You may have seen the name Catherine ‘Cathie’ Wood pop up on your investing radar over the past year or so. Or perhaps the name of the investment company she runs – ARK Invest. Ms Wood and ARK have attracted some of the most intense investor interest, particularly amongst retail investors, of almost any US fund manager in recent times. ARK’s funds even pop up on the most popular US shares that ASX investors trade from time to time, which the Fool covers most weeks.  So who is Cathie Wood and ARK? And why are they now so famous?

ARK is a funds management business over in the United States. Ms Wood is its founder, CEO and chief investment officer. ARK has gained its fame through its suite of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which specialise in high-growth, future-facing and disruptive companies, usually in the tech space. Ms Wood first rose to fame with her uber-bullish views on some prominent tech shares.

Wood drew a lot of eyeballs a couple of years ago with her unabashedly optimistic views on the electric car and vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA). Back in May 2019, Cathie Wood surprised even the more bullish investors of Tesla when she spruiked a US$5,905 share price target for the company. At the time, Tesla was a US$40 share (adjusted for last year’s stock split). It was also just before Tesla went on its millionaire-minting run. Over the following year or two, Tesla was to shoot up more than 1,100% in value. The fact that Ms Wood was one of the first investors to come out of the gates with such a bullish price target for Tesla earned her and Ark a lot of respect in hindsight.

Growth at scale

But since the days of calling Tesla’s success, Cathie Wood and ARK also put some pretty convincing runs on the board. Its flagship fund – the ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) – returned an impressive near-40% in 2019, and almost 150% in 2020. ARK Innovation is a fund that incorporates the ‘best ARK picks’ from its other, more sector-specific ETFs. Between 1 January 2021 and 12 February, it added another ~25% or so. That’s enough performance to catch any investors’ eye. Other ARK ETFs performed similarly well, if not better, over these time frames. 

But since February 2021, things haven’t been entirely ‘coming up Milhouse’ for ARK funds. The ARKK ETF has corrected sharply since February when it reached its peak of US$159.70 a unit. On today’s pricing, ARKK units are back to US$112.28, giving up more than 28% off of that high.

So is ARK a spent force? Let’s take a deeper dive.

What’s in an ARK ETF?

Here are the top holdings, and their weightings, in the flagship ARKK ETF, as of 27 May:

ARKK Holding	ETF Weighting (%)
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)	10.24%
TelaDoc Health Inc (NYSE: TDOC)	6.05%
Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU)	5.8%
Square Inc (NYSE: SQ)	4.69%
Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP)	4.17%
Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM)	4.07%
Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO)	3.64%
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN)	3.63%
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT)	3.5%
Unity Software Inc (NYSE: U)	3.46%

As you can see, the fund is heavily weighted to high-growth tech shares. We have Tesla (naturally taking out a large chunk at the top there. But we also have companies like Roku, Square, Shopify, Spotify, Zoom and Coinbase.

These companies are all very similar in nature. They are disruptive, tech-based companies that have long growth runways, and a lot of future potential. But they are also not too profitable today, and still very much in ‘growth phase’. These companies are at the stage of their lives where they are prioritising revenue growth over profitability. That’s why most of them don’t even have price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios yet. Or if they do, they are normally in the triple-digits. Take Tesla. Its P/E ratio is currently sitting at 635.7.

What about some other ETFs?

We see similar patterns in some of ARK’s other popular ETFs.

Here are the top ten holdings for the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKF) fund:

ARKF Holding	ETF Weighting (%)
Square Inc(NYSE: SQ)	10%
Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP)	5.25%
Sea Ltd (NYSE: SE)	4.81%
Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ: Z)	4.68%
PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL)	4.58%
Adyen NV (AMS: ADYEN)	3.42%
Pinterest Inc (NYSE: PINS)	3.38%
Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO)	3.35%
JD.com Inc (NASDAQ: JD)	3.35%
Tencent Holdings ADR (OTCMKTS: TCEHY)	3.27%

And here is what the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE: ARKW) fund holds:

ARKW Holding	ETF Weighting (%)
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)	10.22%
Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP)	4.87%
Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR)	4.72%
Square Inc (NYSE: SQ)	4.63%
TelaDoc Health Inc (NYSE: TDOC)	4.47%
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC)	4.39%
Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU)	3.95%
Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT)	3.86%
Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO)	3.7%
Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN)	3.46%

Again, very similar businesses – high growth, disruptive, priced for future profitability rather than the money they make today.

So why have ARK funds had a bad few months?

And now we can look at the main problem that these funds face. They tend to do well, really well, when the market is running hot, and growth companies are ‘in vogue’. By definition, growth companies tend to outperform the broader markets during a bull run and underperform during a bear market. 2019, and post-COVID 2020 were decidedly the former.

But why the underperformance since February 2020? After all, the US S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) has gone and pushed to more record highs since 12 February. Most recently on 7 May.

Well, another factor at play has been fears of inflation and rising bond yields, which have spiked in the months since 12 February. According to CNBC, the US 10-year Treasury yield was well under 1% at the start of 2021 and was around 1.18% on 12 February. This yield reached a high of roughly 1.75% in late March and still stands at 1.61% today.

Rising bond yields typically turn sentiment against companies who are being priced on future earnings, rather than what they offer today. In other words, most of the stocks that ARK funds hold. We saw similar gyrations in our own ASX tech sector between February and May.

What does the future hold for ARK?

The big corrections in the value of Ark funds over the past few months might have dented some of the optimism that many of its investors would have been feeling in the months and years prior. But if the market was once again to fall back in love with the kinds of future-facing tech companies that ARK invest in, it is conceivable that we will see ARK funds back at all-time highs. Time will only tell. But Cathie Wood and ARK are probably not going away anytime soon regardless – as barometers of high-octane growth stock investing if nothing else.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is pushing higher on the day of its annual general meeting (AGM).

In afternoon trade, the artificial intelligence (AI) data annotation products and solutions provider’s shares are up 2% to $13.54.

What happened at the AGM?

There were a couple of talking points from Appen’s AGM earlier today. The first was management reaffirming its guidance for FY 2021.

According to the company’s AGM update, Appen has maintained its guidance for underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) guidance. It continues to expect underlying EBITDA of US$83 million to US$90 million this year. This represents constant currency growth of 18% to 28% year on year.

Once again, management advised that its underlying EBITDA is expected to be heavily weighted to the second half. This is due largely to key projects that were delayed in late 2020 returning with a skew to delivery in the second half.

In addition, the first half cost base reflects the full year cost of 2020 hiring and its resource optimisation benefits aren’t expected to flow through until the second half.

What else?

Perhaps the biggest talking point from the Appen AGM was its shareholder vote, and particularly the voting on its remuneration report.

A total of 47.6% of votes were cast against the remuneration report, giving Appen its first strike. If shareholders were to give it a second strike next year, it would result in a board spill.

They also came very close to blocking the granting of performance rights to the company’s CEO, Mark Brayan. Approximately 43.9% of shareholder votes were against the granting of 55,908 performance rights.

With the Appen share price down 70% from its 52-week high, shareholders appear unhappy with the way the company has been run recently and are making this known today.

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

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

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has been one of the best investors of the modern era.

Her flagship exchange-traded fund ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKK), which focuses on disruptive tech stocks like Tesla, Roku, and Square, has returned more than 400% since its founding in 2014, outperforming the S&P 500 by nearly a factor of four, and Wood garnered much acclaim when five of her funds returned more than 100% last year.

Though ARK ETFs have mostly slipped this year with the broader sell-off in growth stocks, given her track record, it’s worth paying attention to what Wood has to say.

The ARK chief has been a big backer of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and said at a Barron’s virtual conference last November that she saw the cryptocurrency hitting $500,000. Amid the recent crypto crash, Wood reaffirmed her price target on Bitcoin, though she acknowledged the environmental concerns that led Tesla CEO Elon Musk to say his company would no longer accept the digital currency as payment.

Let’s take a look at Wood’s argument before we examine whether it can hit $500,000.

Wood’s take

Back in Nov. 2020, Wood argued that a number of catalysts were supporting Bitcoin’s growth. She called it the reserve currency of the digital ecosystem and essentially said it was the crypto equivalent of the dollar.

Wood also noted that the central bank distributed currencies (CBDCs) that countries like China and the U.S. are beginning to create are bullish for Bitcoin and other crypto coins. They will help legitimize cryptocurrencies by giving the idea behind them a government stamp of approval and by highlighting the advantages of cryptocurrencies in general. Those include the fact digital coins like Bitcoin are pseudonymous and can’t be tracked to the user, unlike the digital yuan that China is launching.

The ARK chief also pointed to the increasing institutional embrace for Bitcoin, and said that if institutions were to allocate around 5% of their funds to Bitcoin the way they have with asset classes like real estate or emerging markets, that would lift the price to $400,000 or $500,000.

At those levels, Bitcoin would be worth roughly the same as all of the gold in the world. That fits with another argument for Bitcoin’s value, as many backers claim it’s digital gold due to it being capped at 21 million coins, which creates artificial scarcity.

Can Bitcoin really get to $500,000?

Back in 2018, Wood slapped a split-adjusted $800 price target on Tesla, which seemed outlandish at the time as it called for the stock to increase by more than 1,000%. However, Tesla eclipsed that price last year, making Wood look prophetic.

The $500,000 price target for Bitcoin implies a similar gain as the currency would have to increase about 12 times to reach that mark. 

The price target itself makes a good headline, but it’s less relevant than Wood’s overall bullishness. Price targets give investors a perception of precision that isn’t possible even in the stock market, and is even less realistic in an asset class without any fundamentals like cryptocurrency.

Wood’s math to get to a $500,000 Bitcoin price assumes that institutional investors would build up to a mid-single-digit allocation in the cryptocurrency, something she also said was “not going to happen.” The example was more of an academic one than a realistic one, and an example, along with Bitcoin’s supposed equivalence to gold, of how Bitcoin could reach a price of $500,000.

In other words, investors shouldn’t expect Bitcoin to hit such a level anytime soon, especially as that would imply adding roughly $10 trillion to the cryptocurrency’s market value, or the equivalent of about a third of the S&P 500.

Still, Wood’s bullish stance shouldn’t be ignored as she has been right so far about several other disruptive innovations, and her funds have been aggressively gaining exposure to Bitcoin through purchases of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Coinbase.

Bitcoin’s recent volatility shows the asset still remains highly speculative and confidence in its long-term growth is fickle, but if it does become the digital reserve currency as Wood argued, it could hit her price target given a long enough time frame.

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

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

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Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) announced an update for its Iron Bridge Magnetite Project today. The Fortescue share price opened strongly this morning, pushing 2.55% higher to an intraday high of $22.84. However, its shares have given back their gains, currently trading at $22.32, 0.22% higher.

Fortescue share price flat on Iron Bridge update

Fortescue’s Iron Bridge project has raised questions in the past due to potentially higher than expected capex expenditure. As well as the company’s leadership change in February which saw the resignation of its project director, Manie McDonald.

Today, investors will receive greater visibility into the project after the completion of both technical and commercial assessments.

Fortescue reports that the Iron Bridge project is expected to deliver 22 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of high grade 67% Fe magnetite concentrate. To add some perspective, the company mined some 204.3 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) of ore in FY20. First production is expected to take place by December 2022 and ramp up to full production rate over the next 12 to 18 months.

The company has made a number of strategic investments to enhance the product range, increase production and shipping capacity to meet today’s strong demand for iron ore.

Fortescue estimates that it will need to front up its share of US$2.5 billion to US$2.7 billion of the total US$3.3 billion to US$3.5 billion of capital expenditure. The update also flags that the joint venture has incurred capital expenditure of US$1.5 billion as at 30 April 2021, with Fortescue’s share of US$1.3 billion.

The project is expected to diversify Fortescue’s product mix, bringing on board 67% Fe content low impurity concentrate. This compares to the lower grade iron ore that Fortescue is usually known for.

From a cost perspective, the mine possesses a competitive cost structure with life of mine C1 cost estimates of US$33 to US$38 wmt.

Management commentary

Fortescue CEO Elizabeth Gains said Iron Bridge was well positioned to meet market demand and deliver strong returns for the joint venture and stakeholders.

The iron ore market fundamentals support the investment in the Iron Bridge project, and we anticipate strong demand for this high value-in-use product, which will attract a premium to the Platts 65% Fe CFR Index.

Led by our highly experienced project team, completion of the technical and commercial assessment of the Iron Bridge project has confirmed the optimal transportation solution, while also addressing contractor and logistical constraints, managing capital costs and confirming first production by December 2022.

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The Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd (ASX: EOS) share price was a big winner on Thursday. The company’s shares gained 6.62% yesterday to close at $4.19 following news of its partnership agreement with Diehl Defence.

But the Electro Optic share price has given back those gains on Friday, falling 7.88% to $3.86 at the time of writing. This comes following release of the company’s AGM presentation and financial guidance for 2021.

Electro Optic shares slide despite positive growth outlook

The Electro Optic share price is dipping lower today despite the company forecasting 2021 revenue of $235 million to $245 million, representing a 30% to 36% increase on 2020 figures. EOS described the forecast as a “key growth target as it funds mandatory corporate compliance processes for the next stage of managed growth”.

The company expects this revenue to translate into underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of between $20 million and $25 million, before its SpaceLink acquisition costs (which total $17 million). This compares to its $28.5 million EBIT loss in 2020 and $21.8 million EBIT in 2019.

The company flags the potential risks that COVID-19 could continue to have on its financial and operational performance, and today’s guidance is provided on the basis that market conditions do not change.

On a more positive note, Electro Optic Systems highlighted the likelihood for potential material contract awards in 2H21 that could drive earnings upside.

COVID-19 challenges

The weakness experienced by the Electro Optic share price amidst the height of the pandemic was largely driven by delivery and supply chain related challenges. The company noted that it derives 95% of its revenue from exports which are air freighted.

Exports ceased in March 2020 for several reasons, including a severe reduction in air freight capacity, COVID-19 lockdowns and closure of key defence sites designed as customer delivery points. Other factors contributing to the challenging trading conditions included the national lockout of the company’s engineers, who are essential to the final pre-delivery process, and access to customer testing facilities required for product acceptance.

The bottleneck across both production and the timing of cash flows had a significant impact on the Electro Optic share price last year. Today’s announcement advised that all these issues have now been overcome, with the company recently receiving $30 million in export payments. It also has over $100 million worth of finished product positioned near specific customer delivery sites.

Key factors to drive growth

As part of the company’s growth outlook commentary, it highlighted a number of factors that could drive value moving forward.

Electro Optic has ambitious plans for its SpaceLink business. The company plans to build and operate a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation, optimsed for defence and government customers. The project is expected to be operational by 2024, producing a positive operating cash flow. Today’s announcement advised that SpaceLink funding for the initial constellation of satellites will begin in 3Q21, and will create an “initial value event for EOS shareholders”.

The company expects to see a surge in growth opportunities, describing the situation as a “demand tsunami on [the] horizon”. According to EOS, it is globally well-positioned in the fastest-growing defence market segments including counter-unmanned aerial vehicles, directed energy and remotely-operated combat systems.

The company could also be hoping Australia will be a significant growth driver, with its planned $1 trillion spending on defence over 20 years to 2040. Electro Optic advises it is one of only two to three Australian defence prime contractors providing direct access to this market. Other key growth drivers identified by EOS include the growing demand for space products and services, and the world’s largest defence market, the United States.

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Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their estimates and recommendations once again. This has led 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:

Catapult Group International Ltd (ASX: CAT)

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted their price target on this sports analytics and wearables company’s shares to $2.46. The broker made the move following the release of Catapult’s full year results for FY 2021 earlier this week. Morgans was pleased with its second half annualised contract value (ACV) growth and its low churn. The Catapult share price is trading at $2.19 this afternoon.

Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)

A note out of Credit Suisse reveals that its analysts have upgraded this horticulture company’s shares to an outperform rating but cut the price target on them to $4.15. According to the note, Credit Suisse believes that Costa’s disappointing first half guidance has been driven by seasonal factors rather than structural issues. In light of this and the sharp pullback in its share price yesterday, the broker sees value in its shares at the current level. The Costa share price is fetching $3.40 on Friday.

Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC)

Analysts at Macquarie have retained their outperform rating and $74.85 price target on this private hospital operator’s shares. According to the note, the broker sees positives from the company’s plan to acquire UK-based Spire Healthcare for 1 billion pounds ($1.8 billion). Macquarie believes the deal will provide strategic and financial benefits, as well as support its long term growth in the UK market. The Ramsay share price is trading at $63.22 on Friday afternoon.

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ASX-listed buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) has tripled its UK active customer count and grown its merchants base by 433%.

The New Zealand fintech revealed this week in its full-year results that in the 12 months to 31 March, active customers in the UK went from 154,000 to 463,000.

Managing director Gary Rohloff said the business had the pedal to the floor in Britain.

“The UK has an addressable retail market of £394 billion, more than twice the size of the Australian market. It is also a market where BNPL is still in its infancy but is expected to grow quickly,” he said.

“Over the past year, we have accelerated our marketing activities, entered new strategic partnerships, invested in new technology and grown our staff numbers in the UK to take advantage of the opportunity provided.”

The number of participating merchants in the UK went from 335 to 1,785 in the past year. The gross merchandise value, which is the amount of sales that went through the platform, rocketed up 504%.

Rohloff said Laybuy was now “widely recognised” as one of the top 3 BNPL brands in Britain.

The Laybuy share price was up 2.73% on Friday morning, to trade at 56 cents. The company listed on the ASX back in September after an initial public offer price of $1.41.

Laybuy vs Afterpay

Laybuy’s UK growth actually outstrips that of Australian sector leader Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

Afterpay, for historical reasons, is known as Clearpay in Britain.

In the latest business update last month, Afterpay had grown its UK customer base 134%, from 800,000 to 1.8 million for the year ending 31 March.

So while Afterpay’s market share clearly still dwarfs Laybuy’s, the yearly growth falls short of the smaller rival.

Laybuy is hoping its virtual credit card and brand partnerships will further boost its European expansion in the coming 12 months.

“Laybuy is also finalising strategic partnerships with Rakuten Group Inc, Awin and Sovrn, which will see Laybuy customers having access to more than 5,000 merchants in the UK — including some of the country’s largest and most iconic brands such as ASOS, Nike, Marks and Spencer Group, easyJet, Amazon.com, Boots and eBay from Q2 in FY22,” said Rohloff.

“These partnerships will allow our customers to use Laybuy’s Tap to Pay digital card to shop and BNPL directly through the Laybuy app with these merchants, without the need for further merchant integration or direct relationship being required.”

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

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

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is about to make the biggest change to its lineup in more than a quarter-century. Founder Jeff Bezos will formally relinquish his role as CEO, handing the reins to Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing unit.

At Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting, which was held virtually on Wednesday, Bezos announced that the formal changing of the guard will take place on July 5, marking the 27-year anniversary of the date Amazon was incorporated back in 1994. 

Bezos also had high praise for Jassy, noting that he would be leaving Amazon in good hands. “He has the highest of high standards, and I guarantee Andy will never let the universe make us typical,” Bezos said during the digital meeting. “He has the energy needed to keep alive in us what has made us special.”

He also acknowledged that the company is still committed to making big bets that could ultimately fail, like the Amazon Care telehealth service and the Project Kuiper satellite internet network. “The only way to get above-average returns is to take risks, and many won’t pay off,” Bezos said.

He is well known for his views on failing. In Amazon’s 2018 letter to shareholders, he argued that good leaders should make it OK for their company to fail. “If the size of your failures isn’t growing, you’re not going to be inventing at a size that can actually move the needle,” Bezos wrote. He went on to say that for a company of Amazon’s size, it would “occasionally have multi-billion dollar failures,” noting that not even all good bets pay off.

In conjunction with Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings report in February, the company announced that Bezos could transition to the role of executive chair sometime during the 2021 third quarter, with Jassy assuming the role of CEO. At the time, Amazon didn’t provide a specific date for the changeover.

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

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

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The Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) share price is rising today following news the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) could be 38% to 62% higher than previously predicted.

At the time of writing, shares in Aussie Broadband are trading 0.75% higher than yesterday’s close at $2.67. During morning trade, the Aussie Broadband share priced jumped by more than 11% before retreating to its current level.

The telecommunications company also announced it has lowered its guidance on the number of residential connections it expects to see added to its network in 2021.

Finally, Aussie Broadband has named the first customer for its new white label solution and updated the market on its optic fibre rollout.

Let’s take a closer look at the company’s news.

Aussie Broadband’s update

Increased EBITDA

Aussie Broadband stated this morning it now expects EBITDA of between $17 million and $20 million, excluding approximately $1 million of expenses from the company’s initial public offering (IPO).

Previously, Aussie Broadband estimated its EBITDA for the 2021 financial year, excluding IPO costs, would be $12.3 million.

The company said the updated guidance comes as it experiences strong growth in the average revenue per user in its retail segment. It’s also seen growth in its business segment.

According to Aussie Broadband, revenue is also expected to benefit from rebates related to the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Drop in estimated new customers

In further news that could be impacting the Aussie Broadband share price, the company stated it has lowered its residential connection guidance.

Previously, Aussie Broadband said it hoped to connect between 380,000 and 410,000 households to its services in the 2021 financial year. That figure has now been lowered to between 360,000 and 365,000.

The estimated drop comes as the onboarding of the first customers of Aussie Broadband’s white label solution is delayed until the 2022 financial year.

The company has also been affected by an increase in high-speed market competition caused by NBN’s Focus on Fast campaign. It has also been hit by recent connection issues caused by the NBN.

Aussie Broadband’s business customer connections look likely to achieve the lower-end figure of 37,000 provided in previous guidance – although its estimated top-end figure has decreased from 42,000 to 38,000.

In more positive news for Aussie Broadband (though, not for Victoria), the company expects its network utilisation to increase over the next 7 days due to the COVID-19 lockdown.   

White label solution

After tantalising the market in April by electing not to name its foundation white label solution customer, Aussie Broadband today announced it is Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG).

As part of the white label solution, Origin Energy will sell Aussie Broadband’s NBN, Opticomm, and VoIP services under its own brand. Aussie Broadband will be providing customer support and service delivery for Origin’s telecommunication customers.

Aussie Broadband is in contact with other brands interested in being involved with its white label solution.

Optic fibre rollout

Finally, Aussie Broadband today advised its optic fibre network rollout is going to plan.

The company currently has more than 250 prospective optic fibre sales in its pipeline.

Once complete, the company’s fibre network will include 76 points of interconnections and more than 20 data centres. A point of interconnection is needed to connect a customer’s home to the NBN. Currently, it has almost completed a complex section of its Sydney build.

Aussie Broadband has begun construction of the network in Western Australia and Queensland and is continuing the rollout in New South Wales and Victoria. Work in South Australia is due to start in the coming weeks.

The company expects to have between 28 and 31 points of interconnection and data centres completed by 30 June.

Aussie Broadband share price snapshot

Aussie Broadband shares need today’s good news as they tackle a tough month on the ASX.

Since the start of May, the Aussie Broadband share price has fallen by around 12%.

Despite the poor month’s performance, the company’s shares are still up by around 34% year to date. They’ve also gained around 40% since their debut on the ASX in October 2020.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $500 million, with approximately 190 million shares outstanding.

More reading

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• APA (ASX:APA) share price falls despite expansion and new agreement
• Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) share price edges higher on third quarter results

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is trying to find its footing in what has otherwise been a volatile May. While the index might be trying to decide whether or not it wants to say above or below 7,000, these ASX200 shares have cruised to 52-week highs.

ALS Ltd (ASX: ALQ)

ALS could be described as a classic slow-moving ASX share. The global testing, inspection and certification company has a mixed history of financial results, with its fair share of both earnings misses and surprises. It managed to do the latter this week.

The ALS share price surged a rare 12.8% to $12.30 on Wednesday after the release of its full-year results. This not only marked a 52-week high, but a significant 9-year high. While many shares have had the tendency to give back their gains after a move up, the ALS share price has managed to stay near Wednesday’s highs, trading at $12.23 at the time of writing.

Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)

The Codan share price could be one of the top-performing ASX shares this year, running a solid 68% year-to-date.

Its shares took a breather between August 2020 and February 2021, chopping largely between the $10 to $12 level. It wasn’t until the company acquired a US-based communications supplier in mid-February, that its shares jumped to a new all-time record high of $13.54. Its shares have been trending strongly ever since, marking higher highs and higher lows to another record high on Friday of $19.35.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

A business that operates KFC and Taco Bell franchises isn’t exactly an ASX share you’d expect to see surging 15% in the last 7 trading sessions. The company hasn’t released any market sensitive announcements since December last year, where it delivered a solid set of half-year results.

Positive March retail turnover data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) could be a factor to consider in the recent jump in the Collins Foods share price. The ABS advised that Australian retail turnover increased 1.1% from March 2021 to April 2021, seasonally adjusted.

The ABS especially noted that food retailing was a strong performer, increasing 1.5% following declines across both February and March 2021.

More reading

• Why ALS, Costa, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, & Ramsay shares are falling
• Why ALS, AMA, Chalice Mining, & Jumbo shares are pushing higher
• ASX 200 up 0.2%: CBA share price cracks $100, ALS result impresses
• The ALS (ASX:ALQ) share price is rocketing on its latest results
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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