The Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP) share price has started the week deep in the red.

In morning trade, the communications workflow platform provider’s shares are down 10% to $1.10.

Why is the Whispir share price sinking?

Broad weakness in the tech sector appears to have offset the release of the company’s reasonably solid quarterly update this morning and weighed heavily on the Whispir share price.

In respect to its update, for the three months ended 30 June, Whispir reported a 25.9% increase in cash receipts over the prior corresponding period to $16.96 million.

And while the company is not yet profitable, it has made an improvement with its cash outflows. During the period, Whispir reduced its free cash outflow by 15.8% over the prior quarter to $4.74 million thanks to its cost management program.

This left Whispir with a cash position of $26.1 million at the end of June, which management notes is sufficient to cover more than 12 months of cash burn in FY 2023. Though, it may not need it. Management believes that it will achieve positive EBITDA during second half of FY 2023.

What were the drivers of its growth?

According to the release, Whispir now has over 1,000 customers using its communications platform. All regions showed growth during the quarter, with North America the stand-out with a 16.7% increase over the prior quarter.

Another positive was its customer revenue retention (CRR) which came in at 125.5% in June. This was an improvement of 8.4% versus the prior corresponding period. Customer churn remains under 5%.

FY 2022 guidance

Whispir also provided the market with an idea of what to expect with its full-year results next week.

It advised that it expects to exceed the upper end of its revenue guidance range of $64 million to $68 million by up to 5%.

Management also revealed that it expects to exceed the upper end (the good end) of its EBITDA loss range by up to 10%.

One small disappointment, though, is that its annual recurring revenue (ARR) is only expected to be at the lower end of its $65.4 million to $70 million guidance range.

Whispir’s CEO, Jeromy Wells, commented:

Whispir continues to sign new customers, expand its offering to existing customers, and find new markets and applications for its communications platform. With a robust cash position and a clear strategy for its three main geographical markets, the Company is well placed to achieve its goals of profitable operations during the second half of FY23 and becoming cash accretive during FY24.

The post Why is the Whispir share price tumbling 10% on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir 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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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.

With high inflation pushing up the cost of virtually everything while salaries aren’t keeping up, investing might seem like a luxury you can do without until things stabilize. Unfortunately, that thought process can lead to you falling ever farther behind. After all, investing gives you the chance to let your money work for you, and over time, a strong portfolio can help you cover the gap that your stagnating salary won’t.

That makes investing more important now than it has been in quite a long time. After all, every dollar of unearned income you receive is a dollar you don’t have to cover from your salary. Add the compounding effect of your investments potentially growing over time, and a decent portfolio just might provide you your best approach to fighting the runaway cost pressures we’re all facing. 

Start by getting your costs under control

Of course, with your costs escalating, it can be challenging to come up with the money to invest in the first place. On that front, there’s a straightforward approach you can take to help you get ready to invest. Start by tracking your expenses — every penny — for around two months. In this stage, there’s no need to judge where your money is going, just write it down. On top of that tracking, write down an estimate for the regular costs you face that don’t hit monthly, like birthdays, holidays, and insurance.

Once you know where your money is going, look over those expenses and mark them as red, yellow, or green, based on your own priorities. Money you’re spending absentmindedly or that you otherwise neither want nor need to spend, mark red. Money that is going toward critical parts of your life that you can’t or won’t live without, mark green. Everything else, mark yellow.

For the red coded expenses, the next step is simple: stop spending on them. Those are costs that you’re facing that aren’t at all a priority for you. When it comes to the green expenses, those are fine to hold onto, as long as they’re not overwhelming your income. Still, over time, you can look for ways to get them down, such as paying off your mortgage to lower your housing costs.

To tackle your yellow colored costs, you’ve got some work to do. Those are things you’re spending money on that aren’t super-critical to you but you’re not quite willing or able to completely do without. For these costs, you need to optimize. For instance, you might want to switch from cafe-bought coffee to the home brewed variety, or even the free coffee that could be available at your office. Likewise, a programmable thermostat can help you cut down on energy use without otherwise affecting your life.

Between cutting out the red expenses and optimizing your yellow expenses, you should be able to put some space between your income and your outgo. If not, go back to your spending list and see if there’s any more yellow expenses you can code red, green expenses you could code yellow, or yellow expenses you could continue to optimize. Your goal here is to free up as much cash as you can while minimizing the impact to the things you prioritize in your life.

Next-tackle your debts

Once you have your costs where you need them to be, your next objective should be to get your debts under control. The most efficient approach to pay off debt is known as the debt avalanche method. To use it, start by lining up your debts in order from the highest interest rate to the lowest interest rate.

On all debts except your highest interest one, pay the minimums. On that highest interest debt, pay as much as you can above that minimum until it’s completely paid off. After that debt gets paid off, take all the cash that you had been paying toward it and add it to your new highest interest rate debt. Repeat the process until nearly all your debts are paid off.

It may be OK to keep some of your debts out of the avalanche, paying only the minimums on them until they’re paid off. For that to be true, the debt should have a low interest rate, a low payment, and serve a key purpose for your future. Debts that may fit the bill are often ones like mortgages, medical debts, or auto loans on modest, reliable transportation.

Finally-start investing

By getting both your everyday costs and your debts under control, you just might find that you’ve freed up way more cash to invest than you initially thought possible. Make sure you set up a modest emergency fund, and then get to work investing for the long term future.

If you haven’t invested before, a low-cost, broad based index fund is a great choice. You’ll get market-like returns with very little effort. In addition, you’re likely to outperform the vast majority of Wall Street’s best and brightest active fund managers over time. Once you’re in that spot, you’ll be at the point where your money can be working for you — and helping you fight the crazy inflation we’re all facing.

Get started now

The sooner you get started on this approach, the sooner you can get to the point where you have a powerful tool at your side that can help you keep up with ever-escalating costs. Make today the day you begin your journey, and give yourself your best chance possible of reaching the point where the returns on your money can cover a decent chunk of your costs. 

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

The post Investing is more important now than ever before appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Genex share price rockets 50% on confirmed takeover bid
• Why is the Fortescue share price climbing today?
• EML share price crashes 22% on Ireland warning
• Your portfolio vs a bear market: How to come out on top
• Why is the Nanosonics share price sinking?

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

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

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The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price is heading north today.

This is despite the iron ore mining outfit not releasing any price-sensitive announcements to the ASX.

At the time of writing, Fortescue shares are swapping hands at $18.24, up 2.3%.

Let’s take a look at what’s happened lately.

Iron ore prices stage a rebound

After falling more than 20% in the past month, iron ore prices have hit support to trade slightly above the psychological US$100 barrier.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the steel-making ingredient is fetching US$104.55 per metric tonne. This represents a gain of around 5.9% from Friday’s close.

Previously, iron ore touched new year-to-date lows after China established a $6 billion nationalised iron-ore company to curb sky-high prices.

The China Mineral Resources Group is expected to become the sole channel for buying imported iron ore from third parties. This includes the big three miners from Australia as well as Vale from Brazil.

Asserting some control over the market would place China in a stronger position to dictate a fairer price for iron ore.

Ultimately, this dragged down investor sentiment, which led to selling pressure for the steel-making ingredient.

Nonetheless, Fortescue shares are making a run today on the back of the latest price ascent. It appears the price of iron ore has found a floor for now ahead of the crucial United States Federal Reserve interest rate decision on Wednesday.

Other shares in miners such BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are up 1.28% and 0.94%, respectively.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Resources (ASX: XJR) is in the green by 0.63% to 5,009.4 points.

It’s also worth noting that Rio Tinto’s results will also be out on Wednesday, which could have a flow-on effect on Fortescue’s shares.

Fortescue share price snapshot

A volatile 12 months brought on by COVID-19 and falling iron ore prices has led Fortescue shares to tumble 30%.

Although year to date has been slightly better, despite the current external market challenges, down 7%.

Based on today’s price, Fortescue presides a market capitalisation of approximately $54.9 billion.

The post Why is the Fortescue share price climbing today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How might China’s $6b Mineral Resources Group impact the iron ore price?
• What’s going wrong for the Fortescue share price on Thursday?
• Why did the Fortescue share price leap 5% on Wednesday?
• Which ASX rich listers have grown their fortunes over the past year?
• What’s the outlook for the iron ore price in 2023?

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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The Genex Power Ltd (ASX: GNX) share price is taking off on Monday after the company confirmed a $300 million takeover bid and released its latest quarterly update.

The Genex share price launched 51.8% on open to reach 20.5 cents. At the time of writing, it has slipped slightly to trade at 19.5 cents – representing a 44.44% gain.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s driving the renewable energy company’s stock on Monday.

Genex share price takes off on takeover bid

It’s shaping up to be a huge day for the Genex share price, which rocketed more than 50% in early morning trade.

The gains came after the company confirmed it had received a takeover bid valuing it at more than $300 million and representing a 70% premium on Friday’s close.

The 23-cent per share cash bid was posted by a consortium including Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar’s Skip Capital and Stonepeak Partners.

The company’s board noted the acquisition proposal was unsolicited and said it “has not yet formed a view on [the bid’s] merits”.

The bid comes after Skip Capital snapped up a 19.99% stake in Genex’s stock last week.

Genex posts record revenue and cash flow

It certainly makes for an exciting period for the company, which posted its first full year of positive cash flow this morning.  

Genex’s operating cash flow for financial year 2022 came to $4 million. Its solar farms brought in record unaudited revenue of $26.1 million in that time while the company reported $8.6 million of revenue for the June quarter.

Genex benefited from strong electricity prices last quarter while construction continued at its Kidston Pumped Hydro Project and Bouldercombe Battery Project.

The company’s renewable energy generation and storage portfolio is worth more than $1 billion.

The post Genex share price rockets 50% on confirmed takeover bid appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Genex share price in focus amid Atlassian co-founder’s $300m takeover bid
• Here’s why ASX renewable shares slipped in June

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 positions in and has recommended Atlassian. 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 EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML) share price is having a difficult start to the week.

In morning trade, the payments company’s shares are down 22% to 92.5 cents.

Why is the EML share price crashing?

Investors have been selling down the EML share price on Monday following the release of the company’s update on its dealings with the Central Bank of Ireland.

With the assistance of external expert advisors, EML’s European business, PFS Card Services, has been undertaking a remediation programme at the direction of Central Bank of Ireland since July 2021. This covers its entire operations in Europe.

According to today’s update, despite the significant work PFS Card Services has undertaken, the Central Bank of Ireland is still not satisfied with its remediation programme. It notes that the bank has identified “shortcomings” in components of the programme, principally the sequencing and approach taken to the risk assessment of its distributors, corporates and customers.

What now?

PFS Card Services will now adopt a revised approach to these components, which it warns may result in additional controls being embedded into the internal control framework. It is anticipated that the adjustments to the remediation programme will result in assurance being finalised in 2023.

In addition, EML will continue to operate with a material growth limitation over its total payment volumes while this remediation work is undertaken. These limitations are due to expire in December but this latest development could impact this.

EML’s new managing director and CEO, Emma Shand, and the board are actively engaging with the Central Bank of Ireland.

It’s not all bad news out of Europe, though. One positive is that the European Central Bank’s decision to raise the cash rate by 50 basis points last week is expected to immediately benefit EML’s European business by approximately $4 million on an annualised basis. Management also highlights that a favourable interest rate environment is expected to partially offset the elevated cost base in Europe due to the remediation programme.

The post EML share price crashes 22% on Ireland warning appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Ansell, EML, Suncorp, and Whitehaven Coal shares are charging higher
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• EML Payments share price lifts on confirmed takeover talks
• EML Payments share price rebounds 12% after former CEO sheds more light

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 EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended EML Payments. 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.

Investing in stocks is not for the faint of heart. Unlike other asset classes — like real estate — where investors rarely experience extreme volatility, the stock market has a tendency to test the emotional fortitude of its participants.

And 2022 is just the latest episode in the saga.

With the S&P 500 declining as much as 23% year to date and its tech-heavy cousin, the Nasdaq Composite, down even more, there are investors who will likely leave the market for good in the coming weeks (if they haven’t already). In fact, a recent survey by Allianz Life found that 43% of investors are too nervous to buy stocks at current levels.

But if the goal is to buy low and sell high, why would investors be hesitant to buy when stocks are cheap?

This is the investor’s dilemma. We all say we are going to buy when the market is down, and yet when the opportunity presents itself, we find it difficult to pull the trigger. Here are three reminders to help you stay the course so your portfolio can come out of this bear market on top.

Net buyers of stocks win long term

One of the simplest reminders to calm one’s nerves during a bear market is that the market has never failed to recover from past crashes.

Consider the chart below that tracks the overall returns of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq as well as their all-time highs over the past several decades.

Data by YCharts.

This chart might be a bit confusing at first glance, but it’s actually pretty simple. The straight horizontal lines represent the period of time between all-time highs in both indices.

There are two important takeaways:

1. Both indices have recovered from every crash to reclaim their all-time highs and surge even higher.
2. There have been extended periods of time for both indices before those all-time highs were recovered.

The second takeaway is not as uplifting, but it should actually be the bigger motivator to keep investing through bear markets. If you are planning to wait until the market recovers to begin investing, just know you could be waiting more than seven years based on the S&P 500’s longest recovery.

Even worse, the tech investors who exited the market after the dot-com bubble missed out on nearly 300% of Nasdaq gains over the next 15 years:

Data by YCharts.

Finally, here are a couple more stats to support remaining a net buyer of stocks today:

• Half of the market’s best trading days take place during bear markets.
• Midterm election years tend to be brutal for stocks, but the average gain in the S&P 500 the following year is 32% (according to LPL Research).

Buying what you know gives you an edge

When the market gets me down, I often turn to the words of legendary mutual fund manager Peter Lynch.

He said the following about using your unique edge when buying stocks:

People have incredible edges and they throw them away […] If you’d worked in the auto industry — let’s say you have been an auto dealer for the last 10 years — you would have seen Chrysler come up with the minivan. If you were a Buick dealer, a Toyota dealer, a Honda dealer, you would have seen the Chrysler dealership packed with people. You could have made 10 times your money on Chrysler a year after the minivan came out.

Lynch’s point is instead of chasing hot stocks, look for companies in your area of expertise.

People are more than willing to pile money into industries they know nothing about because the rest of the market is doing so, even when there are huge opportunities in their own fields of expertise.

So, if you’re feeling frightened about putting money in the market right now, consider looking at stocks where you have a unique advantage. To be honest, this is good advice in any market cycle, but it can give you the conviction you need to keep investing during bearish periods.

Put on your contrarian hat

To succeed in investing, it can pay off looking at the market in a contrarian way. And in a bear market, there are tremendous opportunities to be a contrarian.

Right now, many investors are throwing out pretty much all technology companies. The market is collectively saying that because inflation is higher and interest rates are on the rise, technological growth will stall for the foreseeable future.

Much of this is muscle memory from the dot-com crash when hundreds of companies went public with weak to nonexistent underlying business models. But many of the technology companies that have sold off this past year are highly profitable and driving society forward in the digital world.

I doubt rising interest rates will significantly deter this advancement, and investors buying up quality growth companies at cheap prices will likely reap the rewards in the future.

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

The post Your portfolio vs a bear market: How to come out on top appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Nanosonics share price sinking?
• South32 share price higher on solid Q4 update
• Flight Centre share price storms 5% higher on guidance upgrade
• Tesla Q2 earnings call: 3 must-see quotes from Elon Musk
• Genex share price in focus amid Atlassian co-founder’s $300m takeover bid

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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The Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) share price is on course to start the week a sizeable decline

At the time of writing, the infection prevention company’s shares are down over 5% to $4.36.

This is despite the Nanosonics share price storming 5% higher shortly after the open.

Why is the Nanosonics share price sinking?

Investors have been selling down the Nanosonics share price on Monday following the release of an update on its sales model transition in the North America.

According to the release, the company’s transition completed successfully with a significant proportion of all consumables sales now going through the direct channel.

The company also revealed that its North American new installed base increased by 2,650 units in FY 2022. This is an increase of 11% over the prior corresponding period. This took its global installed base to 29,850, which is up 12% year on year.

Positively, during the fourth quarter, Nanosonics’ expanded North American team sold 91% of all new installed base units.

Furthermore, the number of upgrade units sold in the second half in North America was up 32% over the first half. Of the upgrade units sold in the second half, 63% were in the fourth quarter with the Nanosonics team responsible for 86% of those sales.

Management expects this trend to continue, with the significant majority of future capital sales (both new installed base and upgrades) to be made by Nanosonics.

In light of the above, the company expects to report full-year revenue of $120.3 million in FY 2022. This will be a 17% increase on the prior corresponding period and is ahead of the market consensus estimate of ~$115 million.

So why are its shares sinking?

Given the revenue beat, the weakness in the Nanosonics share price today has been a bit of a surprise.

However, it is worth noting that one thing missing from its update was any talk about costs or margins. These have been a major concern for investors and are part of the reason why short sellers have been targeting Nanosonics.

The lack of an update on its profitability could have spooked investors and sent them to the exits this morning.

Investors will have to wait until 23 August for its results to find out how the transition has impacted its margins.

Management commentary

Nanosonics’ CEO Michael Kavanagh said:

The strategic move to a more direct sales model in North America is now substantially complete with the expanded Nanosonics operation fully in place. The collaboration between Nanosonics and GE has resulted in no disruption in the continuity of supply of consumables to customers.

The intended benefits of this change are also coming to fruition with the Nanosonics direct team selling the significant majority of all new installed base during FY22 Q4 as well as driving upgrade adoption in the same period.

While Nanosonics’ direct operations will be responsible for the significant majority of all capital sales and 100% of consumables sales moving forward, the capital reseller agreement with GE Healthcare has been extended for a further 12 months. Our respective teams continue to collaborate to ensure the infection prevention needs of customers and their patients are met.

The post Why is the Nanosonics share price sinking? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why is the Nanosonics share price jumping 10% on Wednesday?
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Nanosonics 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 South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price is pushing higher on Monday following the release of the miner’s production update.

In morning trade, the mining giant’s shares are up 2.5% to $3.62.

South32 share price higher on Q4 and full year update

Here’s a summary of its performance in the fourth quarter:

• Alumina production up 3% quarter on quarter to 1,361kt
• Aluminium production up 5% to 255kt
• Copper production up 101% to 16.9kt
• Manganese production up 22% to 1,469 kwmt
• Metallurgical coal down 12% to 1,380kt
• Nickel production up 2% to 10.8kt
• Zinc production down 6% to 15.4kt

What happened in FY 2022?

This solid fourth-quarter led to South32 reporting record annual production at Worsley Alumina, guidance-beating zinc production at Cannington, and 99% of its copper guidance. The latter was despite impacts from weather and labour availability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Management notes that its stable operating performance has allowed the company to capitalise on record conditions for a number of its commodities, with strong sales in the June 2022 quarter capturing the benefit of high prices.

Another positive is that the company is expecting to report FY 2022 operating unit costs in-line with its previously updated guidance at the majority of its operations. This is thanks to lower than anticipated producer currencies providing a benefit in the June 2022 quarter and helping to offset cost inflation.

Looking ahead, higher volumes at some of its operations and the tailwind of lower producer currencies are expected to provide partial relief from the ongoing effect of industry wide labour, raw material, and energy cost inflation that impacted its cost base in FY 2022.

Management commentary

South32’s CEO, Graham Kerr, was pleased with the fourth quarter. Particularly given the challenges the company faced during the three months. He said:

Our teams delivered another strong operating performance in the June quarter, despite challenges that included extreme weather, supply chain disruptions and reduced labour availability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Record annual production at Worsley Alumina, along with record quarterly production at South Africa Manganese and a strong sales result in June, capturing the benefit of high prices, capped another year of substantial progress for South32.

We achieved further significant milestones as we reshape our portfolio towards the metals critical for a low carbon future. In May, we completed the acquisition of an additional shareholding in the hydro-powered Mozal Aluminium smelter. We also completed our acquisition of an additional interest in the MRN bauxite mine and delivered first production from the restart of our Brazil Aluminium smelter, powered by 100 per cent cost efficient renewable power.

The post South32 share price higher on solid Q4 update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has 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 Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is having a strong start to the week.

In morning trade, the travel agent’s shares are up over 5% to $18.05.

Why is the Flight Centre share price charging higher?

Investors have been bidding the Flight Centre share price higher this morning after the company upgraded its guidance for FY 2022.

Following a solid rebound in travel demand globally late in the financial year, the company expects to record an underlying EBITDA loss of between $180 million and $190 million in FY 2022.

This represents an 11.9% improvement on the mid-point of the company’s initial FY 2022 guidance for an underlying loss of between $195 million and $225 million. It will also be a material improvement on Flight Centre’s FY 2021 underlying EBITDA loss of $337.9 million.

Based on this, the company is expecting to breakeven on an underlying EBITDA basis for the six months to June 30. Management notes that this is a major turnaround considering the significant losses it was making through to February.

On the top line, management expects to report total transaction value (TTV) of over $10 billion, which is more than two-and-a-half times the $3.95 billion achieved in FY 2021.

Pleasingly, on a monthly basis, the company’s TTV was tracking near or above pre-COVID levels in a number of businesses by year-end. This has been fuelled by both an uplift in demand and higher than normal ticket prices linked to a lack of airline capacity, particularly on international routes.

Management commentary

Flight Centre’s managing director, Graham Turner, was pleased with the company’s turnaround. He said:

After an incredibly challenging period, we were pleased to achieve our goal of returning to monthly underlying EBITDA profitability in both the corporate and leisure sectors late in the year. The scale of our recovery exceeded our initial expectations and meant that we should now exceed our preliminary FY22 result target, with early trading results pointing to a breakeven second half result and a healthy fourth quarter profit (underlying EBITDA).

Turner acknowledges that COVID isn’t going anywhere any time and the industry will continue to face challenges from new strains. Nevertheless, he believes the company is well-placed to overcome these challenges. The managing director explained:

There will inevitably be ongoing challenges for the industry over the next six to twelve months as new strains of the virus emerge, airline capacity returns and as we rebuild staff numbers to required levels, but we feel that we are well placed to overcome these concerns given our corporate business’s continued rise and our leisure business’s ongoing strength.

In the corporate sector, we are gaining market-share globally through high customer retention rates and a multi-billion-dollar pipeline of new accounts won across our Corporate Traveller and FCM brands during the pandemic.

In the leisure sector, our success is built on having strong brands and sales channels that are resonating with customers in what is now a more complex travel environment.

The post Flight Centre share price storms 5% higher on guidance upgrade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group 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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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.

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged higher last week, helped by the electric-car maker’s second-quarter report, which included better-than-expected adjusted earnings per share and an impressive outlook from management for a strong second half of the year. The upbeat update from management was welcomed warmly by investors as Wall Street is being greeted by a growing number of disappointing quarterly reports this earnings season.

While the earnings release included a lot of interesting information, investors interested in the stock should also take some time to listen to Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call, where management discussed its results in more detail with analysts. It was packed with helpful information, including additional commentary on the supply chain, more color on the company’s plans to boost manufacturing capacity, and more. Management’s comments from the call provided important information for investors as they try to assess the company’s growth potential.

Here are three quotes from the call that investors should see.

An improving supply chain

“I think we’re seeing a very rapid increase in battery production and in the whole supply chain,” said Tesla CEO Elon musk in the earnings call.

This is great news for Tesla, since the company seems to have more than enough demand. With Model Y orders today delivering sometime next year, for instance, Tesla’s sales growth is limited by supply.

The company provided some more concrete evidence of its improving supply chain when Elon noted that the company saw record levels of production at both its Fremont and Shanghai factories in June.

Combining its improving supply chain with its achievement of record production levels in June, Tesla said it expects to have a record-breaking second half of the year.

Tesla’s planned Cybertruck launch

The long-awaited Tesla Cybertruck has a target launch date. Musk said he expects deliveries of the fully electric pickup truck to start in the middle of next year. “And we’re very, very excited about that product. I think it might actually be our best product ever,” the CEO added.

Given the popularity of pickup trucks in the United States, investors have good reason to look forward to the important vehicle’s launch.

Manufacturing capacity expectations

In the company’s second-quarter earnings report, Tesla revealed it currently has installed production capacity for production of up to 1.9 million vehicles per year. For context, Tesla delivered only 936,000 vehicles this year. Achieving production levels of 2 million vehicles annually, therefore, would represent significant growth.

But it’s one thing to have installed capacity and another to refine production lines and the supply chain to fully utilize this capacity. To this end, one analyst asked how quickly Tesla can ramp up production and Musk said, “I think we’ve got a good chance of exiting this year at 40,000 vehicles a week.” That’s an annualized run rate of more than 2 million vehicles.

Overall, the earnings call gave even more credence to the already upbeat narrative revealed in the company’s second-quarter earnings report. 

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

The post Tesla Q2 earnings call: 3 must-see quotes from Elon Musk appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Daniel Sparks 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 Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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