The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price is up just under 2% since this time yesterday, currently trading for US$1,576 (AU$2,319).

That puts the world’s number two crypto by market valuation up 8% since this time last week, according to data from CoinSpot.

For some context, the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price has been flat over the past seven days while the NASDAQ is down 4%.

So, why is Ether outperforming?

The Ethereum Merge is nigh

Ethereum’s designers have spent several years working to transition the crypto’s blockchain from proof of work (POW) to proof of stake (POS).

In a nutshell, POS will see miners stake some of their Ether to be allowed to participate in verifying transactions. This will result in far fewer computers involved in every transaction than under the current POW protocol, which is still used by many tokens, including Bitcoin. That, in turn, means far less energy will be used while speeds increase and costs come down.

Now, after extensive testing and numerous delays, the first stage of the merge is set to kick off tomorrow, 6 September. The next phase will occur between 10 September and 20 September.

And this could well be helping Ether outperform big brother Bitcoin recently.

“Many investors have placed strong hope in Ethereum’s merge positively impacting the price of the coin, although nothing is guaranteed,” Ray Brown, CoinSpot’s head of marketing, said.

According to Brown:

With the announcement of a hard rollout date just a week away, there are some expectations from Aussie investors that prices could rally and stay strong. There’s been some climbs in price, bringing it above US$2000, but no massive peaks that have endured. Right now, the price is relatively low compared to previous peaks this month.

What will happen after the merge?

Whether or not Ether continues to power ahead of Bitcoin in terms of price gains will depend, among other things, on how the blockchain performs under the new POS protocol.

“The potential opportunity for investors post-merge relies on Ethereum’s core promise coming to fruition,” Brown said. “Essentially, if the merge does pave the way to a more efficient, cost-effective and decentralised method of issuing and executing smart contracts, investors and businesses will have a compelling reason to increase their support of the Ethereum blockchain.”

Brown added:

This represents one of the major innovations in the space and all eyes are on whether this provides investors with a possible uptick in price.

For Aussie crypto investors, the merge may look like an opportunity to re-enter a bullish mindset. But with such a high bounty on bug hunting and a value proposition that is yet to come true, some volatility on the Ethereum network should be considered in the months ahead.

The post Ethereum Merge first stage set for tomorrow. What can crypto investors expect next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Solana lost altitude on Thursday
• Why the Ethereum price slipped but still outperformed Bitcoin in August
• Why Ethereum and other cryptos jumped Wednesday
• Why Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are falling today
• 1 cryptocurrency to buy and hold forever

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 Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a decent gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.3% to 6,848.8 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The Adairs share price is down almost 6% to $2.10. Today’s decline has been driven largely by the homewares retailer’s shares trading ex-dividend this morning for its final dividend of FY 2022. Eligible shareholders can look forward to receiving its 10 cents per share fully franked dividend later this month on 22 September.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

The Fortescue share price is down 5% to $16.38. As with Adairs, this has been driven by the iron ore giant’s shares going ex-dividend this morning. In fact, if you took the dividend out of the equation, Fortescue’s shares would actually be pushing higher today. The miner’s eligible shareholders can now look forward to being paid this $1.01 per share fully franked dividend on 29 September.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The Pointsbet share price is down 4% to $2.23. Investors have been selling this sports betting company’s shares today after it was dealt another blow. On Friday, PointsBet was named as one of a handful of companies that have been dumped out of the ASX 200 index at the next quarterly rebalance.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)

The Qantas share price is down 4% to $5.06. This follows broad weakness in the travel sector on Monday. Investors may be concerned that rising living costs and interest rates are going to put a dampener on the travel market recovery. The RBA is widely expected to hike rates again tomorrow.

The post Why Adairs, Fortescue, PointsBet, and Qantas shares are dropping appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s why the PointsBet share price is stumbling on Monday
• What’s dragging the Qantas share price lower today?
• Why these 3 ASX shares could be in for a massive boost this month
• Why is the Fortescue share price sinking 6% today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

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 positions in and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. 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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A challenging macroeconomic environment in recent weeks has seen the BlueScope Steel Ltd (ASX: BSL) share price come under selling pressure.

After touching a high of $18.02 following the company’s FY 2022 results, its 3.91% gain provided little relief to shareholders.

This is because China’s current property crisis and ongoing COVID-19 restrictions are causing weakened demand for iron ore.

Last Friday, the steel producer’s shares touched a one-month low of $15.74 per share.

However, it appears bargain hunters are swopping in to lift BlueScope shares by 1.55% to $16.35 at the time of writing.

Another catalyst for the short-term boost is because the share is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow.

Here are all the details you need to know about the upcoming final dividend.

Time is running out for the BlueScope dividend

For investors looking to secure the latest BlueScope dividend, you’ll have by the end of today to pick up its shares.

This means if you buy the company’s shares today and hold them until tomorrow morning, you’ll be eligible for the dividend.

BlueScope is paying out an unfranked dividend of 25 cents per share which will be paid on 12 October.

It’s worth noting that the FY 2022 dividend is the same as the prior corresponding period when including FY 2021’s special 19-cent per share dividend.

In total, the company has paid out 50 cents in dividends for the 2022 financial year.

The board noted that having exhausted Australian tax losses in FY 2022, the company expects to be able to begin to frank dividends in FY 2023 and FY 2024.

BlueScope share price snapshot

Since the start of 2022, the BlueScope share price has tanked 22% as the price of iron continues to retreat.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) sector is down 8% over the same period.

BlueScope commands a market capitalisation of approximately $7.58 billion and has a dividend yield of 3.11%.

The post Looking to bank the next BlueScope dividend? Here’s what to do appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 ASX 200 shares turning ex-dividend tomorrow
• ASX 200 shares declared $42b of dividends in August. Here’s how you can get a slice
• 3 ASX 200 shares having a super start to the week
• Why BlueScope, Carsales, Core Lithium, and Nearmap shares are racing higher
• Bluescope share price lifts 5% on record earnings

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

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It’s been a decent start to the trading week for ASX 200 shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a tentative 0.2% at just over 6,840 points. But we can’t say the same for the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) share Zip has tanked today. The Zip share price is presently down by a chunky 1.16% at 86 cents a share. There’s been no company news out of Zip itself today. But we don’t have to look too far to see why investors might be losing faith in the BNPL company.

As we covered this morning, Zip has just found out that, come 19 September, its shares will no longer be part of the ASX 200 Index.

Zip share price gets the ASX 200 boot

The ASX 200, like most indexes, periodically rebalances to ensure it can effectively enforce its mandate of holding the largest 200 ASX shares by market capitalisation. There are other requirements, but we’ll stick with that one for simplicity’s sake.

Since any company’s market cap (read share price) changes daily, the largest 200 companies on the ASX boards are in constant flux. The ASX 200 Index’s provider, S&P Global, deals with this problem by updating its indexes, including the ASX 200, every quarter.

This ensures that the better-performing companies on the market are added to the ASX 200 over time. To make room, the poor performers are removed. Unfortunately for Zip, it now falls into that latter category.

The reality is that Zip is no longer one of the ASX’s 200 largest shares by market cap. Investors can probably thank the painful 88% that Zip shares have lost over just the past 12 months.

As such, it is now forced to make way for other ASX shares that have overtaken it by market cap.

Zip joins other shares like Life360 Inc (ASX: 360), AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ), EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) and City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX). These shares are all set for removal from the ASX 200.

In their place, shares like Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV), Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) and Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR) will be joining the ASX 200 as of 19 September.

At the current Zip Co share price, this ASX BNPL share has a market capitalisation of $595.1 million.

The post Rejected: Zip share price slips following latest blow appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• September’s RBA rate hike saw investors favour Macquarie and BHP shares. Here’s what to expect in October: expert
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why these 3 ASX shares could be in for a massive boost this month
• Zip shares on watch amid ASX 200 ousting
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

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 positions in and has recommended EML Payments, Life360, Inc., S&P Global, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa Holdings Ltd. 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 Hawsons Iron Ltd (ASX: HIO) share price has been hovering between 38 to 40 cents a share today.

At the time of writing, the Hawsons share price is 1.32% higher at 38.5 cents

In broader market moves, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) is one of the market’s leading sectors today, 1.68% higher at the time of writing.

Returns for the Hawsons share price over these past 12 months are seen below.

What’s up with the Hawsons share price?

Although it’s been a busy day on the ASX today, there’s been nothing price sensitive about Hawsons to comment on.

However, the company posted an announcement advising that the South Australian government has declared the Hawsons Iron Project an Impact Assessed major project.

The Hawsons Iron Project site is located about 60 kilometres southwest of Broken Hill, on the South Australian border.

The update makes the site “subject to a state-run process and determination of assessment requirements towards Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) obligations,” the company said.

The declaration follows a federal government decision to renew the project’s status as a “major project” for three or more years back in April.

Not only that, but the announcement notes the NSW Department of Planning and Environment has also declared the project a “State Significant Development”.

Hawsons says the declaration reflects the Hawsons Iron Project’s importance to green steel supply in South Australia.

Commenting on the update, Hawson’s managing director Bryan Granzien echoed this optimism.

[T]his declaration reflects the importance and scale of the Hawsons Iron Project within South Australia and potential as the global steel industry aggressively pursues pathways to decarbonise.

Zooming out, the share price activity today extends a volatile period for the company this past month or so.

On 17 August, Hawsons saw heavy selling activity following legal action filed against it by battery metals exploration company Pure Metals. Hawsons noted the allegations to be “entirely baseless and without any foundation”.

The Hawsons share price has faltered from 52-week highs of 88.5 cents on 2 May 2022.

Still, in the last 12 months, the Hawsons share price has soared more than 352% and is up more than 150% this year to date.

The post Why is the Hawsons Iron share price rangebound on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why did the Hawsons Iron share price shoot 24% higher today?
• Why is the Hawsons Iron share price slumping 9% today?

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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) is back on form on Monday and on course to record a small gain. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.2% to 6,842.8 points.

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

Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE)

The Allkem share price is up 2% to $13.48. This morning this lithium miner was the subject of a bullish broker note out of JP Morgan. Its analysts have retained their overweight rating and increased their price target on the company’s shares to $21.00. The broker has lifted its lithium demand forecast to reflect higher electric car penetration rate assumptions.

Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM)

The Capricorn Metals share price is up 2.5% to $3.53. Investors have been buying this gold miner’s shares after it was added to the illustrious ASX 200 index. Capricorn will join the index at the next rebalance later this month. This means that index-tracking funds will have to buy its shares. It is likely to also allow some fund managers with certain investment mandates the opportunity to pick up shares.

Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)

The Lovisa share price is up 4.5% to $23.06. This fashion jewellery retailer’s shares are also a new addition to the ASX 200 index at the quarterly rebalance. With Lovisa’s market capitalisation now at almost $2.5 billion, it is among the 200 largest listed companies on the Australian share market.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price is up 4% to $3.69. This appears to have also been driven by a broker note out of JP Morgan. Its analysts have upgraded Pilbara Minerals’ shares to an overweight rating with an improved price target of $4.10. Even after its strong gains this year, this price target still implies potential upside of 11% from current levels.

The post Why Allkem, Capricorn Metals, Lovisa, and Pilbara Minerals shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s why the Lovisa share price leapt 8% on Monday
• Why these 3 ASX shares could be in for a massive boost this month
• Up 75% since mid-June, is it too late to invest in Pilbara Minerals shares?
• An Allkem director offloaded $20 million in shares this week. What gives?
• Zip and these shares have been kicked out of the ASX 200 index

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Allkem Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Lovisa Holdings Ltd. 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 Grange Resources Ltd (ASX: GRR) share price is thrusting higher in afternoon trade on Monday.

At the time of writing, the mining share is fetching 76 cents apiece, a 2.3% gain on the day after shares had spiked to an early high of 78 cents.

Chief to today’s rally appears to be a company update explaining that Grange has been added to the S&P/ASX 300 index (ASX: XKO).

Grange Resources index inclusion

The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Dow Jones Indices announced its quarterly rebalance of the S&P/ASX Indices last Friday.

Several additions and removals were made, with the $856 million company by market capitalisation seeing its shares bolted into the ASX 300.

This places it on the mantlepiece alongside 299 of the largest ASX-listed companies by market value.

Several other inclusion criteria would have been satisfied to register the Grange share price into the index, from factors such as volatility to trading volume.

With its inclusion, the company is likely to see its name on the register of many institutional investment funds that are restricted to investing in ASX 300 shares in their mandates.

What this means for the Grange share price looking ahead, we will find out in time.

However, many of these funds have constraints on the ‘turnover’ of shares within their portfolios, promoting a long-term view instead. That’s something to think about.

Grange Resources share price snapshot

Despite the ratings agency’s decision to include Grange into the benchmark, its share price hasn’t exactly been performing well over the past few weeks.

After a period of sideways activity, investors turned sour on the share, with sellers pushing Grange from a high of $1.38 on 24 August to today’s market price.

Adding to the downside was Grange’s half-year results posted on 29 August, where it clipped a decline in both sales and earnings for the period.

The Grange share price is up almost 50% over the past 12 months and is just 0.6% into the green for the year to date.

The post Grange Resources share price lifts on ASX 300 inclusion appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Bravura, Bubs, Grange, and Sandfire shares are sinking
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• Why Aussie Broadband, Grange, NextDC, and PolyNovo shares are being hammered

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow 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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It’s been a pleasant, if rather unenthusiastic, start to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far on Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has gained a less-than-inspiring 0.18% at just over 6,830 points. But the same can’t be said of the NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF) share price.

NIB shares have seemingly tanked today. The ASX 200 insurance company closed at $8 a share last week. But today, NIB opened at $7.99 and is now going for $7.82 a share, down a meaty 2.25% so far.

So what’s gotten investors’ goats with NIB shares?

Why is the NIB share price starting the week with a drop?

Well, it’s not as bad as it might seem. NIB shares are falling today due to one of the best reasons to have an ASX 200 share fall in value. NIB has just traded ex-dividend for its upcoming final dividend payment.

As we covered last week, NIB will be forking out a final dividend of 11 cents per share, fully franked, on 4 October next month.

But in order to be eligible to receive this dividend, investors needed to own NIB shares as of last Friday’s market close. Today is the company’s ex-dividend date. As such, any new investors from this session onwards do not qualify for this final dividend.

As such, the value of this payment has left the NIB share price. That’s why we are seeing a fall in the value of NIB shares today – there’s no free lunch. This is very typical when an ASX share trades ex-dividend, and is probably one of the best reasons for an investor to see their shares fall in value.

NIB’s final dividend of 11 cents represents a meaningful decline of 21.4% over FY21’s final dividend of 14 cents per share that we saw doled out last year. It brings the company’s full-year dividends for FY22 to 22 cents per share. Again, that is a drop of 8.33% over FY21’s total of 24 cents per share.

Even after today’s falls, the NIB share price is up 11.55% in 2022 year to date. That shows a healthy outperformance of the ASX 200 Index. At the current NIB share price, this ASX 200 insurance share has a dividend yield of 3.2%.

The post Why is the NIB share price having such a lousy start to the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Keen to bag the latest NIB dividend? Time is running out
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• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
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• Why EML, Nearmap, NIB, and Nick Scali shares are charging higher

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 recommended NIB Holdings Limited. 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 Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX: HAS) share price won’t be going anywhere on Monday.

This comes as the company requested that its shares be placed in a trading halt.

Currently, the emerging rare earths producer’s shares are frozen at $5.42 apiece.

It’s worth noting that Hastings shares have rocketed more than 26% since early last week.

Why is the Hastings share price halted?

Prior to the market opening, the company requested its share price be halted while it prepared an announcement.

According to its release, the company is in the process of a book build in relation to a capital raising.

Hastings has requested that the trading halt remains in place until this Wednesday 7 September or following the release of the announcement, whichever comes first.

Hastings to acquire interest in Neo Performance Materials

In late August, Hastings advised it had entered into a binding share purchase agreement to acquire a 22.1% stake in Neo Performance Materials.

The latter is a Canadian-listed leading global rare earth processing and advanced permanent magnets producer.

Under the deal, Neo shareholders will receive C$15 (A$16.81) per share, representing a total consideration of C$135 million (A$151.27 million).

In addition, Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals will provide funds of $150 million in a cornerstone investment. This will be conducted through the issuance of secured, redeemable, exchangeable notes.

Hastings stated that the acquisition enables a platform to explore potential partnership arrangements utilising its Yangibana feedstock in Neo’s downstream rare earth operations.

Hastings share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Hastings share price has predominately moved in circles despite posting a gain of 20%.

Year to date, however, the share is up around 4%.

In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) sector is down 8% in 2022.

Hastings presides a market capitalisation of approximately $549 million with around 101 million shares outstanding.

The post Why is this ASX rare earths share price in a trading halt? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 5 ASX shares that could rocket from a rare earths crisis: expert
• Guess which ASX All Ords share rocketed 15% on a rare earths deal with Twiggy Forrest
• 3 ASX mining shares primed for an ‘exponential’ energy transition: expert

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

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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.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is one of those stocks investors love to own, and for good reason. Not only has it delivered incredible results since its initial public offering (growing over 131,100%), but there’s also loads of growth ahead for the company as online shopping expands.

There’s a lot going for the stock over the long term, but its size and popularity mean the company is trading at a premium, around 116 times its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio Thankfully, investing directly in Amazon isn’t the only way to benefit from the company’s incredible e-commerce growth and market share. 

Here are the stocks three Motley Fool contributors believe are great alternatives to Amazon: Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR), Zillow Group (NASDAQ: ZG)(NASDAQ: Z), and Prologis (NYSE: PLD).

Exposure to data centers without the retail risk

Kristi Waterworth (Digital Realty Trust): Investing in Amazon means investing in various business models that converge under a single ticker. But not every Amazon investor is there for the retail, streaming, logistics, and data-storage combo model. Some are simply looking for more ways to expose themselves to the growing world of data centers.

If you’re one of these investors, the good news is that data-center real estate investment trust (REIT) are a great way to get more direct exposure to data center growth without all the risk of retail tagging along for the ride.

Digital Realty Trust is a strong data center REIT with a proven track record and direct ties to Amazon. It leases a portion of its space to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s data arm (and it services AWS by providing expanded capacity and connectivity to its customers).

Amazon also owns and develops its own data centers, somewhat in competition with Digital Realty Trust, but the latter still has an upper hand because it only deals in data centers, giving it a larger and more diversified tenant base across a range of industries, including other e-commerce companies.

And unlike Amazon, Digital Realty Trust pays quarterly dividends, estimated at $4.88 per share annually for 2022. This is up 5.17% over 2021, and its dividend payouts have only continued to climb since 2005, when they were a mere $1 per share annually.

Free cash flow has been more or less steady in 2021 and 2020, at about $1.7 billion, but this is part of an upward trend that has been slowly building since 2012, when free cash flow was at a comparatively small $542 million. In that time, Digital Realty Trust has been working to expand operations across the globe, and now has over 300 data centers in more than 25 countries on six continents. This includes newly acquired data centers in emerging markets like South Africa and Israel.

Digital Realty Trust is one the REITs I am most bullish about, not only because it has a grasp on the future and where and how it needs to grow to remain competitive, but also because we live in an increasingly data-centric world where opportunities will only increase for data centers in the near term.

Unlike AWS, Digital Realty Trust remains small enough to be fairly agile and to move quickly into emerging markets, while still being a massive presence in the data center world.

Can Zillow become the Amazon of real estate buying?

Mike Price (Zillow): For the first several years of its business life, Amazon was a bookseller. It sold a few other things, too, but the business was a lot more concentrated than it is today. Today, the e-commerce giant makes money from AWS, third-party sales, advertising, subscriptions, physical stores, and even books. And Zillow might be on the verge of its own transformation from a very concentrated revenue source into more-diversified business avenues.

Much of Zillow’s revenue comes from the buyer’s agent-referral commission. People go on the website to check out houses and click on a link for an agent in the area and use that agent. This is a very profitable revenue source and will likely continue to be the backbone of Zillow’s business for some time. But the company wants to diversify revenue streams.

Zillow is trying to get more involved in seller’s agent commissions, mortgage originations and servicing, closing services, and rental services. Each of these areas could add a multiple to the amount of revenue that the company makes from every sale that begins on its website.

The good news is that the website already has traffic. There were 234 million average monthly unique users in the second quarter of 2022 and 2.9 billion total visits to the website.

The key will be converting those users from view-only to paying customers. There is certainly a demand for a service like the one Zillow could provide.

Today, when looking for a house, you have to find an agent, get a list of available houses, travel to each of them for a tour, get pre-approved for a loan, make an offer, find an inspector, be approved for the loan, find a title insurance provider, and lastly travel to the closing location to sign what seem like hundreds of pages of documents.

Now imagine if you could use a tailored Zillow search to virtually tour the houses you were interested in, only visiting the ones that you would likely make an offer on. Then be pre-approved in minutes before the process even starts and be approved right on the app. Choose an inspector and title-insurance agent from a list of providers with customer reviews and ratings. And then close virtually on the same app to save all important documents right where you know they’ll be.

Part of the reason Amazon was able to grow as much as it has is the integration among its services. You can go to Amazon’s website to buy anything you need, read books, watch shows, rent movies, and even publish your own books. If Zillow can become the same thing for real estate buyers, it has a lot of room to run.

Back-end access to e-commerce distribution and logistics

Liz Brumer-Smith (Prologis): As the largest e-commerce company in the world, Amazon needs a lot of industrial space to store and send its products quickly and efficiently. A huge part of Amazon’s business is the management, logistics, and distribution of the products it sells.

That’s where Prologis comes into the picture. It is the largest industrial operator in the world, and Amazon is its largest tenant. As of the second quarter, roughly 4.8% of Prologis’ net effective rents came from Amazon thanks to the 33.6 million square feet of space it leases from the company.

Rumors were floating in late July about Amazon needing less logistics and industrial space based on its current supply, which has put some pressure on Prologis’ share price as of late. But the REIT’s latest earnings call and the company’s industrial-operations updates have put investors’ concerns to rest. Amazon made up 21% of Prologis’ newly executed leases in the second quarter. Plus its retention rate for spaces currently leased by Amazon was 95%, 20 points higher than the portfolio average.

The really great thing with Prologis is that it isn’t just an alternative way to invest in Amazon. The REIT offers exposure to the fast-growing e-commerce industry as a whole, having roughly 2.5% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) — or around $2.2 trillion — moving through its industrial facilities.

It carries a very healthy balance sheet and has massive growth opportunities, including the acquisition of the industrial REIT Duke Realty, which also earns around $50 million from Amazon in rents each year. Plus Prologis pays a quarterly dividend with a yield sitting around 2.25% today. 

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

The post If you like Amazon, you’ll love these 3 stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Kristi Waterworth has positions in Amazon and Digital Realty Trust. Liz Brumer-Smith has positions in Digital Realty Trust, Duke Realty, and Prologis. Mike Price has positions in Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Amazon, Digital Realty Trust, Prologis, Zillow Group (A shares), and Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. 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.

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