The Caspin Resources Ltd (ASX: CPN) share price is skyrocketing today after the company provided an update regarding its Yarabrook Hill project.

Caspin shares are up a whopping 40.7% to $1.21 at the time of writing, creating a 160% yearly gain for the miner. Let’s see what it’s discovered.

Multiple sulphide zones

Caspin shares are having a party on the ASX after the company updated the market on its drilling targets at Yarabrook Hill in Yarawindah, Western Australia.

According to the company, it has intersected multiple broad sulphide zones over a 250 metre strikezone in one drilling target, and 120 metre strikezone at another. The sulphide intersections ranged between 1% and 3% volume, but were found as high as 15% in some areas, at various depths.

Caspin discovered disseminated copper sulphides, which it says are consistent with the platinum group (PGE) mineralisation style it is targeting in the region. The company noted that the sulphide minerals include “chalcopyrite (copper sulphide), pyrrhotite (iron sulphide) and pentlandite (nickel sulphide) hosted by mafic and ultramafic rocks.”

According to the company, the fact these drilling holes are more than a kilometre apart suggests the Yarabrook Hill drill site may house a wide expanse of potentially lucrative minerals. As a result, investors have sent the Caspin share price soaring today.

Caspin’s initial drilling is now complete and the company is awaiting assay results.

Management comments

Caspin CEO Greg Miles says this is just the beginning for the company’s drill targets:

The two holes at Yarabrook Hill have delivered exactly what we wanted to see, that is, mafic and ultramafic rocks with broad zones of copper and nickel sulphide mineralisation which we believe is a good visual proxy for potential PGE mineralisation.

The holes are 1.25km apart, so the scale of the opportunity is significant. Now we wait with anticipation for the assay results. In the meantime, we are already planning the next work program. We are extremely grateful to have received a co-funded drilling grant through the WA Government Exploration Incentive This is going to allow us to drill the deepest hole at Yarabrook Hill to date which will give us a huge amount of new geological information as well as another opportunity for discovery.

Caspin share price snapshot

The Caspin share price has exploded today and has now reached the highest point in its six-month history on the ASX. The company’s shares debuted on the exchange at 46 cents apiece before jumping from 60 cents in March to a previous high of 90 cents just last month. Overall, Caspin shares have gained around 124% in 2021 alone.

More reading

• Would you pay 10% more for a ‘green Bitcoin’?
• Why the Freelancer (ASX:FLN) share price is up 5% today
• Why Corp Travel, Domino’s, Kogan, & Zip shares are storming higher
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 3 reasons why the Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price could be a buy

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Bitcoin (CRYTPO: BTC) has been taking heat for the massive amounts of energy required to mine new tokens and to verify transactions made with existing tokens.

While this issue has been around for years, it’s getting worse as Bitcoin’s energy use continues to increase alongside its growing popularity.

Tesla Inc‘s (NASDAQ: TSLA) Elon Musk recently brought the token’s huge carbon footprint to the world’s attention. Musk said that Tesla wouldn’t sell its Bitcoin holdings – originally purchased for US$1.5 billion. However, he added his company would no longer accept Bitcoin for payment until it was powered by cleaner energy sources.

He does have a point.

By some estimates, Bitcoin’s global energy consumption will soon surpass that of all of Australia. And with the ever-growing focus on climate change and decarbonising the planet, this is putting further pressure on the price.

A green premium

Where there are problems, there are potential profits to be made.

In this case, those profits could come in the form of a premium paid for ‘green Bitcoin’.

As Bloomberg reports:

Some [crypto miners] are working to sell what they are calling green Bitcoin – coins whose transactions are verified on the blockchain by computers powered only by renewable energy. The bet is that they will be able to command a premium of up to 10%.

Sheldon Bennett is the CEO at crypto miner DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. DMG says that numerous banks and financial businesses have expressed an interest in transacting in Bitcoin that meets their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) commitments.

According to Bennet, “There’s a market that doesn’t know it yet… More and more, they are saying if there’s an option, I am willing to pay a premium to get it.”

Isaac Maze-Rothstein, a research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, added, “There are a bunch of miners who saw what happened with the coal industry. So they only pursue a project if it’s carbon negative. There are others who want to co-locate with wind, or with solar.”

Some crypto miners are also turning to hydropower. Others – with permission – tap into the unused processing powers of computers visiting their websites.

However, Christopher Bendiksen, the head of research at CoinShares, sounds a note of caution for any ‘green Bitcoin’ optimists.

He estimates that around 55–65% of Bitcoin mining uses renewable energy sources today. About half of all the mining is done in China, notoriously dependent on its coal-fired power plants.

With the Bitcoin price hitting record highs in April, miners may well be willing to spend a bit more for cleaner energy. But as the price falls, Bendiksen believes many will return to cheaper, dirtier energy sources.

Bendiksen said (quoted by Bloomberg):

Right now mining is hyper profitable. And these hyper profitability periods don’t last forever. When mining costs start approaching Bitcoin price again, the costs will matter. Bitcoin mining is absolutely ruthless, and you are competing against miners that are in different countries than you are, and they don’t necessarily care about the environment like you do. It’s quite dangerous for your competitiveness over time.

Australia based Iris Energy, founded by Will and Daniel Roberts, has been atop the ‘green Bitcoin’ theme for some time. Back in February, the company raised $25 million to ramp up the computing power of its Bitcoin mining operations in Canada. Those operations are powered by hydroelectricity.

Bitcoin price snapshot

One Bitcoin is currently worth US$35,269 (AU$45,804). That’s down 7% over the past 24 hours and down 46% from the all-time high of US$64,829 reached on 14 April, according to data from CoinDesk.

To give you an idea of the ongoing volatility of the world’s largest crypto, over the past 24 hours it traded as low as US$31,180 and as high as US$38,235. That’s a price variance of more than 22%, all within a single day.

So, would you pay an extra 10% knowing your Bitcoin was mined with renewable energy?

A growing number of sustainable crypto miners are hoping you said ‘yes’.

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• Why Ford couldn’t keep Tesla shares from popping today

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The Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN) share price is up today after the company announced the acquisition of Loadshift, a heavy haulage transport marketplace.

After reaching an intraday high of $1.08 in early trading, the Freelancer share price plummeted to $1.00 before surging back to $1.05 at the time of writing, up 5%.

Engaged in freelancing, outsourcing services, and crowdsourcing marketplace, Freelancer offers software development, writing, data entry and design services.

Acquisition lifts the Freelancer share price

In today’s update, Freelancer announced that its partially owned subsidiary, Freightlancer, had acquired Loadshift for $7.7 million.

Founded in March 2007, Loadshift has grown to become Australia’s largest online heavy haulage freight marketplace with 68,837 freight requests for 85.8 million kilometres of freight required in CY 2020. In FY20, Loadshift reported delivering an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of approximately $766,000.

Freelancer owns 53% of its partially owned subsidiary.

New investors, new CEO

The company also advised today that Freightlancer had received a $3.7 million investment from Maas Group Holdings (ASX: MGH) chief executive officer (CEO) Wes Maas, and EMS Group CEO Tom Cavanagh.

Startive Ventures, a venture fund focused on global technology and internet startup opportunities, also participated in investment.

EMS is now a division of Maas, a diversified industrial group with services expanding across construction materials, property, civil infrastructure and underground mining and tunnelling divisions.

Cavanagh will join Freightlancer as chief executive officer, bringing his 20 years of experience in mining, tunnelling, civil construction and technology industries.

The Freelancer share price has been surging

The Freelancer share price has surged more than 70% since the listing of Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) on 23 March.

Before that, the Freelancer share price had been range-bound, bouncing back and forth between 45 cents and 62 cents since September 2020.

From a financial and operational perspective, the company has also performed strongly with its quarterly results showing an uplift in gross payment volumes and cash receipts.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises, Kogan sinks, EML soars
• Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price halted to raise funds for US expansion
• The case for and against Airtasker (ASX:ART) shares
• Seven West (ASX:SWM) share price wobbles on market update
• Why Airtasker, Ecofibre, Nuix, & Woolworths shares are sinking

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a modest gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up slightly to 7,032.7 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are rising:

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

The Corporate Travel Management share price is up 4% to $20.18. Today’s gain appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded the corporate travel company’s shares to an outperform rating with a $20.75 price target. It made the move amid signs of a strong recovery in the US and ANZ markets.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The Domino’s Pizza share price has risen 3% to $107.00. Once again, this gain appears to have been driven by a broker note. On this occasion, Citi has upgraded the pizza chain operator’s shares to a neutral rating and increased the price target on them materially to $104.20. Citi believes Domino’s could expand into several new European countries in the near future, extending the potential size of its network significantly.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The Kogan share price has jumped 10% to $9.56. This gain appears to have been driven by bargain hunters taking advantage of a sharp pullback on Friday following another bitterly disappointing result. In addition, short sellers could be buying back shares to close positions.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price is up 2.5% to $7.21. This morning the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider announced its expansion into Europe and the Middle East. It will do this via the acquisition of European BNPL provider Twisto Payments and UAE-based BNPL provider Spotii. Zip had previously bought stakes in both companies. Management notes that the transactions align with Zip’s global expansion plans and the rapidly accelerating global BNPL opportunity.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• ASX 200 up 0.1%: Aristocrat results, Zip’s global expansion continues
• Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price higher on European and Middle East expansion news
• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX whipsaws in volatile week

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With so many shares to choose from on the ASX, it can be hard to decide which ones to buy. The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.

Three top ASX shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

According to a note out of Macquarie, its analysts have upgraded this corporate travel specialist’s shares to an outperform rating with an improved price target of $20.75. The broker made the move amid signs of a strengthening recovery in travel, particularly in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It appears optimistic that this will continue thanks to the rapid vaccine rollout in the U.S. and falling numbers of COVID cases. This has led to Macquarie lifting its revenue forecasts for the coming years. The Corporate Travel Management share price is fetching $20.05 today.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)

A note out of Credit Suisse reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and lifted their price target on this medical device company’s shares to $34.00 ahead of its full year results release. Credit Suisse is forecasting a result well ahead of the company’s guidance it gave with its half year results. This is expected to be driven by rapid growth from COVID-19 related sales. The Fisher & Paykel Healthcare share price is trading at $31.18.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

Another note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and increased the price target on this gold mining giant’s shares to $13.30. The broker lifted its price target to account for an increase in the valuation of several of its operations. This offset a reduction in its earnings per share estimates. The Northern Star share price is currently fetching $11.32.

More reading

• Why Corp Travel, Domino’s, Kogan, & Zip shares are storming higher
• ASX 200 up 0.1%: Aristocrat results, Zip’s global expansion continues
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX whipsaws in volatile week
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• ASX gold shares can thank bitcoin for their brightening outlook

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The Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) share price could be a compelling idea for a few different reasons.

The online furniture and homewares business has seen its share price fall by around 17% since 29 April 2021.

These are some of the reasons why the e-commerce business could be an interesting opportunity:

Continued growth

Businesses that are delivering actual revenue growth are the ones that can grow net profit and gives a better chance of producing shareholder returns.

Temple & Webster delivered a lot of growth in 2020 but that growth has continued into 2021.

In the third quarter of FY21, being the three months to 31 March 2021, it saw revenue growth of 112%. Active customers increased to around 750,000 at the end of the third quarter.

April 2021 revenue was also up more than 20% compared to the prior corresponding period of April 2020 which was the fastest growing month last year during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It hasn’t seen a decline in sales like other businesses.

The COVID-19 cohorts continue to perform better than shoppers that have been around for longer.

Positive trends

Temple & Webster believes that trading suggests COVID-19 has permanently accelerated online adoption in the Australian furniture and homewares market.

The ASX share estimates more than 20% of furniture and homewares was bought online in the US during 2020, and the company believes Australia is following the same trajectory.

Temple & Webster has estimated that in 2020, around 9% of Australian furniture and homewares were bought online, an almost doubling of the 5% bought in 2019.

Management believes that online penetration in both markets is expected to continue to increase significantly.

Investing for more growth

The ASX share plans to invest for growth and improve its online market leadership position. The company believes there’s the potential for significant online market growth and longer-term returns.

It’s planning to build strong brand awareness to achieve national brand status within the next three years by investing in mainstream media to drive both first time and repeat customers. The company plans to use tactical pricing and promotions to increase conversion.

Another part of the plan is that it wants to strengthen its customer experience through enhanced technology, data and personalisation and delivery experience. It’s going to invest into 3D and artificial intelligence capabilities to make the customer shopping journey easier.

Temple & Webster wants to further differentiate its range through new category additions, private label expansion, new product development and launching exclusive ranges with its key drop ship suppliers.

The final point that the company is focused on growing its commercial sales and operational teams to capitalise on returning demand in business to business sales.

During this period of heavy investing for growth, it’s going to maintain its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin level at between 2% to 4%.

Over the longer-term it’s expecting to generate higher profit margins than offline competitors with scale benefits.

The Temple & Webster CEO Mark Coulter said:

You only need to look at the US to see how the e-commerce market is playing out, and why we remain bullish about the shift from offline to online. We are at the start of this once in a generation shift and now is the time to put our foot down to secure market leadership and ensure we are the brand for the next generation of furniture shopper.

More reading

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• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX

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The Ridley Corporation Ltd (ASX: RIC) share price is on the rise today. At the time of writing, shares in the agribusiness are selling for $1.10 – up 3.77%. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is currently sitting 0.06% higher.

The company comes into focus after announcing the sale of its Tasmanian extrusion facility for nearly $60 million.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news.

Ridley company profile

Ridley Corp engages in the production and marketing of stock feed and animal feed supplements. The company provides its animal nutrition solutions to food producers in the dairy, poultry, pig, aquaculture, sheep, and beef industries. Ridley also caters to laboratory animals in the research sector as well as equine and canine markets in the recreational sector.

Why the Ridley share price is rising

Ridley shares are in the green today after the company provided a statement to the ASX advising it “has entered into an agreement for the sale of the Westbury extrusion facility in Tasmania to Gibson’s Limited…” for $54.9 million.

Justifying the sale, Ridley called the facility “underutilised” and said the transaction will allow it to “reset” its manufacturing cost base. It goes on to highlight that the move will allow it to better service the aquafeed market. Customers will be serviced via is expanded extrusion facility in Narangba in Queensland.

The sale must still be approved by the ACCC and will require the obtaining of “certain certificates” related to the plant. The company expects the deal to be completed in the first half of FY22. It anticipates making a pre-tax profit of over $7 million from the deal. Investors seemingly approve of the sale, judging by today’s Ridley share price.

Management commentary

Ridley Managing Director and CEO Quinton Hildebrand said:

The significant upgrade and expansion of our Narangba, Queensland extrusion facility is due to complete in July 2021. This will consolidate our aquaculture feed production into one facility, providing a more competitive and lower cost supply chain to service the Australian and New Zealand aquaculture industry, including our Tasmanian customers.

Ridley share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Ridley share price has increased by 51.7%. Shares in the company reached a 52-week high of $1.21 in March on the back of a positive broker note from Goldman Sachs. Since then, however, the share price has fallen by 9.1%.

Ridley Corp has a market capitalisation of $351.4 million.

More reading

• 3 reasons why the Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price could be a buy
• Aristocrat (ASX:ALL) share price rises on half-year results
• TPG (ASX:TPG) shares whacked by cyberattack
• Expert says buy these ASX expensive defensives as market momentum is peaking
• ASX 200 up 0.1%: Aristocrat results, Zip’s global expansion continues

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The Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price is edging slightly higher this morning. After a couple of price wobbles soon after open, shares in the gambling giant are trading for $40.77 at the time of writing – up 0.3%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently 0.23% higher.

The company comes into focus after it released its financial results for the 6 months ending 31 March 2021.

Let’s see what the update contained and how it’s affecting the Aristocrat share price today.

Aristocrat share price lifts on half-year result

Before examining the results, it should be noted the company foreshadowed today’s bumper results in an earnings guidance released last week. That release saw the Aristocrat share price jump 9%.

For its half-year results, Aristocrat Leisure declared a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $362.2 million. This is up 18.4% on the prior corresponding period (pcp). Operating revenues fell 1% on the pcp to $2.23 billion and gross profit decreased 3.5% to $1.13 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are up 6% to $750 million. The EBITDA margin increased just over 2 percentage points to 33.7%. Earnings per share (EPS) increased 18.6% from the pcp to 56.8 cents. The company is paying an interim dividend of 15 cents per share after today’s results. 12 months ago, the company did not pay any dividend.

Normalised operating cash flow dropped 31.4% on the pcp to $358.2 million. The business attributed this to “strategic investments to support customer recovery”. As well, today’s results revealed net debt decreased by 41% to $1.33 billion.

Despite today’s good news, last week’s earnings update may have subdued significant movement today in the Aristocrat share price.

Aristocrat says the increase in profits was driven largely by a growth in the digital sphere – more than 50% of the group’s revenue came from this segment, which grew 28.8% on the pcp. It attributed declining revenue to the COVID-19 pandemic, which it says was only “fractional” given the virus’ disruptive impact on the hospitality sector especially.

Looking forward, Aristocrat expects “strong growth” going into the September reporting period.

Management commentary

Aristocrat managing director and CEO Trevor Croker said of today’s results:

The outstanding momentum we’ve delivered this half reflects our unwavering focus on the things we can control, which lies at the heart of our proven growth strategy.

Despite the uncertainties driven by COVID-19, we have maintained investment in the best people, talent, technology and product portfolios, and taken conscious decisions to accelerate implementation of our strategy.

He added that uncertain and volatile conditions were expected to continue near term, and “we are closely monitoring key factors including consumer sentiment and gaming venue patronage”.

Nevertheless, we enter the second half of fiscal 2021 with excellent momentum, resilience, and confidence with a strong balance sheet to continue to invest organically to grow share and accelerate growth through M&A in line with our rigorous criteria.

Aristocrat share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Aristocrat share price has increased 61.3%. Only last week, it hit a record high of $41.44 a share.

Aristocrat Leisure has a market capitalisation of $26.2 billion.

More reading

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• 2 ASX shares I hold that I’d still buy more of: fundie
• The Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) share price is up 4% and could keep climbing

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A cyberattack has hit one of TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)’s cloud-hosting services, chopping down its share price today.

The internet and mobile provider revealed the incident in an announcement to the ASX on Monday morning. TPG shares are down 1.59% at the time of writing, to trade at $4.97.

The attack targeted TPG’s TrustedCloud, which is a product gained from TPG’s 2011 acquisition of IntraPower Limited.

The company has called in outside assistance.

“We have notified the relevant government authorities and we have engaged external cyber security experts to assist with management of the incident,” TPG stated.

“Although we are confident this incident has not impacted our other environments, we have also increased the cyber security defences across our entire business.”

The attack has meant customer data was exposed.

“Based on the evidence from our forensic experts, only two TrustedCloud customers had their data accessed in the incident. At this point, we do not believe any other TrustedCloud customers were impacted.”

Legacy system was due to be turned off this year

The TrustedCloud is an old system due to be decommissioned in August.

According to TPG, there are only “a few” remaining customers using the service.

“We have notified and have been working with the two impacted customers and continue to provide them with information and assistance,” the telco stated.

“The TrustedCloud service is hosted in a standalone environment that is separate from our telecommunications networks and other systems. The incident has not impacted customers from any of our other brands, products or services.”

TPG shares have been on a downward slide since they traded in the $8s in July 2020 after a merger of TPG Telecom and Vodafone Australia.

TPG’s cyberattack news comes after a phishing scam hit Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) last week. Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) was also reprimanded on Friday by the telecommunications watchdog for enabling scammers to steal customers’ identities.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX whipsaws in volatile week
• 2 ASX dividend shares for income investors
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) slammed for enabling identity theft
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could offer yields of 5% or more today
• Why this expert is urging you to buy these ASX defensive shares even in a bull market

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Predictions that the cyclical momentum is peaking is prompting another broker to urge investors to add ASX expensive defensives to their portfolio.

Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) believes that the OECD leading indicator is likely to signal a shift to the “slowdown” phase in May or June.

This could very well take the wind out of the sails of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) after its 25% surge over the past year.

Best market gains are behind us

But gains in the new financial year starting 30 June are likely to be more subdued even though the outlook for risk assets remains positive.

“The manufacturing PMI may have already peaked as re-opening should drive a shift in spending from goods to services,” said Macquarie.

“While stimulus is not being withdrawn as quickly as after the GFC, we are past that peak too.”

The broker pointed out that the best gains for ASX shares are in the so-called “recovery” and “expansion” phases.

The types of ASX shares to buy for FY22

In the slowdown phase, you should expect lower returns and higher volatility.

“Risk appetite falls in Slowdowns with leadership shifting to defensives, particularly Health and Consumer Staples,” added the broker.

“Banks could also be an attractive defensive in this cycle as bad debts fall, and dividends rise. Banks also have the strongest EPS upgrades of any industry group and tend to outperform as bond yields rise.”

That’s great news for the big ASX banks, like the Westpac Banking Corp. (ASX: WBC) share price and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price.

ASX expensive defensive shares outperform when volatility increases

But these shares aren’t the only ones well placed to outperform during a slowdown phase. Defensive ASX shares are also tipped to outrun the broader market despite their expensive valuations.

Macquarie is backing the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price and Ramsay Health Care Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs (ASX: RHC).

Two other expensive defensives that are worth coughing up for are the Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) share price and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price.

“They are the type of stocks that often outperform in a Slowdown,” said Macquarie.

“Rising yields are a potential valuation risk, but earnings for CSL, COH and RHC were all negatively impacted by COVID while WOW has a potential offset from the endeavour group spin-off.”

Foolish takeaway

Macquarie isn’t the only one that believes you should be looking at expensive defensives during this raging bull market.

As reported on Friday, Wilsons is also urging investors to include ASX defensive expensive shares to their portfolio now.

More reading

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• AGL (ASX:AGL) may need a ~$600m capital raise to complete demerger
• Is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price good value?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX whipsaws in volatile week
• 2 quality ASX 200 tech shares that might be buys

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