The Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: RCE) share price ended the day higher after the company secured a patent in the United States.

At the closing bell, the pharmaceutical company’s shares finished the day up 3.27% to $1.10.

Let’s take a closer look at what Recce announced to the ASX this morning.

Recce furthers patent protection

According to its release, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Patent Family 3 to Recce anti-infectives.

Titled “Anti-Virus Agent and Method for Treatment of Viral Infections”, the patent furthers the company’s marketing and manufacturing property until February 2037.

The approved claims relate to its flagship drug, Recce 327, and anti-viral formulation, Recce 529. They are as follows:

• Composition/method of manufacture of Recce anti-infectives;
• Use of Recce 327 or Recce 529 for the treatment of viruses having a lipid envelope or coat, examples being SARS-CoV-2 and Corona viruses, Influenza viruses, HIV, Hepatitis, Ross River and Herpes viruses; and
• Administration of Recce 327 or Recce 529 by oral, injection, inhalation and transdermal dose applications.

Recce’s lead drug candidate (Recce 327) is being developed to treat blood infections and sepsis.

Investors appeared buoyed by this latest development, sending the Recce share price higher on Thursday.

According to World Atlas, the US is the largest pharmaceutical market in the world, valued at $33.97 billion. The country’s stringent processes in developing and manufacturing drugs has led to some of the best-selling products across the globe.

Just this week, China also granted Recce Patent Family 3 to its anti-infectives. This leaves Australia as the only remaining nation yet to approve the patent. China, Japan, Europe and now the United States have all authorised Recce’s Family 3 patent.

Recce CEO James Graham said:

Recce’s intellectual property portfolio continues to grow in-line with our business strategy and the unprecedented global infectious disease crisis before us. We are thrilled to see that our anti-viral patent granted in the USA, the largest pharmaceutical market in the world; with yet further market-monopolies reinforcing the unique opportunities among a significant range of both bacterial and viral pathogens.

Recce share price summary

Despite today’s rise, Recce shares have had a disappointing 12 months, falling more than 15%. However, year-to-date, the company’s share price is slightly up by 5%.

Recce has a market capitalisation of roughly $192 million, ranking as the 722nd largest company on the ASX.

The post Recce (ASX:RCE) share price edges higher after patent approval appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Recce (ASX:RCE) share price is racing 5% higher today

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

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Are you looking for blue chip ASX 200 shares to add to your portfolio this financial year? If you are, the two ASX shares listed below could be worth a closer look.

Here’s what analysts think of these shares:

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

The first blue chip ASX 200 share to look at is CSL. It is one of the world’s leading biotherapeutics companies, comprising the CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses. CSL Behring is the global leader in plasma therapies and Seqirus is the second largest influenza vaccines business.

Both of CSL’s businesses have been growing at a solid rate in recent years and have been tipped to continue doing so in the future. This is being driven by their leading therapies and lucrative research and development pipelines.

In respect to the latter, CSL’s pipeline contains a number of highly promising products that have the potential to generate significant revenues in the future.

And while plasma collection headwinds are likely to weigh on its performance in the near term, this is understood by the market and priced into the current CSL share price.

UBS is positive on the company. The broker currently has a buy rating and $330.00 price target on its shares.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)

Another blue chip ASX 200 share to consider is REA Group. This property listings company has been a strong performer in recent years despite battling a housing market downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This demonstrates the resilience of REA Group’s business model and its exceptionally strong position in the ANZ market.

Positively, with the housing market now thriving once again, REA Group’s growth outlook is looking increasingly positive. This should be boosted by price increases, new revenue streams, acquisitions, and its cost control.

It is for this reason that the team at Goldman Sachs is particularly positive on the company. So much so, the broker has recently retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to a lofty $198.00.

The post 2 blue chip ASX 200 shares rated as buys 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 shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA 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 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is up 4.8% over the past 24 hours. One Bitcoin is currently worth US$32,076 (AU$43,346).

The digital token likely has Elon Musk to thank for some of the rebound.

The influential Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder, appearing on a panel discussion with Cathie Wood, and Jack Dorsey, said he’d invested more in Bitcoin than other cryptos. And he noted Tesla will likely begin accepting it as payment again once 50% of the power used to mine it comes from renewable sources.

With the past 24 hour’s performance, the year-to-date gains for the world’s biggest crypto are back up to 10.4%. Though it’s worth noting that the value is still less than half of where it stood at April’s peak levels.

Same gains…better sleep

10.4%, incidentally, is the precise year-to-date gain currently posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Gains that share investors using an ASX 200 tracking exchange traded fund (ETF) could have made while enduring a heck lot less of volatility than crypto investors holding Bitcoin have.

While today’s rebound will come as welcome news to these crypto investors, what follows may cause some restless nights.

Fair warning.

Bitcoin to crash to US$15,000?

Scott Minerd is the chief investment officer of global asset management and investment advisory Guggenheim Investments, which oversees some US$245 billion (AU$331 billion) in total assets.

And Minerd is decidedly bearish on his outlook for Bitcoin.

Minerd forecasts that the token will lose more than half its current value, when he told Bloomberg Television yesterday (overnight Aussie time). He expects “something in the neighbourhood of $15,000”, adding that “a lot of this stuff is just junk”.

According to Minerd:

I think there’s still more air to come out. The standard bear market for Bitcoin has been an 80% retracement and given all the uncertainty and the new competition from new coins, I think there’s more downside to go… When do you buy it? I don’t think anytime soon.

Long-term, Minerd believes that Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) will be a “more viable” cryptocurrency than Bitcoin. The Ethereum price, by the way, is up 6.1% over the past 24 hours and has gained 168% year-to-date, according to data from CoinDesk.

The investing guru – who’s also bearish on the short-term outlook for shares in September and October – speculated that Bitcoin could be the “canary in the coal mine that’s telling us we have more problems ahead for risk assets, and in particular stocks”.

If Minerd’s got this one right, then Tesla stands to lose a fortune on its US$1.5 billion Bitcoin investment.

According to an estimate published by Fortune, Tesla likely paid around US$34,700 per token at the time. Should it fall to US$15,000, the company could be out some US$852 million on its crypto venture.

Caveat emptor!

The post Why this investment guru forecasts Bitcoin crashing to US$15,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Bitcoin is worthless… but maybe priceless?

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended 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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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price appears resolute despite the latest Forum Finance development.

Shares in Australia’s second largest bank finished today’s trading up 0.69% to $24.93.

Court documents bring Westpac into focus

Eyeballs were drawn to Westpac again following the bank’s latest court documents being obtained by media outlets.

According to The AFR, the big four constituent alleges more than 100 fraudulent transactions took place involving Forum entities over a period that extended beyond two years.

Specifically, Westpac alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars were siphoned through the bank to various interests owned by Bill Papas’ Forum Group.

These interests are believed to be sprawled across Australia, Greece, Britain, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates.

Purportedly, the ploy was used to fund a range of extravagancies for Papas. These allegedly include properties, racing cars, boats, jewellery, and Papas’ 94.4% stake in Greek football club, Xanthi FC.

The alleged scheme is believed to be constructed through the elaborate creation of fraudulent documents, illustrating a raft of clients for Papas’ companies.

Such clients apparently include Veolia, Scentre Group (ASX: SCG), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), and Catholic Healthcare among others.

In total, Westpac deems the loss to be $253.8 million. However, this doesn’t take into consideration other transactions through Westpac New Zealand.

Westpac share price snapshot

The Westpac share price has delivered a tantalising 37% to investors in the past 12 months. However, the bank has been suffering a weakening in its share price since late June.

About that time, Bell Potter downgraded Westpac shares to a hold rating. Although, on the positive side, the broker improved its Westpac share price target to $26.50.

Currently, the bank trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 22.15. The industry average P/E ratio is 15.5 times.

The post Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price up despite potential $254 million loss appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• 2 high yield fully franked ASX dividend shares rated as buys
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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 owns shares of 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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Fortunately, in this low interest rate environment, there are countless dividend shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

But with so many to choose from, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. To narrow things down, I have picked out two ASX dividend shares brokers think investors should buy:

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)

According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have retained their overweight rating and $175.00 price target on this investment bank’s shares. The broker is expecting a reasonably flat quarterly update at its upcoming annual general meeting. This is due to its belief that some strong performing areas of the business, such as commodities, will be offset by foreign exchange headwinds. Nevertheless, the broker believes that Macquarie’s shares are attractively priced at the current level. Particularly in comparison to its global peers.

Morgan Stanley is forecasting a partially franked dividend of $5.50 per share in FY 2022 and then a $6.05 per share dividend in FY 2023. Based on the current Macquarie share price of $157.47, this will mean yields of 3.5% and 3.8%, respectively, over the next two years.

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)

A note out of Ord Minnett reveals that its analysts have upgraded this private hospital operator’s shares to a buy rating with a slightly trimmed price target of $72.50. While the broker has reduced its earnings forecasts to reflect the lockdowns in Australia, it remains positive on the future thanks to strong vaccination rates in other markets it operates in. In addition to this, Ord Minnett suspects that the company may not have given up on acquiring Spire Healthcare in the UK.

For now, the broker is forecasting fully franked dividends per share of $1.99 in FY 2021 and then $2.62 in FY 2022. Based on the current Ramsay share price of $64.39, this implies yields of 3.1% and 4.1%, respectively, over the next two years.

The post Top brokers name 2 ASX dividend shares to buy today 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 owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ramsay Health Care 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 Top Shelf International Holdings Ltd (ASX: TSI) share price has walked through today’s session firmly in the green. At the closing bell, Top Shelf shares were swapping hands for $2.09, a gain of 14.8%.

Today’s gains come after the company gave an overview of its maturing spirit inventory and net sales value.

Let’s take a closer look at what Top Shelf released today and what other tailwinds are behind the beverage manufacturer’s share price lately.

Inventory and net sales value

Top Shelf announced that, as of 30 June, it had maturing spirits with a net sales value of $272 million.

This signifies a 521% year-on-year increase, and a 124% increase above its prospectus.

Top Shelf’s total spirit inventory increased to 3.5 million litres, representing a 410% increase from one year ago.

The company also realised an average net sales value per litre for NED whisky of $71.40, a 23% increased from 1H FY21.

To arrive at these calculations, Top Shelf “engaged PwC to perform certain procedures on the calculations and methodology”.

Investors have relished the announcement, driving the Top Shelf share price higher.

What other tailwinds are behind Top Shelf’s share price?

The company also reported its unaudited FY 2021 earnings results on 14 July. Here, the company recorded unaudited revenue of $20 million.

These results signified a 160% year-on-year growth from 30 June 2020, matching the forecasts in the company’s prospectus.

Top Shelf also reported “branded product revenue” of $12.7 million, a 211% increase from the $4 million in FY 2020.

Investors are buying into the company’s growth narrative following the results, pushing the Top Shelf share price 25% into the green over the previous 5 trading sessions.

Top Shelf share price snapshot

The Top Shelf share price has posted a return of 2.5% this year to date, after a gradual run-down from highs of $2.20 in March.

The company’s share price hit a low of $1.61 at the close on 13 July, however has since climbed 30% since these two announcements.

Top Shelf has a market capitalisation of $90 million at the time of writing.

The post Why the Top Shelf International (ASX:TSI) share price soared 15% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price up as Catch involved in ACCC inquiry
• Why Kogan, Service Stream, Whispir, & Zip shares are sinking
• Here’s why the Fenix Resources (ASX:FEX) share price is surging 5%

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 Openn Negotiation Limited (ASX: OPN) share price has been soaring today after first listing on the ASX yesterday.

Its successful initial public offering (IPO) yesterday saw the share price jump from its offer price of 20 cents to a closing price of 31 cents.

Today, more than 11.7 million shares changed hands, with the Openn share price finishing the day at 35.5 cents, up 12.9%. It hit an intraday high of 43.5 cents at lunch time.

Let’s take a closer look at how the first two trading days unfolded for Openn.

What is Openn Negotiation?

Openn is a cloud-based property platform that hosts online real estate auctions.

To date, Openn has facilitated more than $2 billion in Australian property sales. The platform is used by more than 3,000 agents across Australia and New Zealand.

The company’s revenue model sees it derive income from property listing fees on its platform. This comes in at $500 per property.

It also receives revenue through an agent training segment that instructs agents how to use the platform. Only trained agents can list properties on Openn.

As part of its prospectus, Openn outlines $851,402 in revenue for FY2020 under this model, which translates to a pre-tax loss of about $1.2 million.

Openn’s IPO success

The initial offering for Openn Negotiation shares was 20 cents a piece, according to the prospectus.

The company listed with an initial valuation of $38 million, and hoped to realise $9 million from the equity raise.

Based on today’s closing price, Openn’s market capitalisation has grown to $41.3 million.

Given its IPO success, Openn intends to use the raised funds for domestic market expansion.

The company might also establish a footprint in the US in the future.

Foolish takeaway

The Openn Negotiation share price is skyrocketing in the secondary market since its IPO yesterday.

Investors are enthusiastically buying into the Openn Negotiation growth narrative.

Online auctions have become much more accepted over the past year due to extensive use by agents during COVID lockdowns.

The Openn Negotiation share price has outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today, with the broad index up 0.9%.

The post Openn Negotiation (ASX:OPN) share price up 13% in second day of trade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is a top performing S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) share on Thursday, rallying 4.59% to a record high of $8.77.

IGO owns a number of high quality assets focused on the production of critical metals including copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium.

Higher commodity prices drive the IGO share price to record territory

IGO is in the right place at the right time, given its portfolio on metals critical to enabling clean energy.

From a pricing perspective, copper prices rallied to 10-year highs of US$10,500/tonne in May this year.

While copper prices have cooled down in recent months, they remain at an elevated US$9,270/tonne.

Similarly, cobalt and lithium prices have rebounded strongly in recent months following a 2-year bear market between 2018 to 2020.

According to Trading Economics, cobalt is fetching roughly US$52,500/tonne, well above the US$30,000/tonne it was trading at the beginning of 2020.

ASX-lithium shares surge to record highs on Thursday

ASX-lithium majors Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) have surged between 9% to 11% on Thursday after all three companies announced upbeat quarterly results.

In the case of Orocobre, its quarterly results said that “[Lithium] prices have now increased by nearly 170% over the last nine months”.

More specifically, the company achieved lithium carbonate prices of US$8,476/tonne, a 45% increase against the previous quarter.

Other producers of critical metals for the renewables industry such as Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) also joined in on the rally, jumping 8.76% today to $6.40.

IGO completes “transformation transaction”

On 30 June, IGO completed a transaction to form a new lithium joint venture (JV) with Tianqi Lithium Corporation.

The JV focuses on IGO’s Australian lithium assets, initially focusing on existing upstream and downstream lithium assets in Western Australia.

IGO CEO Peter Bradford hailed the game changing deal, commenting:

Our new partnership with Tianqi promises to be truly transformational for IGO and delivers on our strategy focused on the clean energy revolution. We are incredibly excited to commence this journey with Tianqi as we build a globally relevant lithium business delivering high quality, responsibly produced lithium products to global customers while generating strong financial outcomes for shareholders.

The IGO share price has since rallied 14.67% since the completion of the JV.

The post Why the IGO (ASX:IGO) share price is hitting an all time high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is gaining today, despite the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) naming its subsidiary Catch.com.au as a focus in its latest inquiry.

Catch.com.au was part of Catch Group, which was acquired by Wesfarmers in 2019 and is now a part of Wesfarmers’ Kmart Group.

The ACCC’s inquiry is looking into digital services platforms in Australia. It’s seeking submissions from consumers, platforms, and third-party sellers.

Right now, the Wesfarmers share price is $61.35 – 0.11% higher than its previous closing price.

While that’s a good day’s performance, it’s not as good as that of the broader market. The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has gained 0.92% today, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.95% higher.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news regarding Catch.com.au.

ACCC turns focus to online marketplaces

The Wesfarmers share price hasn’t noticeably been affected by the ACCC’s announcement of its latest inquiry.  

As part of the inquiry, the ACCC will be looking at online marketplaces’ relationships with third-party sellers and consumers, as well as how they affect market competition in Australia.

According to Catch.com.au, it’s one of Australia’s largest online shopping platforms, attracting 30,000 new customers each week and sending 20,000 orders each day.

The inquiry is the fourth the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Branch is undergoing as part of a 5-year inquiry into the supply of digital platform services in Australia. It will result in a report that will be given to the Australian Treasurer in March 2022.

Wesfarmers’ isn’t the only ASX-listed entity to have been named as part of the ACCC’s inquiry.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) was also a noted platform in the inquiry. Unlike Wesfarmers, which got off relatively unscathed, the Kogan share price has fallen 2.94% today.

Wesfarmers share price snapshot

The Wesfarmers share price has been performing well on the ASX lately.

It has gained 19% since the start of 2021. It has also increased by 33% since this time last year.

The post Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price up as Catch involved in ACCC inquiry appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 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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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is charging higher again. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up a sizeable 1% to 7,380.1 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are sinking:

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The Kogan share price is down 3% to $11.22. There may be a couple of catalysts for the weakness in this ecommerce company’s shares today. One is the ACCC revealing that it plans to look into online marketplace practices. The other is a broker note out of Credit Suisse. Although the broker has retained its outperform rating, it has slashed its price target by 15% to $15.21. This was in response to Kogan’s business update yesterday.

Service Stream Limited (ASX: SSM)

The Service Stream share price has fallen 1.5% to 94.5 cents. This morning the essential network services company revealed that it successfully completed its placement and institutional entitlement offer to raise $130 million at 90 cents per new share. It will now seek to raise a further $55 million from retail shareholders. These funds will be used to acquire the Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) Services business.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

The Whispir share price is down 1.5% to $2.78. This is despite the company being the subject of a positive broker note this morning. According to a note out of Ord Minnett, its analysts have responded to Whispir’s quarterly update by retaining their buy rating and lifting their price target to $4.30. Though, with its shares rising strongly yesterday, some investors may be taking profit today.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price is down 7.5% to $7.00. Investors have been selling the buy now pay later provider’s shares following the release of its fourth quarter update. Although Zip reported a 116% year on year increase in quarterly total transaction volume (TTV) to $1.8 billion and a 104% increase in quarterly revenue to $129.9 million, this was still short of the market’s lofty expectations.

The post Why Kogan, Service Stream, Whispir, & Zip shares are sinking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares flying around the markets today
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• Why the Service Stream (ASX:SSM) share price is heading south today
• ASX 200 midday update: Zip update disappoints, BHP signs Tesla deal

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 shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd, Whispir Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir 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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