Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their estimates and recommendations again, leading to the release of a number of broker notes.

Three broker buy ratings that have caught my eye are summarised below. Here’s why brokers think these ASX shares are in the buy zone:

Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY)

According to a note out of Ord Minnett, its analysts have upgraded this lithium miner’s shares to a buy rating and increased the price target on them to $3.70. The broker made the move in response to a recovery in demand for lithium and stronger prices. In addition, it notes that the Galaxy share price has pulled back a touch, bringing it down to an attractive level for investors. The Galaxy share price ended the week at $2.71.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

A note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have upgraded this telco giant’s shares to an overweight rating with an improved price target of $4.00. According to the note, the broker is a fan of Telstra’s plan to split into three separate businesses. The broker expects the spin-off of its Tower to be a near term catalyst for its shares and sees other options to create value in the future. In light of this, Morgan Stanley is now confident that its dividend is sustainable at 16 cents per share for the foreseeable future. The Telstra share price was fetching $3.40 at Friday’s close.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Another note out of Morgan Stanley reveals that its analysts have retained their overweight rating and $27.20 price target on this banking giant’s shares. Morgan Stanley has been looking at industry data and believes Westpac is well-placed for growth in the near term. It also estimates that the bank is outperforming its estimates when it comes to home loan growth. In light of this, it sees a lot of value in its shares at the current level. The Westpac share price ended the shortened week at $24.54.

More reading

• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy this April
• Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) share price and weekly news wrap
• Why the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price rose 11% in March
• 2 of the best ASX shares to buy for your retirement portfolio
• Why the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is up today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Galaxy Resources Limited and Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra 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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At the small end of the Australian share market, there are a number of companies with the potential to grow materially in the future.

Three standouts are listed below. Here’s why they should be on your watchlist:

Damstra Holdings Ltd (ASX: DTC)

The first small cap to watch is Damstra. It is a growing integrated workplace management solutions provider. Damstra’s cloud-based workplace management platform is used by businesses globally to track, manage, and protect their workers and assets. Demand has been growing strongly in recent years and has continued in FY 2021. For example, during the first half of FY 2021, Damstra reported a 29.6% increase in revenue to $13.3 million. Pleasingly, this is still only a small fraction of an addressable market which is expected to be worth US$20 billion by 2022.

Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T)

Another small cap ASX share to watch is Mach7. It is a medical imaging data management solutions provider. Mach7’s software allows users to create a clear and complete view of the patient. This then helps them inform diagnosis, reduce care delivery delays and costs, and improve patient outcomes. This could become particularly important in the current environment, where telehealth services are growing rapidly in popularity, creating a need for this type of technology. According to management, the company’s total addressable market is estimated to be US$2.75 billion. This gives it a long runway for growth over the next decade.

Pointerra Ltd (ASX: 3DP)

Pointerra is a growing technology company with a focus on the commercialisation of 3D geospatial data. The company’s software allows users to manage, visualise, and share large digital 3D datasets with ease. This is because its clever software is able to extract vital information from the data that would otherwise take many hours to do. Management believes that its addressable market opportunity is currently worth a massive $500 billion annually. One notable shareholder is well-respected tech investor, Bevan Slattery.

More reading

• The FINEOS (ASX:FCL) share price is now 30% off its August highs
• What’s happening with the Damstra (ASX:DTC) share price?
• 2 exciting small cap ASX shares with huge growth potential
• ASX tech shares cowering in shadow of NASDAQ bear market warning
• 2 small cap ASX shares to watch closely in 2021

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 Damstra Holdings Ltd and MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Pointerra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Damstra Holdings Ltd, MACH7 FPO, and Pointerra 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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If you’re looking for shares to buy and hold, then the three listed below could be quality options.

All three have long runways for growth and could provide strong returns for investors if everything goes to plan. Here’s what you need to know:

Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)

The first ASX share to consider as a buy and hold investment is Cochlear. It is a global developer, manufacturer, and distributor of cochlear implantable devices for the hearing impaired. It appears well-placed for long term growth thanks to its exposure to the ageing population tailwind. This is because as people age their hearing will more often than not fade. This is expected to lead to increasing demand for its industry-leading products over the next couple of decades. Macquarie currently has an outperform rating and $245.00 price target.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

This ecommerce company could be a good long term option for investors. This is due to the continued rise in online shopping, recent acquisitions, and quick growing Kogan Marketplace. Furthermore, with the Kogan share price down by over 50% from its high, investors are able to invest at a fraction of what people were paying just a few months ago. Credit Suisse sees this as a buying opportunity. Last month it put an outperform rating and $20.85 price target on its shares.

Nanosonics Ltd (ASX: NAN)

Another buy and hold option to consider is Nanosonics. It is the infection control specialist behind the industry-leading trophon EPR disinfection system for ultrasound probes. Whilst I think this product alone has the potential to underpin solid earnings growth over the coming years, the impending launch of new products targeting unmet needs should give its growth a boost. UBS currently has a buy rating and $7.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in the Q1 of 2021
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in March
• 2 excellent ASX shares to buy and hold for a decade
• The Kogan (ASX:KGN) share price has nearly halved in 2021
• 2 ASX tech shares to buy in April 2021

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 Cochlear Ltd. and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Nanosonics Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cochlear Ltd. and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF) is a really good ASX dividend share and could be a great option for income investors to consider.

What is Rural Funds?

Rural Funds is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns farmland across Australia. It is quite diversified with different farm types including almonds, macadamias, vineyards, cattle and cropping (sugar and cotton).  

Why is it such a good ASX dividend share?

1: Yield

The most important thing for an ASX dividend share is the dividends, or distributions in Rural Funds’ case.

Rural Funds pays its distribution from the cash net rental profit each year. This measure is called the adjusted funds from operations (AFFO).

In FY21 it’s expecting to generate 11.7 cents of AFFO per unit and to pay a distribution of 11.28 for the financial year.

Then, in FY22, the ASX dividend share is expecting to pay a distribution of 11.73 cents per unit, which translates to a forward distribution yield of 5%.

It’s not a big starting yield, but it can be combined with growth.

2: Regular distribution growth

Rural Funds has an annual growth target for its distribution of 4%, which is comfortably more than inflation right now.

The business achieves this growth through a mixture of ways. The growth is achieved with rental indexation built into the contracts, productivity improvements and conversion of assets to higher and better use.

Rural Funds sees some of its rental indexation growth come from a fixed 2.5% annual increase, with the rest linked to CPI inflation, plus market reviews.

The ASX dividend share has a plan to develop 5,000 ha of macadamias, which is a higher and better use – this will help grow the AFFO in the coming years.

It also has a long weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of 11.1 years.

3: Diversification

It has good diversification. Its properties are spread across different farm types, geographic locations and climactic conditions.

A key to the stable performance of Rural Funds is that it has high-quality tenants which are large and have strong market positions.

It has tenants like JBS, Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX: AAC), Stone Axe, Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), Olam, Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV) and Queensland Cotton.

Rural Funds share price valuation

In the FY21 half-year result, the ASX dividend share’s adjusted net asset value (NAV) increased by 4% to $2.01 up from FY20.

That means the Rural Funds share price is valued at a 16% premium to the adjusted NAV.

More reading

• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy this April
• Top ASX shares to buy in April 2021
• 2 top ASX dividend shares to buy this month
• ‘Remarkable resilience’ in Aussie farmland a tailwind for ASX agriculture shares
• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy in April

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of RURALFUNDS STAPLED. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended RURALFUNDS STAPLED and Treasury Wine Estates 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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A new month is here, so what better time to consider making some new additions to your portfolio.

With that in mind, listed below are five ASX shares that could be worth considering after the Easter break. They are as follows:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

The first share to look at is Adore Beauty. Australia’s leading online beauty retailer has been a performing very strongly in FY 2021. In February, the company released its half year results and revealed an 85% increase in revenue to $96.2 million and a 188% jump in EBITDA to $5.2 million. Pleasingly, the company looks well-placed to continue this positive form for a long time to come. This is thanks to its large market opportunity and the low penetration of beauty sales in Australian in comparison to other Western markets. UBS currently has a buy rating and $6.20 price target on its shares.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Another option is Altium. It is an electronic design software provider best-known for its Altium Designer and Altium 365 platforms. These platforms are dominating the electronic design market and look set to underpin strong growth for Altium over the next decade. Especially given the increasing demand for this kind of software thanks to the growing Internet of Things and artificial intelligence markets. UBS is positive on Altium as well. It currently has a buy rating with a $34.00 price target on its shres.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

CSL could be another ASX share to buy. Especially given how the shares of this leading biotechnology company have fallen heavily from their highs. This share price weakness has been driven by plasma collection headwinds caused by the pandemic. The good news is that increased demand for flu vaccines from the Seqirus business looks set to offset much or even all of this. And with plasma collections expected to improve once the pandemic passes, CSL appears well-placed for growth once conditions ease. This should be supported by its lucrative R&D pipeline, which is filled with a number of potentially lucrative therapies. Citi has a buy rating and $310 price target on its shares.

ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)

Another option to consider is ResMed. It is a leading medical device company with a focus on the sleep treatment market. ResMed has been growing at a very strong rate over the last decade thanks to the quality of its products and its huge and growing market opportunity. The latter is being underpinned by the increasing awareness of sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea. Morgans appears to believe that ResMed can continue this strong form in the years to come. It has an add rating and $30.09 price target on its shares.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

A final option to consider is Xero. This cloud-based business and accounting platform provider has been growing strongly over the last few years. This has been driven by the shift to the cloud, its international expansion, acquisitions, and increasing revenue per user. Pleasingly, these same trends look set to underpin further strong growth over the next decade. This should be supported by its burgeoning app ecosystem. Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company. It has a buy rating and $157.00 price target on its shares.

More reading

• Why the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price outperformed in March
• Why the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price is going around in circles
• Top ASX shares to buy in April 2021
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Is the ASX tech sector in for more pain?

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 Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Adore Beauty Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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We’re already into April 2021. There are some really impressive ASX shares that could be worth taking note of and investigating.

The below businesses are delivering solid levels of growth right now and have compelling international business growth plans to keep growing for years to come.

These two ASX shares could deliver outperformance over the coming years:

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is one of the leading auto parts business in Australasia with a number of operating businesses including Burson and Autobarn.

A key to unlocking growth for the coming years has been the diversification of its operations. It has made some acquisitions in the trucks parts space and perhaps most interestingly, it’s looking to grow a large Burson network in Asia.

Bapcor said that Thailand stores are performing well given the circumstances, especially due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the company sees potential to expand.

Under the company five year strategy and targets, Bapcor disclosed that it currently has six locations in Thailand generating $4 million of revenue. The target is more than 80 Burson locations with more than $100 million revenue. There are plenty of other countries in Asia that Bapcor can expand into.

The FY21 half-year result was particularly strong, compared to normal times, with revenue growth of 25.8% to $883.6 million, net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 49.7% to $67.7 million and pro forma earnings per share (EPS) increased 28.9% thanks to particularly strong retail revenue growth.

Looking to expand its Asian exposure, the ASX share has acquired a 25% stake of Tye Soon. It’s described as the most prominent independent auto parts distributor of South East and North East Asia with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia. Its annual revenue is SG$200 million (Singapore dollars), which is equivalent to around $196 million Australian dollars.

Bapcor has invested SG$12.5 million for the 25% stake.  

City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX)

City Chic is an ASX share that sells plus-size clothing, footwear and accessories to plus-size women.

Whilst the company does have a sizeable bricks and mortar store network, there’s a lot more to it than that.

It’s now represented by a number of different brands – City Chic, Avenue, Evans, CCX, Hips & Curves and Fox & Royal. It also has websites operating in ANZ, the UK and the US, as well as wholesale partnerships in the US, UK and Europe.

City Chic is growing in multiple ways, including through acquisitions to expand its presence. It can acquire other retailers at a low price and turn them into online-only operators.

The FY21 half-year result had double digit growth, despite all of the COVID-19 effects. HY21 revenue rose 13.5% to $119 million and statutory profit increased 24.8% to $13.1 million.

The company has a number of focuses to grow in the coming months and years.

It’s integrating Evans and introducing a wider range of products. It’s continuing to execute on its re-engagement strategy of the Avenue customer base. City Chic is going to introduce a conservative product stream to Australia and New Zealand. The ASX share is looking to expand its presence in the UK by leveraging the Evans customer base, introducing marketplace partnerships and expanding the wholesale business. It’s looking to enter Europe through marketplace partnerships. City Chic is also looking to change its stores to larger format stores.

At the current City Chic share price, it’s valued at 24x FY23’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Got money to invest? Here are 2 ASX shares to buy
• Brokers are bullish on these 4 ASX 200 shares
• 2 ASX retail shares delivering strong growth
• ASX 200 up 0.35%: Crowns surges, ANZ & CBA settle class actions

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. 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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If you’re looking to boost your income with some dividend shares, then you might want to consider the ones listed below.

Here’s why analysts have given them buy ratings:

People Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: PPE)

The first dividend share to look at is People Infrastructure. It is a leading workforce management company that provides companies with innovative solutions to workforce challenges.

It has been a positive performer over the last couple of years and continued this trend in FY 2021. In February, People Infrastructure released its half year result and revealed a 3.1% increase in revenue to $201 million and a 51.5% increase in normalised net profit to $14.8 million.

Morgans appears confident its positive form can continue. It recently retained its add rating and lifted its price target to $4.22. Morgans is also forecasting a fully franked dividend of 13 cents per share in FY 2021.

Based on the current People Infrastructure share price of $3.67, this represents an attractive 3.5% dividend yield.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Transurban is another ASX dividend share for income investors to consider buying.

The toll road operator has had a difficult 12 months because of the pandemic’s impact on mobility. However, with the worst of the pandemic seemingly behind us, traffic on its roads looks set to rebound to previous levels over the next 12 months.

This could lead to its distributions returning back to previous levels as well in FY 2022. So, with the Transurban share price still down 15% from its high, this could make in an opportune time to make a long term investment.

Macquarie certainly believes this is a case. Last month it put an outperform rating and $14.76 price target on its shares. The broker is forecasting dividends of 40.5 cents per share and 60.4 cents per share in FY 2021 and FY 2022, respectively.

Based on the latest Transurban share price of $13.26, this will mean forward yields of 3% and 4.55%, respectively.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 gets its mojo back
• 2 growing ASX dividend shares to buy
• 2 outstanding ASX shares for your retirement portfolio
• Why the Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price is on watch
• 3 ways to help protect your ASX share portfolio against inflation

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 People Infrastructure Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Transurban Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended People Infrastructure 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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Some ASX shares are seeing much higher levels of growth because of the impacts of COVID-19.

With international travel still being restricted, lots of people are re-directing their household spending to other areas, which is boosting many ASX retail shares. There are also some healthcare businesses that are involved directly in the fight against the pandemic.

These two ASX shares could be ones to watch:

Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL)

The Sonic share price is only up 11.5% from where it was on 14 March 2020, yet the company is reporting much higher levels of revenue and profit because of COVID-19 testing. It’s possible that COVID-19 testing could go on for years.

When releasing the half-year result for FY21, Sonic Healthcare said that it generated significant revenue and earnings thanks to the testing because it leveraged existing infrastructure. In the middle of February 2021, the company said it had performed more than 18 million COVID-19 PCR tests.

Half-year revenue was up 33% to $4.4 billion, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 89% to $1.3 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) increased 166% to $678 million.

Global base revenue for the ASX share, which excludes COVID-19 testing, was only down 1% – this has been significantly less impacted than in the first few months of the pandemic. The imaging division experienced revenue growth of 14%, much higher than the long-term industry average – Sonic called this an amazing outcome which included taking market share.

Sonic expects COVID-19 testing to continue into the foreseeable future with growing demand for COVID-19 immunity testing. It’s also looking for acquisition opportunities.

The Sonic share price is valued at 24x FY22’s estimated earnings.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is one of the businesses that has seen significant growth of demand for some of its retail businesses.

People have invested in home projects and renovations, which has benefited the Bunnings business. In the half-year result, Bunnings experienced revenue growth of 24.4% to $9 billion and underlying earnings growth of 39%.

Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said:

The strength of the sales and earnings results reflects Bunnings’ solid execution of the strategic agenda and the ability of the operating model to successfully adapt to changing customer behaviour and operating environments.

Bunnings continued to invest in the customer experience through its commitment to lowest prices, expansion of online product ranges and upgrades to in-store product displays across kitchen and garage organisation ranges. Travel restrictions and customers spending more time undertaking projects at home continued to support sales growth.

Another key area that the ASX share has benefited from was Officeworks which saw revenue growth of 23.7% and earnings rose 22% to $100 million. The company continues to see demand for technology and home office products as customers spend more time learning and working from home.

Kmart Group, which includes Kmart, Target and Catch, is seeing a resurgence of performance with an improvement of profitability at each business. Whilst revenue only increased by 9%, and underlying earnings went up 38.4%.

Wesfarmers is looking to diversify its earnings and it recently gave the go ahead for the lithium Mt Holland project.

According to Commsec, the Wesfarmers share price is valued at 25x FY21’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• Why the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is up today
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 4 ASX shares with director buys this month
• Why an AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) demerger might be a problem
• BlueScope (ASX: BSL) share price could get cut of Biden’s US$3tn boost

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form during the first quarter of 2021. Over the three months, the benchmark index climbed 3.1%.

While there were a good number of shares climbing higher with the market, some stood out with particularly strong gains. Here’s why these were the best performers on the ASX 200 during the first quarter:

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)

The Lynas share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 during the quarter with a 55% gain. This rare earths producer’s shares were in demand with investors thanks to a very strong half year result and news out of China. In respect to the latter, reports that China is looking to curb the exports of rare earth minerals that are crucial to defence industry gave the Lynas share price a big boost. These materials are used to manufacture sophisticated weaponry such as fighter jets. As Lynas is the largest rare earths producer outside China, this could bode well for its future growth.

Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK)

The Virgin Money share price wasn’t too far behind with a gain of 45% during the first quarter. The key driver of this strong gain was the release of a stronger than expected first quarter update in February. That update revealed that the UK based bank “had a profitable and positive first quarter.” In addition to this, with its COVID bad debts comfortably within the level assumed in its provision, the worst appears to be over for Virgin Money.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price may have crashed lower in March but that couldn’t stop it recording a 39.5% gain over the first three months of the year. Investors were fighting to get hold of the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares for a number of reasons during the first quarter. This includes a strong second quarter update and an overall re-rating of BNPL shares following the highly successful Affirm IPO in the United States. In addition to this, speculation that Zip is considering a secondary listing in the United States went down well with investors. This would give Zip greater access to US capital markets.

Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)

The Codan share price was on fire and stormed 38.1% higher during the first quarter. This gain was driven by a very strong half year result from the technology company and the announcement of a major acquisition. In respect to its results, thanks largely to strong demand for metal detectors, Codan reported a 14% increase in half year sales to $194 million and a 36% lift in profit after tax to $41.3 million. Since the end of the half, Codan has announced the acquisition of US-based Domo Tactical Communications for $114 million. And just yesterday, Codan added to this with purchase of Zetron, Inc. for US$45 million.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares in the Q1 of 2021
• ASX 200 rises, Webjet sinks, Boral climbs
• Why the JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price surged 19% in March
• Here’s why ASX cannabis shares are lighting up today
• Are ASX 200 value shares still good value? Why these experts are at loggerheads

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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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It was a positive first quarter of 2021 for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). During the three months, the benchmark index climbed a solid 3.1%.

Unfortunately, not all shares on the index climbed higher with the market. Here’s why these were the worst performers on the ASX 200 during the first quarter:

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG)

The Resolute share price was the worst performer during the first quarter with a 44.7% decline. A softening gold price, a weak full year result, and disappointing guidance were weighing on this gold miner’s shares already prior to a bombshell announcement in the final week of the month. That announcement revealed that the Ghanaian government terminated its Bibiani Gold Mine licence. This was just weeks before the expected completion of the sale of the mine to Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining for US$105 million. There is speculation that the company may need to raise funds if the sale no longer proceeds.

Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL)

The Nuix share price was out of form and crashed 37.5% lower during the three months. The catalyst for this was a surprisingly disappointing half year result from the investigative analytics and intelligence software provider. Nuix fell short of expectations during the half, despite listing on the market just a few weeks before the end of it on 4 December. The selloff and criticism from analysts were so severe, management put out a release defending its performance. It also noted that its full year guidance has been reaffirmed despite the weak half.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The Kogan share price wasn’t far behind with a disappointing 36.9% decline over the period. This decline appears to have been driven largely by a combination of profit taking and concerns over rising bond yields. This offset a stellar half year result in February that saw Kogan deliver a 97.4% increase in gross sales to $638.2 million and a 250.2% jump in adjusted net profit after tax to $36.5 million.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price was a poor performer and sank 35.9% lower during the quarter. This artificial intelligence services company’s shares came under pressure following the release of its full year results. For the 12 months ended 31 December, Appen reported a 12% increase in revenue to $599.9 million and an 8% lift in EBITDA to $108.6 million. In FY 2021, Appen is forecasting EBITDA growth of 18% to 28%. Although this is solid growth in the current environment, it fell well short of the market’s expectations. Analysts appear concerned that increasing competition could put pressure on pricing and weigh on its growth.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises, Webjet sinks, Boral climbs
• Why the JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price surged 19% in March
• Here’s why ASX cannabis shares are lighting up today
• Are ASX 200 value shares still good value? Why these experts are at loggerheads
• Why the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price rose 11% in March

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 Appen Ltd and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd and Nuix Pty 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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