The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price is having a top run today.

Mineral Resources shares are up 2.1% and are currently fetching $89.255. This is an all-time high for the company. Earlier this morning, Mineral Resources shares hit $89.72 before slightly retreating.

Let’s take a look at what is going on with the Mineral Resources share price.

Mineral Resources share price lifts

Mineral Resources is not the only ASX 200 mining giant in the green today. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares are also up 2.2% today, while Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shares are lifting 3.47%.

Mineral Resources has three iron ore hubs in Western Australia. The iron ore price lifted 1.25% overnight to US$101.15. Hope that China may shift away from its COVID-19 zero strategy appears to be impacting investor sentiment.

Commenting on the iron ore price, ANZ economist John Bromhead said in a research note:

Iron ore was dragged higher as sentiment was buoyed by the apparent shift in China zero-COVID strategy. However, weakness in the property sector persists. New home sales by the 100 biggest producer developers dropped by 26% y/y to CNY559bn in November, according to CRIEC data.

Mineral Resources is also exploring lithium and aims to become a top five hydroxide producer. The lithium hydroxide price is fetching US$85,000 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange. One lithium analyst recently tipped lithium hydroxide prices to reach $100,000 a tonne.

In quarter one of FY23, Mineral Resources converted 4,703 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The company achieved an average realised lithium hydroxide price of US$79,288 a tonne for lithium hydroxide from Mt Marion.

Analysts at UBS have a buy rating on the Mineral Resources share price, my Foolish colleague Tristan reported yesterday. Lithium is used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Commenting on EV demand, analyst Dim Ariyasinghe noted near-term risks from China but remains positive on demand. He said:

However, our view on the medium-term and long-term remains positive and has actually increased due to additional policy support for EVs.

Mineral Resources share price snapshot

The Mineral Resources share price has soared 98% in the past year. In the last month, Mineral Resources shares have leapt 98% higher.

For perspective, the ASX 200 has returned more than 1.5% in the past year.

Mineral Resources has a market capitalisation of nearly $17 billion based on the current share price

The post Why is the Mineral Resources share price rocking an all-time high today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Thank you Mr Powell! 7 ASX 200 shares cracking new 52-week highs on Thursday
• Can you guess which 3 ASX 200 lithium shares led the charge in November?
• Climate and energy: Analyst tips 2 ASX shares perfectly placed for global crises
• BHP’s bargain? Expert thinks its ASX 200 takeover target could be worth 40% more
• Rio Tinto share price lifts despite lukewarm iron ore outlook

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

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If you’re investing in ASX shares, you’re well aware of the impact that inflation and fast-rising interest rates have had this year.

Both the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) came under selling pressure following May’s interest rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). That marked the first tightening from the central bank since November 2010.

At the time, the RBA lifted the official cash rate from the all-time low of 0.10% to a still low 0.35%.

Today the rate stands at 2.85%.

And ASX shares have rallied over the past month amid speculation that interest rates might not rise as quickly, or as high, as the market has been pricing in. A view that gained further traction by yesterday’s inflation report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The ABS reported that the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator increased by 6.9% in the year to October 2022. Still high. But less than the 7.3% movement in September.

So, what can investors in ASX shares expect from the RBA as we head into 2023?

What can ASX share investors expect from the RBA?

Two leading experts have rather divergent views on just how high the RBA will raise interest rates in 2023. Depending on who’s correct, ASX shares could underperform or outperform current consensus expectations.

As Bloomberg reports, Andrew Boak, chief economist for Australia at Goldman Sachs, believes the RBA will remain decidedly hawkish in 2023.

Boak expects the RBA will hike rates five more times That would bring the cash rate to 4.1% in May, and put many ASX shares under pressure.

“The 2023 challenge for Australia is to return inflation to an acceptable level without breaking the housing market and precipitating a recession,” he said. He added that the majority of households have enough excess savings to weather the impact of higher rates without crashing the property market.

Coming in with a more dovish forecast is Gareth Aird, head of Australian economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).

Aird forecasts that the RBA will lift rates to 3.1% when it meets next Tuesday, and then be done with the tightening cycle. He believes the RBA’s focus on keeping the Aussie economy “on an even keel” will keep the central bank from raising rates any further.

If Aird is right, it would likely offer some healthy tailwinds to ASX shares in the early months of 2023.

According to Bloomberg’s survey of economists, the median expectation for the RBA’s terminal cash rate is in 2023 is 3.6%.

The post Investing in ASX shares? Here’s what the experts expect for RBA rate hikes in 2023 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Thank you Mr Powell! 7 ASX 200 shares cracking new 52-week highs on Thursday
• Is this the start of an ASX 200 Santa rally?
• The A2 Milk share price just hit a 52-week high. What’s going on?
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in November
• Want healthy dividend growth? Why I’d buy this ASX 200 blue-chip stock

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.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has taken off with a vengeance today. The ASX 200 is presently up a healthy 1.01% to just under 7,360 points. It was even better this morning, with the index rocketing to a new seven-month high of 7,375 points earlier in the session.

It seems that these strong gains have at least partly been spurred by what happened on the US markets overnight.

Last night (our time) saw the US markets go on a tear. The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) rose by a whopping 3.09%, while the NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX) rose by an even more impressive 4.58%.

These moves came after some bullish comments from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome ‘Jay’ Powell.

As my Fool colleague dug into earlier today, Powell flagged a moderation of US interest rate rises going forward. Powell stated that, “the time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting”.

So it seems we could have just one man to thank for the massive gains we are seeing on the ASX today.

There are many shares doing even better than the ASX 200 today though, with several even clocking new 52-week highs. So let’s dig into seven that have just hit new benchmarks for the year.

Thanks Jay: 7 ASX shares hitting new 52-week highs today

The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) is one. A2 Milk shares are currently up around 1.7% at $6.30 after hitting a new 52-week high of $6.36 this morning. That leaves the A2 Milk share price up more than 21% over the past month.

We also have Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN). Mineral Resources shares have climbed more than 2% so far this Thursday and hit a new 52-week (and all-time record) high of $89.98 soon after market open.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) shares are also joining in on the party. Treasury uncorked a new 52-week high of $13.97 this morning, although the shares have since lost a little flavour and are back in the red.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) shares are another beneficiary of Mr Powell’s optimism. This ASX 200 tech share cracked a new high of $14.22 upon market open this morning – a rather remarkable feat given this company has just traded ex-dividend today.

Financial services company AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) hasn’t missed out either. AMP was an ASX dog for several years, but seems to have turned around the ship over 2022. The company hit a new high of $1.40 at market open this morning. AMP shares are now up 36.2% in 2022 thus far.

Lower interest rates are catnip for gold, and our next winner is an ASX 200 gold miner in Perseus Mining Limited (ASX: PRU). Perseus shares have touched a new record high of $2.27 today, and are also up around 36% year to date.

Finally, we have ASX 200 travel share Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). Webjet shares took off at market open this morning, climbing as high as $6.48 – a new 52-week high for the travel company.

So no doubt Jay Powell has more than a few fans on the ASX today,

The post Thank you Mr Powell! 7 ASX 200 shares cracking new 52-week highs on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Can you guess which 3 ASX 200 lithium shares led the charge in November?
• Why are ASX tech shares having such a cracking run on Thursday?
• Is this the start of an ASX 200 Santa rally?
• The A2 Milk share price just hit a 52-week high. What’s going on?
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in November

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in A2 Milk. 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 A2 Milk, Technology One, Treasury Wine Estates, and Webjet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has returned to form on Thursday.

In afternoon trade, the struggling artificial intelligence data services company’s shares are up 11% to $2.96.

Why is the Appen share price on fire today?

The Appen share price has taken off on Thursday despite there being no news out of the company.

However, it is worth noting that the tech sector is rebounding strongly today following a stellar night of trade on Wall Street’s tech-focused Nasdaq index.

Investors were bidding tech stocks higher overnight after the US Federal Reserve suggested that supersized interest rate hikes may now be behind us. This follows promising signs that inflation has now peaked.

It isn’t just the Appen share price that is rising strongly today on the news. Here’s a summary of how other beaten down ASX tech shares are performing:

• The Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price is up 6.5%
• The com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price is up 4%
• The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price is up 5.5%
• The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price is up 6.5%

Though, it is worth noting that despite today’s strong gain, Appen’s shares remains down almost 75% since the start of the year.

The post Why is the Appen share price surging 11% on Thursday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why are ASX tech shares having such a cracking run on Thursday?
• Is the Appen share price on the way back up?
• It’s about time you buy this ASX tech share that’s beaten down 75% this year: expert
• Down 75% in 2022, is it time for investors to give up the ghost on this ASX 300 tech share?
• Why is the Appen share price storming higher today?

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a cracking day today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has added a healthy 0.88%, listing the index to just under 7,350 points. Earlier this morning, the ASX 200 touched a high of 7,375 points, which is the highest level the index has been in seven months.

But zooming out, and the picture still looks a little bleak for the ASX 200. The index remains in the red for 2022 so far, currently down 2.18% year to date.

Today’s pricing leaves the index around 3.7% off of the all-time high of over 7,620 points that we saw back in August last year. Since its pre-COVID peak in February 2020, the ASX 200 is also up by around 3% today.

The reality is that while many ASX 200 shares have lifted meaningfully over the year so far, many others have not.

So yes, banks and miners have been doing exceptionally well this year. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares are up 5.84% year to date right now. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shares have risen by 9.9%.

But Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) are all nursing steep losses for the year.

In fact, Woolies, Macquarie and Wesfarmers are all down by more than 10% over the year, which puts them in technical ‘correction‘ territory. And that’s just some of the larger ASX 200 shares.

Spare a thought for Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) or Block Inc (ASX: SQ2). These leading ASX 200 tech shares have gone backwards by a painful 49.5% and 44% respectively over 2022.

So we have a real two-speed stock market going here.

Stock market correction or stock market sale?

But this could also represent an incredible opportunity to build wealth. The best investors, such as Warren Buffett, unequivocally love low stock prices. The company has to be of top-notch quality of course. But history shows that big share price pullbacks of quality shares are almost always a rare and lucrative opportunity.

Let’s focus on Xero for a moment. This is an ASX share that, earlier this month, reported revenue growth of 20% for the first half of its financial year (the six months ending 30 September). Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 11%, while total subscribers grew 16%.

Xero reported similar numbers back in its full-year results for FY2022 in May. Yet investors have slashed the valuation of this company by half in 2022.

If Xero ever gets back to its all-time highs of close to $155 a share, investors would enjoy an upside of more than 100% from today’s pricing. This is not guaranteed of course. But it’s arguably likely at some point if Xero keeps putting up numbers like we saw earlier this morning.

The market can give investors once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Buying BHP shares at over $27 each back in March 2020 was one. Buying Xero today could be another. Or Macquarie. Or Block. History tells us that buying when the crowd is selling is the best way to make money in the share market.

The post Stock market correction: a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rich? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 ASX 200 shares with juicy gross profit margins
• ‘Buy it for 5 years’: Jun Bei Liu’s 3 best ASX shares for 2023
• Top ASX shares to buy in December 2022
• Could these be the best ASX tech shares to buy now for 2023?
• Why I’m buying ASX shares in this once-in-a-lifetime market to try and retire early

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Telstra Group, Wesfarmers, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia 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.

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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price struggled to gain ground amid the market’s November rally.

That’s despite the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank share posting its full-year earnings last month.

After closing October at $24.11, the stock hit a high of $24.50 in early November and a low of $23.06 just days later, before closing the month at $23.77. That marks a 1.41% fall over the 30-day period.

Comparatively, the ASX 200 lifted 6.13% last month while the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) gained 1.14%.

So, what went wrong for the big four bank stock in November? Let’s take a look.

What weighed on the Westpac share price last month?

There was only one thing directly impacting the Westpac share price last month. And boy, was it a doozy.

The bank released its earnings for the 12 months ended 30 September on 7 November.

It posted a $5.7 billion profit – a 4% year-on-year increase; $5.3 billion of cash earnings – a 1% fall; and a 64-cent dividend.

That brought Westpac’s dividends for financial year 2022 to $1.25 per share – marking a 6% improvement.

At the same time, however, its net interest margin slumped 17 basis points to 1.87% despite rising rates.

The bank’s New Zealand segment posted notable growth, with its cash earnings lifting 15% to $1.2 billion. However, that was partially offset by its business segment’s 15% decline in cash earnings, coming in at $918 million.

Of course, its bottom line was also dinted by the previously forecast $1.3 billion impact from notable items, mainly brought about by the sale of its life insurance business.

The bank’s stock tumbled 4% on the back of its full-year results.

Fortunately, the Westpac share price is still able to boast a strong performance over the longer-term despite its November struggles.

It’s currently 11% higher than it was at the start of 2022 and 16% higher than it was this time last year.

For comparison, the ASX 200 has fallen 3% year to date and is 2% higher than it was 12 months ago.

The post Why did the Westpac share price lag the ASX 200 in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• The 3 best-performing ASX 200 bank shares in November revealed
• The 10 ASX 200 shares responsible for 60% of all Aussie dividends last quarter
• If you bought $20,000 worth of Westpac shares this year, here’s how much dividend income you’d have
• Which ASX 200 bank share stands to benefit the most from ‘good borrowers’?
• These ASX dividend shares have 4%+ forecast yields

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

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S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium shares faced some stiff headwinds in November amid speculations of a near-term oversupply of the battery critical metal in China.

The month just past saw a strong performance from the ASX 200. The benchmark index gained 6.1% from the closing bell on 31 October through to yesterday’s close.

But it was a harder slog for lithium stocks.

Of the five ASX 200 lithium shares, only two posted gains. And only one of those smashed the benchmark returns.

So, without further ado…

The two runners up

The third best performing ASX 200 lithium share in November was Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO).

Core Lithium shares finished October trading for $1.39 and closed out November worth $1.36, down 2.2%.

The first half of the month was dramatically different from the latter half, with Core Lithium galloping higher over the first weeks to hit new-all time highs on 14 November.

That was right about when lithium prices were also at record highs and right when China looked to be ready to ease its economy hampering COVID zero policies.

Then a surge in new COVID cases and unprecedented protests against the rolling lockdowns in the world’s most populous nation hit investor sentiment and sent lithium prices lower.

ASX lithium stocks more broadly were also hit with news that Chinese battery manufacturers have overproduced in 2022, exceeding EV manufacturers’ near-term demand.

And Core Lithium was hit with some sell recommendations towards the end of November, including from Jarden Securities.

Which brings us to our second best performing ASX 200 lithium share, IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO).

IGO shares ended October trading for $15.29 and finished November at $15.40, up 0.7%.

IGO also charged higher over the first weeks of the month before being hit by many of the same headwinds impacting all the ASX 200 lithium shares.

Early in November, IGO shares got a big lift after the company reported $1.8 billion in sales revenue from its lithium business for the three months ending 30 September. That was more than double the prior quarter’s sales revenue and led to a 136% increase in after tax profits.

The top-performing ASX 200 lithium share in November

Only one ASX 200 lithium share ended the month posting hefty gains.

Namely, Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN).

Mineral Resources closed out October trading for $73.13 per share and finished off November trading for $87.42 per share, up 19.5%.

The miner hit a series of new all-time highs over the month and showed remarkable resilience to the headwinds dragging its competitors lower.

On 18 November, the miner dispelled rumours that it was looking to spin off its lithium segment. The company has four business segments — iron ore, energy (gas), lithium, and mining services.

“I’ve got no plans right now to go out there and to peel off any of those four business units,” Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison said. “Right now we have got all the cash that we need to develop Ashburton and to develop the lithium business out.”

The ASX 200 lithium share gained 5% over the next four trading days.

The post Can you guess which 3 ASX 200 lithium shares led the charge in November? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Top ASX shares to buy in December 2022
• Getting cold feet on ASX 200 lithium shares? Here’s why UBS ‘remains positive’
• 2 ASX lithium shares to buy, and 3 to sell: brokers
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Move over Pilbara! Fundie tips ASX 200 lithium stock with an ‘enormous expansion opportunity’ a buy

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.

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Ask A Fund Manager

The Motley Fool chats with the best in the industry so that you can get an insight into how the professionals think. In this edition, Bell Direct market analyst Grady Wulff picks two ASX shares that are ready to cash in on major global thematics.

The ASX share for a comfortable night’s sleep

The Motley Fool: If the market closed tomorrow for four years, which stock would you want to hold?

Grady Wulff: I think for us it’s BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), because it’s diversifying into the battery metal space as we’ve just recently seen through its acquisition of Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) for $9.6 billion. 

This is really important to note, because to date, they’re obviously one of the biggest miners in the world, but they hadn’t diversified into the way forward, which is decarbonisation, greener future, greener energy — and now they’ve got that under their belt. 

They’re really indestructible, because that’s the way forward. The decarbonisation movement’s not going anywhere, anytime soon. And the way that they needed to go, they’ve now gone, and they’re going to capitalise on the greener movement. 

So I would keep them in the folio for four years, just because they’re at the right place, right time and they’re finally on board the electric train.

MF: Fantastic. People don’t usually think of mining stocks to hold for that long, because commodity prices go up and down — but as you say, BHP’s getting into the right areas?

GW: They are, absolutely.

Looking back

MF: Is there a move that you regret from the past? For example, a missed opportunity or buying a stock at the wrong timing or price.

GW: For us, I think investors will agree with me here, that not buying into Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) or Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) in 2022 was the biggest regret. 

Both stocks looked really strong last year and no one could have predicted the global energy crisis, but we kind of saw it coming. So not getting into that is a massive regret. Both are up 200% and 600% year to date respectively. 

Boss Energy is a uranium producer. The price of uranium is set to double by the end of next year from $50 a pound to $100 a pound. And that’s when Boss Energy comes online — the end of next year, with production expected then. So they’re looking really well positioned to be capitalised from the tailwinds in the price of the commodity.

And then also Whitehaven Coal — we’ve seen thermal coal go through the roof up 500% year to date, which is just… And it’s not turning around anytime soon. The European winter’s coming, Russia has cut its coal supply to Europe. So what are they going to do? They’re going to use other suppliers. 

So Whitehaven Coal and Boss Energy are definitely the ones that we regret. But in saying that, investors need to stick to their long-term plans and not invest with hindsight.

MF: Is it too late to buy into either of those?

GW: Is it too late? No, it’s not too late. That’s literally what I got asked the other day. 

Boss Energy, they’re coming online next year, so they still have, the fact that they’re already soaring is a big thing, but it’s not too late, no. 

Whitehaven Coal, we have a hold on at the moment, only because in September their production was down 30% because of the open-cut mines because of La Nina weather events and flooding. So we have a hold on them at the moment, but Boss Energy is a speculative buy, so that’s the one we’re definitely keeping an eye on.

The post Climate and energy: Analyst tips 2 ASX shares perfectly placed for global crises appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF) share price had a month to forget in November.

During the period, the quick service restaurant operator’s shares crashed almost 19%.

The entirety of this decline came at the end of month following the release of the company’s half year results.

Why did the Collins Foods share price get sold off?

Although Collins Foods reported solid top line growth, inflationary pressure weighed on its profits. And while this was not unexpected, management had previously guided to these headwinds easing in the second half.

However, this is no longer expected to be the case, with management warning that “significant inflationary headwinds are continuing in both markets, with margin pressure expected to remain for the balance of FY23.”

In addition, concerns that the Taco Bell brand could fail for a third time in Australia may have hit investor sentiment. There were hopes that the Tex-Mex quick service restaurant brand could be a key driver of growth in Australia in the future, but management has hit pause on new store openings and made an $11.9 million after tax non-cash impairment of eight Taco Bell restaurants.

Management is now aiming to save the brand by “refining every element of the business, from marketing and media spend to portioning and product quality.”

Insider buying

It appears insiders at Collins Foods believe that the significant weakness in its share price has created a buying opportunity.

According to a series of change of director’s interest notices, no less than four insiders have bought shares following its update. This includes its CEO, Drew O’Malley and its chair, Robert Kaye.

O’Malley snapped up 6,195 shares for a total consideration of $49,560 via an on-market trade on Wednesday. Whereas Kaye bought almost $40,000 worth of shares the same day via an on-market trade. Two other directors made on-market purchases totalling almost $32,000 and $78,000.

One broker that would be supportive of these purchases is Morgans. This week, its analysts have retained their add rating with a reduced price target of $9.50. This implies potential upside of 22% from current levels.

The post The Collins Foods share price has been decimated this week, and 4 directors are buying the dip appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in November
• Why Bubs, Collins Foods, Dusk, and Mayne Pharma shares are falling today
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Why Bubs, City Chic, Collins Foods, and Queensland Pacific Metals are sinking today

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

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The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price has been on the up and up in 2022.

Record profits brought about by soaring coal prices have been behind much of Whitehaven’s gains. But could the trend continue in the new year?

Speaking to Market Matters’ James Gerrish, Shaw and Partners senior resource analyst Peter O’Connor said:

Whitehaven year-to-date [is] up about 260%. Do we expect that to be the same in 2023? No. But we do expect that to continue to perform, particularly in the first quarter of the year.

Right now, the Whitehaven share price is $9.90. Could a 100% upside be on the cards for the coal stock? Let’s take a look.

Could the Whitehaven share price reach $20?

O’Connor is particularly bullish on coal and the companies producing it.

Indeed, as Gerrish pointed out, the expert is the most bullish in the market on Whitehaven, slapping it with a $15 price target. Responding to questions on whether that target is realistic, O’Connor said “absolutely”:

If you look at the correlation… commodity equities follow the commodity price on 95% of occasions. Plugging [coal] spot numbers into my… model, gets share prices dramatically higher than where they should be.

With Whitehaven, it should be closer to $20 than $15.

But readers would be wise not to get their hopes up on the Whitehaven share price doubling anytime soon – there’s more to that figure than meets the eye. O’Connor continues:

We’ve set [the stock] at a reasonable target of $15 per share where they should trade.

Yes, ESG discounts will see that, perhaps, a little bit more challenging. That’s where we step down and take a look at the buyback.

Whitehaven’s committed a buyback over 20% of its stock after doing 10% last year… that will compress the shares on issue and grow the share price more.

Those two factors, James, will get me to that target price.

So, when might the Whitehaven share price be expected to launch 50% to $15? O’Connor believes it might be through the Northern Hemisphere’s winter to the company’s first half result, expected in February.

“The background and the tailwinds are favourable and continue into the new year as well,” the expert said.

The post Up 260% in 2022, could the Whitehaven share price double again? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Ainsworth, Life360, Temple & Webster, and Whitehaven Coal are charging higher
• Why are ASX 200 coal shares burning brighter on Wednesday?
• Why is the Whitehaven share price surging 7% on Wednesday?
• Broker says this ASX 200 coal share could offer a market-beating 29% return in 2023

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

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