Category: Stock Market

The City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX) share price is sinking like a very heavy stone on Monday.

In late trade, the ASX retail share is down 60% to 12 cents.

Why is this ASX share crashing 60%?

Investors have been selling the plus sized women’s fashion retailer’s shares for a couple of reasons today.

The first is the release of a very disappointing trading update that was announced last week. That update revealed that its group sales for FY 2024 are expected to be down ~30% to $187 million.

Things are worse for its forecast pro forma adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations. That is expected to be a loss of $9.3 million for the 12 months.

City Chic’s earnings guidance excludes the Avenue and Evans businesses. The US based Avenue business is being sold to Fullbeauty Brands for US$12 million (~A$18 million), subject to working capital adjustments at completion. This compares to its purchase price in 2019 of US$16.5 million

Whereas the Evans business was sold earlier in the financial year. Once again, at a significantly lower price than what management paid to acquire it.

Management notes that these divestments align with the company’s strategy of focusing on the core City Chic customer in ANZ and the US. Completion of the Avenue sale is scheduled to occur in July 2024.

What else?

Despite its abject trading performance and acquisition record, the ASX share has been able to raise money from investors through a capital raising.

However, unsurprisingly given the state of the company, it was forced to do so at a huge discount to the prevailing share price.

This morning, City Chic announced the successful completion of its institutional placement and the institutional component of its entitlement offer. In total, raised proceeds of $14.6 million (before costs) at a 50% discount of 15 cents per new share.

The release notes that the placement and institutional entitlement offer attracted strong demand from existing institutional shareholders of City Chic. In addition, it introduced a number of new investors to its institutional shareholder base.

The company’s CEO, Phil Ryan, commented:

We are delighted with the exceptional level of support received from our existing institutional shareholders and very pleased to obtain the support of some new institutions. Their collective support positions us to build on the positive momentum our recent initiatives are generating going into FY25.

City Chic’s shares are now down approximately 98% since the start of 2022.

The post Why is this ASX share crashing 60% on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Billionaire boosts stake in beaten-up ASX retail stock
• 6 ASX retail shares to buy this month

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 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.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty nasty start to the trading week so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has tanked by around 0.75%, dragging the index down to just under 7,740 points.

But perhaps mercifully, Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares aren’t joining the pity party today.

This ASX 200 uranium stock closed at $13.24 a share last week, and that’s where the shares remain today. This morning, Paladin announced that its shares would be placed in a trading halt, with immediate effect, until the company makes a further announcement or until the morning of this coming Wednesday, 26 June.

This announcement was vague in detail, as is often the case for the first states of a trading halt. However, Paladin did admit that the coming announcement will relate to “a potential acquisition“.

That’s all we know for sure right now, as there has been no other official news or announcements out of Paladin at the time of writing.

However, there are some rumours swirling around that could give us a fair idea of what might be going on with Paladin shares today.

Paladin shares halted as ASX uranium stock looks for acquisitions

Paladin is arguably primed to make an acquisition. The company’s shares have gained an astonishing 80% or so over the past 12 months alone, a gain that has swelled to 122.5% over the past two years. With the company now commanding a market capitalisation of almost $4 billion, it certainly would have a lot of financial firepower to deploy for an acquisition by issuing new shares.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) this morning, that is exactly what Paladin has in mind. The AFR names Fission Uranium Corp (TSE: FCU) as a likely target for Paladin.

The article points out that Fission Uranium is “right in [Paladin’s] backyard”, given its flagship Patterson Lake South Project is located in Canada’s Athabasca Basin.

The company would also be in Paladin’s acquisition range, given its current market capitalisation of C$863.9 million ($950.22 million).

Like Paladin, Fission Uranium has also had a stellar time on the Toronto Stock Exchange over recent years. Its shares have boomed 77.6% over the past 12 months.

But until Paladin issues some confirmations, we can’t be sure it is Fission Uranium that the company has set its eye on. The AFR also names the ASX-listed Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) as another potential target. However, Boss would be a much bigger target for Paladin to hunt, given its current worth of $1.7 billion.

Either way, it will be interesting to see what Paladin has to say this week when it finally lays out its plans.

The post Paladin Energy shares on ice as fission-powered acquisition rumours grow appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How the ‘nuclear renaissance’ could send ASX uranium stocks like Paladin through the roof
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here’s why ASX uranium shares like Deep Yellow are running hot today
• What Bill Gates, ASX uranium shares and the AI revolution have in common
• 3 reasons ASX uranium stocks can keep charging higher into 2025

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.

If you’re not averse to investing at the small side of the market, then it could be worth checking out Aroa Biosurgery Ltd (ASX: ARX).

That’s because analysts at Bell Potter believe the small cap ASX stock could rise materially from current levels.

What is this small cap ASX stock?

Aroa Biosurgery is a soft-tissue regeneration company. It states that it is committed to “unlocking regenerative healing for everybody.”

It develops, manufactures, sells, and distributes medical and surgical products to improve healing in complex wounds and soft tissue reconstruction. The small cap ASX stock’s products are developed from a proprietary AROA ECM technology platform. It is a novel extracellular matrix biomaterial derived from ovine forestomach.

‘A potentially transformational year’

Bell Potter believes that FY 2025 could be a transformational year for the company that could see its first profit and free cash flow. It said:

FY25 is a potentially transformational year for ARX with the likelihood of a maiden profit and positive free cash flows. We believe these have been the drivers of the resurgence in market value of the stock, spurned on by the positive revenue and earnings guidance provided at the recent full year update (for FY24).

Another positive is that there could soon be some clinical trial data available that the broker feels could be supportive of sales. It adds:

While the ARX products appear widely regarded and have been the subject of literally dozens of published articles, the absence of gold standard data from randomised clinical trials is a gap. Recruitment of clinical trials in the key area of lower limb salvage and large trauma wounds is problematic, however, to this end the company has recently completed enrolment of its Myriad Augmented Soft Tissue Regeneration Registry (MASTRR) with clinical data expected to commence in late FY25.

In addition, there’s potential for another clinical trial to open up the company to a market with a US$1 billion opportunity. The broker said:

In addition, ARX will shortly complete recruitment of its 120 patient randomised study in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) patients investigating the wound healing properties of its Symphony product with headline data due in 2H FY25. Data from a recent retrospective real world study is highly supportive of the wound healing properties of Myriad in severe DFU cases. A successful outcome (which we believe is likely) may unlock the market in outpatient wound care for DFU’s where TAM is estimated at >US$1.0bn.

Big return potential

This morning, Bell Potter has reiterated its buy rating and 90 cents price target on the small cap ASX stock.

Based on its current share price of 60 cents, this implies potential upside of 50% for investors over the next 12 months.

Overall, this could make Aroa Biosurgery worth a closer look. Particularly if you’re looking for some small cap exposure.

The post Guess which small cap ASX stock could rise 50% in a ‘transformational year’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Paladin Energy shares on ice as fission-powered acquisition rumours grow
• How rich are the Guzman Y Gomez founders following the company’s IPO?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Buying ASX 200 shares? Here’s why you’ll like NAB’s inflation forecast
• 2 ASX 200 compounding machines to buy and hold forever

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 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.

The big piece of ASX news last week (and arguably in 2024 to date) was the successful initial public offering (IPO) of Guzman y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG). Guzman stock floated on the ASX last Thursday, hitting the ASX boards at $22 a share.

Well, that $22 price didn’t last long. Within minutes of the company beginning its ASX listing, Guzman shares had topped $30 each, reaching a high of $30.99 on Thursday afternoon.

That euphoria has since died off a little, but at the time of writing, Guzan shares are still trading at $28.78 each, a good 30.8% or so above the company’s IPO price.

It goes without saying that Guzman y Gomez shares’ ASX debut has been a roaring success for the company’s founder, senior management, and early investors.

But exactly how successful has it been?

How rich are Guzman y Gomez’s founders post-IPO?

Well, last week, my Fool colleague Mitchell went through Guzman’s largest shareholders after the company went public.

Its two largest shareholders are early investors TDM Growth Partners and Barrenjoey Capital. Other significant investors include Aware Super, Gaetano Russo, former board member Stephen Jermyn, and Richard and Kate Bell.

But Guzman’s co-founders Steven Marks (also currently Guzman’s co-CEO) and Robert Hazan (retired) both remain significant shareholders of the company. Marks currently owns 7,507,250 shares, or 7.41% of the company, through the Marks family’s Evan Jason Pty Ltd. He also owns another 1,212,000 shares, or 1.2%, in his own name.

Meanwhile, Hazan owns 4,527,500 shares through his family company RBH Pty Ltd. That’s worth 4.47% of Guzman’s outstanding shares.

When Guzman IPOed at $22 a share, this would have valued Marks’ Evan Jason stake in the company at approximately $165.16 million, plus his own shares at $26.66 million. Hazan’s stake would have been worth $99.61 million.

But at today’s pricing following the successful IPO, Marks would now have a stake worth a whopping $250.94 million (combined). Not a bad return for a few days.

Hazan, in turn, would be sitting on a fortune valued at roughly $130.3 million right now.

Of course, most of these founders’ shareholdings are now under a voluntary escrow period. 25% of the co-founders’ shares will remain escrowed until Guzman releases its earnings results for the first half of the 2025 financial year, provided the shares are trading at least 20% above the company’s IPO price of $22.

The remaining shares will be escrowed until the company releases its results for the full 2025 financial year, which will end on 30 June 2025.

So Marks and Hazan can’t exactly take advantage of the company’s explosive IPO results right now. But even so, both will undoubtedly be walking with a spring in their steps today.

The post How rich are the Guzman Y Gomez founders following the company’s IPO? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How does the Guzman Y Gomez ASX valuation compare to Domino’s?
• Why Guzman y Gomez, KMD, Mineral Resources, and Pilbara Minerals shares are sinking
• Nuclear power, debt and burritos
• Guzman y Gomez share price implodes 10% on ASX trading day 2
• Would I be crazy to buy Guzman y Gomez (GYG) shares at $30?

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.

With so many shares to choose from on the Australian share market, it can be difficult to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $36.00 price target on this sleep disorder treatment company’s shares. This follows the release of trial results from Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) in relation to tirzepatide (Mounjaro) as a treatment of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in adults with obesity. While Citi acknowledges that there is a risk that a portion of patients with mild OSA symptoms might drop CPAP devices over time because of the weight loss drug, it doesn’t appear overly concerned. Particularly given that stronger results were achieved from a combination of Mounjaro and CPAP devices. The ResMed share price is trading at $27.83 today.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating on this mining giant’s shares with an improved price target of $4.50. This follows the broker’s review of commodity prices. Macquarie remains very positive on a number of commodities that South32 produces such as aluminium, met coal, and nickel. In light of this, it has boosted its earnings estimates for the coming years and has named South32 as its top pick among the large cap miners right now. The South32 share price is fetching $3.63 on Monday afternoon.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)

Analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating on this wine giant’s shares with an improved price target of $15.03. The broker was pleased with a recent update on its Penfolds business and notes that management has reaffirmed its earnings guidance for FY 2024. It was even more pleased to see that its earnings growth is likely to accelerate next year thanks to US luxury availability, the acquisition of DAOU Vineyards, and the recent removal of Chinese wine tariffs. Overall, the broker sees potential for Treasury Wines to deliver double-digit earnings growth over the medium term if management can execute on its plans. The Treasury Wine share price is trading at $12.27 at the time of writing.

The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Cettire, Metcash, ResMed, and Star Entertainment shares are sinking today
• ResMed share price plunges 13% as weight-loss results reawaken worries
• ResMed shares are in a two-month lull. Is this a chance to buy?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now
• These 3 top ASX 200 shares just earned substantial broker upgrades. Here’s why

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in ResMed and Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Treasury Wine Estates. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Whether you’re actively buying S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares or simply considering it, you’ll probably like the latest inflation forecast from National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB).

On Wednesday, at 11:30am AEST, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will release the monthly consumer price index (CPI) data covering the month of May.

Last month the ABS reported that, over the year to April, the monthly headline CPI indicator had increased by 3.6%. If you take out volatile items and holiday travel, underlying inflation increased by 4.1%, in line with the inflation data in December.

Those sticky inflation figures led to the Reserve Bank of Australia holding the official interest rate at the current 4.35% at its meeting last Tuesday.

In its battle to tame soaring inflation, which reached almost 8% at the end of 2022, the RBA has hiked interest rates 13 times since May 2022. It’s hard to believe today, but back then the official Aussie cash rate stood at a rock bottom 0.10% following years of ‘stubbornly absent’ inflation.

Should the inflation data surprise to the upside this Wednesday, ASX 200 shares could come under pressure amid concerns that the RBA’s next move in August may be to hike rates once more.

On that front, however, NAB has a fairly positive forecast.

NAB’s inflation forecast could see ASX 200 shares rally

Indeed, NAB’s inflation forecast could see ASX shares rally into the end of the week.

According to NAB (courtesy of The Australian Financial Review), “The May CPI indicator is not the full CPI and should be looked at with a view to implications for the Q2 CPI on July 31, ahead of the RBA’s August meeting and forecast update.”

With that caveat in mind, NAB said:

This month, being the second month of the quarter, contains better coverage of a range of services categories that will help guide the RBA assessment of domestic inflation pressure and firm up Q2 forecasts.

We pencil in 3.6 per cent year-over-year, versus consensus for 3.8, from 3.6 per cent in April. The below consensus pick looks to be due to a large expected fall in volatile travel prices in the month. Prices fall seasonally in May, but the magnitude of the measured decline is highly uncertain.

For the ex-volatiles and travel number, we pencil in 3.9 per cent from 4.1 per cent, though the risk sits with a 4.0 per cent.

While some ASX shares have come under pressure amid hot-running inflation and rising rates, that’s not true for ASX 200 bank stocks.

NAB shares, for example, are up a whopping 42% over the past 12 months.

The post Buying ASX 200 shares? Here’s why you’ll like NAB’s inflation forecast appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here’s how the ASX 200 market sectors stacked up last week
• Can the good times keep rolling for ASX 200 bank shares in FY25?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.

I believe that buy and hold investing is one of the best ways to grow your wealth.

This is because it allows you to benefit from the power of compounding, which is what happens when you earn returns on top of returns.

But which ASX 200 stocks could be great long term options and compounding machines? Two to consider according to analysts are named below. They are as follows:

NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Morgans thinks this data centre operator could be a great long-term option for investors.

In fact, the broker believes that the ASX 200 stock could more than double in value in the coming years thanks to the growing demand for data centre capacity and its ongoing expansion. It said:

NXT’s shares have rallied significantly in the last decade and months as investors gained confidence in growing demand and management’s execution. The demand wave from business digitisation and cloud adoption will only get bigger as the third wave (AI) starts rolling into data centres. We think NXT is especially well placed to succeed given its partner ecosystem (enterprise users of cloud are also AI users). If you believe that these dynamics benefit DCs, then acknowledge that NXT has sold just 15% of its planned capacity, what could 100% sold look like? In this note we simplify and unpack the key requirements for success and ascertain that if NXT can fund and fill the planned pipeline, then it could be a $40+ stock.

For now, the broker has an add rating and $19.00 price target on NextDC’s shares.

Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO)

Another quality buy and hold option for investors to consider buying is Xero. It is a cloud accounting platform provider with 4.2 million subscribers globally.

Goldman Sachs thinks that the ASX 200 stock would be a great long term option for investors. This is due to its significant market opportunity, which the broker has previously described as giving it a multi-decade growth runway.

In addition, with the company recently pivoting to profitable growth, it sees now as the time to snap up its shares. It explains:

Xero is a Global Cloud Accounting SaaS player, with existing focuses in ANZ, UK, North American and SE Asian markets. We see Xero as very well-placed to take advantage of the digitisation of SMBs globally, driven by compelling efficiency benefits and regulatory tailwinds, with >100mn SMBs worldwide representing a >NZ$100bn TAM. Given the company’s pivot to profitable growth and corresponding faster earnings ramp, we see an attractive entry point into a global growth story with Xero our preferred large-cap technology name in ANZ – the stock is Buy rated.

Goldman currently has a buy rating and $164.00 price target on its shares.

The post 2 ASX 200 compounding machines to buy and hold forever appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 7 excellent ASX growth shares to buy next week
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Nextdc and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goldman Sachs Group and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a decline. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.7% to 7,742.6 points.

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

Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT)

The Cettire share price is down a massive 50% to $1.13. Investors have been hitting the sell button today after online luxury products retailer warned that “the operating environment within global online luxury has become more challenging” with heightened levels of discounting. In response to these challenging conditions, the company “has selectively participated in the promotional activity, leading to an increase in marketing costs relative to sales and a decline in delivered margin percentage.” Investors may believe that this marks an end of Cettire’s explosive sales and earnings growth.

Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS)

The Metcash share price is down 3% to $3.66. This follows the release of the wholesale distributor’s FY 2024 results this morning. Metcash reported a 0.7% increase in revenue to $15.9 billion but an 8.2% decline in underlying profit after tax to $282.3 million. This reflects earnings growth in Food and Liquor being offset by lower earnings in Hardware and increased corporate costs. In light of this, the Metcash board cut its fully franked final dividend by approximately 23% to 8.5 cents per share.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

The ResMed share price is down 12% to $28.04. This has been driven by concerns over the efficacy of weight loss drugs on treating sleep apnoea. Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE: LLY) released trial results for tirzepatide, sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, that revealed that all primary and key secondary endpoints were met in adults with obesity. The trials demonstrated a mean reduction of up to 62.8% on the apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI), or about 30 fewer events restricting or blocking a person’s airflow per hour of sleep, compared to placebo.

Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR)

The Star Entertainment share price is down almost 7% to 45.7 cents. This follows the release of a guidance update from the casino and resorts operator this morning. Due to the challenging economic environment and cost of living pressures, Star Entertainment’s performance has weakened in the fourth quarter. As a result, in FY 2024 management expects group revenue to be between $1,675 million and $1,685 million and normalised group EBITDA to be in the range of $165 million to $180 million. The latter represents a significant decline on FY 2023’s normalised EBITDA of $317 million.

The post Why Cettire, Metcash, ResMed, and Star Entertainment shares are sinking today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did the Cettire share price just crash 42%?
• ResMed share price plunges 13% as weight-loss results reawaken worries
• Guess which ASX 200 stock just slashed its final dividend by 23%
• Star Entertainment shares tumble on disappointing earnings guidance
• This ASX dividend share could pay an 8% yield in 2026!

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

Despite the past month’s sell-down, spurred by a retrace in uranium prices, ASX uranium stocks have broadly delivered some benchmark smashing longer-term returns.

Over the past 12 months the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained a healthy 10.0%.

Here’s how these leading ASX uranium stocks have performed over that same time:

• Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)* shares are down 5.7%
• Bannerman Energy Ltd (ASX: BMN) shares are up 121.4%
• Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) shares are up 94.0%
• Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) shares are up 29.5%
• Alligator Energy Ltd (ASX: AGE) shares are up 27.5%

(*Paladin shares entered a trading halt today pending an announcement. Rumour has it this could be related to a possible capital raising to fund a new uranium acquisition.)

And those smashing one-year gains could be just the tip of the iceberg amid what pundits are labelling the new global nuclear renaissance.

ASX uranium stocks could help power the world

Amid a global charge to build new nuclear power plants for carbon free baseload power, the World Nuclear Association forecasts uranium demand growth will outpace global supply growth through to 2040.

In another bullish signal for ASX uranium stocks, Russian uranium is now off the menu for the United States as part of the sanctions for the nation’s invasion of Ukraine. Other nations are also looking at banning Russia’s uranium exports.

And the US is among the 27 nations recently declaring its intention ramp up nuclear energy.

According to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm:

We are entering a new era of nuclear energy, our single largest source of carbon-free electricity. We plan to invest up to US$900 million to accelerate nuclear deployment, add more small modular reactors, and reach more Americans with clean energy.

The US has said it will source its nuclear fuel both domestically and from its allies.

With Australia a top US ally and sitting on the world’s largest proven economic uranium reserves, ASX uranium stocks could have some big opportunities ahead.

Last year, US congressman Neal Dunn questioned the Australian government’s opposition to uranium.

Dunn said (quoted by The Australian Financial Review):

We talk about, ‘Why isn’t Australia with us on this?’ There are a lot of commercial opportunities. You have got the uranium ore, you have got the skills, all you lack is the will.

That will may now be emerging. At least, if opposition leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition have their way.

As you’re likely aware, Dutton is pushing for Australia to invest heavily in constructing nuclear plants. A move the Labor government still strongly opposes.

140% potential gains on the table

According to Morgan Stanley, the “nuclear renaissance” now underway may need US$1.5 trillion (AU$2.3 trillion) of investment between now and 2050.

And the broker noted that if Australia’s restrictive policies on uranium exploration and mining are lifted, it could usher in some outsized gains for ASX uranium stocks like Paladin.

According to Morgan Stanley’s Shannon Sinha (quoted by the AFR):

Nuclear power remains divisive. High construction costs, as well as concerns about waste and safety, plus political sensitivity, mean that nuclear is likely to remain a binary issue for many markets.

Sinha added, “Paladin’s Australia resource base is currently impacted by uranium mining bans in Australia, but we note that the political stance on this may be changing.”

Morgan Stanley estimates the ASX uranium stock could be a major beneficiary if the government eases restrictions on its Western Australian and Queensland assets.

The broker said the Paladin share price could soar as high as $32.00 in this event, representing a potential upside of 142% from Friday’s closing price of $13.24.

The post How the ‘nuclear renaissance’ could send ASX uranium stocks like Paladin through the roof appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here’s why ASX uranium shares like Deep Yellow are running hot today
• What Bill Gates, ASX uranium shares and the AI revolution have in common
• 3 reasons ASX uranium stocks can keep charging higher into 2025

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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.

This Monday marks exactly one week until the start of July. That means there’s only one week left in June, as well as the 2024 financial year. It also means that from next Monday on, we’ll be able to lodge our tax returns for the financial year that is about to pass us by. So let’s talk about why you won’t want to forget your franking credits when you do your taxes.

Franking credits are an important component of the tax return for anyone who owns ASX shares. Overlooking them when you do your taxes would be a huge mistake.

But let’s explain why by looking at what franking credits are and why they’re worth paying attention to.

What are franking credits?

Franking credits are a unique feature of our Australian taxation system. They are paid out at the same time a company pays a fully or partially franked dividend.

Whenever a company pays out a dividend, it must do so from a pool of profits on which it has already paid corporate tax. When you or I receive this dividend, we must also declare it to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as taxable income and pay tax on this cash accordingly.

But you may notice a problem here. By the time this dividend cash makes its way into our bank accounts, it has theoretically been taxed twice. Once at the corporate level and once as personal income. That’s not exactly a fair outcome.

To account for this, companies include franking credits with any dividends funded from previously taxed profits. These credits can be thought of as a receipt of sorts that proves taxes have already been paid on this pool of cash.

Most ASX shares pay corporate taxes in Australia. If that’s the case, dividends from these companies usually come fully franked. But if a company makes profits and pays taxes offshore instead of in Australia, it might not generate franking credits. This is normally the case when a company pays a partially franked dividend or a dividend that is completely unfranked.

How does a franked dividend help us at tax time?

When we receive franking credits, we can use them to claim a tax deduction from the ATO up to the value of the taxes already paid. As such, franking credits reduce the income tax we might otherwise be required to pay to the ATO.

Thus, franking can form a big portion of the overall wealth-building benefits of investing in and owning ASX shares.

To illustrate, let’s take an ASX dividend share that has paid out a yield of 4% over FY2024. If these dividends were fully franked, that dividend yield would instead gross up to be worth 5.71%, with the value of those full franking credits included.

As you can see, franking is not something that should be ignored. It can help reduce your debt or assist you in getting a larger refund when you lodge your FY2024 tax return. So don’t forget about your franking this tax time. Doing so would be a huge own goal.

The post Don’t forget your franking credits this tax time appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.