The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is in the red in December 2021 so far.

Despite COVID-19 being a global issue for almost two years, it continues to feature heavily in investor thoughts about ASX travel shares.

Not only is the Webjet share price in the red this month to date, but it has dropped 18% since 8 November 2021.

Recent improvements for Webjet

One of the biggest difficulties for ASX travel shares over the last couple of years is that travellers have been blocked from travelling either regionally or even internationally. In the last few months, restrictions were finally easing.

Australia’s international borders were starting to open up, as was international travel between places like Europe and the US.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Webjet released its FY22 first half result.

With that report, Webjet said that the business was turning around as global travel markets reopened, with positive working capital delivering $3.5 million per month of cash surplus.

Webjet revealed that WebBeds had been profitable since July, with costs down 31% compared to before COVID-19 times and on track to be 20% more cost efficient at scale. The Webjet online travel agency (OTA) business returned to profitability in October 2021.

The ASX travel share said that FY22 third quarter trading was ahead of the FY22 second quarter. November 2021 total transaction value (TTV) was 63% of pre-COVID volumes with many “key markets” yet to open.

Webjet said that based on its current trajectory, it said it was expecting to be back at pre-COVID booking volumes by the end of the second half of FY23, being October 2022 to March 2023.

Omicron-shaped spanner in the works?

A new COVID-19 variant called Omicron may be impacting investor thoughts about the Webjet share price.

The BBC has reported that the World Health Organization’s regional director for the western Pacific, Dr Takeshi Kasai, said the geographic distribution of the new Omicron variant is “likely already wider than currently reported”. The WHO also said that all countries must prepare for potential new surges from Omicron.

Certain travel rules are coming back. For example, from next week, all international arrivals into the USA must get a COVID test in the 24 hours before they depart.

There has been difficulties for other ASX travel shares in recent weeks.

Since 9 November 2021, the Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price has fallen more than 12%, the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price has declined over 17% and the Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has dropped 15%.

Time will tell how dangerous the Omicron variant is and how effective vaccines are against it.

Is the Webjet share price good value?

Morgans thinks so, with a buy rating and price target of $6.60 – this suggests a potential upside of more than 20% if the broker is right.

Citi has a pretty similar price target of $6.46, though the current rating is only ‘neutral’. The broker is expecting a return to profitability for Webjet in FY23, with its numbers suggesting that the Webjet share price is valued at 30x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post Why has the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price had such a lousy start to December? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Winning shares for 2022: the companies experts are backing revealed at Sohn
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price falls again amid Sohn short pick
• Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price at risk of a capital raise?
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Here’s what happened to the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price in November and what could come next

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 has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, 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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) edged higher to finish the week slightly below where it started at the beginning of the week. At the closing bell, the benchmark index finished 0.22% higher at 7,241.2 points.

The majority of shares in the Aussie index finished higher today. However, an underwhelming performance from some of the market’s bigger companies prevented a better day more broadly. Leading the market higher were energy shares following a rise in oil prices overnight. At the other end of the ASX were healthcare shares, including a 2.5% fall in CSL Limited (ASX: CSL).

However, the question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the top ten stocks that came through for investors:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the imaging software company rose 3.79% despite there being no announcements. Accounting for today’s gain, Pro Medicus shares are still down 2% this past month. Find out more about Pro Medicus here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Washinton H Soul Pattinson & Company Ltd (ASX: SOL). The diversified investment house witnessed a 3.34% uptick in its share price today. This might have been due in part to its exposure to energy investments. Uncover the latest Soul Patts details here.

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

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)	$57.78	3.79%
Washington Soul Pattinson & Company Ltd (ASX: SOL)	$32.16	3.34%
Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)	$22.36	3.09%
Zimplats Holdings Ltd (ASX: ZIM)	$22.20	3.02%
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)	$2.44	2.95%
ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ)	$12.65	2.85%
Premier Investments Ltd (ASX: PMV)	$30.81	2.77%
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)	$12.01	2.74%
Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH)	$3.94	2.60%
Bluescope Steel Ltd (ASX: BSL)	$20.47	2.45%

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.

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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 CSL Ltd. and Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Pro Medicus Ltd. and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited and Premier Investments 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 Envirosuite Ltd (ASX: EVS) share price finished in the red today after returning from its trading halt on Friday morning.

At the close of trading for the week, Envirosuite shares were down 2.22%, swapping hands at 22 cents a piece.

Trading was paused while the environmental management solutions company conducted a capital raise to drive growth in its water treatment technology segment.

What’s happening with Envirosuite?

The catalyst for the Envirosuite share price drop today may have been the capital raise, which dilutes the value of each share. A total of 52.3 million new shares were placed on the market at 20 cents a piece.

The shares were offered at a 15% discount on a share price high of 23.5 cents on 25 November.

As a result, Envirosuite achieved its goal of raising $10.5 million and hailed the capital raise a success.

Furthermore, the company will use proceeds of the capital raise to invest in growing the direct sales in its EVS Water product. This includes growing the sales team and forming new partnerships to achieve sales success.

EVS Water is a 3-product platform that links artificial intelligence with leading water modelling approaches. It helps companies reduce their operational risk and expenses while remaining compliant.

Management commentary

Envirosuite chief executive officer Jason Cooper said:

This capital raising is about growth. That we have been able to raise capital in a highly sought-after placement at a materially superior price than the previous tranche of growth funding is indicative of the trajectory of the business and investors’ appreciation of the opportunity that lies before us.

Envirosuite share price snapshot

Envirosuite shares have grown around 17% in the past 12 months. To put this in perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has climbed around 9% in that time. The Envirosuite share price is down 6.4% over the past month.

The post Here’s why the Envirosuite (ASX:EVS) share price fell today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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Another annual Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference has come to pass today. Charlie Munger warned of bubbly valuations reminiscent of the dot-com era, a few ASX-listed shares received a shoutout, and attendees walked away with a lot of ideas to ponder.

While ASX investors only had a few Australian stock picks, the raft of ideas for international opportunities was extensive. Investing experts laid down investment opportunities situated in Hong Kong to London and everywhere in between.

What shares are the experts betting on?

Investors will be busy tonight trawling through annual reports and doing research after being bombarded with investment opportunities today. Although, out of the 13 speakers, only three mentioned ASX-listed shares as their highest conviction pick — and out of those three, one was a tip to short shares.

Shares in Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) finished flat today despite Regal Funds chief investing officer Philip King placing a target on the company’s back. At the conference, King made his belief known that the company’s shares are overpriced considering the trouble it might have ahead of it still. Namely, the pressure it could face by more competitive online travel offerings.

On the other hand, both Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) and Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI) copped rave reviews by Eleanor Swanson and David Allingham respectively. Notably, Swanson named Megaport as “the most exciting tech adventure of this decade”. The shares in both ASX-listed companies finished the day higher.

Beyond these top picks for 2022, the industry experts delivered a long list of companies that local investors might not have heard of before. However, as we found out, these obscure investment opportunities might be more familiar than originally thought.

For instance, Qiao Ma’s pick of Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. (HKG: 0669) is the seller of numerous power tool brands including Milwaukee and Ryobi.

All 13 investment opportunities for 2022 revealed

Every stock pick from the Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference is listed below:

Share pick	Share price	Market Capitalisation	Speaker
Bengo4.com Inc (TYO: 6027)	$6,030	A$1.68 billion	Jay Kahn
Techtronic Industries Co Ltd (HKG: 0669)	$172.80	A$57.51 billion	Qiao Ma
Avalara Inc (NYSE: AVLR)	$132.99	A$16.34 billion	Babak Poushanchi
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$20.99	A$3.31 billion	Eleanor Swanson
Spotify Technology (NYSE: SPOT)	$228.54	A$61.87 billion	Hamish Corlett
Delivery Hero (ETR: DHER)	$107.40	A$43.92 billion	Beeneet Kothari
GitLab Inc (NASDAQ: GTLB)	$91.23	A$18.39 billion	Yen Liow
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)	$17.24	A$3.44 billion	Phil King
ON Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ: ON)	$62.54	A$38.07 billion	Nick Griffin
Wise PLC (LON: WISE)	$738.25	A$13.78 billion	Markus Bihler
Beauty Health Co (NASDAQ: SKIN)	$23.81	A$5.03 billion	Joyce Meng
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN)	$284.71	A$86.58 billion	Gavin Baker
Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI)	$15.82	A$3.15 billion	David Allingham

Despite the enthusiasm from these stock pickers, a cloud of scepticism was cast by Berkshire Hathaway‘s Charlie Munger. The renowned longtime investor put some doubt on current market valuations with his commentary, saying:

Some of the valuations we saw in the dot-com era were higher. But overall I consider this even crazier than the dot.com era.

In addition, Munger handed down his grilling critique of cryptocurrency. Warren Buffett’s right-hand man said, “I wish they’d never been invented.”

All in all, it was an incredibly eventful day. But now, investors have a bigger bank of potential share ideas for the year ahead.

The post Winning shares for 2022: the companies experts are backing revealed at Sohn appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price at risk of a capital raise?
• 3 ASX travel shares to buy while Omicron scares everyone

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Spotify Technology. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and PINNACLE FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended PINNACLE FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, and MEGAPORT FPO. 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 held the fort during November and finished just over 2% in the green for the month.

While it finished relatively flat, the biotech giant’s share price nudged past its previous 52-week highs. It closed as high as $318 and traded as low as $300 per share.

CSL outperforms broad sector in November

The CSL share price outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) which traded in an almost synchronised fashion to the Aussie biotech’s share price over the last month.

Near month’s end, the company advised its Seqirus business was granted approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to formulate a multi-dose vial (MDV) version of its Audenz label.  

The particular MDV is described as a cell-based influenza vaccine designed to help protect individuals in the event of an influenza pandemic.

Seqirus has a partnership with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) where it will be positioned to deliver up to 150 million influenza vaccine doses to the US to combat an influenza pandemic within six months. The CSL share price gained on the back of the news.

CSL vs S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index: November returns in percentages

Source: Google Finance. Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google LLC, used with permission

CSL also recently advised it had secured financing to develop an incubator and wet space lab to support clinical-stage biotechnology startups. The Victorian government is also set to chip in.

In the company’s words, incubators break down cost barriers and other barriers to entry for start-ups. Incubators offer a ‘one-stop shop’ by minimising cost-prohibitive expenditures that otherwise price small biotechs out of the market.

However, the CSL share price struggled on the day the news was announced.

Several investment firms weighed in with their opinion on CSL’s outlook during the month as well. Morgan Stanley notes competitor Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE: HAE)’s recent earnings update where it lowered its plasma collection guidance moving forwards.

The firm reckons this could be a challenge to CSL’s earnings, particularly with the ever-looming threat of another COVID-19 outbreak that would further diminish plasma donation volumes. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) is more constructive on CSL and values the company at $338 per share.

While it’s been a difficult year to date for CSL, it held onto gains earned from the month earlier, where it bounced off a low of $286.19 in line with the broad sector.

The CSL share price is up around 1% in the past 12 months and around 5% this year to date. In the past month, the company’s share price has slipped just over 3% and it closed the week down 6%.

The post CSL (ASX:CSL) share price holds the line in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: BHP higher on unification plans, TPG tumbles
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The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group 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 Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has dropped again today. It fell by close to 4% today.

But with Christmas coming up, could there be a recovery over the course of December?

2021 has not been kind to Kogan shareholders. In the past month Kogan has fallen 18%. Over the course of the while 2021 it has fallen 60%.

Whilst past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, the last few Decembers have been positive. In December 2020, the Kogan share price went up by a mid-teen percentage. December 2019 was another positive month for Kogan shares. In December 2018, the Kogan share price increased by around 5%. December 2017 saw the Kogan share price jump around 60%.

What is the outlook for the Kogan share price?

No-one can truly know what a share price will do, but analysts and brokers can make profit forecasts, make a judgement about if it’s a buy and guess where the share price might be in 12 months from now (which is called a price target).

Some of the current price targets for Kogan shares are pretty optimistic. UBS has a price target on Kogan of $10 – almost 30% higher than where it is now. Credit Suisse’s price target is $13.88, which is almost 80% higher than today’s price. As a reminder, that’s where the analysts see the business going in a year from now.

UBS is cautious on the business as it’s not sure that Kogan can reach its $3 billion sales target and is also paying attention to the fact that Kogan is spending more on advertising which could hurt profitability.

However, whilst Credit Suisse noted weaker profitability at the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) level, the broker is seeing good levels of top line growth from Kogan.

Most recent trading update

Investors often pay close attention to the latest trading performance of a business, which can influence their thoughts on the Kogan share price.

In the first four months of FY22, Kogan’s total sales had risen by 19% against the same period in FY21. However, gross profit declined a little.

But the FY22 first quarter update showed a recovery compared to the three months to 30 June 2021 – the last quarter of FY21. Quarter on quarter, gross sales were up 23.2% to $330.5 million and gross profit was up 31.6% to $52.5 million.

Talking about the adjusted EBITDA of $9.5 million generated in the first four months, Kogan said that operating costs had been a key focus for the business, namely warehousing and marketing costs.

It has “right-sized” inventory levels since FY21 which has brought warehousing costs down. The business has also continued to “strategically invest” in marketing to expand the Kogan First paid membership base. Management are confident this will have long-term benefits for the company.

Kogan share price valuation

Looking at the estimates for FY23, UBS puts the Kogan share price at 27x estimated earnings and Credit Suisse’s projection puts it at 19x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post Is there hope for the Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price in the lead up to Christmas? 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 shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of 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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Wilson Asset Management (WAM) is one of the largest fund managers on the ASX. It has been growing its stable of Listed Investment Companies (LICs), which now number eight, for more than 20 years.

One of WAM’s newer ASX LICs is WAM Microcap Ltd (ASX: WMI). WAM Microcap is the only WAM LIC that offers the smaller end of the ASX, focusing on ASX shares with a market capitalisation of less than $300 million. Its management looks for undervalued companies in this space. They are selected to help this LIC’s goal of providing medium-to-long-term capital growth and a growing steam of fully franked dividends.

This it has been doing rather successfully. According to WAM, WAM Microcap has averaged a performance of 25.2% per annum (before fees and taxes) since its inception in mid-2017. At the present share price, its dividend yield (including its regular special dividends) is sitting at 6.32% (or 9.03% grossed-up with full franking).

What are WAM Microcap’s current ASX holdings?

So if you own WAM Microcap shares, which ASX shares are you invested in exactly? Well, WAM’s latest ASX monthly update gives us a look.

According to the fund’s October update, some of its top 20 holdings include Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX: ALG), Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS) and Janison Education Group Ltd (ASX: JAN). As well as McGrath Ltd (ASX: MEA), Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC), Silk Logistics Holdings Ltd (ASX: SLH) and Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA).

WAM tells us that some of its best ASX performers over October were Praemium and Superloop.

WAM Microcap noted Praemium’s recent September quarterly update, which had the company record a record inflow of $1.7 billion for the quarter. That was a 37% increase over the previous quarter. It also points to the proposed merger with Netwealth, which WAM reckons will “create substantial value for Praemium shareholders”.

With Superloop, WAM likes the company’s recently announced sale of its Hong Kong and Singaporean assets for $140 million. This, management estimates, will allow Superloop to “redeploy the proceeds derived from the sale into accretive acquisitions or capital management initiatives”.

WAM Microcap charges an annual management fee of 1% per annum, along with an ASX performance fee of 20%.

The post Own WAM Microcap (ASX:WMI) shares? Here’s what you’re invested in appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 shares of and has recommended Praemium Limited and SUPERLOOP FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Praemium 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 Starpharma Holdings Limited (ASX: SPL) share price edged higher today following the launch of Viraleze in Vietnam this week.

Viraleze is an antiviral nasal spray that has been shown to deactivate a broad spectrum of respiratory/cold viruses in laboratory studies. This includes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza, RSV, SARS, and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

At the close of trading on Friday, shares in the dendrimer products developer were up 2.99% to $1.205. At one point, the share price hit an intraday high of $1.235 — up 5.5% on Starpharma’s previous close.

What did Starpharma announce?

In today’s release, Starpharma announced that Viraleze has been registered for sale in Vietnam.

Viraleze is being launched in the south-east Asian country this week, following the recently-signed initial supply contract. About 100,000 units will be supplied under distribution agreements with Australian-based Healthco, and Vietnam-based Truong Bao Land International Investment Company.

These arrangements are exclusive for retail, pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals in Vietnam. However, a portion of these orders will also be donated to hospitals and other healthcare organisations across the country.

Vietnam has a population of about 97 million. It is currently experiencing a significant Delta outbreak despite 50% of its population being fully vaccinated. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Covid-19 has taken 25,600 lives in Vietnam so far.

Starpharma CEO, Dr Jackie Fairley commented:

Starpharma is pleased to have achieved another registration for VIRALEZETM, and we are excited to see the product launched in Vietnam this week. This registration, the first in South East Asia, builds upon existing submissions as well as registrations already achieved in Europe, India and New Zealand, and we are expediting further regulatory submissions in multiple regions and countries.

Starpharma share price snapshot

At the start of 2021, Starpharma shares rocketed to an all-time high of $2.52 in mid-February. This followed a couple of positive market announcements.

First was the global expansion of AstraZeneca’s AZD0466 clinical development program, which is using Starpharma’s proprietary DEP technology, to develop a leukaemia treatment.

Starpharma also announced the signing of a research agreement with Merck & Co., Inc (MSD). Under the agreement, MSD will conduct a preclinical research evaluation of dendrimer-based Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) also using Starpharma’s DEP technology.

However, the sharp rise in the Starpharma share price didn’t last. It came crashing down in late February. Since then, the company’s shares have continued their downward trend and hit a 52-week low of $1 in November.

Starpharma is down by 7% in the past 12 months. It is 22% lower in 2021 alone.

The post Starpharma (ASX:SPL) share price climbs 3% on back of Vietnam launch 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 shares of and has recommended Starpharma Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Starpharma Holdings 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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Shares in Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) are driving northwards and are currently trading 13% higher on the day at 69.5 cents apiece.

Whilst there’s been no market-sensitive information released by the company today, Brainchip shares have bounced from 61 cents in the past 2 days and are now up 13% this week. Read on for more.

What’s up with the Brainchip share price today?

Investors are piling into Brainchip today after trading flat over the last week. Shares are trading on a volume of 172% of their 4-week average, with a total of 20,845,092 Brainchip shares changing hands today.

The market took notice last Monday when Brainchip announced it had signed a partnership with Japanese firm MegaChips Corporation (TYO: 6875) to design and manufacture Brainchip’s Akida technology.

Adding the Akida technology to MegaChips’ products will deliver a plethora of benefits to both parties, Brainchip says.

Shares in the company were placed into a trading halt two days later before Brainchip added a few additional layers of information on the MegaChips deal.

In addition to the upfront license fee, Brainchip has the ability to generate additional revenue under the agreement. These funds can be obtained from royalties on the sale of products to MegaChips’ customers as a percentage of the net sales on select products.

Aside from this, additional revenue can be earned via license fees for application specific product developments, project fees for proof of concept development projects with MegaChip’s customers for specific custom networks; and fees for support services and licensing of software associated with the Akida intellectual property.

The remaining terms of the agreement are subject to strict confidentiality provisions as between Brainchip and MegaChips, according to the announcement.

Brainchip anticipates that it will recognise aggregate revenue of approximately US$2 million under the agreement over the current financial year and the financial year ending 31 December 2022.

It also expects to obtain further revenue from the license fee and additional revenue opportunities noted above in subsequent financial years.

Referencing the deal in its update, the company said:

Brainchip considers that this agreement is highly significant to its growth strategy as it not only provides a licensing fee for its Akida technology but also provides broader opportunities to generate revenue from MegaChip’s substantial global customer base which it would be unlikely to be able to access directly.

Brainchip share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, the Brainchip share price has gained more than 93% after rallying a further 62% this year to date.

It has soared over 51% over the past month as well and is up more than 12% for the week.

The post Why is the BrainChip (ASX:BRN) share price springing 13% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author 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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Investors are spoilt for choice today as the Sohn Hearts & Minds Investment Conference delivers plenty of portfolio ideas. While all of the stock picks are believed to be offering potentially market-beating returns, the most ambitious might be Yen Liow’s selection — GitLab Inc (NASDAQ: GTLB) shares.

Today, the managing partner of Aravt Global informed attendees of his high conviction in GitLab. However, Liow’s estimated upside to the DevOps platform company is the real elephant in the room. In sharing his top pick for 2022, the fund manager noted the opportunity for GitLab to 10x in value in the coming decade.

Interestingly, Liow stumbled upon the company while researching Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ: TEAM) — a company that has generated a monstrously good return in its own right. While Atlassian hones in on one specific piece of the DevOp stack, GitLab offers an end-to-end solution.

What is GitLab?

GitLab is for the software developers and coders out there. At its core, the company’s product allows developers to store their code online. This allows developers to collaborate on projects together remotely.

However, this is only one piece of the puzzle. In addition, developers are able to plan, manage, create, verify, package, secure, monitor, and release their code (among other things) using the GitLab platform. For those that aren’t privy to the world of code, this essentially means people who code have nearly all the tools needed in the one place.

In describing the potential of the GitLab share price and the company, Liow said:

We kept on hearing from our conversation with our developers in the community that this company has fantastic software which they believe will become one of the emergent standards for years to come.

Imagine getting onto Atlassian at the start of the ride. We believe that company is GitLab

At present, the DevOps industry operates in what Liow describes as a duopoly between GitLab and Microsoft’s GitHub. At this stage, there is no DevOps offering that provides developers with a one-stop shop for their coding needs. However, Liow expects GitLab is the best-positioned company to solve this problem.

Investing in GitLab shares

Another attractive feature in the eyes of the fundie is GitLab’s track record of growth. Over the last seven years, the company has been growing at almost 70%. As a result, GitLab now boasts a run rate of nearly $230 million a year. On top of that, it has maintained a high gross margin of 88% as it expands its customer base.

The proposition for investing in GitLab shares in Liow’s words is “software developers are among the most valuable employees in the world and that they will be an extremely valuable place to sell software into”.

Shares in the US-listed tech company are valued at US$91.23 a pop.

The post This fundie is picking GitLab shares as the next potential 10x opportunity appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. owns shares of and has recommended Atlassian. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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