• ASX 200 down 0.6%: ResMed lower on Q3 update, Beach Energy crashes 23%

    Young man looking afraid representing ASX shares investor scared of market crash

    At lunch on Friday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week with a disappointing decline. The benchmark index is down 0.6% to 7,038.7 points.

    Here’s what has been happening on the market today:

    ResMed Q3 result falls short of expectations

    The ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) share price is tumbling lower on Friday after its third quarter results fell a touch short of expectations. For the three months ended 31 March, the sleep treatment medical device company reported revenue of US$768.8 million and an operating profit of US$223.4 million. This represents a 0.1% decline and 3% increase over the same period last year. The prior corresponding period benefited greatly from strong COVID-19-related ventilator sales.

    Beach Energy share price crashes

    The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price is crashing lower today after the release of an update. According to the release, Beach has downgraded its FY 2021 production guidance to between 25.2 MMboe and 25.7 MMboe from between 26.5 MMboe and 27.5 MMboe. The company also withdrew its five-year outlook. This is due partly to reductions in the Western Flank oil and gas production profile.

    PointsBet impresses

    The PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is charging higher today following the release of its third quarter update. For the three months ended 31 March, the sports betting company reported a 236% increase in turnover to $905.2 million. This was driven by a 137% jump in Australian turnover to $423.2 million and a 431% increase in US turnover to $482 million. Pleasingly, its net win grew even quicker. PointsBet reported a net win of $64.9 million, which was up 246% on the prior corresponding period.

    Best and worst ASX 200 performers

    The best performer on the ASX 200 today has been the PointsBet share price with a gain of almost 6% following its third quarter update. Unsurprisingly, the Beach share price is the worst performer on the index with its 23% decline. The surprise downgrade and removal of its five-year outlook has sent investors to the exits in their droves.

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    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 recommends Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and ResMed Inc. 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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  • Why the CIMIC (ASX:CIM) share price has see-sawed this morning

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    The CIMIC Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price edged higher in early trade before retreating again, down 1.2% at the time of writing. This comes after the building company’s latest quarterly update.

    What’s impacting the CIMIC share price?

    CIMIC reported comparable group revenue flat on the prior corresponding period (pcp) at $3.4 billion with no material impact from the coronavirus pandemic. 

    The Aussie building group also reported higher earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin at 10.0%. That was largely thanks to cost reduction initiatives during the quarter.

    The CIMIC share price could be worth keeping an eye on today after reporting net profit after tax of $100 million for the quarter.

    Free operating cash flow pre-factoring improved by $106 million compared to Q1 2020 and quarter on quarter improvement. CIMIC said the company’s FY21 focus is on “managing working capital, generating sustainable cash-backed profits and a rigorous approach to tendering, project delivery and risk management”.

    CIMIC also said the Greensill fallout has no impact on the company or its supply chain finance. 

    The company reported new work in hand of $30.2 billion. Significant government stimulus in Construction and Services markets have helped boost the company’s business in the first quarter.

    FY2021 guidance

    The other big news that could impact the CIMIC share price was this morning’s guidance announcement. CIMIC has maintained its FY2021 net profit after tax forecast at $400 million to $430 million. That’s on the back of the strong work pipeline, up $1.2 billion year on year.

    CIMIC CEO Juan Santamaria said, “We are well-positioned in growth markets, with attractive tailwinds from the COVID-recovery infrastructure spending and a backlog of services and maintenance work”.

    The CIMIC share price has climbed more than 1% in early trade following the quarterly update. CIMIC reported a strong balance sheet position with $3.7 billion in liquidity at quarter-end.  Shares in the Aussie building group are trading at$18.69, down 23% year to date.

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    Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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  • iCandy (ASX:ICI) share price sinks despite positive update to ASX

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    The iCandy Interactive Ltd (ASX: ICI) share price is backtracking in mid-morning trade. This comes despite the company announcing the successful completion of a trial for its new Claw Stars game.

    At the time of writing, the games and digital entertainment company’s shares are fetching for 9.4 cents, down 6%.

    Strong results from trial

    Investors appear unfazed by the company’s latest update, sending iCandy shares lower.

    In its announcement, iCandy advised that throughout the early-trialling of Claw Stars, its studio team were receiving feedback from gamers. In response, iCandy’s developers made changes to the game-play and mechanics, learning from past experience with Masketeers.

    As a result, Claw Stars recorded the highest ever retention rate, achieving day-1 and day-7 of 46% and 18%, respectively. In comparison, Masketeers reached retention rates during its early access trial of 37% and 8% over the same time frame.

    iCandy noted that retention rates are an important metric to measure how well a game will perform when launched. The mobile gaming industry considers retention rates as an early indicator of a game’s future revenue potential. While only day-1 and day-7 were recorded, the company explained that longer duration retention rates are not normally tracked. This is because the mobile game genre falls under a causal mobile game in which consumers pick up from time-to-time.

    Claw Stars is scheduled to launch worldwide in June 2021, with pre-orders and pre-registrations already being accepted. So far, over 78,000 pre-orders have been made within the first week. iCandy stated that the game will be available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

    About the iCandy share price

    The iCandy share price has gained more than 320% over the past 12 months and has fallen 25% year-to-date. The company’s shares reached a high of 23.5 cents in November 2020, before weak investor sentiment kicked in.

    Based on the current share price, iCandy has a market capitalisation of roughly $53 million, with 578.9 million shares outstanding.

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    Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Apple and recommends the following options: short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple and long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple. 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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  • Why ASX lithium shares like Orocobre (ASX:ORE) soared in April

    asx share price increase represented by golden dollar sign rocketing out from white domes of lithium

    ASX lithium shares have had a good month. Market leaders like Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE) have seen their valuations surge as investors clamber to get their hands on company shares.

    So, what’s driving the latest lithium share price surge on the Aussie share market?

    Why ASX lithium shares surged in April

    Resources shares of any kind are always going to be tied to the underlying commodity price. If global commodity prices are weak, it’s tough to boost sales revenue given supply-demand factors need to be evaluated.

    It’s no different for ASX lithium shares. Supply disruptions in Chile have created strong market conditions for Aussie producers and April saw a lithium price surge. This helped push the valuations of Orocobre, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Galaxy Resources Ltd (ASX: GXY) up.

    The Orocobre share price climbed 42.5% in April while Pilbara and Galaxy shares surged 10.5% and 54.6%, respectively. Pilbara shares struggled to keep pace after port delays left the company’s final March shipment partially completed. Pilbara’s March quarter spodumene concentrate shipments were broadly flat at 71,229 dry metric tonnes.

    Data from battery supply chain research and price reporting agency Benchmark Mineral Intelligence showed strong lithium price gains. In fact, the lithium carbonate CIF Asia price rose 11.1% in March with spodumene (6%) prices up 17.4% for the month. The price jump to US$10,000 per tonne represents the biggest monthly increase since January when the price discovery began. 

    Strong electric vehicle and broader auto sales have helped push demand levels up in early 2021. That demand rally has coincided with strong gains for ASX lithium shares like Orocobre.

    Global ratings agency S&P Global noted there are signs prices are nearing a peak, however, with an improving supply outlook. That means shares in the likes of Galaxy and Orocobre could be worth watching in May.

    Foolish takeaway

    ASX lithium shares have rocketed higher to start the year. All three of Galaxy, Orocobre and Pilbara Minerals are currently outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) with double-digit gains in March.

    Strong pricing conditions have helped propel these valuations higher despite signs of improving supply conditions in the global market.

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  • Why the Novatti Group (ASX:NOV) share price is tumbling 5% today

    falling asx share price represented by woman making sad face

    Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) shares are tumbling in late morning trade after the company released a quarterly trading update. At the time of writing, the Novatti share price is trading 5.43% lower at 61 cents. 

    This comes following yesterday’s tremendous performance, which saw the company’s share price leap 31.6% higher by the closing bell.

    ASX investor enthusiasm was sparked by the revelation that Novatti had been selected by buy now, pay later giant Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) to deliver its digital payment solution in New Zealand.

    Below we take a look at the latest quarterly report from the digital banking and payments company.

    What did Novatti report?

    The Novatti share price is moving lower today despite the company reporting it earned $4.15 million in revenue for the quarter, its highest quarterly revenue yet. Year on year, quarterly sales revenue was up 37% and up 9% from the previous quarter.

    Payment processing revenue was the stellar performer. Novatti reported in excess of $3 million in payment processing revenue. The quarter ending 31 March now makes 8 consecutive quarters of record payments from its processing revenue.

    Novatti held $6.1 million in cash at the end of the quarter. The company stated it will continue to direct its cash flow towards accelerating its growth strategies. Its new banking business is a cornerstone of its long-term growth plans.

    Commenting on the results, Novatti managing director, Peter Cook said:

    It was clear across the March quarter that our efforts over past years to develop our digital banking and payments ecosystem is paying off, as new and innovative players continued to turn to Novatti to bring their fintech offerings to market. This was particularly evident with the launch of both LITT and Lifepay. This momentum also continued after the end of the March quarter as we announced the first monetisation of our partnership with global payments disrupter Ripple, which sees Novatti now process cross-border transactions for a leading remittance provider in the Philippines.

    These partnerships all provide new potential review opportunities for Novatti going forward. We also continue to strengthen our digital banking and payments ecosystem to ensure we capture future growth opportunities.

    Looking ahead, the company forecasts continuing tailwinds with the ongoing global shift to cashless and digital payments, along with the development of new and emerging markets.

    Novatti share price snapshot

    Despite today’s slide, long-term Novatti shareholders will have little to complain about. Over the past 12 months, the Novatti share price is up 218%, far surpassing the 30% gains posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

    Year to date, Novatti shares have continued to rocket, up 133% so far in 2021.

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    Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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  • Why Dubber, Mesoblast, PointsBet, & Sezzle shares are storming higher

    jump in asx share price represented by man jumping in the air in celebration

    In late morning trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a disappointing note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.7% to 7,034.8 points.

    Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here’s why they are storming higher:

    Dubber Corp Ltd (ASX: DUB)

    The Dubber share price has jumped 13% to $2.43. This follows the release of the unified call recording and voice intelligence provider’s third quarter update. That update revealed that Dubber’s annualised recurring revenue (ARR) increased 20% over the three months to $34 million. This is also a 158% increase over the prior corresponding period.

    Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB)

    The Mesoblast share price has stormed 11.5% higher to $2.04. Investors have been buying the biotech company’s shares following the release of the 60-day results from the randomised controlled trial of remestemcel-L in 222 ventilator-dependent COVID-19 patients with moderate/severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The results show that remestemcel-L reduced mortality through day 60 by 46% in the pre-specified group below age 65.

    PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

    The PointsBet share price is up 5.5% to $13.36 following the release of its third quarter update. According to the release, the sports betting company reported a 236% increase in turnover to $905.2 million. This was driven by a 137% jump in Australian turnover to $423.2 million and a 431% increase in US turnover to $482 million. Also growing strongly was its net win, which increased 246% to $64.9 million for the three months.

    Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

    The Sezzle share price has surged 9% higher to $9.71. Investors have been fighting to get hold of the buy now pay later provider’s shares following the release of its first quarter update and the announcement of plans for a US listing. In respect to the former, Sezzle reported underlying merchant sales (UMS) growth of 214.1% to US$375.1 million for the three months ended 31 March. This was driven by a 126.6% increase in active customers to 2.6 million and a 27th consecutive month of improvement in its repeat usage metric.

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    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 recommends Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Dubber. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and Sezzle Inc. 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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  • Why the Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) share price is charging higher

    A businessman points to and arrow going up on a graph, indicating a share price rise for an ASX company

    The Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) share price is up 3.5% in morning trade after closing up more than 7% yesterday.

    This comes after the ASX uranium miner released its quarterly activities report for the quarter ending 31 March.

    What did Boss Energy report for the quarter?

    The Boss Energy share price is moving higher after the company reported significant progress in completing the Enhanced Feasibility Study (EFS) at its Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia.

    The aim of the EFS is to reduce costs and increase uranium production capacity at the project. Boss expects to release the results of the study in the June quarter. 

    Commenting on the company’s progress during the quarter, Boss Energy’s Managing Director Duncan Craib said:

    It was a highly productive quarter which saw us move into the final stages of preparation for the re-start of production at Honeymoon. The technical EFS is almost finished, project funding discussions are underway and interest from fuel buyers continues to increase.

    The successful acquisition of 1.25 million pounds of uranium further strengthens Boss’ strategic and commercial advantages in respect to resuming production and capitalising on the forecast increase in uranium prices and our low costs, tier-1 location and extensive JORC Resource.

    Total funding estimates for the Honeymoon project is US$63.2 million (AU$81.0 million). According to the release, that makes Honeymoon “one of the lowest funding requirements of any pre-production uranium project worldwide”. Boss credits the project’s existing full processing plant and infrastructure for the low cost of bringing the project online.

    Boss is also engaged in an exploration campaign, including an initial scout drill program and has completed its review of Honeymoon’s historical database. It reported a strong balance sheet with no debt and “significant carried-forward tax losses”.

    The company stated that the global outlook for nuclear power is improving while the uranium market continues to tighten.

    Boss Energy share price snapshot

    Boss Energy shareholders have enjoyed a profitable 12 months, with the ASX uranium miner gaining 114%. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 31% in that same time.

    Year-to-date, the Boss Energy share price has continued to perform well, up 50% so far in 2021.

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    Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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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  • Santos (ASX:STO) share price dips despite completed sale

    Power lines

    The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is down slightly today, after news the company finally completed the sale of 25% of its Darwin LNG and BayuUndan projects. The sale has been on the table since March 2020, though it’s been backdated to October 2019.

    At the time of writing, the Santos share price is 0.71% to $7.00 per share.

    Let’s take a closer look at the energy company’s finalised deal.

    Selling stakes in Darwin LNG and BayuUndan

    Santos shared this morning that it has finally completed the sale of 25% of Darwin LNG and BayuUndan to global energy provider SK E&S.

    SK E&S is also a joint venture partner at Santos’ Barossa project. The company has a 37.5% stake in Barossa, which works to backfill Darwin LNG.

    The sell-down has placed US$186 million into Santos’ bank account. That figure represents the sale price of US$390 million minus the cashflows from the 25% interests since October 2019.

    In today’s release, Santos also announced the 2 companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate the possibility of extracting carbon-neutral LNG from Barossa. The investigation would include collaboration with Santos’ Moomba CCS project, arrangements for carbon credits and potential for the future development of zero-emissions hydrogen.

    At completion of the sell-down, Santos’ interest in BayuUndan and Darwin LNG is 43.4%. Santos is to remain as operator of both assets.

    SK E&S is the next largest holder of the projects, with INPEX, Eni, JERA and Tokyo Gas also holding stakes.

    Receiving the first gas from Barossa to backfill Darwin LNG is expected to happen the first half of 2025.

    Commentary from management

    Santos’ managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said he was delighted to welcome SK E&S as a partner in BayuUndan and Darwin LNG.

    “The sell-down to SK E&S is in-line with our strategy of disciplined growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet by managing equity levels in our growth projects consistent with disciplined capital management,” he said.

    Santos share price snapshot

    The Santos share price is performing well on the ASX in 2021 so far.

    Currently, the Santos share price is up 9% year to date. It’s also up 41% over the last 12 months.

    The company has a market capitalisation of around $14 billion, with approximately 2 billion shares outstanding.

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  • Disney says it’s using Amazon’s infrastructure for its worldwide Disney+ expansion

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    kid with headphones on watching a video on iPad

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

    The swift expansion of Walt Disney‘s (NYSE: DIS) Disney+ streaming service across multiple countries is largely thanks to Amazon‘s (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon Web Services infrastructure, executives from the entertainment conglomerate said today. As reported by Streaming Media and other outlets, Disney says it is increasing its reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS) even more as it continues to push for wider distribution.

    One of Disney’s executive vice presidents, Joe Inzerillo, said in a statement, “AWS has been our preferred cloud provider for years, and its proven global infrastructure and expansive suite of services has contributed meaningfully to the incredible success of Disney+.”

    The company says it has been using AWS for its streaming service from the start, well before the late 2019 launch of Disney+, because of its “reliability, scalability, and breadth of functionality.”

    Now Disney is adding even more AWS features to its service as it continues to push expansion beyond the 59 countries where Disney+ is already available. These include analytics to ensure efficient delivery of quality streams, database systems enabling immediate switching between shows on different devices, and machine learning.

    Disney’s focus on improving Disney+ perhaps reflects its second-tier profitability for the company. While Disney+ is the company’s most widespread streaming service by far, Hulu currently brings in approximately twice the monthly revenue. The House of Mouse also recently inked a deal with Sony Group (NYSE: SONY) to add Spider-Man and a range of other Sony films to its Disney+ lineup, though these will also appear on Hulu. 

    For its part, a lockdown-driven surge in home entertainment consumption has led Amazon to invest significantly in its Prime Video service in addition to further developing its streaming infrastructure overall. 

    This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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    Rhian Hunt has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon and Walt Disney and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Walt Disney. 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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  • Why the Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI) share price has slumped 5%

    Fall in ASX share price represented by white arrow pointing down

    The RAIZ Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) share price has slumped 5% this morning after a capital raising update from the Aussie fintech.

    Why is the Raiz Invest share price under pressure?

    Raiz this morning provided an update on its institutional share placement. The Aussie fintech received firm commitments to raise $10.2 million via an oversubscribed placement backed by new and existing shareholders.

    The Raiz Invest share price has slumped lower on the news after raising the cash at $1.50 per share. That represented a 9.4% discount to the final closing price of $1.655 on 27 April 2021.

    Following the settlement of the placement, Raiz will offer eligible shareholders the opportunity to participate in a Share Purchase Plan (SPP). Those funds will also be raised at $1.50 per share.

    Raiz intends to use the funds to accelerate customer growth, develop new products and services, expand into new geographies and integrate the acquisition of Superestate. The Aussie fintech yesterday announced that acquisition for $9.5 million in an all-scrip transaction.

    Superestate is a “niche, integrated superannuation and Australian residential property investment platform”. Raiz Invest Managing Director/Group CEO George Lucas said the acquisition marks an “important milestone for the group”.

    “The acquisition provides tangible benefits to the customers of both financial services groups”, he added. Integrating Superestate allows Raiz to add residential property investment to its platform options.

    The Raiz Invest share price is slumping lower this morning following the capital raising update. It comes shortly after the group’s quarterly result highlighted by adding nearly 26,000 more active customers.

    Today’s placement will result in the placement of 6,800,000 new, fully paid ordinary shares at $1.50 per share. The new shares will rank equally alongside existing Raiz shares with a further 5,300,000 shares raised to acquire Superestate.

    Foolish takeaway

    The Raiz Invest share price is under pressure early on Friday morning. Investors have pushed the company’s shares lower after the company raised $10.2 million at $1.50 per share.

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    Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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.

    The post Why the Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI) share price has slumped 5% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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