Category: Stock Market

There are some wonderful ASX tech shares that might be long-term opportunities at the current prices.

Tech businesses with a strong operating model can produce good profit margins if they reach sufficient scale.

The below two ASX tech shares are producing growth and are expecting more:

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

Volpara is currently rated as a buy by Morgans with a price target of $1.87. That suggest a potential upside of more than 60% over the next 12 months if the broker is proven correct.

The company aims to prevent advanced-stage breast cancer through an integrated breast health platform that assists in the delivery on personalised patient care.

Its FY22 focus is risk and genetics. The company aims to invest and improve for both the radiologist and the patient. Whilst its focus is on breast cancer, it’s also “seeking partners” to help give ‘lung’ the focus it deserves.

Its gross profit margin has increased to 91% and Volpara’s market share in the US has improved to around a third.

A key focus of the ASX tech share is increasing its average revenue per user (ARPU).

It wants to increase ARPU by selling a platform, not just a product. On 1 October 2020, it released the Volpara breast health platform. This includes all of its products with the power of multiple integrations to make the suite even more compelling, according to the company. Most new sales are now for two or three products, representing significantly increased ARPU. The relationship with genetics companies is expected to increase that further.

Upselling is an important part of the strategy. Management said that the upselling is a very significant opportunity. It is upgrading MRS 6 users and moving MRS 7 users to the more compelling patient hub, along with Volpara products. The company has seen that for those that upgrade it leads to an increase in 200% to 300% of recurring revenue.

Class Ltd (ASX: CL1)

Class is a leading provider of cloud accounting software for the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) sector.

It’s currently rated as a buy by the broker Ord Minnett. The broker has a price target of $2.40 on the ASX tech share, which suggests that the Class share price could potentially rise by around 40% over the next 12 months.

The company is still growing its market share in the SMSF accounting space. But it also has new products that it’s looking to grow its total addressable market with.

It has made acquisitions to enter into other areas like corporate compliance and trust compliance. Those acquisitions include NowInfinity, Smartcorp and ReckonDocs. This allowed it to quickly gain market leadership in the documentation and compliance sector – its market share is now 14% by revenue.

Between FY19 and FY21, it’s looking to increase its revenue from $38 million to $54 million, with an underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 40%.

New Class products can increase its relevance with existing accounting clients, and win new customers, with Class Portfolio and Class Trust.

As Class gets bigger, it’s expecting to need to spend less as a percentage of revenue on product development, which could lead to stronger margins.

The ASX tech share is expecting that being able to offer a suite a products will lead to organic revenue growth.

The post 2 great ASX tech shares that could be buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Class Limited and VOLPARA FPO NZ. 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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Australia’s top companies, including those of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), are likely having a moment of cyber self-reflection.

This follows a speech from Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) CEO Andy Penn at the National Press Club on Thursday. Mr Penn spoke as the chairman of the federal government’s Cyber Security Industry Advisory Committee.

ASX 200 companies greatest cyber threat

In the speech, Penn warned the rise of more sophisticated supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI) could be one of the greatest threats to Australia’s cybersecurity. Telstra’s boss went on to say:

Because more abundant and better resourced cybercriminals, cyber activists, and increasingly involved in nation-state actors, means that Australia and Australians are quite literally under constant cyberattack

These comments are echoed by recent events. Australia has been suffering a barrage of cyberattacks. In April, we reported on the Reserve Bank disclosing millions of cyberattacks each day on Australian banks.

Moreover, the nation’s largest meat producer, JBS Foods, was brought to a screeching halt in June following a cyberattack.

These threats could be exacerbated by the advancement in AI and supercomputers in the years to come. Speaking to this, Penn suggested Australia has 5 to 15 years to plan for a time where today’s current encryption technology would become obsolete.

However, the telecommunications boss added, “careful consideration” was needed immediately.

ASX 200 shares have not escaped the past 18 months without feeling the cyber sting. Both Bluescope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) have suffered ransomware attacks

ASX companies working in the space

We typically look to the United States court when talking about cybersecurity. Many big-name players including Crowdstrike are based in the States. However, Australia has a few of its own players right on its own doorstep.

While these companies may not be large enough to fit into the ASX 200 just yet, they are growing due to the activity of the sector. One such example is Tesserent Ltd (ASX: TNT), with a market capitalisation of $304.7 million.

As an example, Tesserent’s 12-month trailing revenue has skyrocketed over the past year. This value jumped from $7.77 million at the end of 2019, to $43.78 million at the end of 2020.

Additionally, an even smaller company working in the space is Archtis Ltd (ASX: AR9). This company provides secure information-sharing solutions to a range of government agencies.

These companies are clearly riding on the coattails of the industry. Specifically, both shares outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index over the past year. Tesserent has returned 243.7% over the past 12 months, while Archtis has climbed 79.4% over the same period.

The post ASX 200 companies take heed: Telstra (ASX:TLS) boss says Australia faces ‘unprecedented’ cyber threat appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of 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 Bruce Jackson.

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Last week was a positive one for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). The benchmark index rose 74.8 points or 1% over the five days to end the period at 7,348.1 points.

Unfortunately, not all ASX 200 shares were able to climb higher with the market. Here’s why these were the worst performers on the index:

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 14.5% decline. Investors were selling the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares amid increasing competition in the industry. This followed reports that Apple is planning to disrupt the BNPL market with the launch of Apple Pay Later. Investors appear concerned that Apple could steal a significant number of customers away from Zip and its QuadPay business. This could put significant pressure on growth rates in the coming years if the reports turn out to be true. In addition, news that PayPal will be removing late fees from its BNPL offering also weighed on sentiment.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The Afterpay share price wasn’t far behind with a disappointing 12.2% decline. This was also due to speculation that tech behemoth Apple is planning to enter the BNPL market. Bloomberg believes Apple will soon launch Apple Pay Later, allowing consumers to pay for any Apple Pay purchase in instalments. The tech giant will use Goldman Sachs as the lender for the instalment loans. Apple reportedly sees it as a weigh to boost Apple Pay transactions, giving its US$50 billion a year services a lift.

PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price was a poor performer and tumbled 11.6% over the five days. This was driven by the release of the medical device company’s sales update for FY 2021 which underwhelmed a couple of leading brokers. In response to the release, both Bell Potter and Ord Minnett downgraded the company’s shares to hold ratings and cut their price targets. Bell Potter’s price target has reduced to $2.65 whereas Ord Minnett cut its price target to $2.54.

Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB)

The Mesoblast share price was some way behind as the next worst performer with a 5.7% decline last week. The majority of this decline came on Friday following the release of further data relating to its respiratory function results from its COVID-19 trial. The clinical results relate to Mesoblast’s randomised controlled trial of its remestemcel-L product on ventilator dependent COVID-19 patients. Most of the data had been previously released.

The post These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• ASX 200 up, Evolution Mining drops, Appen rises
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• How has the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price responded to competition in the past?
• Here’s why the Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) share price is sinking 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. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, POLYNOVO FPO, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. 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 Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price ended the week strong despite its latest acquisition target reportedly facing a class action.

The Wesfarmers share price finished the week trading for $59.01 – 1.7% higher than where it started.

The gains follow a surprise acquisition offer posted from the ASX giant to Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.  

Wesfarmers offered to buy all shares in the owner of Priceline for $1.38 apiece – a 21% premium on the Australian Pharmaceutical Industries share price’s last close.

Unfortunately, Australian Pharmaceutical Industries was back in the headlines yesterday, as more than 30 Priceline Pharmacy franchisees are reportedly advancing their class action against the company.

Let’s take a closer look.

Priceline class action

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported yesterday a class action against Australian Pharmaceutical Industries is expected to be lodged in the Victorian Supreme Court next month.

News of the class action has been swirling since late last year.

The Wesfarmers share price hasn’t been noticeably affected by the recent reporting.

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries owns all Priceline stores but Priceline Pharmacy stores operate under a franchise model.

According to ClassPR, the class action claims the Priceline Pharmacy franchise agreement breaches Victorian, New South Wales, and Queensland legislation. It also claims the agreement limits pharmacies’ profitability.

ClassPR is a public relations company working closely with Levitt Robinson Solicitors. Levitt Robinson Solicitors is the law firm acting on behalf of current and former Priceline Pharmacy franchisees.

The franchisees are claiming Australian Pharmaceutical Industries dictate what franchisees can stock, from whom they can order products, how they arrange their stores, and how they price saleable items.

Additionally, the AFR reported that Australian Pharmaceutical Industries charges franchisees 6% of the value of over-the-counter sales. It also charges franchisees 3% of all sales in which a customer uses the Priceline rewards system.

According to AFR, an Australian Pharmaceutical Industries spokesperson stated the company isn’t concerned about the class action.

 Wesfarmers share price snapshot

2021 has been a good year so far for the Wesfarmers share price.

It has currently gained 14.6% year to date. It is also 26.8% higher than it was this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $66.4 billion, with approximately 1.1 billion shares outstanding.

The post Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price not hampered by news of class action 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 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form last week and pushed higher. The benchmark index rose 74.8 points or 1% over the period to end at 7,348.1 points.

While a good number of ASX 200 shares climbed higher with the market, some climbed more than most. Here’s why these were the best performers on the index last week:

Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI)

The Spark share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a gain of 17.4%. The catalyst for this was the energy network operator receiving and then rejecting a takeover approach. Spark revealed that it received a conditional and non-binding indicative proposal from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) of $2.70 cash per share. The Spark Board believes it undervalues the company.

NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)

The NRW share price wasn’t far behind with a gain of 16.5% over the week. This was driven by news that Boggabri Coal Operations has exercised an option to acquire the majority of the major mining equipment of NRW’s Golding Contractors. The equipment will be sold for ~$81 million, of which ~$64 million will pay down asset financing debt. This went down well with analysts at Macquarie. In response they retained their outperform rating and $2.10 price target on the company’s shares.

Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN)

The Perenti share price was on form and charged 12.3% over the five days. This was despite there being no news out of the mining services company. Though, the company was the subject of a positive broker note out of Macquarie. Its analysts retained their outperform rating and lifted their price target to 95 cents. The broker believes its work in hand and order book will support strong free cash flow and underpin a generous dividend.

ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB)

The ARB share price was a strong performer last week and jumped 12.2%. Investors were buying the 4×4 parts manufacturer’s shares following the release of a market update. According to the release, ARB achieved a 33.9% increase in unaudited sales revenue to $623 million in FY 2021. Things were even better on the bottom line thanks to margin expansion. The company expects its profit before tax to be within the range of $145 million to $150 million. This will be an increase of 85.5% to 92% on FY 2020’s profit before tax of $78.1 million.

The post These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week 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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB Corporation 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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Google, or Alphabet, may have plans to disrupt the big four ASX banks of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB).

According to reporting by the Australian Financial Review, the banks may be concerned by the global tech company’s growing incursions into the financial space.

Readers may have recently seen that Apple is working on a product that is internally called Apple Pay Later with the help of Goldman Sachs which will provide the lending for the instalments that customers may use, according to Bloomberg.

The newspaper wrote that there are teams in major banks that are trying to predict what the future competitive landscape will be, and that those teams would have been “watching with trepidation” as the big tech companies steadily expand into financial services.

In China, the big tech giants of Alibaba and Tencent have grown from just payments into the world of lending and wealth management too. US tech shares could follow a similar sort of path.

Google’s banking moves

The tech giant is reportedly about to expand into banking with a product called Google Plex. It is a name for another big number, but it also refers to the plan to add a transaction account to Google Pay.

Google is partnering with a group of small US banks where they will hold the deposits.

It’s possible that Google may not extend these new products to Australia, but the possibility of the tech giant linking up with other banks could be a large competitive threat, according to the AFR.

However, the newspaper said that the tech giants of Apple, Google and other tech giants will “inevitably find changing industries like banking and wealth” to be harder than software or music because of the importance of banks to economies and high levels of regulation.

The masthead also wrote about how, in some ways, it’s easier for tech companies to get into the industry:

But the emergence of “embedded finance” – which allows non-banks to hire banking licences and the infrastructure of regulated banks, through ‘banking-as-a-service’ (BaaS) offerings – means more companies not regulated as banks will still be able to provide financial services to enhance customer experiences.

For traditional lenders, this will make maintaining close and trusted customer relationships paramount. The distribution of financial products in the smartphone era looks very different to sprawling branch networks.

On Friday, each of the big bank share prices of CBA, ANZ, NAB and Westpac all declined.

The post Does Google plan to disrupt the ASX banks of CBA, ANZ, NAB and Westpac? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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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Respected fund manager Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has recently identified two top small cap ASX shares that it owns in its microcap portfolio.

WAM operates several listed investment companies (LICs). Some focus on larger companies like WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE) and WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM).

There’s also one called WAM Microcap Limited (ASX: WMI) which targets small cap ASX shares with a market capitalisation under $300 million at the time of acquisition.

WAM says WAM Microcap targets the most exciting undervalued growth opportunities in the Australian microcap market.

The WAM Microcap portfolio has delivered gross returns (that’s before fees, expenses and taxes) of 24.1% per annum since inception in June 2017, which is superior to the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index average return of 12%.

These are the leading two small cap ASX shares that WAM outlined in its most recent monthly update:

Silk Laser Australia Ltd (ASX: SLA)

WAM describes Silk Laser as a business that operates a network of specialist clinics offering non-surgical aesthetic services and products. In June, the company reached a milestone of 60 clinics, including ten new clinics opened during FY21.

The fund manager pointed out that Silk announced a $52 million strategic acquisition of Australian Skin Clinics and The Cosmetic Clinic in New Zealand. This almost doubled its clinic footprint to 117 and progressing its medium-term network plan of 150 clinics.

The small cap ASX share announced a $20 million capital raising to partially fund the acquisition, with management expecting the deal to deliver greater than 20% earnings per share (EPS) accretion before synergies.

WAM Microcap said that it’s still positive on Silk because of its “strong” organic growth profile, the benefit of synergies and the potential and capacity for further accretive acquisitions.

Atomos Ltd (ASX: AMS)

The small cap ASX share manager explained that Atomos is a global provider of digital imaging creation hardware and software tools for video professionals.

Atomos is headquartered in Melbourne, it creates “market-leading” 4K and HD Apple ProRes monitor-recorders, used by video professionals for content creation, increasing video quality and reducing production costs.

WAM pointed out that in June, Atomos strengthened is management team with Estelle McGechie, who has been picked as the chief product officer and was previously a product manager at Apple in video applications.

The small cap ASX share has reported a 73% increase of its sales in FY21 to more than $77 million. The fund manager said that momentum has continued to build through the second half of the year with sales of $44.2 million. Those second half sales represented a 275% increase on the prior corresponding six month period.

WAM Microcap remains positive on Atomos with additional product releases into the professional and general consumer categories, while additional upside in operating leverage is “compelling” because of a relatively stable fixed cost base.

The post Wilson Asset Management thinks these 2 top small cap ASX shares are a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Atomos (ASX:AMS) share price is up 23% in a month
• Here’s why the Atomos (ASX:AMS) share price is surging 9%
• 2 buy-rated small cap ASX shares
• SILK Laser (ASX: SLA) share price climbs on equity raise update
• SILK Laser (ASX: SLA) share price frozen on acquisition news

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. owns shares of and has recommended Atomos Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Atomos Ltd and SILK Laser Australia 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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If you are looking to bolster your portfolio with some ASX 200 shares, you may want to look at the three listed below.

Here’s why these ASX 200 shares are highly rated right now:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

If you don’t mind investing in the mining sector, then BHP could be an ASX 200 share to look at. This is because this mining giant is widely regarded as the highest quality miner in the world, with a collection of world class, low cost, and diverse operations. Positively, the company is benefiting greatly from favourable commodity prices at present. This is particularly the case with iron ore and oil after strong price rises over the last 12 months. As a result, BHP appears well-positioned to deliver a bumper full year result in August. And with its balance sheet in such a strong state, generous dividends are expected in the near term.

One broker that is particularly positive on BHP is Macquarie. It currently has an outperform rating and $63.00 price target on BHP’s shares.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Another ASX 200 share to look at is this leading data centre operator. NEXTDC has a collection of world class operations across several key Australian locations. It is also looking to expand into Asia and has recently opened offices in Singapore and Tokyo. Given the size of these markets, if the company can replicate its success overseas, it would give it a very long runway for growth in the future. In the meantime, NEXTDC is well-positioned for growth domestically thanks to increasing demand for data centre capacity due to the structural shift to the cloud.

Goldman Sachs recently reiterated its conviction buy rating and $14.80 price target on NEXTDC’s shares.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

A final ASX 200 share for investors to look at is REA Group. It is the leading player in real estate listings in the Australian market with its realestate.com.au website. It also has a number of complementary businesses and recently bolstered its offering with the acquisition of Mortgage Choice and an interest in Simpology. Combined with its international operations and the booming housing market, REA Group has been tipped by a number of brokers to grow strongly over the coming years.

One of those is Goldman Sachs. It is very bullish on REA Group’s prospects. So much so, it recently retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to a lofty $198.00.

The post 3 ASX 200 shares named as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of NEXTDC 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 recommended REA 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.2% today to 7,348 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)

The Evolution Mining share price dropped around 5%. The ASX 200 gold miner released its quarterly update for the last period in FY21.

Evolution Mining said that in the three months to 30 June 2021, it produced 169,146 ounces of gold. This was achieved at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,239 per ounce.

Operating cashflow for the quarter was $212 million and net mine cashflow was $100 million.

Evolution Mining also committed to net zero emissions by 2050, with a 30% reduction of emissions by 2030.

Drilling has identified a new high-grade gold zone at Cue Joint Venture.

In FY21, Evolution Mining said that mine operating cashflow was $937 million. Net mine cash flow was $555 million. Group cash flow was $327 million.

The FY21 gold production was 680,788 ounces. That was within the original guidance of 670,000 to 730,000 ounces and 2% below the bottom end of its revised guidance of 695,000 to 710,000 ounces issued in April. The AISC for FY21 was A$1,215.

Evolution Mining’s board has approved the Cowal underground development, with a pathway to deliver more than 350,000 ounces per year.

The Red Lake transformation plan has been accelerated by the Battle North Gold acquisition. The plan of 200,000 ounces per annum at an AISC below US$1,000 per ounce by 2023 is on schedule with a pathway to gold production of over 350,000 ounces per annum.

The group mineral resources increased 74% year on year to 26.4 million ounces. The ore reserves increased 49% year on year to 9.9 million ounces.

It was the worst performer in the ASX 200 today.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

There was no official news released from the business. However, the brokers at Citi said it might be a takeover target.

The Australian Financial Review reported that Citi said about Appen’s share price slump:

A key question regarding the recent downgrades is whether they are due to a structural issue (self-learning systems, in-sourcing, synthetic datasets etc.), competition or something else.

Our discussions suggest demand for human annotated training data is not structurally impaired and that ongoing growth is expected, with evolving regulations and data privacy laws as key tailwinds medium-term.

However, our discussions also point to slower growth for data annotation as the major tech companies develop better systems.

With the recent increase in M&A and given Appen’s position as a leader in the AI training data space as well as client exposure, we would not be surprised if Appen was a potential acquisition target for an IT Services or BPO firm.

We note Appen’s main competitor Lionbridge was acquired by Telus International for 16x – 20x EV/EBITDA versus Appen currently trading at 13x.

The Appen share price climbed around 3% today, making it one of the best performers in the ASX 200.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

The Wesfarmers share price came into focus after the Mt Holland lithium project received ministerial approval outlining the conditions that apply to the construction and operation of the lithium hydroxide refinery as part of the Mt Holland lithium project.

The Mt Holland lithium project has now received all critical approvals and construction and project development have commenced.

The post ASX 200 up, Evolution Mining drops, Appen rises appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price down 4% this week. Here’s why
• Here are 3 heavily traded ASX 200 shares today
• Top broker says Appen (ASX:APX) might be a takeover target at this share price
• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price higher on lithium update
• Why Buddy, Evolution, Medical Dev International, & Whitefield are dropping

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. owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen Ltd and 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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The Wellnex Life Ltd (ASX: WNX) share price has skyrocketed today, finishing the session at 16.5 cents — a gain of 37.5%.

Wellnex, formerly Wattle Health Australia Ltd, returned to the ASX under the new ticker yesterday after an 18-month suspension.

On the re-listing, Wellnex shareholders were quick to unload shares at a rapid pace, resulting in a 75% loss on the day.

However, following an investor presentation from the company today, the Wellnex Life share price enjoyed a turnaround in fortunes.

Let’s take a look at the contents of Wellnex’s presentation in a bit more detail.

But first — a quick recap on Wellnex

The newly named Wellnex is engaged in health and wellness. It has products in nutrition, skincare, and nutritional health supplements.

It labelled itself an “Australian brand and distribution company” in today’s presentation, with the mission of offering “innovative, sustainable Australian health and wellness brands throughout the world”.

Wellnex was formed following Wattle Health’s acquisition of Brand Solutions and Pharma Solutions Australia.

At the time of writing, it has a market capitalisation of $36 million.

Today’s investor presentation

Wellnex chief executive George Karafotias presented at the ShareCafe Small Cap “Hidden Gems” Webinar this afternoon.

Karafotias detailed how Wellnex intends to grow its market share, while highlighting the company’s existing brand portfolio.

The global health and wellness market was on display, which Karafotias explained is a $5.6 billion industry.

Attendees also observed the company’s growth vision, built on efficiency and revenue growth.

Wellnex’s top executive also gave FY 2021 guidance for consolidated revenue of $18.3 million, calling for 18% growth from FY 2020.

Investors pounced, driving the Wellnex Life share price higher.

Foolish takeaway

In summary, Wellnex will be a name to watch over the coming periods as it has been re-listed as of yesterday.

Already the Wellnex Life share price has had a choppy two days, however, investors seem to favour today’s presentation.

The post Here’s why the Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX) share price jumped 37% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX) share price is crashing 75% lower on Thursday

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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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