The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a bit of a topsy-turvy start to the trading week so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down by 0.64% after spending time in both positive and negative territory already today. But let’s check out what the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is up to.

At the time of writing, CSL shares are trading for $254.12 each. That’s down around 1.62% so far.

So is there any good reason why CSL shares might be trailing the broader market so decisively today?

Well, as it happens, there is.

Today is a big day on the CSL shareholder calendar. It is the day this ASX 200 healthcare company trades ex-dividend for its upcoming interim payment. Last month, CSL delivered its half-year earnings report. Along wth a mixed-bag of results, this naturally included details about CSL’s next dividend payment.

This upcoming dividend will be worth US$1.04 per share for investors when it is paid out on 6 April. The final value in Australian dollars is yet to be determined. But it works out to be approximately $1.41 on today’s exchange rates. The dividend will come unfranked. At US$1.04 per share, it is also flat on last year’s interim dividend.

So the fact that this dividend has now gone ‘ex’ is probably at least partially why the CSL share price is showing weakness today. When a company trades ex-dividend, the value of the dividend payment in question leaves the company’s share price. That’s because, from today, no new CSL shareholders will be entitled to receive the company’s upcoming payment. This means the shares are effectively worth less today than they were on Friday.

CSL share price snapshot

Like many ASX 200 shares, CSL hasn’t had the easiest ride in 2022 so far. This healthcare giant has lost more than 14% year to date. However, the company is still up around 3.5% over the past 12 months, and up more than 102% over the past five years.

At the current CSL share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $124.7 billion, with a dividend yield of 1.14%.

The post Payday? Here’s why the CSL share price is sliding this morning… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Playing limbo… Magellan (ASX:MFG) share price hits 7-year low

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. owns and has recommended CSL Ltd. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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Once a week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues as the most shorted share after its short interest rose strongly week on week to 16.3%. Investors may have concerns over its large losses and the state of the travel market amid war in Ukraine and rising fuel prices.
• Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN) has short interest of 12.2%, which is up again week on week. Short sellers appear concerned by a major and sudden change in its sales model in the United States.
• Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest rise again to 12%. The betting technology company’s shares have lost almost a third of their value this year amid the de-rating of tech valuations.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest remain flat at 11.3%. Much to the delight of short sellers, this buy now pay later provider’s shares crashed 22% last week following a capital raising.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest ease slightly to 10.4%. Short sellers have been targeting this ecommerce company due to its continued poor performance and concerns over rising marketing costs for online retailers.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has short interest of 9.8%, which is up slightly week on week. Poor trial results, significant cash burn, and the loss of a lucrative deal with Novartis have been weighing on sentiment.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 9.7%, which is flat week on week. Short sellers appear to believe the market is too optimistic on the travel market recovery.
• Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has seen its short interest remain flat at 9.3%. This medical device company hit a new 52-week low today, much to the delight of short sellers. Its underperformance and high multiples appear to be attracting shorts.
• Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) has returned to the top ten with short interest of 9.2%. Changes to Apple’s privacy settings have been making life hard for ecommerce companies like Redbubble.
• AMA Group Ltd (ASX: AMA) is back in the top ten with 8.7% of its shares held short. Last month this crash repair company reported a loss of $46.3 million for the first half of FY 2022. Its shares also hit a 52-week low today.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Down 36% in 2022, should investors jump on the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price?
• These ASX 200 shares are being dumped out of the index and replaced with…
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• What on earth happened to the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price last week?!
• 5 ASX shares making big news this week

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. owns and has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Kogan.com ltd, Nanosonics Limited, POLYNOVO FPO, REDBUBBLE FPO, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Betmakers Technology Group Ltd, Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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It could be a big day for these ASX mining shares. They’ll soon be bumping elbows with some of the exchange’s most renowned companies.

Lithium, tin, and tantalum explorer AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ) and gold explorer De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG) will be inducted into the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) later this month.

Today marks the first time the ASX mining shares will trade after news of their soon-to-be new home was released.

Let’s take a look at what it could mean for the miners’ stock.

These mining shares are about to hit the ASX 200

Shares in AVZ Minerals and De Grey Mining will hit the ASX 200 on 21 March.

The news was announced by S&P Dow Jones Indices on Friday evening.

The companies’ entrance into the famed index could see their shares trading like hotcakes in the near term.

As my Fool colleague James Mickleboro reported, funds tracking the ASX 200 will likely be scrambling to buy into the ASX mining shares to continue reflecting the landmark index.

Additionally, Mickleboro notes some fund managers are only able to invest in ASX 200 companies. Thus, they may be on the radar of more fundies later this month.

AVZ Minerals and De Grey Mining – alongside City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX) and Home Consortium Ltd (ASX: HMC) – will be taking the places of four current ASX 200 shares.

They include Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB), SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (ASX: SKC), Spark New Zealand Ltd (ASX: SPK), and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDI (ASX: URW).

AVZ Minerals managing director Nigel Ferguson said its inclusion in the ASX 200 reflects “growing investor appetite and confidence” in the company and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s where the company’s Manono Lithium and Tin Project is located.

De Grey Mining hasn’t commented on its inclusion in the landmark index.

According to the ASX, AVZ Minerals has a market capitalisation of $3.15 billion.

That of De Grey Mining is notably less, sitting at $1.63 billion.

The post Why these 2 ASX mining shares are in the spotlight today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX 200 shares are being dumped out of the index and replaced with…
• How have ASX lithium stocks been faring this reporting season?
• ASX 200 tech shares take a hammering as Ukraine fears escalate
• Here’s why this ASX All Ordinaries lithium share is surging 13% today
• Why AMP, AVZ, Megaport, and NAB shares are pushing higher

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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is in the red today amid rumours it could emerge as a buyer of a retail business.

Wesfarmers shares are currently swapping hands at $48.57, down 0.37%. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.38% today.

Let’s take a look at what was reported.

Could Wesfarmers be planning a new acquisition?

Wesfarmers could emerge as a contender for the auction of major retailer Jaycar, The Australian reported.

The publication reported commentary that Jaycar could make sense as a “bolt-on acquisition” for Wesfarmers’ chain Bunnings. Bunnings earnings fell 1.2% to $1.259 billion in the first half of the 2022 financial year.

Jaycar is one of the largest electronic retailers in Australia and New Zealand, with more than 110 stores.

Barrenjoey Capital bankers have been in talks with a number of potential buyers including private equity firms and offshore retailers ahead of an auction, the Australian Financial Review reported in late January.

Other potential buyers in the mix could include Quadrant, BGH Capital and Bain Capital.

The Wesfarmers share price slipped 8.58% in February on the back of the company’s half-year results, as my Foolish colleague Brooke Cooper reported.

In Wesfarmers’ “most disrupted period” since the onset of COVID-19, the retail giant’s net profit after tax (NPAT) fell 14% to $1.2 billion.

Wesfarmers is hoping to complete the acquisition of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Wesfarmers share price snapshot

The Wesfarmers share price has fallen 1.94% in the past year, while it is down 18.09% this year to date.

For perspective, the benchmark ASX 200 has returned about 5.6% over the past year.

In the past month Wesfarmers shares have slipped 9.6%, while in the past week they have nudged 1.4% upwards.

Wesfarmers has a market capitalisation of about $55.07 billion based on the current share price.

The post Could Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) be gearing up for an electrifying investment? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 ASX 50 shares Morgans rates as buys
• The Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price dumped 9% in February. What happened?
• Top ASX shares to buy in March 2022
• Top broker tips over 20% upside for Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price
• Analysts name 2 ASX dividend giants to buy

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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.

How to predict which cryptocurrencies may deliver enormous returns? I always look for a solid and secure platform, a player that stands out from the rest, and room for upside considering tokens available and today’s price. That sort of formula could lead to great things over the long term.

The good news is there’s room for more than one cryptocurrency to win. And one of these potential winners could increase fiftyfold by 2030. Which player am I talking about? A clue: a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor founded this blockchain in 2017.

The Marshall Islands’ digital currency

Algorand (CRYPTO: ALGO) has come a long way in just a few years. Today, hundreds of organizations are building decentralized applications (dApps) on the blockchain — from the world of finance to entertainment. Algorand has even won the trust of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. That government is the first to create a digital national currency. And it’s chosen Algorand as the platform to power it.

Algorand has a few features that help it stand out from its rivals. First, its manner of verifying transactions. Many blockchains use proof of stake. This grants verification power to those with the biggest holdings. But Algorand uses pure proof of stake. The algorithm chooses stakeholders randomly to validate — regardless of the size of their stake. This way, the power doesn’t always go to the same big stakeholders. And true decentralization is achieved.

Another benefit of using Algorand is speed. This is a big deal for many dApps. Right now, Algorand can process 1,200 transactions per second. It’s on its way to processing 3,000. And it’s working on a feature that will bring that to 45,000 transactions per second. That will make Algorand faster than popular credit cards like Visa. Along with this speed, Algorand also achieves completion of a transaction instantaneously.

A two-layer structure

A reason for Algorand’s speed has to do with its structure. The blockchain’s first layer is designed for smart contracts and the creation of assets. Complex smart contracts and dApp development happen on the second layer. As a result, there’s less risk of congestion on the network.

Finally, Algorand makes a great platform for the creation of non-fungible tokens. Here’s why: Algorand is non-forkable. That means it can’t split into a new version. When a blockchain forks, there can be two problems for NFT holders. In one scenario, a holder can end up with a duplicate NFT. Of course, NFTs are supposed to be unique. So, in this case, the holder wouldn’t know which NFT was the real one. In another scenario, validators could drop the original blockchain — and NFTs created there lose their value. By choosing Algorand, users avoid these potential problems.

Now let’s look at whether Algorand could multiply by 50 from a token perspective. Today, there are 6.6 billion tokens circulating. If Algorand rises 50-fold from today’s level it would trade at $41. That would give it a market value of more than $270 billion. That would make it the world’s third-biggest cryptocurrency. It’s impossible to predict what will happen for sure. But such a gain by 2030 is possible — especially considering all of the advantages Algorand already offers to cryptocurrency users.

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

The post Could this cryptocurrency increase fiftyfold by 2030? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Could Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) be gearing up for an electrifying investment?
• Time is running out to secure the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) monster dividend. Here’s why
• Down 36% in 2022, should investors jump on the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price?
• Why this broker just downgraded Blackmores (ASX:BKL) shares to a sell rating
• Appen (ASX:APX) share price fails to lift off on strategic investment

Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

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The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is climbing during morning trade, adding to its impressive gains last week.

This comes despite the mining giant not releasing any price-sensitive announcements to the ASX today.

At the time of writing, Rio Tinto shares are up 1.27% to $128.17 apiece.

Rio Tinto shares set to go ex-dividend

While the company has been quiet on the news front lately, investors are buying up Rio Tinto shares.

This is most likely because of the upcoming ex-dividend date for Rio Tinto shares.

Investors need to buy Rio Tinto shares before market close on Wednesday to be eligible for the final dividend. The ex-dividend date is on Thursday 10 March.

It’s worth noting though that historically when a company reaches its ex-dividend day, its shares tend to fall in proportion to the dividend paid out. This is because investors tend to sell off the company’s shares after securing the dividend.

When can Rio Tinto shareholders expect payment?

For those who are eligible for the Rio Tinto dividend, shareholders will receive a total payment of $6.6284 per share on 21 April. This comprises the 2021 final dividend of $5.7704 per share and a $0.8580 per share special dividend.

They are also both fully franked which means shareholders can expect to receive tax credits from this.

In addition, investors can elect for the dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) which will add a portion of shares to their portfolio instead.

There is no DRP discount rate and the last election date for shareholders to opt-in is on 29 March.

The $16.8 billion full-year dividend represents a payout of 79% of underlying earnings. This is above management’s policy of retuning between 40% to 60% of underlying earnings to shareholders.

Rio Tinto share price snapshot

Since the beginning of 2022, the Rio Tinto share price has gained 26% but is up around 4% in the last 12 months.

The company’s shares reached a 52-week low of $87.28 in November, before zipping 45% higher from today’s price.

Rio Tinto commands a market capitalisation of roughly $46.98 billion and has a trailing dividend yield of 10.09%.

The post Time is running out to secure the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) monster dividend. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Own Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) shares? Here’s why the miner is ‘closely monitoring’ the Ukraine situation’
• Why is the iron ore price hitting 6-month highs?
• ASX 200 dives to 4-day low following Ukraine nuclear power plant crisis
• Why Core Lithium, MVP, Rio Tinto, and South32 shares are rising today
• Here’s how these top 3 ASX 200 mining shares performed in February

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 Bruce Jackson.

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The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has fallen by 36% since the start of 2022.

It has fallen even further looking at longer periods of time. In the last six months the Kogan share price has fallen by 49%.

In 2020 the business was one of the economic winners of 2020 with a huge boom of e-commerce sales.

But since then, it has been a story of much lower profitability for the company as excess inventory led to higher warehousing costs, more product discounting and more spending on marketing.

The e-commerce business released its FY22 half-year result in February, with the company outlining various parts of its performance.

Here are some of the highlights if readers didn’t see it:

Kogan’s HY22 result

Gross sales increased 9.4% to $698 million, but the gross profit fell by 8.1% to $108.1 million. It made an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of $2 million (down from a $38.8 million EBITDA profit in HY21). Adjusted EBITDA plunged 66.4%, whilst adjusted net profit after (NPAT) sank 85.6% to $4.8 million.

It reported a statutory net loss of $11.9 million, down from a profit of $23.6 million.

The company blamed impacts from supply chain interruptions as a result of the COVID-19 situation and changes in customer demand. Investors may have punished the Kogan share price because of these impacts.

Kogan.com’s active customers grew 10.4% year on year to 3.31 million at 31 December 2021. Mighty Ape had 757,000 active customers on 31 December 2021.

A key part of the company’s long-term plans is to grow its membership program, as Kogan First members demonstrate stronger loyalty and repeat purchase behaviour compared to non-subscribers. Kogan First members grew 176.4% year on year to over 274,000 subscribers at 31 December 2021. It had reached 310,000 Kogan First subscribers in February 2022.

Long-term growth plans

The Kogan share price has been very volatile in the last two years.

However, the company says that online retail is in its infancy in Australia. Kogan’s market share is growing in the e-commerce market that continues to rapidly increase in size. Kogan’s market share was 2.4% in FY20 and 2.7% in FY21.

Over the next five years, the company is aiming to achieve 1,000,000 Kogan First members and grow gross sales at a compound annual growth rate of at least 20% to reach $3 billion of gross sales in FY26.

Looking at the shorter term, in the second half of FY22 Kogan is expecting more growth of Kogan First subscriptions, continued growth of Kogan Marketplace (which is where third parties sell products on Kogan.com), growth of Mighty Ape and improved operating leverage.

Is the Kogan share price an opportunity?

Kogan shares have been falling in recent months.

Investors have turned sour on the business. For example, Credit Suisse recently decreased its rating on the business from a buy/outperform to ‘neutral’ because the half-year result wasn’t as good as the broker was expecting, with expectations of higher advertising, lower sales and weaker-than-expected margins.

UBS also rates the business as ‘neutral’. It’s expecting that investors will need to be patient for a recovery in profitability as Kogan continues to invest in growing the business.

On UBS’ numbers, the Kogan share price is valued at 39x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post Down 36% in 2022, should investors jump on the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s the outlook for ASX retail shares like Kogan (ASX:KGN)?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why Blackmores, BWX, Kogan, and Magellan shares are dropping
• Why is the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price crashing 20% on Friday?
• Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price in limbo amid $11.9m first half loss

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) share price is trading lower on Monday morning.

At the time of writing, the health supplements company’s shares are down over 1.5% to $76.62.

Why is the Blackmores share price falling?

Investors have been selling down the Blackmores share price on Monday following the release of a broker note out of Goldman Sachs.

According to the note, the broker has downgraded the company’s shares to a sell rating with a $75.20 price target.

This suggests potential downside of approximately 2% from where the Blackmores share price is trading right now. This compares to the broker’s coverage average of +27%.

Why did Goldman downgrade its shares?

Goldman was pleased with Blackmores’ performance during the first half and notes that management is “executing well against its strategic plan.”

However, this is coming at a cost, with the company spending heavily to rebuild its brand in existing markets and launch into new markets. In light of this, it suspects that the company’s earnings will be under pressure in the near term.

Goldman said: “BKL is delivering in line with its strategy, on track for A$55mn in annualised cost savings by FY23 as a result of operational efficiency. It is investing in growth markets and prioritizing new product innovation and digital. Near-term outlook remains mixed: we expect diversification of geographic and channel footprint to benefit the International business and the China business should grow in line with the channel underpinned by targeted investments in China e-commerce. Expansion into new markets (i.e. India) will impact margins in the near-term, albeit we expect BKL to execute in a measured manner.”

“Despite the strategy broadly on track, we downgrade our rating to Sell, with higher near-term reinvestments resulting in a subdued earnings environment,” the broker concluded.

The post Why this broker just downgraded Blackmores (ASX:BKL) shares to a sell rating appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Top broker gives its verdict on the Blackmores (ASX:BKL) share price
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Why is the Blackmores (ASX:BKL) share price tumbling another 10% today?
• Why Blackmores, BWX, Kogan, and Magellan shares are dropping

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 Blackmores Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is in the red in early trade.

Appen shares closed flat on Friday at $7.09 per share and are currently trading for $6.91, down 2.5%.

Below we look at the ASX 200 tech share’s investment announcement that looks to be spurring investor interest.

What investment was announced?

The Appen share price is sliding after the company reported its minority investment of 2 million pounds (AU$3.6 million) in Mindtech Global Limited. In line with its investment, Appen has formed a commercial partnership agreement with Mindtech.

Mindtech, the creator of Chameleon, specialises in developing training data for AI computer vision models.

Commenting on the investment, Appen’s CEO, Mark Brayan said:

Mindtech has created a scalable platform for the generation of large-volumes of synthetic training data. The partnership between Appen and Mindtech will provide customers with the ability to curate a combination of real-world and synthetic data across a wide variety of use cases.

The allocation of capital to a new and disruptive product-led business enables Appen to bring new solutions to our customers and evolve with market trends.

If you’re unfamiliar with synthetic data, Appen explains it’s an “emerging component of the training data market that is used to augment real-world data. It is particularly useful for the creation of edge-case data that is difficult to capture”.

The company reports that the synthetic data market segment is forecast to grow to $1.15 billion by 2027. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 48%.

As part of the investment agreement, Brayan will join the Mindtech Board.

The Appen share price may have failed to get a lift today after the company said it did not expect a material revenue impact from the partnership in 2022, “given the early stage of the synthetic data market”.

Appen share price snapshot

It’s been a difficult run for the Appen share price since hitting all time highs of $40.08 on 21 August 2020.

And 2022 has been little exception.

The Appen share price is down 39% since the opening bell on 4 January. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 6.4% in that same period.

The post Appen (ASX:APX) share price fails to lift off on strategic investment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in February
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Embattled Appen (ASX:APX) share price bounces despite a top broker downgrade
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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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.

As technology continues to rapidly evolve, demand is soaring for providers of advanced services like machine learning (ML). It’s a subfield of artificial intelligence that focuses on using large amounts of data to make predictions and improve productivity in a variety of business processes. 

Estimates suggest the machine learning industry was worth $15.5 billion in 2021, and it’s set to soar almost tenfold to $152 billion by the year 2028. That growth will be driven by organizations finding new and exciting ways to apply ML, whether they’re in e-commerce, manufacturing, or anything in between.

Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) is a pioneer of ML technology. It just reported its full-year fiscal 2022 earnings results, and it beat even its own forecasts. Here’s why the company could be perfectly positioned to grab an increasing slice of this booming industry.

Diverse use cases

Splunk offers a variety of solutions across security, information technology, and development operations — with machine learning woven through them all. Each solution has a subset of use cases, but the diversity of Splunk’s capabilities is more observable through its customer base, which now consists of 92 of the Fortune 100 organizations.

Global car maker Honda Motor has deployed Splunk in its Alabama plant, which is the company’s largest light-truck manufacturing facility in the world. Splunk’s predictive insights are adding value by constantly analyzing machine data to catch critical failures, reducing the plant’s time-to-repair metric by 70%. Splunk is even monitoring air quality inside the facility, to ensure emissions from paint-related production activities don’t exceed regulatory limits, preventing costly shutdowns.

Then there’s Domino’s Pizza, which couldn’t be a more different business than Honda. Domino’s now leverages over 15 different sales channels, from a smart TV application, to mobile, to smart speakers, and it uses Splunk to monitor them all. Splunk offers real-time insights into each transaction so Domino’s can make improvements on the fly, and like Honda, the pizza maker is able to proactively minimize the effects of incidents and downtime.

But there’s perhaps no higher-stakes deployment of Splunk’s technology than in Formula 1 racing, where the McLaren team uses machine learning and predictive analytics to make real-time changes to its cars in a live setting.

A transformative fiscal 2022

Splunk is in the middle of a major transition to the cloud, which allows the company to deliver its solutions more effectively. By the same token, it allows customers to operate Splunk’s applications anywhere, anytime, which is especially important when deploying Splunk’s security solutions.

Cloud revenue now represents 35% of total revenue, and it’s the driving force behind Splunk’s growth at the moment.

Metric	Fiscal 2021	Fiscal 2022	Change
Cloud revenue	$554 million	$943 million	70%
Total revenue	$2.22 billion	$2.67 billion	19%

Data source: Splunk. CAGR = Compound Annual Growth Rate.

The company’s total fiscal 2022 revenue of $2.67 billion beat the upper end of its most recent forecast of $2.56 billion, and it reported $128 million in operating cash flow, which was a 28% boost over its $100 million estimate.

Splunk is attracting more large organizations. It reported 675 customers in its top category, who spend $1 million or more annually. It represented 32% year-over-year growth in fiscal 2022, but that includes 317 cloud customers, and that number was up 70% for the year.

Splunk is a bet on the future

The case for owning Splunk stock isn’t built on a single good year. As mentioned earlier, the machine learning industry could be worth $152 billion annually by 2028, and that represents a compound annual growth rate of 38.6% between now and then.

But Splunk’s cloud-based revenue grew at almost twice that rate in fiscal 2022, suggesting it’s set up to increase its market share in the future, as cloud becomes the dominant share of its business. And the company is forecasting up to $2 billion in cloud annual recurring revenue in fiscal 2023, which would be a 49% jump over the $1.34 billion in fiscal 2022.

A new CEO also just joined the fold, bringing a plethora of experience in software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses across the cybersecurity industry, and this addition should help drive Splunk’s recurring revenue business model forward. 

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

The post This growth stock is a machine learning powerhouse appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Domino’s Pizza. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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

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