The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price appears to have succumbed to the weakness in oil prices overnight. It seems the uninspiring conclusion to the oil and gas company’s week could not be snapped by its latest announcement involving the CSIRO.

The Santos share price finished the ASX session on Friday down slightly to $6.83. It is down 1.79% for the week.

However, the company’s partnership with Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO will last long beyond this week. For that reason, it might be worth taking a look at what the partnership entails.

Doubling down on carbon capture and storage

Despite copping some flak for an appearance at the COP26 climate summit, ASX-listed Santos is pushing forward with its carbon capture and storage ambitions.

Santos is one of Australia’s largest oil and gas companies. Today it announced it has entered into a partnership with the CSIRO to develop what is hoped could become the lowest cost direct air capture technology in the world.

Essentially, Santos wants to help the science agency with its CSIRO Carbon Assist technology and put it to work. This technology is geared towards removing CO2 from the atmosphere and higher-concentration post-combustion scenarios. In other words, any circumstance where there might be high CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, upon development, Santos will look to commercialise their work at its Moomba site in South Australia. Subsequently, CO2 will then be transferred to the company’s recently approved $220 million Moomba carbon capture and storage project.

Speaking on the topic of the CSIRO partnership, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said:

At Santos, we have an industry-leading target of achieving net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040 and we are committed to looking at new technologies and finding cost-effective ways to reduce our emissions so that we can continue to supply affordable and cleaner energy to meet customer demand.

Following the go ahead for our Moomba CCS project this week, we’re proud to partner with CSIRO to develop ground-breaking carbon capture technology which is really a negative-emissions technology.

The announcement noted that the partnership includes a framework for future commercialisation of the technology.

Despite taking another green step forward, the Santos share price had little of its own green today.

Looking at Santos on the ASX

On the ASX, Santos has benefitted from the surge in oil prices over the past 6 months. Its shares have gained almost 40% in value over the past year. For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 20.5% in the past 12 months.

However, the company’s bottom line is yet to recover to the same margins of 2019. Because of this, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has expanded. Santos used to have a P/E of about 19x in 2019. Today, that figure is closer to 40.

Interestingly, a record quarter for sales revenue in the three months ending 30 September did not bring earnings back to normality.

The Santos share price has floated around without a clear direction since the quarterly release.

The post Santos (ASX:STO) slips amid CSIRO carbon capture partnership appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Move over Twiggy, here’s why Santos’ (ASX:STO) boss is focused on blue hydrogen
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Why ASX 200 energy shares are tanking on Thursday

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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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ASX investors have been inundated with headlines about rising inflation over the past quarter.

And rising inflation, historically, leads to central banks increasing interest rates to keep a lid on the pace of any price rises.

Increasing interest rates, in turn, tend to broadly lead to lower share market performance. There are a number of reasons behind that phenomenon.

Among them, with higher interest rates alternative, safer investments – like cash deposits or government bonds – become relatively more attractive to owning shares.

Rising interest rates also increase the present-day cost of money. That can be particularly onerous for growth shares whose revenue streams might not come online for several years into the future.

So, with all the media attention on inflation and rising rates, you might think these would top the list of ASX investor concerns.

But the latest quarterly global Retail Investor Beat report from global multi-asset investment platform eToro shows Australian investors have a much larger concern.

What’s keeping ASX investors awake at night?

According to the global survey by eToro – which queried 6,000 retail investors across 12 countries, including 500 in Australia – the biggest external risk that might drag on the ASX in 2022 is the state of the Aussie economy.

Some 47% of Australian respondents listed a shaky economic outlook Down Under as their prime concern. That was followed by 44% of Aussies who said the global economy posed the biggest risk to the ASX and international markets.

Inflation concerns came in well below that at 25%.

And only 16% of Aussie investors cited rising interest rates as the biggest risk to share markets.

Commenting on the results, eToro’s global markets strategist Ben Laidler said:

There are a number of headwinds facing investors at the moment in the shape of rising inflation, interest rate hikes and a faltering economic recovery.

Typically, you would expect most investors to take action to counter these headwinds, but our data shows the opposite is true at this moment in time. It seems as though the vast majority of retail investors are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach in the hope that inflation is temporary and the recovery gets back on track.

With home prices growing strongly in Australia and many investors having increased their cash and decreased their debts during the year of COVID, Laidler added:

Many households have reduced their debt during the pandemic, using spare cash to pay down credit cards, loans and mortgages, which makes them less susceptible to rises in interest rates. Add to this higher house and equity prices, alongside rising wages, and we see that many investors are resilient to the risks ahead.

What’s the best place to invest in the ASX over the next 3 months?

Australian investors were also asked which sectors look best to them over the coming quarter. And the ASX and global healthcare sector came out on top.

According to eToro, 37% of Aussies think stocks in the healthcare sector will provide the best investment buying opportunities over the next 3 months. That was followed by technology shares at 35% and financial services shares at 24%.

Some other interesting nuggets revealed in the survey

The Retail Investor Beat report also broke down ASX investors by age group. This revealed that:

• 21% of Aussie investors are 18-34
• 21% of Aussie investors are 45-54
• 39% of Aussie investors are 55+

And when asked about their outlook for US share markets – which tend to greatly influence the performance of the ASX – for 2022, 22% of Aussies (of all ages) believed US markets will be range-bound in the next 12 months.

The optimists weren’t too far behind though, with 20% of Australian investors saying they think US markets will rally next year.

The post Forget rising interest rates. Here are the top concerns keeping ASX investors awake appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why Janus Henderson (ASX:JHG) is currently focused on preserving investor capital
• Santos (ASX:STO) slips amid CSIRO carbon capture partnership
• 70% in a month: What’s put a rocket under the Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) share price?
• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price lifts as rival drops out of race for API
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

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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Shares in battery minerals company Lithium Energy Ltd (ASX: LEL) have outperformed all major benchmarks in the past month to climb 70% into the green.

Lithium Energy shares finished the session at $1.07 apiece, a further 25.15% gain from market open today.

Why don’t we take a walk through what’s been sending this ASX resource share northwards this past month.

Graphite project updates

Aside from its lithium exposure, the company also has a large stake in the Burke Graphite Project in Queensland.

The Burke project is dubbed as having one of the world’s highest grade graphite deposits, with a JORC inferred mineral resource grade of 16% total graphitic carbon (TGC).

For reference, TGC is a term used within the analysis side of the graphite industry, where the graphite content in ‘commercial graphite samples’ is reported as a percentage of carbon or ‘graphitic carbon’.

The company released an announcement last month updating investors on progress at the site.

Lithium Energy exclaims the deposits at Burke are of a high grade and low in impurities, making it “particularly attractive for use in lithium-ion batteries”.

The company also advised it has “commenced investigations into the establishment of a dedicated, environmentally sustainable manufacturing facility to purify and spheronise graphite” sourced from the site.

Lithium Energy intends to put the graphite to use as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries, per the release.

Investors piled into Lithium Energy shares in response to the announcement and sent prices soaring over 15% higher in the last few days of October.

What else is driving Lithium Energy shares lately?

In the absence of any other market-sensitive information to last month, it appears the approximate 10% gain in the spot price of lithium was a positive catalyst for the company’s share price.

For instance, shares in the lithium player first took off early in October, in a corresponding move to this jump in lithium prices.

Why is this important? Because Lithium Energy is an ASX resource share that produces the commodity, it is considered a price taker on sales of lithium.

In other words, it has no pricing power on the commodity it sells, and therefore must rely on what is offered in the market.

With that in mind, Lithium Energy’s share price can – and does – fluctuate with volatility in the broader commodity and/or lithium markets.

At the time of writing, lithium is commanding $41,092/tonne – also its all-time high – after making another 6% upward move towards the end of October.

It is therefore unsurprising to see Lithium Energy’s share price hit its all time high in late October, posting a further 15% in gains in just 8 days to finish the month.

In fact, after a gigantic few months of returns since listing, Lithium Energy shares have gained over 417% for the company’s early investors.

The post 70% in a month: What’s put a rocket under the Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price lifts as rival drops out of race for API
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Shiba Inu crashes and Dogecoin slides. What’s happening with the ‘dog coins’?
• These were the 5 best performing ASX media shares in October
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Friday

The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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 finished in the green today amid news a rival bidder for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API) has backed down.

Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) withdrew its takeover proposition for the Priceline owner this morning. That leaves Wesfarmers’ takeover bid of $1.55 per API share with no outstanding competition.

At today’s closing bell, the Wesfarmers share price was up 2.05% at $60.33.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished 0.39% higher.

Wesfarmers is the last entity standing

The Wesfarmers share price is gaining after Sigma’s $1.57 mostly-scrip offer to acquire API was scrapped.

The API board had previously stated Sigma’s offer was superior to the Wesfarmers bid. Sigma was granted due diligence following its bid in late September, 11 days after Wesfarmers was given the same.

It was yet another bump in the road for Wesfarmers’ plan to takeover API. The Priceline owner knocked back a $1.38 per share bid from Wesfarmers in July.

In what might have been an attempt to block a future takeover by Sigma, Wesfarmers increased its holding in API to 19.3% earlier last month.

It did so by exercising an agreement with Washington H Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL), allowing it to buy some of Soul Patts’ holding in API for $1.38 apiece. If Wesfarmers’ takeover proposition is successful, it will pay Soul Patts the 17 cent difference between the purchase price and Wesfarmers’ bid.

Now, however, the retail conglomerate is seemingly the last entity standing looking to takeover API.

Whether the news is the cause of the rise in the Wesfarmers share price today is impossible to say. Still, market watchers might want to keep an eye out for news on the ongoing due diligence Wesfarmers is still undergoing for API.

Wesfarmers’ bid represents a 5% premium on API’s current share price of $1.48.

Wesfarmers share price snapshot

Right now, Wesfarmers’ stock is trading for 17% more than it was at the start of 2021.

Its value has also gained 26% since this time last year.

The post Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price lifts as rival drops out of race for API appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 top ASX 200 shares that might be buys today
• Why did the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price have such a great month in October?
• What were the best performing ASX real estate shares to hold in October?
• What’s going on with the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) API takeover bid?
• JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price jumps on broker upgrade

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 owns shares of and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited and 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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has delivered its third consecutive day of gains. At the end of the day, the benchmark index finished 0.39% higher at 7,456.9 points.

Only two sectors finished in the red on Friday, with those being information technology and energy. A fall in oil prices overnight and a weak session for Afterpay following Square’s results put pressure on their respective sectors. Meanwhile, communication services, utilities, and consumer staples helped the Aussie index higher.

The question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that rose to the occasion:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the administration services company jumped 8.31% following a takeover offer from a private equity firm. Find out more about Link Administration Holdings here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST). Shares in the gold mining company climbed 6.20% higher after gold prices rallied overnight. Uncover the latest Northern Star Resources details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX: LNK)	$4.69	8.31%
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)	$9.59	6.20%
Cromwell Property Group (ASX: CMW)	$0.855	5.56%
REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA)	$176.02	5.11%
Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN)	$3.72	4.79%
Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)	$61.10	3.77%
Imugene Ltd (ASX: IMU)	$0.59	3.51%
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	$25.02	3.39%
Steadfast Group Ltd (ASX: SDF)	$4.97	2.69%
Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR)	$1.935	3.65%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Friday
• Why is the Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) share price down 11% today?
• Why Jumbo, Link, News Corp, and REA shares are storming higher
• Which tech shares are dragging down the ASX 200 on Friday?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: REA and News Corp impress, Link receives takeover offer

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Link Administration Holdings Ltd, Pro Medicus Ltd., and Steadfast Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited and Steadfast 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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Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) is having a rotten day.

The dog-themed token, which was a rising crypto star in October, is down 21.0% over the past 24 hours, currently trading for .0047 US cents.

The original Shiba Inu-themed crypto, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), is also in the red over the last 24 hours, but down a more moderate 2.5%, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Shiba Inu, created in August 2020 and verified on the Ethereum blockchain, calls itself “the Dogecoin killer” on its website. And last month it looked to be living up to that claim.

Shiba Inu gained 552% in October. Dogecoin, meanwhile, gained 40%. Not quite “killed”, but certainly outperformed.

What’s driving the Shiba Inu selloff?

The big Shiba Inu price crash looks to be spurred by fears that a crypto “whale” could be positioning themselves to sell some or all of their billions of dollars worth of holdings of the token.

Crypto investors could be spooked after news emerged that the whale is shifting the tokens into different wallets.

According to Tom Robinson, co-founder of blockchain analytics firm Elliptic (quoted by Bloomberg):

It looks like there were four transactions out of that account yesterday [Tuesday], each sending $695 million of SHIB to a different account – so a total of $2.78 billion. Whoever it is purchased the SHIB on Uniswap about a year ago, for not very much.

So why is it so hard to track who owns and is moving some US$2.8 billion (AU$3.7 billion) worth of Shiba Inu tokens around in a day?

Crypto investor Aaron Brown, writing for Bloomberg Opinion, explained:

Legitimate crypto is fully transparent about transactions, code and other matters — but is usually opaque about matching transactions to individuals. This is the opposite of the banking system, which is opaque about everything except personal identification.

Wild speculation among retail investors is also likely stoking the rapid losses for the self-proclaimed Dogecoin killer.

Global multi-asset investment platform eToro’s market analyst Josh Gilbert told the Motley Fool, “As these crypto assets have limited use cases, we often see investors not wanting to hold them for the long term, but instead move capital into more significant investments with robust use cases such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) or Ethereum (CRYTPO: ETH).”

Gilbert added: “Although Shiba Inu and Dogecoin have grown in popularity and still have some use cases, they lack the long-term benefits that other crypto assets offer.”

Why have these ‘dog coins’ soared in value recently?

“Both these crypto assets have two characteristics in common, and that’s their communities,” Gilbert told the Motley Fool.

“They have loyal, vocal, and committed community members that help attract new investors and new platforms to list these tokens.”

Then there’s the power of social media, a driving force behind the crypto retail army.

According to Gilbert:

Although both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have some use cases and utility, the main reason for their growth comes down to the number of consumers trading these crypto assets. It’s the power of the people, and we are seeing this drive the performance of these crypto assets. For example, Shiba Inu has over 1.7 million followers on Twitter and Dogecoin has around 2.4 million.

“On top of this,” Gilbert said, “you also have influencers with large followings that attract even more trading volume. The biggest of them all would be billionaire Elon Musk, with his Shiba Inu puppy and his vocal support of Dogecoin.”

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike McGlone said: “Shiba Inu presents a unique blend of exploitation, good marketing, ESG, supply versus demand economics and gambling on an unprecedented 24/7 global scale, and faces reversion worthy of its parabolic rise.”

Gilbert agreed that once some juicy gains are on the table, the selling frenzy may start:

Retail investors are driving the gains, and when we see prices gain 50%, 100%, and 150% in a few days, it attracts other retail investors to these crypto assets. Once the price drives higher, investors will begin to take profits, mainly when it reaches new highs. This, in turn, causes volatility.

We’ll wrap up with this cautionary note on ‘meme coins’ from Aaron Brown:

Legitimate crypto has a solid underlying economic case, its value does not depend heavily on who holds how much of it. But for crypto with no underlying economics – whose value is determined only by speculation – concentrated ownership suggests a rigged game.

The post Shiba Inu crashes and Dogecoin slides. What’s happening with the ‘dog coins’? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Shiba Inu crashes 28% as Dogecoin soars. What’s next for the dog coins?
• Why cryptocurrencies are moving wildly today
• ASX set to welcome first cryptocurrency ETF… but there’s a catch
• How these top 3 cryptos performed in the first quarter of FY22

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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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October was a good month for many ASX media and communication shares, but some performed better than others.

Not to spoil the surprise, but the media stocks that outperformed their peers probably aren’t the ones you are expecting…

The 5 top performing ASX media shares of October

A quick note; this list only includes shares with market capitalisations of more than $100 million.

Enero Group Ltd (ASX: EGG)

The Enero share price has outperformed those of all its ASX media and communications-focused peers.

Through the month of October, it gained 30.69% to finish at $3.96.

Last month, Enero announced the September quarter had seen it with 22.6% more revenue and 50% more earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) than the same quarter of financial year 2021.

The company operates a number of brands in the communications and marketing spheres.

HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1)

Coming in second best is HT&E, also known as Here, There & Everywhere.

The radio, audio, and digital content business saw its share price grow by 17.68% over the course of October to finish the month’s final session at $1.93.  

The big news from HT&E last month was the settlement of a longstanding taxation dispute with the Australian Taxation Office.

IVE Group Ltd (ASX: IGL)

The IVE Group share price had a great October on the ASX. It gained 16.23% to end the period at $1.79.

The print and marketing company’s stock was boosted by news of 2 acquisitions, both expanding IVE’s retail display operations.

Gtn Ltd (ASX: GTN)

The Gtn share price also outperformed many of its peers over October, gaining 14.13% to finish at 52.5 cents.

Gtn – Global Traffic Network – provides traffic reports to radio stations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Brazil. As compensation for supplying such reports, Gtn is generally given advertising slots. It then bundles and sells the slots to other parties.

There was no word from the company to explain its stock’s surge last month.

NZME Ltd (ASX: NZM)

Finally, the crown for the fifth best performing media share of the month of October goes to NZME – New Zealand Media and Entertainment.

The company operates more than 50 print, radio, and digital media brands.

The NZME share price gained 13.27% over October. It finished the month trading at $1.11.

There were a number of announcements from NZME over October.

First, it updated the market on the impacts it was facing as COVID-19-induced lockdowns continued in New Zealand. The company’s advertising revenue was hit by the lockdown. However, it remained 7% higher than during the prior corresponding period. The company also provided EBITDA guidance for the 2021 calendar year.

It later completed the sale of its GrabOne business.

The post These were the 5 best performing ASX media shares in October appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What happened to the HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price on Tuesday?
• Why Jefferies sees 35% upside in the HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price
• Why HT&E, JB Hi-Fi, Reece, and ResMed shares are charging higher
• Here’s why HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price is rocketing 31% today
• Enero (ASX:EGG) share price leaps 22% to 52-week high. Here’s why

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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Today has seen the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) looking to finish the trading week on a positive note. The ASX 200 is currently up by 0.46% to 7,463 points.

Let’s take a look at the ASX 200 shares that are topping the trading volume charts today, according to investing.com.

3 most active ASX 200 shares by volume on Friday

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

ASX 200 telco Telstra is our first ASX share to check out today. This ASX blue-chip has seen a sizeable 11 million shares finding new owners so far this Friday.

With no major news out of the telco today, we can assume this elevated trading volume is on the back of healthy share price growth today. Telstra is currently up a robust 1.15% at $3.98 a share. This is getting pretty close to its 52-week high of $4.05. Telstra has also been buying back its own shares recently, so this could be a contributing factor as well.

Virgin Money UK (ASX: VUK)

ASX-listed but British-based bank Virgin Money UK is our next cab off the rank. Virgin Money has seen a hefty 11.47 million shares change hands so far today. This volume can likely be put down to the trading update Virgin Money released to investors yesterday evening.

Despite some improvements across the board with its metrics, investors were clearly wanting more given the Virgin Money share price is down a nasty 11.4% today to $3.14 a share. This steep share price fall is almost certainly behind the elevated trading volumes we are seeing this Friday.

Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC)

Aluminium processor Alumina is our final and most traded ASX 200 share this Friday. An impressive 13.3 million shares have been bought and sold so far today. There are no announcements out of Alumina today.

This ASX 200 company has had a rough couple of weeks. Its shares were downgraded by a major broker and its chief financial officer resigned. Together with today’s nasty 2.75% drop to $1.87 a share so far, we have the probable reasons for its high trading volume today.

The post Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares this Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) share price down 11% today?
• Why Afterpay, Clinuvel, Inghams, and Virgin Money UK shares are tumbling
• Which tech shares are dragging down the ASX 200 on Friday?
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: REA and News Corp impress, Link receives takeover offer
• Expert highlights big threat to the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Corporation 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 News Corp (ASX: NWS) share price is having a moment in the sun today. This follows the media giant’s announcement of its first-quarter results for FY22.

At the time of writing, shares in the company are gliding 8.9% above their previous close at $34.52. With today’s strong price appreciation, News Corp shares are now only 2% away from setting a new 52-week high.

What’s moving the News Corp share price today?

Investors are sending the News Corp share price skywards to finish the week. Given the company released its first-quarter results prior to the market opening today, it is likely that the market is fixated on details within this announcement.

As we covered earlier, the large media outlet handed down a solid quarter performance. Not only did revenue grow by 18% year on year to $2.5 billion, but earnings also increased by more than a factor of five.

The uptick in operations wasn’t reduced to only one segment either. All five News Corp’s business segments reported revenue growth. Most noticeably, digital real estate services posted a massive 47% leap in revenue compared to the prior year.

However, the biggest contributor in terms of growth to the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was the subscription video services segment. According to the release, EBITDA for this segment increased 46% to $114 million.

The subscription video services part of News Corp incorporates streaming services such as Foxtel, Kayo, and BINGE. At the end of the quarter, Foxtel subscribers had reached 3.9 million, increasing 17% year on year. The improved earnings margin was the product of lower sports programming rights and production costs.

Making sense of the valuation

After the improvement in News Corp quarterly numbers, analysts are likely running the numbers again to check against their price targets.

If we summarise the net income of Q2, Q3, and Q4 of FY21 with our latest Q1 FY22 results, we can get an indication of the company’s trailing 12-month earnings. With some quick back-of-the-napkin math, this works out to be ~$427 million.

Based on the current News Corp share price and our calculated 12-month trailing earnings, News Corp is currently trading on an approximate price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 44 times.

The post News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price rallies 8% on market-moving quarterly appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Jumbo, Link, News Corp, and REA shares are storming higher
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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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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Shares in Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) took a beating yesterday and closed the session 18% lower at $116.20.

That’s a $26 per share loss for the pizza giant in a single day, as investors responded to its annual general meeting (AGM) update.

Today, the Domino’s share price has lost a little more ground and is down 0.37% to $115.69 in afternoon trading.

The team at investment bank Goldman Sachs retains its buy rating on Domino’s shares. However, fellow brokers aren’t so rosy on the outlook for Domino’s. So, they’ve trimmed their price targets in response to the announcement.

Here are the details.

What led us to this point?

Before we analyse what the experts are saying, let’s review what led to the Domino’s share price taking such a hit.

Investors appear to be spooked by the company’s performance in Japan, which was surprisingly weak for the period.

Domino’s has an aggressive ‘rapid store rollout’ strategy in the region. It has grown its store base to 742 restaurants in 2020 from just 200 a decade ago.

Even though the Japanese government has rolled back COVID-19 restrictions, Domino’s recognised negative growth in FY21.

As a result, Domino’s management was unable to give guidance for FY22 at the AGM. Not even to confirm or deny whether earnings would come in behind or in front of FY21.

This bodes poorly for the Domino’s share price. As pointed out by investing hall-of-famers Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch in their writings, the market prices shares based on past earnings and future earnings expectations.

The absence of a robust outlook in Japan appears to have disappointed investors. It has left many of their questions on expectations unanswered, and this is reflected in yesterday’s share price losses.

What are brokers saying in response?

Leading brokers Citi, Morgans, Jarden, and Bell Potter have slashed their price targets for the Domino’s share price.

Citi lowered its price target by almost $4 per share to $144.25. It also trimmed its forecast for earnings per share (EPS) by 8% and Japan store sales by 1%.

The weak performance surprised the Citi team. It said it is “flagging risk to FY22 sales given the current negative momentum comes ahead of the material Christmas trading period”.

Analysts at Bell Potter also gave their price target a buzz-cut, wiping 16% off their valuation to $130 per share.

Jarden Securities also reduced its price target by 6% to $113, implying 2.3% downside potential on today’s share price.

Fellow broker Morgans doesn’t interpret the Japan slowdown as a signal that Domino’s is failing there. The broker notes: ” … nor does it suggest the strategy of rapid store roll out and ‘fortressing’ has lost any of its validity”.

Morgans hasn’t budged on its ‘hold’ recommendation but has slashed its Domino’s share price target by 7.5% to $135.

Goldman Sachs retained its ‘buy’ rating but also trimmed its Domino’s share price target by more than 5% to $147.

Domino’s share price snapshot

Over the past year, the Domino’s share price has risen by 37% compared to the S&P/ASX200 index gain of 21.5%.

The post Targets slashed: Why these top brokers aren’t so rosy on the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Zip’s record month, Domino’s crashes
• Why the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is crashing 19% today

Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. 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 Dominos Pizza Enterprises 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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