Next year, 2022, could be a big year for some of the ASX tech shares according to some leading experts.

The last couple of years have been incredible times of transformation for some businesses, and the economy as a whole.

These two ASX tech shares could have a lot more for investors over the next 12 months:

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The online furniture and homewares business is rated as a buy by Credit Suisse with a price target of $15.89.

It was also very recently rated as a buy by UBS, with a price target of $12.20.

UBS thinks that the company will keep benefiting from the shift of consumers to buying things online. More customers are returning and buying more from the e-commerce retailer, and the business can keep adding new product lines to expand its addressable market.

Analysts and management alike believe that the business can grow revenue quickly and also increase its profit margins as it benefits from operating leverage.

The business is expecting its fixed costs to become smaller in percentage terms compared to revenue as the business gets bigger. Greater scale will also help with things like improved supplier terms, greater ranges of (private label) products, increasing marketing and even further improvements with its technology (like augmented reality).

This ASX tech share is continuing to see strong year on year growth. In FY22, from 1 July 2021 to 15 October 2021, revenue had increased 56% compared to the prior corresponding period.

It continues to invest into areas of the business to grow its online market share with the ultimate goal of becoming the largest retailer (online and offline) for furniture and homewares in its ‘home’ market.

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

Online services marketplace business Airtasker is rated as a buy by the broker Morgans. It has a price target of $1.27 – that’s more than 40% higher than where it is today.

Morgans thinks that Airtasker has good long-term growth potential.

Not only is the business growing in Australia, but it’s experiencing rapid growth internationally as well.

The FY22 first quarter saw gross marketplace volume (GMV) growth of 6.2% year on year to $35 million despite key markets (like Sydney and Melbourne) in lockdown for the quarter.

Airtasker has seen a “strong post-lockdown bounce back” with the last weekly update revealing GMV of $3.6 million, which equates to an annualised run rate of $185 million.

In the first quarter of FY22 it saw international GMV growth of more than 100%, driven by “strong growth” in the UK.

The ASX tech share is expanding in the US with its Zaarly acquisition and it’s expanding in some city markets including Dallas, Kansas City, Miami and Atlanta. Airtasker said the USA expansion was just in its early days.

It’s planning to expand its marketing expenditure significantly to grow geographically and increase its brand recognition.

The post 2 fantastic ASX tech shares tipped for big things in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group 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 National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has been a very positive performer this year.

Since the start of the year, the banking giant’s shares have risen 26%.

Throw in the fully franked 127 cents dividends it has paid, and you’ve got a return that smashed the benchmark.

The good news is that one leading broker still believes there’s more to come.

Three reasons the NAB share price remains good value

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it has a buy rating and $31.15 price target on the bank’s shares.

Based on the current NAB share price, this implies further upside of 8%. And if you add in the ~5% dividend yield Goldman is forecasting in 2022, this increases to 13%.

Why is it the broker positive on NAB?

There are three reasons for this positive sentiment. One of those is the progress it has already made with its cost cutting.

It explained: “We reiterate our Buy (on CL) on NAB and it remains our preferred sector exposure given: i) NAB’s cost management initiatives, which seem further progressed relative to peers, have freed up investment spend to be more directed towards customer experience (50% in FY22 from 39% in FY21) as opposed to infrastructure.”

Another reason the broker is positive is the bank’s strong position in business banking.

Goldman commented: ii) given NAB’s position as the largest business bank, we believe it will benefit more from the continued economic recovery (management is seeing all segments in its Business & Private Bank exhibiting solid growth without sacrificing margin, and asset quality remains pristine); 

Finally, Goldman is happy with the state of the bank’s balance sheet

It concluded: “iii) good balance sheet momentum with NAB expecting at or above system growth across all divisions.”

All in all, the NAB share price may be powering higher this year, but Goldman doesn’t believe it is too late to get in on the action.

The post Is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price great value? Goldman thinks it is 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The new year is just around the corner. What’s the outlook for both the Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price and the dividend?

Coles has seen a mixture of challenges and successes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But despite COVID-19 now being two years old, the effects are still being felt across various parts of the economy.

How is the next 12 months looking for the supermarket business?

Current trading conditions

In the first quarter of FY22, which was the 13 weeks to 26 September 2021, Coles saw supermarket sales rise 1.8% year on year to $8.6 billion and total sales went up 1.5% to $9.76 billion.

Turning to the second quarter, the first four weeks showed comparable supermarket sales were broadly in-line with the first quarter and up approximately 8% on a two-year basis. These numbers are just helping the first half of FY22 though.

Coles was optimistic heading into Christmas, with consumer savings at an all-time high and the launch of a large range of entertaining options which the company said was good value. The supermarket business thinks it will see elevated sales as family and friends get together again.

COVID-19 costs were expected to peak in October and then start to moderate in November and December. Lower costs are expected in the second half.

Construction delays have impacted the capital expenditure program in the first half of FY22, so the business is shifting some of the capital program into FY23. In FY22, capital expenditure is now expected to be between $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion.

Coles is also facing Fair Work Ombudsman proceedings. It has incurred $13 million of remediation costs (including interest and superannuation) relating to some salaried team members, with a further $12 million provisioned in its most recent accounts.

Analyst thoughts on the Coles share price and dividend

The broker Citi thinks that Coles is a buy, with a price target of $19.60 for the next year. That implies a potential rise of just over 10%. Citi thinks it is going to take longer for things to get back to normal, which could benefit Coles.

On Citi’s numbers, Coles has a FY22 grossed-up dividend yield of 5.3%. The Coles share price is valued at 22x FY22’s estimated earnings.

Morgans also rates the business as a buy, with a price target of $19.90. This broker is expecting the supermarket business to pay a grossed-up dividend yield of 5% this financial year.

But not every analyst is positive on Coles.

UBS currently rates Coles as a sell, with a price target of $16.50. That suggests that Coles shares could fall by around 5% over the next year if the broker is right. The broker thinks that the supermarkets have seen the best of the demand conditions and that Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) is/was achieving better results.

The post What’s the outlook for the Coles (ASX:COL) share price and dividend in 2022? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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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If your investment style is creating wealth by making patient long term investments, then the two ASX shares listed below could be worth a look.

Both shares have strong offerings and huge market opportunities, which many in the market believe will make them great buy and hold options. 

Here’s why analysts are bullish on them:

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

The first buy and hold option for investors to look at is Life360. 

Its hugely popular Life360 app is used by 33.8 million people globally for real time, location sharing and other features such as driver safety and messaging.

This alone is generating significant recurring revenues, but management isn’t settling for that. It has been actively looking for ways to monetise its enormous user base. 

This includes through offering additional services such as stolen phone protection. It has also announced the acquisition of wearables company Jiobit and items tracking company Tile. These offer material cross selling opportunities for Life360.

Bell Potter is a very big fan of Life360. It recently retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $16.25.

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

This growing document productivity software company could be another ASX share to buy and hold.

The company’s popular Nitro Productivity Suite provides integrated PDF productivity and electronic signature tools to businesses of all sizes.

This is a large and growing market which is estimated to be worth $28 billion per year. And while Nitro’s annualised recurring revenues are growing quickly, it has still only captured a very small slice of the market. This gives it a huge runway for growth over the next decade.

The team at Bell Potter is also very positive on Nitro. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and $4.50 price target on its shares.

The post 2 ASX shares to buy and hold for 10 years+ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Life360, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nitro Software 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 Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) share price and dividends have been growing over the years.

But there are several reasons why Brickworks could keep climbing to new heights, at a solid rate.

Investors may want to pay attention to

these three growth factors for Brickworks:

US expansion

Brickworks has grown into a very large building products provider, with exposure to a large number of offerings including bricks, paving, masonry, roofing, precast and cement.

However, Australia has a relatively small population compared to the US. The United States is where Brickworks is expanding with acquisitions and organic improvements.

Not only had the ASX share bought brick manufacturers – making it the market leader in the north east of the US – but it has also bought a brick manufacturer which has expanded its scale and earnings further.

The company is working on improving margins and efficiencies. There is a huge addressable market for Brickworks to focus on, as well as expanding into other parts of the North American market.

Property trust growth and pipeline

Brickworks is confident about one particular part of its business that is growing: its joint venture property trust with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG).

The property trust is an important and growing part of the Brickworks share price asset backing.

This is where Brickworks sells excess land into the trust. Goodman gets the land ready for construction. Then, high-quality industrial properties are built on that land.

Due to the huge demand for distribution and logistics facilities, the capital value and rental income of these properties is powering higher.

Two of the biggest and most advanced distribution centres in Australia are being built in Sydney by the property trust, for Amazon and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL). When these are completed, as well as others already planned, it is expected to lead to a substantial rise in the rental profit, capital value and distributions to Brickworks.

Investment conglomerate

Brickworks has been a shareholder of the investment business Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL) for decades.

It’s a significant part of the asset backing for the Brickworks share price.

Demand for construction products can be cyclical and uncertain.

However, the Soul Pattinson investment has anchored Brickworks with defensive earnings and a reliable dividend.

Soul Pattinson has a diversified portfolio across a number of different sectors including telecommunications, resources, property, agriculture, financial services, swimming schools and so on.

Two of the biggest holdings are TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) and Brickworks itself. Other investments include: New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA), Apex Healthcare, Pengana Capital Ltd (ASX: PCG), Siteminder Ltd (ASX: SDR) and Bailador Technology Investments Ltd (ASX: BTI).

Some of the private investments it has are Round Oak Metals, Ampcontrol, Ironbark and Aquatic Achievers.

Soul Pattinson has grown its dividend every year since 2000.

The post Here’s why the Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price has lots of potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Bailador Technology Investments Limited and Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Brickworks, COLESGROUP DEF SET, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Bailador Technology Investments Limited and TPG Telecom 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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It was a tough five days for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) last week. This led to the benchmark index losing 0.7% of its value over the period to finish at 7,304 points.

While a good number of shares tumbled with the market, some fell more than most. Here’s why they were the worst performers on the index last week:

Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB)

The Mesoblast share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a massive 21.7% decline. Investors were selling off the allogeneic cellular medicines developer’s shares after Novartis terminated an agreement that could have been worth ~US$1.2 billion. The two parties were looking at Mesoblasts’ remestemcel-L as a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19. Novartis bailed after some disappointing trial results.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price was a very poor performer and sank 15.6% lower during the five days. This was driven by weakness in the tech sector and concerns over news that US authorities have launched an investigation into the BNPL sector. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking to see if BNPL players need to be better regulated and if US consumers are adequately protected.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The PointsBet share price was out of form and dropped 14.2% last week. This appears to have been caused by weakness in the tech sector and particularly in the sports betting market. For example, for the five trading sessions ending Thursday night, US rival Draftkings saw its shares sink 15%. Positively for PointsBet, Draftkings had a strong night on Friday, which could bode well for its shares on Monday.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The Afterpay share price wasn’t far behind with a 13.8% decline after the Square share price tumbled lower. As Afterpay is being acquired by Square in an all-scrip deal, its shares rise and fall with the Square share price. Last week the aforementioned news of an investigation into the US BNPL sector put pressure on Square’s shares.

The post These were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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. owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Pointsbet Holdings Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was out of form last week and tumbled lower. The benchmark index lost 0.7% of its value over the five days to end at 7,304 points.

Four ASX 200 shares that didn’t let that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they were the best performers on the index last week:

Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN)

The Nanosonics share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a gain of 11.7%. This was despite there being no news out of the infection prevention company. This latest gain means the Nanosonics share price is now up an impressive 22% since the start of December. One broker that still thinks its shares can go higher is Morgans. It currently has an add rating and $6.97 price target on them.

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)

The WiseTech share price wasn’t far behind with a 10.3% gain. Once again, this was despite there being no news out of the logistics solutions company. Though, with the company’s CEO continuing to sell down his holding last week, investors could be taking this as a positive signal. The theory being that if WiseTech was not at least performing in line with guidance, he wouldn’t be able to sell shares. WiseTech is forecasting strong sales and operating earnings growth in FY 2022.

Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC)

The Charter Hall share price was on form last week and charged 9.5% higher. Investors were buying this property company’s shares following the release of a strong update on Monday. That update saw Charter Hall upgrade its guidance for FY 2022 a second time. This went down well with the team at Macquarie. In response, the broker retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target on the company’s shares to $22.90.

Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL)

The Omni Bridgeway share price was a solid performer and rose 9.4% over the period. Last week the class action funder announced the completion of two investments, with expected income generation of approximately $18 million. In addition to this, Goldman Sachs recently reiterated its conviction buy rating and lofty $5.35 price target.

The post These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week 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. owns and has recommended Nanosonics Limited and WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Nanosonics Limited and WiseTech Global. 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 CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has dived about 12% since the start of December. On Friday, the global biotech’s shares finished the session down 0.33% to $272.10 apiece.

What’s weighing down CSL shares?

A few factors have had a negative impact on the CSL share price, prompting investors to hit the sell button.

Firstly, the rapid spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant has spooked the market since its discovery on 24 November. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) sunk to a low of 7,168 points on 2 December, before slightly recovering. On Friday, the benchmark index finished trading at 7,304 points, up 0.1% for the day.

One of the main challenges CSL has faced during the pandemic is a reduction in its plasma collections due to lockdowns. Australia is currently facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria.

In addition, the company announced an institutional placement this week to raise $6.3 billion to purchase Vifor Pharma. To put this in perspective, this is Australia’s second largest equity raise, behind Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). It’s also the world’s seventh-largest equity raise for 2021.

The placement price of $273.00 per share would see about 23.1 million new CSL shares brought onto the company’s registry. CSL also revealed it would launch a $750 million share purchase plan, offering the same terms to retail investors.

When CSL shares came out of a trading halt on Thursday, investors dumped them and the share price fell by 8.16%. This was the company’s biggest one-day decline since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

With more shares being added to the company’s books, this will inevitably dilute shareholder value. 

The CSL share price could be an attractive buy for the medium-term. Analysts at Morgans raised their price target by 3.2% to $334.70 on Thursday. Based on CSL’s last closing price, this represents an upside of 23%.

CSL share price summary

Over the course of the past 12 months, CSL shares have taken investors on a rollercoaster ride, down 5.5%. Over the year, the shares have traded between $242 and $319.78.

On valuation grounds, CSL is the second largest company on the ASX with a market capitalisation of roughly $124.44 billion.

The post Why is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price struggling in December? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. 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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If you’re searching for some new blue chip shares to add to your portfolio, then the two listed below could be worthy candidates.

These blue chip ASX 200 shares have strong business models and positive growth outlooks.

Even better, though, is that they have recently been named as buys by analysts:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is this integrated commercial and industrial property company.

Goodman could be a top option due to its world class portfolio, which comprises warehouses, data centres, large scale logistics facilities, and business and office parks.

Demand for its properties has been very strong, leading to sky high occupancy rates and stellar earnings growth over the last decade. This is being driven by its strategy of developing modern, high quality properties in key gateway cities around the world.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of the company. It currently has an overweight rating and $26.50 price target on Goodman’s shares.

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

Another blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is Healius. It is one of Australia’s largest pathology and diagnostic imaging providers offering services via a number of brands. These include Dorevitch Pathology, QML Pathology, Laverty Pathology, and Healthcare Imaging Services.

It also just added to this last week with the acquisition of Agilex for an enterprise value of $301.3 million. Agilex is one of Australia’s leading bioanalytical laboratories.

This acquisition is expected to be accretive to the company’s earnings, which have already been growing strongly in FY 2022.

For example, for the first quarter of FY 2022, Healius reported a 43.7% increase in group quarterly revenue over the prior corresponding period to $689.9 million. This was driven by strong demand for COVID testing and a robust performance from the rest of the business.

Macquarie is bullish on Healius. It currently has an outperform rating and $5.65 price target on the company’s shares.

The post 2 fantastic blue chip ASX 200 shares to buy next week 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 Bruce Jackson.

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The fund manager Wilson Asset Management (WAM) has recently identified two top small cap shares that it owns in its portfolio that could be ideas.

WAM operates several listed investment companies (LICs). Some focus on larger companies like WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE) and WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM).

There’s also one called WAM Microcap Limited (ASX: WMI) which targets small cap ASX shares with a market capitalisation under $300 million at the time of acquisition.

WAM says WAM Microcap targets the most exciting undervalued growth opportunities in the Australian microcap market.

The WAM Microcap portfolio has delivered gross returns (that’s before fees, expenses and taxes) of 25.2% per annum since inception in June 2017, which is superior to the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index average return of 11.9%.

These are the two small cap shares that WAM outlined in its most recent monthly update:

Sovereign Cloud Holdings Ltd (ASX: SOV)

WAM describes Sovereign Cloud as an Australia infrastructure as a service (IaaS) provider that is focused on Australian government, defence, intelligence and critical national industry communities.

The fund manager noted that on 22 November 2021, Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) bought an almost 20% stake of the business. Nextdc is a major Australian provider of premium data centre facilities.

According to WAM, this will provide Sovereign Cloud with access to a national network of over 1,500 enterprise customers and more than 730 channel partners.

Proceeds from the equity raising will be used by the small cap share to expand the small cap ASX share’s operations and facilitate a move into the enterprise space, including investing in new cloud platforms in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.

The fund manager noted that Sovereign Cloud continues to see strong demand as it expands nationally, and as more businesses accelerate the transition to the cloud.

Iris Energy Ltd (NASDAQ: IREN)

This is not the typical ASX share investment that WAM Microcap makes, as it isn’t actually on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Iris Energy is an Australian company that builds, owns and operates data centres and electrical infrastructure powered by renewable energy to sustainably mine Bitcoin, according to WAM.

In November, the small cap share completed a US$232 million initial public offering (IPO) and listed on the NASDAQ. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to fund its growth plans, such as the development of data centres across Canada, the US and Asia Pacific, as well as purchasing Bitcoin miners.

The post Wilson Asset Management believes these 2 leading small cap shares are a buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns WAM MICRO FPO. 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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