The Hazer Group Ltd (ASX: HZR) share price is rising during afternoon trade. This comes after the hydrogen producer provided a quarterly trading update to the ASX before market open.

At the time of writing, Hazer shares are swapping hands for 93 cents apiece, up 1.09%.

Hazer progresses Commercial Demonstration Project

Investors appear pleased with the company’s latest update, with Hazer shares hitting an intraday high of 95 cents.

In its release, Hazer advised it is continuing to focus its efforts on developing the Hazer Commercial Development Project (CDP).

Hazer’s CDP is being constructed at Water Corporation’s Woodman Point Water Recovery Facility in Western Australia. The company aims to convert natural gas and similar methane feedstocks into renewable hydrogen and high-quality graphite.

During the quarter, civil site preparations were completed. Construction activities have since followed including building the hardstand area, trenching and cable preparations, and directional drilling for grid connection.

Concreting and ground stabilisation works are scheduled to be finished towards the middle of Q1 FY22.

The company has awarded a number of engineering and procurement contracts for the Hazer reactor and high-temperature heat-exchanger materials and fabrication. The reactor and furnace is a complex, first-of-its-kind project that requires special skills to ensure safe manufacture and operation.

Hazer stated that the fabrication of equipment modules is progressing, with equipment packages starting to be delivered and stored ahead of construction.

However, the project is facing increased costs due to COVID-19 related disruptions to global supply chains for equipment. Surging freight costs have also restricted suppliers in meeting the technical requirements to supply the project.

As such, Hazer announced that the project budget is predicted to increase by around $20-$22 million. Commissioning of the plant is still estimated to take place around December 2021.

To help fund the development, global venture capital firm AP Ventures invested $4 million into the CDP. In return, Hazer issued 4 million unlisted, unsecured $1.00 convertible notes and 2,250,000 Hazer options.

At the end of the quarter, Hazer declared cash reserves of $24.6 million. This includes $7.2 million relating to Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) grant proceeds, which is available upon specific milestone completions.

About the Hazer share price

Investors would be relatively pleased with the company’s share price, doubling over the last 12 months. Hazer shares are sitting in the middle of their 52-week range of 36 cents to $1.885.

Hazer commands a market capitalisation of about $134 million, with 145 million shares on hand.

The post Why the Hazer (ASX:HZR) share price is edging higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• The Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is up 60% in a month to a record high
• The AFIC (ASX:AFI) share price is up after releasing its unaudited results
• How do you value the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price?
• Why the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price just hit an all-time high

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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At the start of each week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

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

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

• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has become the most shorted share on the ASX after its short interest jumped to 10.6%. Short sellers have been increasing their positions since rumours emerged claiming that Apple is planning to enter the BNPL market.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has seen its short interest ease to 10.3%. This online travel agent’s shares have been targeted amid concerns over recent lockdowns and the spread of the Delta strain of COVID-19.
• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has seen its short interest climb to 10.2%. Short sellers have been shorting this travel agent’s shares due to concerns that the delayed travel market recovery could push back Flight Centre returning to profit.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has 8.3% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. A major contract renewal with a supermarket giant continues to weigh on investor sentiment. That current contract is due to end in August.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has short interest of 7.7%, which is down notably week on week. Short sellers may be closing positions on the belief that recent lockdowns will be a boost to its sales and help ease inventory issues.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) is back in the top ten with short interest of 6.5%. This biotech company has had a very turbulent 12 months due to a number of disappointing trial updates.
• Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) has short interest of 6.1%, which is down week on week. Short sellers may be closing positions after salmon prices were tipped to improve.
• Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) has seen its short interest ease to 6%. There are concerns that a post-COVID reversal in consumer trends will be less than favourable for Metcash.
• A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) has seen its short interest fall to 6%. This infant formula company has been targeted by short sellers due to weakness in the daigou channel and the growing popularity of Chinese infant formula brands.
• Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) has 5.8% of its shares held short, which is down week on week again. A strong update by the communications, defence, and space company last week may have spooked short sellers.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares 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 Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk and Flight Centre Travel 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 Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price has been a strong performer again on Monday.

In afternoon trade, the semiconductor company’s shares are up over 8% to a new record high of $1.48.

This means Archer Materials shares are now up over 60% in the space of a month.

Why is the Archer Materials share price up 60% in a month?

A key driver of the Archer Materials share price gain has been the release of an announcement in the middle of the month in relation to its CQ qubit processor technology.

Archer is developing a qubit processor chip that could potentially operate at room temperature and integrate into modern electronics. Management notes that current quantum computing technologies are limited in ownership and use because they use qubit processors that can only operate at low temperatures or are difficult to integrate in modern electronics.

As a result, the successful development of Archer’s CQ room-temperature qubit processor chip could potentially provide a breakthrough solution to the widespread use and ownership of quantum computing powered technology.

What was this month’s announcement?

The announcement that got investors excited and has driven the Archer Materials share price to a record high revealed that development progress has been made with the first quantum information signals detected. This indicates on-chip qubit control.

This development means the company is on track towards achieving ‘qubit control’ under various qubit environments, including few and single qubits.

Archer Materials’ CEO, Dr Mohammad Choucair, commented: “Archer is making significant progress towards on-chip qubit control as part of its CQ chip development. We have the strongest indication yet that on-chip control of quantum information in our qubit material is within reach and entirely possible under miniaturisation conditions required for any future chip operation.”

Based on the current Archer Materials share price, the company has a market capitalisation of just under $340 million.

The post The Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is up 60% in a month to a record high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is up 30% in a week
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Australian Foundation Investment Co.Ltd. (ASX: AFI) share price is in the green today after the release of the company’s preliminary final results.

The listed investment company reported slightly lower profits for the 2021 financial year. However, it’s forging forward with the same dividend it handed out to its shareholders last year.

The AFIC share price is currently $8.15, 0.99% higher than its close on Friday.

Let’s take a closer look at AFIC’s unaudited full year results.

AFIC’s full year financial results

The AFIC share price is being boosted by its preliminary full year results.

Perhaps the most exciting news AFIC shared today was of its fully franked final dividend.

The company will be returning 14 cents per share to its shareholders. AFIC has drawn on its reserves to provide the dividend.

The 14 cents per share will be paid on 31 August. AFIC shares will trade ex-dividend on 11 August.

Over the year ended 30 June 2021, AFIC saw net profits of $235.1 million – down 2.2% from $240.4 million over the prior corresponding period.  

The profits included a $36.5 million demerger dividend which resulted from Endeavour Group Ltd‘s (ASX: EDV) demerger from Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

AFIC said the fall in profits is a direct result of the economic impact of COVID-19.

The company also brought in $262.8 million in revenue – 0.6% less than it did the year before.

AFIC’s net tangible assets per share, before taking the final dividend into account, were $7.45 per share. That’s more than the prior corresponding period, within which that figure was $5.96.

AFIC has ended the period with around $97 million in cash and roughly $40 million in receivables.

2021 financial year activities

The AFIC portfolio’s strong performance is also likely boosting the share price.

AFIC has announced it performed better than the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index over the last 12 months. The index saw a 29.1% gain, while AFIC saw a return of 31.9%.

The top performers within its portfolio were Reece Ltd (ASX: REH), Mainfreight Limited (NZE: MFT), ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB), James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) and ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ).

The investment firm jumped in on PEXA Group Ltd‘s (ASX: PXA) initial public offering (IPO), which went down on 1 July. It also sold out of South32 Ltd (ASX: S32), Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC), and Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW).

AFIC share price snapshot

The AFIC share price has been performing well lately.

It has gained 11.64% year to date. It is also 32.7% higher than it was this time last year.

The investment firm has a market capitalisation of around $9.9 billion, with approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.

The post The AFIC (ASX:AFI) share price is up after releasing its unaudited results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• The AFIC (ASX:AFI) share price just hit an all-time high

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 Brickworks. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ARB 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 Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price is having a very undramatic start to the week this morning. At the time of writing, Sydney Airport shares have… done very little so far today. The company is sitting at $7.82 at the time of writing, up just 0.2% on the price it finished up at last Friday.

But still, shareholders don’t have too much to complain about. Sydney Airport was (and still is) one of the hardest hit ASX 200 shares from the coronavirus pandemic.

Shuttered international tourism, sporadic and sudden closures of state borders – and don’t forget the bans on most Australian leaving the country – have all combined to smash the business model of this airport company.

And yet, Sydney Airport shares today are up 21.7% year to date in 2021 so far. They also remain up 45.8% over the past year. And only 12.85% off of the all-time high share price of ~$9 a share that we saw back in December 2019.

Much of these gains have, of course, come in the past month or so. The Sydney Airport share price climbed a whopping 34% between Friday 2 July and Monday 5 July, and have pretty much stayed at these elevated levels ever since.

This huge hike in Sydney Airport shares came as a result of a takeover proposal from a consortium of infrastructure investors that was publicly released on the morning of 5 July.

COVID woes and takeovers

This consortium, which included QSuper and IFM Investors, offered to buy all outstanding SYD shares at a price of $8.25 a share, at the time a 42% premium on the then Sydney Airport share price.

Even so, the Sydney Airport board subsequently rejected this offer. It stated that the offer was “opportunistic” and “undervalues Sydney Airport and is not in the best interests of securityholders”.

Undervalues Sydney airport? Well, it’s fairly difficult to come up with a value for Sydney Airport right now, for obvious reasons. This is a strong company holding an asset of enormous intrinsic value (Sydney’s only international airport). But also one that has had its business model damaged enormously by a situation which has no end date in sight.

So how do we value the Sydney Airport share price today?

Well, let’s start by checking out its most recent numbers. So Sydney Airport delivered its full-year earnings for the 2020 calendar year back in February. These are the most recent numbers we can go off.

So back then, the company reported a total of $803.7 million in revenue for 2020, which was down from the $1,639.6 million it brought in in 2019. In terms of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), Sydney Airport reported $627.8 million for 2020. That was down from the $1,145.5 million from 2019.

Even though these earnings are still very much in the green, the company ended up reporting a statutory loss after tax of $107.5 million for 2020. That was down from the profit of $215 million in 2019.

What is the Sydney Airport share price really worth?

This unique situation makes it hard to value Sydney Airport’s shares right now. There are a lot of variables, including the speed of vaccination rollouts (not just in Australia but around the world), what other countries do with their borders, new COVID variants… the list goes on.

There could be a case to be made that the Sydney Airport share price might not be worth the 12.85% discount to its all-time high that it is trading at today. However, long-term investors can also make the case that its valuation prior to the takeover proposal was undervaluing its long-term potential.

My Fool colleague Brooke looked at this question last week. She cited a report in which Credit Suisse analyst Paul Butler stated that the consortium bidders “likely didn’t post its best bet. Butler expects to see a higher offer given to the airport shortly”.

We shall have to see what institutional investors are ultimately willing to put on the table for this company. As it stands today, this might give us the best idea as to what Sydney Airport shares are really worth right now.

The post How do you value the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• COVID-19 lockdowns and the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price
• Broker: Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price won’t hit $8.25 for awhile

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. 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 ResMed Inc.(ASX: RMD) share price is breaking new records.

At the time of writing, shares in the healthcare company are trading for $35.28 – up 0.54%. At one point, shares reached an intraday and all-time high of $35.44.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also having a record day. Presently, the benchmark index is 0.05% higher but reached a high of 7,417.6 points. While the influence of the general market on the ResMed share price could be having an effect, there may be more to the story.

Let’s take a closer look.

Healthcare shares are looking fit

Throughout July, ASX healthcare shares, like ResMed, have been surging. Just in the last month, the ResMed share price has jumped 8.1%, Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) improved 8.2% and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) shares are up 1.5%.

With COVID back in the spotlight, as the delta variant causes a sharp increase in cases across the world, healthcare shares – including ResMed – may be the few to benefit from this strain of the virus.

Experts too have had nothing but positive words to say about the ResMed share price in recent days.

Analysts at Macquarie Group, for example, say ResMed is a growth share for investors to buy right now. Randal Jenneke, head of Australian equities at T Rowe Price Group, says ResMed is a “quality” share for investors.

Jenneke previously said

Over more than two decades of data for the Australian market, high quality had outperformed low quality by 6.7% per annum.

… [quality shares like ResMed are] poised to outperform over the coming year.

As the ResMed share price has just hit a 52-week high, this advice is being borne out – at least for the time being.

Another factor potentially helping ResMed shares – the falling Aussie dollar.

Experts are tipping it to fall below 70 cents against the greenback. For ASX listed companies that predominately do business in the US, this could be a windfall.

ResMed is one of those companies that predominantly trade in the US. In fact, it is a dual listed company with shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

ResMed share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the ResMed share price has increased 23.1%. Year-to-date it is up an even greater 28.3%.

ResMed has a market capitalisation of around $51 billion.

The post Why the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price just hit an all-time high 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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. and Sonic Healthcare 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 BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is climbing higher today as the company moves one step closer towards making its Jansen potash mine a reality.

At the time of writing, shares in the diversified resource miner are up 1.58% to $52.08. The BHP share price is now 39% above where it was a year ago.

Port facilities agreement for new mine

Reports in The Australian reveal BHP is likely set to proceed with its Jansen potash development in Saskatchewan Canada. This follows news the mining giant has secured a conditional port services deal with Westshore Terminals.

According to earlier news, the agreement remains conditional on BHP advancing to its first phase for Jansen. It is estimated that these initial phases could cost up to $5.7 billion.

If the project goes ahead Westshore will be responsible for handling the potash for BHP up to the year 2051, subject to extension.

Interestingly, the Jansen potash project will be the company’s first new resource in more than a decade. BHP has been investigating the prospects of potash since 2006. Back then the BHP share price was bouncing between $22 to $28 a share.

In a presentation last month, the company discussed the compelling case for the resource. A combination of population growth, a shift to plant-based diets, and a need for increased crop yields are all attractive catalysts for potash, according to BHP.

Additionally, its recent quarterly results showed the company on track for a ‘go or no-go’ decision in the next two months for Jansen stage 1. Nearly US$3 billion has already been sunk into the project to get it to this point.

BHP share price snapshot

The BHP share price has been enjoying the prolonged iron ore boom. Over the past year, the company has added 39% to its value — now commanding a market capitalisation of $238.5 billion.

More recently, a nickel supply agreement with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has pushed shares in the mining company even higher.

The post BHP (ASX:BHP) share price lifts amid news $7.5b project will proceed 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. 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 Argosy Minerals Ltd (ASX: AGY) share price is soaring today, up 6% in early afternoon trade, having earlier posted gains of more than 8%.

Below, we take a look at the latest announcement from the Perth-based lithium miner that looks to be driving investor interest.

What update did Argosy provide?

Argosy Minerals’ share price is leaping higher after the company reported additional progress with its clean lithium processing technology at its Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina.

The company is focused on producing environmentally friendly battery quality lithium carbonate via its proprietary chemical process technology.

It said that low energy use is one of the key factors which sets its process apart from competing lithium carbonate producers.

Argosy estimates energy use at approximately 1MW for 2,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) operation levels and around 5–6MW for 10,000tpa in its planned expansion phase of operation.

Energy will be provided by a nearby gas pipeline. Argosy is also looking into sourcing power from a solar power plant, which is currently under construction.

Water consumption is also lower than industry standards with its chemical process technology recycling some 90% of the brine fed through its process plant.

Argosy estimates the flow rate of raw water consumption at around 6–8m3/h for its 2,000tpa operation and at roughly 40m3/h for its 10,000tpa expansion operations.

Commenting on the progress, Argosy’s managing director Jerko Zuvela said:

We have a successfully proven, proprietary and environmentally friendly clean lithium technology to produce battery quality lithium carbonate with low impurities, meeting ESG requirements with a low carbon footprint of low fresh water and energy usage, sustainably producing at a scale no other junior lithium company is currently able to achieve, and currently in construction phase for the 2,000tpa operation, with development plans for an additional 10,000tpa production expansion.

Argosy Minerals share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Argosy Minerals share price has surged 145%, far outpacing the 25% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date, Argosy Minerals’ share price is up more than 65%.

The post Here’s why the Argosy Minerals (ASX:AGY) share price is soaring today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Argosy Minerals (ASX:AGY) share price climbs following Rincon update
• Here’s why the Argosy (ASX:AGY) share price is surging 9% today
• Argosy (ASX:AGY) share price falls 9% despite positive update

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 Digital Wine Ventures Ltd (ASX: DW8) share price is starting the week off in the red. This comes after the wine-focused technology investment company announced a trading update for the fourth quarter of FY2021.

Digital Wine shares sank 6.1% to an intraday low of 7.6 cents at the opening of trade. Apart from a late morning rally they have stayed down and, at the time of writing, are trading hands for 7.7 cents a share.

How did Digital Wine perform in Q4 FY21?

Investors appear to be heading for the hills, selling Digital Wine shares despite the company reporting impressive numbers.

For the three months ending 30 June 2021, Digital Wine achieved $1.02 million in revenue from its WineDepot platform. This reflects a 33% increase on the prior quarter, and a mammoth 274% jump on the previous corresponding period (Q4 FY20). The outstanding result came on the back of strong orders received, along with a number of new suppliers.

WineDepot shipped a total of 75,377 cases throughout the fourth quarter, resulting in a 22% lift on Q3 FY21 (61,939 cases). That’s also a significant increase compared to this time last year, when the business shipped 13,840 cases in Q4 FY20.

The average number of cases shipped per order stood at 2.33, however this will likely surge over the coming months. As WineDepot Market grows, trade buyers typically place larger orders than consumers, leading the volume of orders processed.

During Q4 FY21, the company acquired 68 new suppliers, bringing the total number of suppliers using WineDepot’s platform to 375.

In addition, Digital Wine touched on some previous achievements that occurred during the quarter. This included securing a liquor licence to launch a wine club called Insider Trading. This is an invitation-only membership program that allows access to private tastings, dinners, master classes and other events.

Furthermore, Digital Wine’s WineDepot went live in Melbourne and Sydney, offering a direct-to-trade marketplace for consumers. The company notably partnered with Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) for a buy now, pay later credit solution, and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) for its logistics network.

Management commentary

Digital Wine CEO Dean Taylor highlighted the company’s strong performance, saying:

There’s been a noticeable lift in our key metrics over the last 3 months as existing and new suppliers embrace new functionality offered via our platform, such as MARKET & DIRECT. The combination of the new revenue streams generated by these products together with very strong customer growth, generated organically and via strategic acquisitions, provides the basis for a very exciting year ahead in respect of revenue growth.

Digital Wine share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, Digital Wine shares have outpaced the broader All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) to post a 92.5% gain. So far in 2021, the company’s share price is up 79%.

Based on today’s price, Digital Wine presides a market capitalisation of roughly $128 million, with 1.6 billion shares on issue.

The post The Digital Wine (ASX:DW8) share price sinks 6% on quarterly report appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Digital Wine (ASX:DW8) share price dumps on acquisition
• Why isn’t the Digital Wine (ASX:DW8) share price trading 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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The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has rallied strongly in the second half of this month, up 7.40% since 15 July to $295.55.

Broad buying across ASX 200 healthcare shares

The CSL share price isn’t alone in its recent resurgence.

The S&P/ASX Health Care (INDEXASX: XHJ) index has also rallied 6% since 15 July.

The broad buying across the healthcare space has witnessed ASX 200 healthcare heavyweights Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) and ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) surge to new record highs.

Encouragingly, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH) and Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) have also moved up strongly since mid-July, up 8.65% and 3.7% respectively.

What’s next for the CSL share price?

The CSL share price could be a winner once the delta variant of COVID-19 subsides according to Peter Switzer.

His outlook was previously covered by The Motley Fool, highlighting why CSL could be a good long-term opportunity.

According to Switzer, “The company’s biggest profit-maker is collecting plasma in the US, and the virus concerns scared off a lot of its donors who get paid to give blood. As normalcy comes back, demand for blood will rise, and that will be good for CSL’s bottom line.”

The CSL share price is still flat this year

The CSL share price is up about 3.5% year-to-date, underperforming the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

CSL’s underwhelming performance is consistent with its international biotech peers such as Grifols.

Grifols is a Spanish multinational biotech company with a focus on producing blood plasma-based products.

Its shares have tumbled 13.66% year-to-date, but its quarterly results on 4 May reveal some positive commentary regarding plasma collections.

In the United States, plasma donations are gradually recovering. Of note was the trend observed in January, February and April in the wake of the country’s vaccination rollouts and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, while taking into account the mitigating effect of stimulus incentives issued in March and December.

The post Why the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price is up 5% in a week 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. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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