microsoft, PayU and Adyen and are live with global merchants such as Shein in multiple geographies.”

“Zip is excited to share that we are in the process of establishing a financial partnership with Utah based WebBank to provide Zip the flexibility to drive further innovation in product and lending across the country,” he added.

Finally, the Chief Executive provided an update on how Zip is responding to regulatory pressures in the BNPL market.

Mr Diamond explained: “As flagged earlier in the presentation, in the UK, Zip will take part in Treasury’s process to map out a proportionate regulatory framework for BNPL. In the US, Zip has joined with other leading fintechs a new US industry group – the Financial Technology Association – to make the case for BNPL. Alongside this, Zip has also engaged with multiple regulators and Federal legislators to explain our business model and how we engage with US consumers.”

All in all, investors appear pleased with the update and have been bidding the Zip share price higher today in response to it.

The post Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price higher after record performance in October appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of 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 Bruce Jackson.

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