Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB) shares are pushing higher again on Monday as another potential buyer takes a look at the shipbuilder’s US business.

At the time of writing, the Austal share price is up 4.62% to $4.53.

The stock has now gained around 18% over the past month and more than 10% in a week. But despite the recent rebound, Austal shares are still down around 32% this year and 45% over the past 12 months.

Another buyer has entered the picture

According to the release, Austal has held an “initial, preliminary discussion” with US-based Wildcat Infrastructure following media reports about a possible proposal.

Austal stressed that it has not received a formal offer from Wildcat at this stage.

The interest comes while South Korea’s Hanwha is already trying to buy Austal’s US operations. Hanwha owns 19.9% of Austal and has made a conditional, non-binding proposal valuing the US business at between US$1.05 billion and US$1.2 billion.

Austal has given Hanwha access to conduct due diligence, although The Australian reports the proposed deal is facing some uncertainty.

The report said Austal’s weaker US result could affect Hanwha’s interest or the price it is willing to pay, while political tensions between the United States and South Korea could also make a deal more difficult.

A closer look at the business

Austal’s FY26 result was mixed, with a big difference between its US and Australasian operations.

Group revenue rose 11% to $2.03 billion, but the company posted a $53.6 million net loss. The US division recorded an EBIT loss of $202.8 million, mainly due to provisions linked to loss-making contracts.

The Australasian business was much stronger. Revenue jumped 49% to $650.7 million, while EBIT climbed 137% to a record $85.3 million.

There is also plenty of work already lined up, with more than $5 billion of Australasian contracts under the Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement.

The Australian reported that Hanwha’s proposal effectively values the whole company at around $2.74 billion, or $6.50 per share.

That’s about 43% above where the shares trade today.

What happens next?

There is no guarantee Wildcat will make a formal offer, so it is still too early to call this a bidding war.

But having another interested buyer could give Austal more options as it weighs up the future of its US business.

The timing is also very interesting given the recent share price recovery. Austal shares have climbed around 18% over the past month, although they are still trading well below their highs from earlier this year.

The post Austal shares jump again as takeover interest heats up appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Buy, hold, sell: Boss Energy, Austal, Liontown shares
• Down 28% to 46%: Are these beaten-down ASX shares cheap buys?
• Austal shares jump despite a $54 million loss. Here’s why investors are buying
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 ASX 200 stocks leaping higher in this week’s slumping market on big news

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.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) shares are taking a tumble today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) logistics software solutions company closed on Friday trading for $37.69. During the Monday lunch hour, shares are changing hands for $36.50, down 3.2%.

This sees WiseTech shares down a painful 61.5% since this time last year.

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.1% today and up 1.8% in 12 months.

As you may know, the ASX 200 tech stock has come under heavy selling pressure on several fronts.

First, investors have been concerned over the company’s governance, with founder and executive chairman Richard White catching negative media headlines over allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

The stock has also come under pressure amid global concerns that artificial intelligence can potentially replace a lot of the services that Software as a Service (SaaS) like WiseTech provides.

Or the so-called the ‘SaaSpocalypse’.

But with the share price now down almost 62% over the past 12 months, is the ASX 200 tech stock trading at a bargain?

WiseTech shares: Buy, hold, or sell?

When asked which stock in his fund is the most undervalued by the market, Emanuel Datt, chief investment officer and founder of Datt Capital, pointed to WiseTech (courtesy of the Australian Financial Review).

Commenting on his bullish outlook for WiseTech shares, Datt said:

WiseTech Global has been in the media for all the wrong reasons over the past few years, suffering from governance issues and others related to the founder. Notwithstanding, this is one of the ASX’s highest-quality technology companies with a global customer base and significant upside.

Datt added:

The company has progressed in mitigating investor concerns, materially refreshing the board and management team whilst also driving business growth via the acquisition of a major competitor, e2open, and transitioning to value-based pricing. The business has a history of growing via M&A and has significantly outperformed its own guidance in extracting synergies from e2open.

And WiseTech’s growth potential shouldn’t be ignored.

Datt concluded:

WiseTech’s product portfolio is genuinely exciting, with customer identity verification products providing the foundational element of the company’s move into offering its own supply chain finance solutions; a multitrillion-dollar global market.

What’s the latest from the ASX 200 tech share?

WiseTech reported its FY 2026 results on 26 August.

Following the company’s successful e2open acquisition, WiseTech reported a 79% year-on-year increase in revenue to US$1.395 billion.

But while underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) increased 29% to US$313.5 million, statutory NPAT was down 11% from FY 2025 to US$178.7 million.

WiseTech shares closed down 10.1% on the day of the results release.

The post Down 62%, are WiseTech shares now a buy, hold or sell? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX shares benefit from a high Aussie dollar
• Why I’m buying WiseTech shares before the market catches on
• These ASX 50 shares have lost up to 60%. Is the sell-off overdone?
• 9 ASX shares downgraded by experts post-results this week
• Down another 18%: Why I’d buy WiseTech shares in the dip

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 WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Shares in Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI) are down by almost a quarter over the past year, but according to the team at Macquarie, that presents a good buying opportunity.

The Macquarie analysts have an outperform rating on Pinnacle and a bullish share price target, which I’ll get to shortly.

First, let’s have a look at what Pinnacle does.

Major investment manager

The investment manager owns substantial stakes in a number of funds, which themselves invest across a wide range of sectors.

For example, it owns a 49.9% stake in Hyperion Asset Management, which invests in global and Australian growth equities, and has a 35.9% stake in Palisade, which invests in private infrastructure.

The amount of funds under management in these so-called affiliates came in at $229.4 billion at the end of June this year, which was up 27.9% year on year.

Pinnacle has what it calls a Three Horizons growth strategy, which involves firstly growing the management side of the business, launching brand new affiliates, and also buying stakes in and growing other affiliates.

At the time of the company’s FY26 financial report, Managing Director Ian Macoun said:

We continue to build Pinnacle to deliver sustained high rates of growth for many years into the future. Our distinct business model and Three Horizons growth strategy have built a highly diversified platform across asset classes, geographies and product formats. This platform has supported strong growth to date and provides multiple pathways for further growth, including in larger international markets where we have demonstrated that the Pinnacle model can operate successfully.

Mr Macoun said net inflows were robust across all three channels of the business.

Pinnacle’s net profit for the year was $176.7 million, up from $134.4 million, and the company increased its dividend by 25% to 78.1 cents.

Broker says shares are looking cheap

Macquarie recently reviewed the quarterly performance of three of Pinnacle’s affiliates, the Metrics Master Income Trust (ASX: MXT), the Metrics Income Opportunities Trust (ASX: MOT), and the Metrics Real Estate Multi-Strategy Fund (ASX: MRE).

The returns of these year on year came in at 8.21%, 7.38%, and 11.06% respectively, Macquarie said.

They said their outperform rating on Pinnacle shares reflects attractive organic growth supported by funds under management growth, net funds inflows, plus the potential for accretive mergers and acquisitions.

Macquarie has a price target of $23.95 for Pinnacle, compared with the current share price of $14.45.

Pinnacle is valued at $3.44 billion.

The post Macquarie says this ASX financial share could jump 65% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• A rare buying opportunity in 1 of Australia’s top shares?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 37 ASX shares going ex-dividend next week

Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Pinnacle Investment Management Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Pinnacle Investment Management Group. 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.