Australian dividend shares are a great way for investors to earn a reliable passive income. Here are two dividend giants that I think belong in every Aussie portfolio.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts is frequently referred to as Australian dividend royalty. It’s easy to see why, too. 

The company has the longest streak of annual dividend increases on the index. It has also increased its dividend payout for its shareholders every year since 1998. 

The best part is that Soul Patts is an investment house that holds a diverse portfolio of investments across listed equities, private equity, property, and loans. While its origins were in pharmacies, the company now has a very broad portfolio across multiple sectors. 

It gives its investors exposure to assets across a range of industries, including natural resources, building materials, telecommunications, retail, agriculture, property equity, and corporate advisory. It is invested in a number of well-known ASX shares such as TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), New Hope Corporation Ltd (ASX: NHC), and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW). This means the dividend share is able to generate cash flow from a variety of sources. 

It’s this defensive quality and consistent dividend growth that make it a fantastic option for income-seeking investors. 

There’s no forecast for what the Soul Patts dividend is expected to climb to in FY26, but the company expects growth to continue going forward. In FY25, the company paid a total $1.03 per share, 100% fully franked. 

At the time of writing on Tuesday afternoon, the Soul Patts share price is 1.21% higher for the day at $37.51 a piece. Over the year, the shares have climbed 6.99%.

BHP Group (ASX: BHP)

Mining giant and ASX 200 heavyweight BHP is another must for any savvy investor’s portfolio. 

The mining and metals giant is a diversified natural resources company that is among the world’s top producers of major commodities, including iron ore, copper, and metallurgical coal. The company is headquartered in Melbourne and is one of the largest and most-established companies on the ASX with a strong balance sheet and low debt, even during volatile markets.

In FY25, BHP paid an interim dividend of 79.1 cents per share on 27 March and a final dividend of 91.9 cents per share on 25 September, both fully franked. That brings the full-year passive income payout to $1.71 a share. 

Unfortunately, in FY25, BHP’s dividend payouts were lower than what investors received in FY24. This was mostly due to shifts in commodity prices throughout the 12-month period. But the miner continues to be a great provider of passive income. 

UBS has forecast BHP will pay its shareholders US$1.09 per share in FY26, with a potential dividend yield of 5.7%, including franking credits. 

But Macquarie is forecasting that the miner’s dividend will be a little lower in FY26, at around US$1.05 fully franked. This is due to an expected decline in the company’s EBITDA earnings for the year, reflecting softer commodity prices.

At the time of writing, BHP shares are 0.76% higher for the day at $40.93 a piece. Over the year, the shares are trading 1.82% higher.

The post 2 Australian dividend giants that I think belong in every portfolio appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It has been a tough time for TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares.

Over the past 30 days, the ASX 200 stock has lost 21% of its value.

Why have its shares been sold off?

Investors have been selling the enterprise software company’s shares this month following the release of its full year results.

Interestingly, TechnologyOne’s shares tumbled despite it outperforming its guidance, announcing a special dividend, and reiterating its 2030 $1 billion+ annualised recurring revenue (ARR) target.

Not even bullish comments from its CEO, Ed Chung, could stop the selling. He said:

iPhones changed the market for mobile phones, Tesla changed the market for vehicles, UBER changed the market for how to catch a cab and now that we have Ai and SaaS+, TechnologyOne is changing the market for ERP and unlocking value for our customers.

Is this a buying opportunity?

This looks like one of the best buying opportunities for this ASX 200 stock in a long time. Especially given management’s confidence that it can double in size every five years.

But I’m not alone in seeing this as an opportunity. A number of brokers have recently upgraded its shares in response to their sizeable decline.

For example, analysts at Morgan Stanley have upgraded its shares to an overweight rating with a $36.50 price target. This implies potential upside of 20% from current levels.

Elsewhere, UBS has put a buy rating and $38.70 price target on them, which suggests that upside of approximately 27% is possible between now and this time next year.

And over at Morgans, its analysts have upgraded its shares to an accumulate rating with a $34.50 price target. This is 13% above its current share price.

Commenting on its upgrade, the broker said:

TNE’s FY25 result was largely in line with our expectations with the group delivering, PBT growth of +19% to $181.5m ahead of its 13-17% guidance range, and in line with consensus. The negative share price reaction appears to have been driven by softer than expected ARR/NRR print, which saw a 2% miss to ARR growth expectations vs consensus, despite this, the group continues to deliver, with ARR of $554.6m (+18% YoY), which along with its NRR growth of 115% continues to see TNE Ontrack to achieve its long-term ARR growth aspirations.

We modestly pare our EPS forecasts by 1-3% in FY26-28F. and move to an ACCUMULATE rating, with our target price $34.50 now reflecting a TSR of +19% following TNE’s post result share price movement.

The post Down 21% in 30 days, this top ASX 200 stock now looks on sale to me appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are 2.69% higher in Tuesday afternoon trade. At the time of writing, the shares are changing hands for $1.41 a piece. This means the lithium stock’s shares are now 16.7% higher over the past month. They’re now up a whopping 147.72% for the year to date.

Liontown Resources is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the development of high-quality lithium and tantalum projects in Western Australia (WA). The company controls 100% of the lithium rights to two prospective projects in WA, Kathleen Valley and Buldania.

Its flagship Kathleen Valley project is described as “one of the world’s largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium deposits”.

Why has the lithium stock’s share price rocketed higher this year?

ASX lithium shares have outperformed the market this year. This is because soaring demand for lithium to power batteries and new infrastructure continued to increase. For example, demand for electric vehicles, which are by far the biggest consumers of lithium, is growing faster than carmakers can keep up. And grid-scale energy storage to stabilise renewable energy is also a fast-growing source of demand. 

Meanwhile, Liontown Resources also ramped up its output at its Kathleen Valley project during 2025. This gave the company the ability to capture a lot of the demand. Commercial production was declared on 1st January this year, and by the end of FY25, the company had produced over 300,000 wet metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate. 

There are reports this week that Liontown Resources held its first digital auction for 10000 wet metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate. The company secured a bid of US$1254/dmt.

The lithium producer was one of the top 10 most-traded ASX shares last week.

What’s next for Liontown Resources?

While the rally for lithium demand has exploded this year, concerns have arisen that the company’s shares may have now peaked.

TradingView data shows that analyst sentiment is still divided. Out of 12 analysts, 6 have a sell or strong sell on the lithium stock. Another 4 have a hold rating, and 2 have a strong buy rating.

The average 12-month target price for Liontown Resources is $0.965 per share, which implies a potential 31.7% downside for the shares, at the time of writing.

The team at Macquarie have an underperform rating on Liontown Resources shares, and a $0.65 12-month target price. This implies a potential 53.9% decrease at the time of writing.

Bell Potter is much more bullish on Liontown Resources shares. The broker has a buy rating and $1.52 target price on the stock, which implies a potential 7.8% upside at the time of writing.

The post Liontown Resources shares up 147% this year: What’s next for this lithium stock? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Australia Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI), or AFIC for short, shares have long been a popular choice on the ASX for investors seeking hands-off, conservative investing and a reliable stream of dividend income.

As a listed investment company (LIC), AFIC owns and manages a portfolio of underlying investments on behalf of its shareholders. In this company’s case, this portfolio mostly consists of a diversified pool of ASX blue-chip dividend shares. AFIC runs a much smaller international stock portfolio as well.

Some of its largest current portfolio holdings include BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).

Some of its international stocks include Netflix, Spotify, Mastercard, and Alphabet.

As this portfolio is entirely managed by AFIC’s management, many investors enjoy being able to pass off the tough work of stock picking themselves to AFIC and simply keep its shares in the proverbial bottom drawer.

The company has a long track record of delivering reliable returns to its investors. AFIC has been around for almost 100 years, since 1928 to be precise. Over the ten years to 31 October, it has delivered a total shareholder return of 8.2% per annum. That figure includes share price growth as well as dividend and franking credit returns.

As we touched on above, AFIC shares have also proven to be a dependable source of passive dividend income. Shareholders haven’t seen a year-to-year dividend cut in more than three decades.

Just this morning, AFIC gave its shareholders some good news on that front.

AFIC shares: Two special dividends for 2026 revealed

In an ASX announcement, the LIC revealed that AFIC shareholders can expect a special dividend to accompany the next two dividends that will be paid out. That would be the interim dividend that will be revealed on 21 January 2026, as well as the final dividend to be declared on 27 July. Both of these special dividends will be worth 2.5 cents per share and will come with full franking credits attached.

Obviously, we don’t yet know how much the ordinary dividends that will come alongside these special payouts will be worth yet. Over 2025, AFIC’s interim dividend came in at 12 cents per share, while the final dividend was worth 14.5 cents per share. The latter was also accompanied by a 5-cent per share special dividend. All three 2025 payments came fully franked.

Here’s how the company explained the reasoning behind next year’s special dividends:

The Board recognises that AFIC has built up a substantial balance of franking credits over recent years, particularly through the generation of realised capital gains. These franking credits are valuable to our shareholders, and the Board has considered the most appropriate means of distributing some of this balance without compromising the underlying ordinary dividends going forward.

No doubt owners of AFIC shares will welcome this news today. At the current price of $7.13, this LIC is trading on a trailing dividend yield of 3.72%.

The post Own AFIC shares? There’s a double special dividend coming your way appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Alphabet, CSL, Mastercard, National Australia Bank, and Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, CSL, Macquarie Group, Mastercard, Netflix, and Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, BHP Group, CSL, Mastercard, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investing in the US Magnificent 7 stocks is an obvious way to gain exposure to the global artificial intelligence (AI) megatrend.

To recap, the Mag 7 shares are Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG),  Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

Betashares investment strategist, Hugh Lam, says the Mag 7 stocks have delivered exceptional returns for investors since AI became a dominant market theme following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.

Since then, the S&P 500 Index (SP: INX) has gained 70% in value, with the Mag 7 responsible for more than half that, Lam said.

However, there are other options for investors who think the Mag 7 stocks are now overvalued.

Let’s find out more.

AI investment goes beyond the Mag 7 stocks

In an article, Lam said AI was here to stay, and there were many companies besides the Mag 7 set to benefit.

Lam commented:

From its potential to enable long-term productivity gains to becoming a geopolitical bargaining chip among the world’s economic powerhouses, the market’s fervour for AI looks here to stay.

However, the investment opportunity set is now broader than the Mag 7, with many other firms likely to thrive as AI technologies proliferate and data centre capacity grows.

Lam points out that the Mag 7 are critical in the AI infrastructure build-out, whilst other companies are using AI to enhance their services.

Examples include Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: PLTR), a US-based AI and defence software company specialising in data analytics for government and defence industry customers.

The Palantir share price has rocketed 115% in 2025 amid its software systems being adopted in US military operations and businesses such as Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT) and Airbus SE (ETR: AIR).

Cybersecurity and robotics

Lam said the benefits of AI are now being seen in adjacent sectors to information technology, such as cybersecurity and robotics.

The investment strategist said:

… AI is reshaping the cybersecurity industry, particularly as geopolitical tensions continue to simmer and national self-sufficiency needs rise.

Against this backdrop, governments, businesses and individuals are all becoming more proactive in protecting their data.

Global cybersecurity spending is expected to see sustained growth of double-digit rates, reaching US$377 billion by 2028, according to the International Data Corporation.

This amount is not only large but also highly defensible in nature, with Chief Information Officers surveyed by Morgan Stanley viewing security as the category least likely to get cut in an economic downturn.

Lam says robotics has become a key theme in 2025, describing it as Nvidia’s next biggest market for potential growth.

While still in its infancy, Betashares sees robotics becoming a bigger and more recognised investment exposure over time as developed market economies seek automation as a critical solution to counter structural macro issues including labour shortages and falling population growth rates.

The post How to invest in AI outside the Magnificent 7 stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, Tesla, and Walmart. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) share Reece Ltd (ASX: REH) has been under a lot of strain in 2025.

Australia’s leading plumbing and bathroom supplier has seen its share price tumble from $25.92 per share at the end of November last year to $12.12 at the time of writing.

This equates to a 52% drop in the last 12 months. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has climbed by 1.7% in the same period.

Expanding US network

Founded in Australia and now also operating across New Zealand and the US, Reece serves both trade and retail customers. The network of the popular ASX 200 share continues to expand. In the last quarter, it added 18 branches in the US and 14 in Australia and New Zealand.

Reece’s scale gives it a competitive advantage, and over the years, it has built strong margins due to high-frequency trade customers and a broad product range.

Weak housing conditions

However, cracks are appearing. The housing markets are weak in both the US, and Australia and New Zealand, and margins are under pressure from elevated labour costs and inflation.

Reece also faces increasing competition, especially on its home turf with players like Tradelink and JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH), which has entered the market of home fittings.

Better-than-expected sales

The ASX 200 share was one of the big winners on Monday, gaining 12.6%. The share price lifted on Friday’s quarterly update, which was better than expected. After the Tuesday lunch hour, the Reece share price recorded a 2% loss, settling at $12.12.

Reece reported 8% revenue growth to $2.41 billion for 1Q FY26, while EBITDA fell 8% to $222 million. Management warned that soft demand could persist, making short-term earnings recovery uncertain.

Peter Wilson, Chair and CEO, said:

Costs remain elevated driven by network growth, ongoing investment in core capabilities and the impact of labour cost inflation in competitive markets, especially the US. We are still expecting a period of soft activity in both regions.

Long and bumpy recovery

Analysts are broadly cautious and warn that recovery could be long and bumpy.

Morgans rates the ASX 200 share as a hold. The broker applauds the stronger sales in 1Q FY26 but sees ongoing margin pressures from higher costs and tough market conditions in ANZ and the US.

As a result, it has only upgraded Reece shares to a hold rating with a slightly increased price target of $11.25, up from $11.10.

Morgans noted in its recent research:

With a 12-month forecast TSR of 5%, we upgrade our rating to HOLD (from TRIM). While we continue to view REH as a fundamentally strong business with a good culture and a long track record of growth, the operating environment remains challenging, particularly in the US where competitive pressures persist. Trading on 24.2x FY26F PE with a 1.6% yield, we see the stock as fully valued and prefer to wait for signs of market improvement before reassessing our view.

The post Can this ASX 200 share bounce back after crashing 52% this year? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther 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.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares are storming higher today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) uranium stock closed yesterday trading for $7.45. In early afternoon trade on Tuesday, shares are changing hands for $7.76 apiece, up 4.2%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.2% at this same time.

As you may know, Paladin Energy shares have been smoking hot since the stock plumbed a four-year closing low of $3.98 on 22 April.

That means ASX investors who channelled their inner Warren Buffett to be greedy when others were fearful and bought shares on 22 April will now be sitting on gains of 95%.

But according to Ord Minnett’s Tony Paterno, those rapid gains may have come faster than they were fundamentally due (courtesy of The Bull).

Should you buy Paladin Energy shares today?

“This uranium producer owns 75% of the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia,” said Paterno, who has a sell recommendation on Paladin Energy shares. “It also owns uranium exploration and development assets in Australia and Canada.”

Paterno noted the all-time high uranium production Paladin Energy reported for Q1 FY 2026.

“The company delivered record production in the September quarter, but sales volumes fell on the previous quarter and prior corresponding period,” he said.

But with shares having raced higher since April, he recommends taking profits now.

“Despite a decent result, PDN’s share price recently doubled in the past six months and has outpaced its fundamentals,” Paterno concluded.

What’s been sending the ASX 200 uranium stock leaping higher?

Paladin Energy shares closed down 0.4% on 13 November following the release of the company’s first-quarter results.

For the September quarter, Paladin reported revenue of US$35.97 million, down 18% year on year. However, the uranium miner’s net loss after tax declined to US$9.93 million from US$10.40 million.

And the company’s gross quarterly profit of US$7.89 million almost doubled from the prior corresponding period.

Atop its own operational performance, Paladin Energy shares have joined the broader rally among uranium stocks over the past half year.

This has been driven by a rapid increase in planned nuclear power generation, spearheaded this year by the United States.

As we reported last Thursday, the US Department of Energy announced that it will loan US$1 billion to Constellation Energy to help fund the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has contracted the facility to provide the surging power demands for its expanding AI data centres.

Last week, Paladin Energy shares also enjoyed a big boost following news that the US plans to purchase up to 10 new large-scale nuclear reactors.

The post Should you buy Paladin Energy shares following record uranium production? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 positions in and has recommended Constellation Energy and Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investing overseas can feel intimidating for many Australians. Different markets, currency swings, foreign tax rules. It can all seem like a lot to take on.

But the reality is far simpler. Thanks to a wide range of international exchange traded funds (ETFs) listed right here at home, you can build a global portfolio without ever leaving the ASX.

You don’t need a US trading account, nor will need to convert currency. And you don’t need to learn the ins and outs of every overseas market.

Let’s see exactly how to invest globally using nothing more than your standard Australian brokerage account.

Access the US market

If you want exposure to the world’s biggest and most influential stocks, the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) is the simplest place to start.

It gives you instant ownership of 500 of America’s largest listed businesses, including Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

The United States has historically been one of the strongest-performing share markets over long periods.

By owning this ASX ETF, you are effectively tying your wealth to the innovation engine of the world, without having to pick individual stocks or deal with offshore administration.

Capture Asia’s tech boom

Beyond the US, some of the fastest growth globally is happening in Asia. The region is experiencing massive digital adoption, rising incomes, and an expanding middle class.

For exposure to the companies riding these tailwinds, the BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA) comes immediately to mind.

This ASX ETF includes leading tech giants such as Tencent Holdings (SEHK: 700), Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), PDD Holdings (NASDAQ: PDD) and Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU). These dominate online commerce, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence across the region.

While Asian tech stocks can be more volatile than those in the US, their long-term growth potential is enormous. This fund offers broad, diversified exposure to this opportunity through a single ASX trade.

Round out with global exposure

To complete your international portfolio, you can add exposure to major developed markets outside the US using the new BetaShares Global Shares ex-US ETF (ASX: EXUS).

This ASX ETF holds more than 900 large and mid-cap stocks across Europe, Japan, Canada, the UK and other developed economies.

Its top holdings include ASML (NASDAQ: ASML), AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN), Roche (SWX: ROG), Nestlé (SWX: NESN) and SAP (ETR: SAP). These are high-quality companies that provide stability and sector diversification beyond tech-heavy US markets.

Foolish takeaway

You don’t need foreign trading accounts or complex tax setups to build a truly global portfolio.

With these ASX ETFs, you can invest across the world’s most dynamic markets in just a few clicks.

International diversification has never been easier for long-term wealth building.

The post How to invest and build wealth globally without leaving the ASX appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Betashares Capital – Asia Technology Tigers Etf. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended ASML, Amazon, Baidu, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tencent, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Alibaba Group, AstraZeneca Plc, Nestlé, Roche Holding AG, and SAP and has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ASML, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), along with Nvidia, has sealed what appears to be a landmark agreement with Anthropic. The three tech giants will become each other’s customers in a major partnership.

Under the terms of the deal, Anthropic will purchase $30 billion worth of Azure’s computing capacity from Microsoft. Anthropic will scale its Claude AI model on Azure, running it on Nvidia architecture powered by Grace CPUs and Blackwell and Vera Rubin GPUs.

This is obviously huge for Microsoft. But it’s not Microsoft’s most important artificial intelligence (AI) deal.

The deal with Anthropic

This new agreement, combined with the fact that Claude is now available on the three largest platforms, will give the chatbot a competitive advantage. It should also increase Claude’s popularity, particularly thanks to a move that will bring Claude for Business to Microsoft Foundry.

In terms of dealmaking, investors should remember that Microsoft has grown to a $3.5 trillion market cap behemoth, and it has been a publicly traded company since 1986. Even with that long history, this is one of its largest deals. Nonetheless, it pales in comparison to Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI.

The relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft dates back to 2019, predating the 2021 founding of Anthropic. But time is not the only factor. Microsoft and OpenAI announced an updated agreement on Oct. 28. At that time, the public learned that Microsoft’s position in privately held OpenAI is valued at around $135 billion. That represents a 27% stake based on OpenAI’s valuation from recent fundraising rounds.

Additionally, OpenAI is under contract with Microsoft to purchase $250 billion worth of Azure services through 2032. That’s significantly more than the $30 billion deal Microsoft just inked with Anthropic.

Improving Microsoft’s AI position

The recent evolution of Microsoft’s agreement with OpenAI likely also paved the way for its Anthropic deal. Under its terms. OpenAI and Microsoft are each free to “independently continue advancing innovation and growth.” In other words, Microsoft can partner with whichever players in the AI space it wants to.

Moreover, now Microsoft will provide the computational horsepower to both Anthropic’s Claude AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, making Azure the critical cloud ecosystem for a significant portion of the AI environment.

OpenAI’s latest agreement with Microsoft explicitly spells out where the companies can work separately and together on artificial general intelligence (AGI). Analysts often refer to AGI as “human-level intelligence AI,” meaning that, in theory, such systems could match or surpass human capabilities in cognitive tasks. Depending on where AGI advances, Microsoft is now more strongly positioned to capitalize on those innovations.

These deals position Microsoft to benefit from more technological innovations driven by two of the most advanced AI models. It also provides it with the flexibility to work more with Anthropic should its offerings stand out over time.

Ultimately, the OpenAI partnership remains Microsoft’s most important AI agreement, but this Anthropic deal cements  Microsoft’s position as a more critical AI company.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Anthropic will spend $30 billion on Azure. Could this be Microsoft’s most important AI deal yet? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The silver price stood at US$51.17 per ounce on Tuesday, up 9% over the past month and up a staggering 77% in the year to date.

That’s faster growth than gold, the world’s commodity darling right now, which has risen 58% in the year to date.

To be fair, gold has risen a lot more over the past three years.

Gold began an extraordinary run in early 2023, while silver didn’t come out of the gates for another 12 months.

The silver price has risen from about US$22 per ounce in February 2024 to a record high of above US$54 per ounce last month.

Silver is used in defence and clean energy technologies, such as batteries and solar panels.

It’s also used in many modern consumer electronics and medical equipment due to its anti-bacterial qualities.

Analysts at Trading Economics said:

Silver has been testing all-time highs since October, but uncertainty over US monetary policy and widespread profit-taking has weighed on prices.

Silver added to US critical minerals list this month

The US Geological Survey (USGS) added silver to the nation’s critical minerals list this month.

This will likely provide more support for the silver price amid greater industrial use in the US and tight global supply and demand.

The Silver Institute says 2025 has been “a dramatic year for the silver market”.

The Institute stated that the silver price reached a record amid an unprecedented liquidity squeeze, which led to record silver lease rates, record volumes of physical silver being stored in Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) vaults due to US tariff concerns, and silver’s new designation as a critical mineral.

These developments coincide with elevated macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, including US trade policy, prompting investors to lift allocations to precious metals for portfolio diversification.

The Institute added:

Silver’s exceptional price performance and its favorable supply-demand backdrop have further reinforced investor confidence.

Billionaire metals investor Eric Sprott told Kitco News in March that the silver price could go to US$250-US$500 per ounce over the next decade.

Expert says buy this ASX silver share

On The Bull this week, Mark Gardner from MPC Markets gave a buy rating to ASX silver share, Broken Hill Mines Ltd (ASX: BHM).

The ASX small-cap stock is 84 cents per share, up 7% on Tuesday and up 79% in the year to date.

Gardner said Broken Hill Mines is one of the few listed companies providing investors with growing exposure to silver production.

The company is moving into a major growth phase, backed by strong drilling results at the Pinnacles mine and a fresh $38.5 million capital raise at $1 a share to support development.

With higher silver prices, expanding resources and near term production upside, we believe the market is undervaluing BHM at recent levels.

More about Broken Hill Mines

Broken Hill Mines was previously known as Coolabah Metals.

The company has consolidated two of the three mining companies that control all silver, lead, and zinc operations in Broken Hill.

Broken Hill Mines owns two historical operations — the Rasp Mine and the Pinnacles Mine, and is further developing both.

The company says Rasp, which is centrally located in Broken Hill, is the world’s largest silver, lead, and zinc deposit.

Rasp has a Mineral Resource Estimate of 10.1Mt at 9.4% ZnEq (5.7% Zn, 3.2% Pb and 49g/t Ag).

The mine is currently operational and producing approximately 30,000 tonnes of silver-lead-zinc ore per month.

The on-site concentrator can process up to 750,000 dry metric tonnes of silver-lead-zinc ore per annum.

It produces a lead-silver concentrate and a zinc concentrate.

About 15km south-west of Broken Hill, Pinnacles is less developed than Rasp.

The company says the mine has one of the highest grade and shallowest deposits in Broken Hill.

Broken Hill Mines put Pinnacles into care and maintenance in 2020 due to the pandemic.

However, the company has continued drilling to expand the known resource base.

Pinnacles currently has a Mineral Resource Estimate of 6.0Mt at 10.9% ZnEq (4.7% Zn, 3.3% Pb & 132g/t Ag).

The exploration target is 6.0Mt to 15Mt @ 2-4% Zn, 3-6% Pb, and 40-125g/t Ag.

The post ASX mining share offers ‘growing exposure to silver’ amid 77% rise in silver price this year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Should you buy Paladin Energy shares following record uranium production?
• How to invest and build wealth globally without leaving the ASX
• Anthropic will spend $30 billion on Azure. Could this be Microsoft’s most important AI deal yet?
• Leading analysts name 3 ASX 200 titans to buy today
• Why Bendigo Bank, Bougainville Copper, Iress, and IVE shares are falling today

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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.