The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is out of form on Wednesday and sinking lower.

At the time of writing, the payments company’s shares are down 3.5% to $106.91.

This latest decline means the Afterpay share price is now down 33% from its 52-week high.

Why is the Afterpay share price sinking today?

Investors have been selling Afterpay’s shares due to weakness in the tech sector on Wednesday. This has been driven by a very poor night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index overnight.

According to CNBC, there are a number of potential reasons for the weakness in tech stocks. This includes fears about rising inflation, concerns the US Federal Reserve may have to taper monetary stimulus earlier than anticipated, and speculation that corporate tax rates will increase.

Whatever the reason, the concerns have spread to the Australian share market and have sent the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) down 1.5% this afternoon. This compares to a 0.5% gain by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Afterpay presentation

Not even the release of a presentation ahead of its appearance at the Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) conference has been able to support the Afterpay share price.

While the presentation didn’t include any new sales data, it did highlight a number of positives.

One of those was its strong performance during the third quarter. For the three months ended 31 March, Afterpay reported a 104% increase in underlying sales to $5.2 billion. This was driven by increases of 211% and 277% in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively.

At the end of the period there were 14.6 million active customers globally, which was up 75% since the same time last year.

What else?

Afterpay also highlighted the quality of its customer base and the benefits of its platform for consumers.

Management notes that contrary to popular opinion, Afterpay customers in Australia have lower personal liabilities than non-Afterpay customers.

It explained: “This is not the result of demographic differences. A like-for-like comparison with a matched group (i.e. similar age, gender and income as Afterpay customers) shows that Afterpay customers have lower personal liabilities than similar people who do not use Afterpay. Afterpay customers also save more and have higher incomes.”

As for the benefits that consumers get from using Afterpay, chief among them is credit card fee savings. The company estimates that Afterpay saves customers the equivalent of $110 million in credit card fees each year.

Unfortunately, though, despite how positive the presentation was, it hasn’t been enough to prop up the Afterpay share price today.

More reading

• Why Afterpay, ANZ, Domino’s, & Flight Centre shares are tumbling lower
• ASX 200 tech shares under pressure after Nasdaq selloff
• Brokers point to these ASX 200 shares to beat the market in May
• Pssst, I’m a value investor who makes money from growth shares: fundie
• Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) triumphs in battle over Vitalharvest shares

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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The Carnaby Resources Ltd (ASX: CNB) share price is shooting higher today after the company provided an update on its Strelley gold project. 

Carnaby shares lifted by as much as 14% to 36.5 cents per share before dropping back slightly. At the time of writing, the Carnaby share price is sitting at 35 cents, up 9.38% on yesterday’s close.

Carnaby is an Australia-based mineral exploration company, engaged in acquiring, exploring, and developing gold and other mineral deposits. 

Carnaby’s high-grade gold finding

Carnaby’s market update today reported that intrusive-hosted gold mineralisation was intersected for the first time at its Strelley gold project, highlighting the potential for “Hemi style” gold mineralisation within Carnaby’s large 442 square kilometre tenure.

Hemi refers to a highly lucrative gold mine operated by De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG) in the region.

The Strelley project is 100% owned by Carnaby and located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The company also noted that its recently discovered intrusion within the Bastion Prospect remains “completely open and untested” to the north for two kilometres. 

One of the company’s drill holes, the Bastion Prospect diamond drill hole, intersected a “broad mineralised intrusion”. The company report the following assays: 19 metres at 0.3 g/t gold from 136 metres deep, including six metres at 0.6 g/t gold from 149 metres and 0.6 metres at 3.2 g/t gold from 153.4 metres deep.

Carnaby management comments

Carnaby’s managing director Rob Watkins commented on the results:

Hitting potentially “Hemi Style” intrusion hosted gold mineralisation at the Bastion Prospect in the first ever diamond drill holes drilled at Strelley is highly significant and has materially increased the potential of the entire region. We look forward to receiving additional results over the coming weeks and following up with a concerted RC [reverse circulation] drilling program soon.

Carnaby share price snapshot

The Carnaby share price has now risen 45% the past month and 400% over the past 12 months, but has lost more than 7% on two separate days over the past week.

More reading

• Great Boulder (ASX:GBR) share price surges 80%. Here’s why
• Why De Grey, Infomedia, Northern Star, & SEEK shares are storming higher
• ASX 200 up 0.2%: SEEK hits record high, Flight Centre tumbles
• De Grey (ASX:DEG) share price rockets 11% on latest update
• ASX 200 up 0.5%: Coles Q3 update, Westpac settles class action, JB Hi-Fi loses its CEO

Motley Fool contributor Lucas Radbourne-Pugh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The ASX lithium sector has long been an area of interest from ASX investors. Since the days of the 2017 lithium bubble, interest in the sector has been on the rise again. This can be seen in the share prices of some of the ASX’s largest lithium plays. Take Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS), whose shares are up more than 500% over the past 12 months. Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) has enjoyed gains of around 450% over the same period. Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) shares, 230%.

Much of this share price buying pressure has arguably come from the assumption that there is a coming surge in demand for lithium. A surge driven by the adoption of electric cars, vehicles and batteries. Including those from Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

Lithium is a key ingredient in the lithium-ion battery – the most popular design for rechargeable batteries across the board. As such, many investors are hoping that the mass adoption of electric vehicles across the globe will result in a supply squeeze for lithium.

An electric future for ASX lithium shares?

Well, those hopeful investors might be encouraged today. According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the head of Tesla’s energy business in the Asia-Pacific, Mark Twidell, says Australia is in a “prime position” to harvest much of the gains in the lithium sector that he sees coming.

Mr Twidell headed the team that was responsible for South Australia’s ‘big battery’ development that was completed by Tesla in 2018. It now forms a core part of the state’s electricity grid. He was speaking at a Southstart conference for entrepreneurs in Adelaide. Twidell reportedly told the conference that demand for lithium is indeed rising as electric vehicles and large-storage batteries usage ramps up. Predicting that the lithium-ion battery value chain is forecast to be $400 billion by 2030, Mr Twidell reckons Australia’s substantial lithium deposits bode well for us.

“It’s silly to fight to say the transition isn’t happening. It’s happening quickly… Let’s actually increase the benefits to Australia” he was quoted as stating. “It’s the economics at the end of the day which transitions us to where we are going… The environmental benefits make sense, but economics will see us through”.

The report concludes by quoting broker UBS. UBS predicts electric vehicle sales will be around 20% of the total vehicle sales by 2025. That’s up from 4% in 2020.

No doubt many ASX lithium investors will be in furious agreement with Mr Twiwell today.

More reading

• FAANG stocks crushed earnings; here’s another great reason to buy them
• Here are the US shares that ASX investors were buying last week
• Why the Galaxy (ASX:GXY) share price rocketed 55% higher in April
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Shares have average week but a great month
• Why ASX lithium shares like Orocobre (ASX:ORE) soared in April

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Tesla. 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 isn’t normally a record that miners would be happy with, but the surge in shipping costs have given ASX mining shares a major advantage.

The cost to hire a capesize bulk carrier hit an all time high as it went over US$40,000 a day, reported the Australian Financial Review.

The report quoted the Platts Cape T4 index. This index measures the hire cost for carriers that are typically used to ship iron ore from Australia to China.

ASX miners getting squeezed by record shipping costs

Depending on how contracts are structured, the increase hire costs could squeeze profit margins for ASX miners. These include the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price.

ASX coal miners, like the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price, could also be feeling some heat.

When bad news is really good news

But everything is relative. The big increase in shipping costs is giving our iron ore producers an advantage over their Brazilian rivals.

This is because it takes around 10 to 15 days for ASX iron ore producers to ship the commodity to China over a distance of around 4,000 nautical miles.

The distance between Brazilian and Chinese ports are more than three times further!

Turning of the tides

Strong iron ore demand, especially from China, is driving up shipping costs. What’s more, experts say there is no sign that demand is waning.

The Platts Cape T4 index hit US$40,994 a day on Tuesday. It was at $US5711 a day on February 11, according to the AFR.

The index was launched in October 2019. The previous peak it hit was US$30,000 a day back in October 2020.

What’s driving record shipping hire costs

It isn’t only robust demand for iron ore that’s putting upward pressure on shipping costs. Other commodities from coal to grain are also providing a tailwind for ship owners.

Then there is also the restoration of supply chains from the COVID-19 outbreak that’s also adding to demand for bulk carriers.

Temporary advantage to ASX miners

But the high prices for both shipping and iron ore may not last. The AFR reported that Liberum Capital believes inventory levels for iron ore appear to have normalised and ore prices could fall this coming month.

This is partly because Chinese export rebates of 13% for some steel products expire from May. Demand for our iron ore may be peaking, although the outlook for most commodities remain strong.

More reading

• The ASX 200 is within an arms reach of all-time record highs
• These ASX uranium shares are surging this year. Here’s why
• a2 Milk and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• Is the Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price a buy for dividends?
• The ASX’s China problem is getting worse… and quickly

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of BHP Billiton Limited, Fortescue Metals Group Limited and Rio Tinto Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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

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The Alcidion Group Ltd (ASX: ALC) share price has continued its negative run this week and is again backtracking today. This comes despite the company announcing the completion of its Share Purchase Plan (SSP).

In mid-afternoon trade, the healthcare technology company’s shares are down 1.35% to 37 cents.

Why is the Alcidion share price on a downhill trend?

A possible catalyst for the fall of Alcidion shares is that investors are bracing for an impending share dilution.

According to Alcidion’s release, the company advised it has successfully completed its SSP following ‘very strong support’ from shareholders. Over 1,900 applications were received, totalling roughly $30 million. This represents a huge level of investment when compared to the company’s target of $2.5 million.

As a result, the board has decided to increase its SPP offer size to $3 million and scale back applications.

With the revised amount, roughly 9.37 million ordinary shares will be issued at a price of 32 cents apiece.

Most applicants will be allotted the minimum basic entitlement of 3,125 SPP shares (worth $1,000). Any remaining SSP shares will be issued on a pro-rata basis on the size of the applicant’s shareholding at the record date.

Investors who sold their parcel of shares between the record date and SSP closing date or held less than 1,471 shares will not receive any shares.

Alcidion expects the new shares to be issued and available for trading from next Tuesday.

The capital raising follows the successful institutional placement that was announced on 15 April 2021.

Together, the combined funds for both the placement and SSP will give Alcidion a cash injection of $18.4 million.

Comments from the CEO

Alcidion CEO, Kate Quirke commented on the result of the SSP:

The Company would like to thank all shareholders who participated in the Share Purchase Plan and the Placement for their continued support. We acknowledge that shareholders who subscribed may be disappointed by the scale back. Ultimately, balancing the strong SPP participation with the foreseeable capital needs of the business is in the best interests of all shareholders.

Alcidion share price review

Although Alcidion shares might be modestly lower today, for this week alone, shareholders have recorded a loss of almost 10%. However, when looking at the bigger picture, in year-to-date performance, the Alcidion share price has doubled.

The company has a market capitalisation of approximately $384 million, with more than 1 billion shares on issue.

More reading

• Alcidion (ASX:ALC) share price slumps despite ‘strong growth’
• Why the Alcidion (ASX:ALC) share price is up 32% this month
• Why the Alcidion (ASX:ALC) share price just hit an all-time high
• Alcidion (ASX:ALC) shares are in a trading halt. Here’s why.
• 4 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch

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 Alcidion Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alcidion Group 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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Shares in Emyria Ltd (ASX: EMD) are falling today after the company shared news of a psychedelic therapy program targeting post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At its intraday low, the Emyria share price has fallen by 5%.

At the time of writing, it has slightly recovered. Currently, the Emyria share price is down 3.85% – trading for 25 cents.

Let’s take a closer look at the drug development and clinical services company’s news.

Emyria’s MDMA-assisted therapy trial

Emyria – formerly known as Emerald Clinics Limited – is set to sponsor a clinical trial targeting treatment resistant PTSD with MDMA-assisted therapy.

The trial has been developed in partnership with Mind Medicine Australia, a charity working to help end suffering caused by mental illness by creating more treatment options

The trial, which is still pending ethics approval, will evaluate the safety, efficacy and cost benefits of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

While the company didn’t clarify how its trial will differ from others, it stated that most MDMA-assisted therapy involved 3 stages.

• Preparation – in this stage the therapist and patient get to know one another and build trust
• Administration and monitoring – the patient is given a dose of MDMA and supported by two therapists during a session which can last 6 to 8 hours
• Integration – the next day, and at an average of 3 weekly intervals, the patient and therapist discuss the experience and its outcomes.

A cohort of therapists trained for the trial will graduate this month from Mind Medicine Australia’s training course. Emyria has a facility ready for the trial.

Currently, the two bodies are working to create an ethics protocol to receive ethics approval.

Prior research on MDMA-assisted therapy

According to Emyria’s release, between 5% and 10% of Australians are likely to develop PTSD during their lifetimes. The rate of Australian veterans who will experience PTSD is estimated to be closer to 20%.

The former chair of the Australian Defence Force Admiral Chris Barrie recently encouraged the Australian Government to consider the clinical use of specific psychedelics to help those recovering from trauma.

Emyria stated there is a body of evidence showing that in a controlled environment and supported by psychotherapy, ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA can help with treatment-resistant mental illnesses.

It pointed to a study by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies that found that 67% of those who received MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD didn’t qualify for a PTSD diagnosis after three treatments.

Further, MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD has been granted ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ status by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Commentary from management

Emyria’s managing director Dr. Michael Winlo commented on the company’s involvement in the trial:

At Emyria, our strength is in providing safe access to unregistered treatments while also generating clinical evidence. To date, we have cared for over 4,000 patients with major unmet needs (including more than 80 patients suffering with treatment resistant PTSD) and collected high-quality Real-World Evidence. Emyria’s clinical advisory, site network and data infrastructure is uniquely positioned to support safe and scalable psychedelic-assisted therapy, much like we have demonstrated and accomplished with cannabinoid medicines.

Emyria share price snapshot

The drop experienced by the Emyria share price as a result of today’s news is unlikely to bother most investors. That’s because it’s a tiny bit of turbulence when compared to the its recent take off.

Despite today’s fall, the Emyria share price is up 150% year to date. It’s also up 257% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $40 million, with approximately 254 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE) leaps 54% higher and crashes Robinhood…what’s next?
• What’s happening with the Raiz Invest (ASX: RZI) share price?
• The Amcor (ASX:AMC) share price is lifting today. Here’s why
• ASX healthcare shares could be next to be hit by the digital disruption
• ASX stock of the day: Brickworks (ASX:BKW) shares top the ASX 200

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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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Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is going ballistic today.

One Dogecoin is currently worth 64.07 US cents (83.21 Aussie cents). That’s up more than 54% over the past 24 hours. It’s now gained some 13,828% from the 0.46 US cents it was trading for on 1 January this year.

Boom!

At the current price, Dogecoin – launched in 2013 as a lighthearted alternative to cryptos like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) – has a market cap north of US$83.2 billion. That makes the once laughed at Dogecoin the 4th largest cryptocurrency in existence. It trails only Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin.

In a sign of how much investor interest Dogecoin is getting, CoinMarketCap tells me more than US$44 billion of Dogecoin exchanged virtual hands over the past 24 hours.

Which, in turn, led to a few problems.

Dogecoin crashes Robinhood

With so many retail investors buying and selling Dogecoin, the crypto trading sector of Robinhood’s app couldn’t take it anymore. The system crash, which Robinhood described as a “partial outage”, has since been rectified.

Commenting on the crypto’s meteoric price rise, Chad Oviatt, director of investment management at Huntington Private Bank, said (quoted by Bloomberg):

You have money looking for a home and this is one of those areas of the market where there is speculation happening, there is significant appreciation happening in a short period of time. You get that excitement there.

Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co added, “It’s pretty amazing that something that started out as a joke has become so popular.”

Don’t let the joke be on you

Whenever the price of an asset is shooting skywards, it’s tempting to join the party. If you get aboard at the right time, that could prove highly profitable. But if you get aboard too late you could lose some or all of your money.

Among those sounding words of caution on Dogecoin and other soaring cryptos is Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. In a note (sourced from Bloomberg) Moya wrote:

The Dogecoin bubble should have popped by now, but institutional interest is trying to take advantage of this momentum and that could support another push higher. Dogecoin is surging because many cryptocurrency traders do not want to miss out on any buzz that stems from Elon Musk’s hosting of Saturday Night Live.

Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, concurs. According to Bailey:

It seems that investors are careening from one hot dot to another, like a pinball game. My sense is this speculative wave will suffer the same fate as the GME and other Robinhood ‘flash-in-the-pan’ stocks. Cryptocurrencies may have become a new asset class, like precious metals, but surges such as these seem unsustainable.

With prices broadly surging over the past year, the combined market cap of all the world’s cryptocurrencies now exceeds US$2.3 trillion.

More reading

• Is today’s soaring Dogecoin price an attractive bargain or a dangerous bubble?
• Is Dogecoin still a joke?
• Forget the Bitcoin price, the Dogecoin price is on fire!

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

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The Raiz Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) share price fell today after the company released its monthly metrics for April.

At the time of writing, the Raiz share price has recovered slightly to be down 2% for the day, trading at $1.47. Here’s how Raiz performed in April and how the company’s share price has responded.

How did Raiz perform in April?

Earlier this morning, Raiz provided the market with an update on its performance for April 2021. The update provided an insight into the company’s Australia, Indonesian, and Malaysian operations for the month.

Raiz noted that funds under management (FUM) in Australia increased 6.2% for the month to $737.56 million. The company remains confident that $1 billion in FUM by the end of 2021 remains a realistic target.

In addition, Raiz reported that global active customers grew 2.4% for the month to a total of 429,827. The company’s management praised customer growth as a reflection of loyalty, despite an increase in monthly maintenance fees.

Raiz also highlighted a successful capital raise in April to accelerate growth and the acquisition of Superstate Pty Ltd.

More on the share price

Raiz is an Aussie fintech company that operates a mobile-focused, micro-investing platform in Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The company’s platform enables users to micro-invest the remaining round-up of everyday purchases in exchange-traded funds (ETF). In addition, Raiz allows users to open a superannuation fund.

Raiz charges a flat monthly investment fee for each user which comprises more than 60% of the company’s revenue. As mentioned previously, Raiz recently increased its monthly maintenance fee from $2.50 to $3.50.

The company recently released its third-quarter update for the 3 months ended 31 March. Raiz reported total normalised revenue of $3.1 million for the quarter, up 39% compared to the prior corresponding period. 

Raiz also announced firm commitments to raise $10.2 million via an oversubscribed placement late last month. The capital raising followed the company’s proposed $9.5 million acquisition of fund manager Superstate. According to the company, the proposed acquisition of Superestate will allow Raiz to offer clients access to residential property as an asset class.

Since late April, the Raiz share price has tanked more than 11% following the capital raising.

More reading

• Why the Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI) share price has slumped 5%
• Raiz Invest (ASX:RZI) share price on watch after Q3 update
• The Raiz (ASX: RZI) share price is surging 9% higher today

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Amcor PLC (ASX: AMC) share price is in the green today after the dual-listed company released its third-quarter results (Q3 FY21).

At the time of writing, shares in the packaging giant are trading for $15.91 – up 3.3%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.63% higher.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news and what it means for the Amcor share price.

Quarterly results and the Amcor share price

In its statement to the ASX, Amcor advised net income (or profit) for the quarter was US$267 million, 47.5% higher than the prior corresponding period (pcp). For the first 3 quarters of the financial year, net income was US$684 million – up 58% on the pcp.

Net sales for the quarter were US$3.2 billion – up only 2.1% on the pcp. For the nine months ending 31 March 2021, net sales totalled US$9.4 billion – up 0.88%.

Cost of sales is up 1.4% in Q3 and down 1.2% for the three quarters combined. The company attributed the gap between gross and net profit largely to a US$44 million positive change in restructuring expenses for the quarter and a US$40 million change for all 3 quarters.

Amcor had a negative cash flow for the first 3 quarters of FY21 of US $53 million. This is down 17.2% on the pcp, however. Total cash on hand for the company is US$690 million – up 28.3% on the pcp.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) are 5.6% higher on the pcp to US $1.45 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are 51.5 cents.

Due to today’s results, Amcor will pay shareholders an interim dividend of US11.75 cents a share. This is US 0.25 cents higher than the dividend payment for the pcp.

Investors are responding well to today’s results, judging by the Amcor share price rise.

Management commentary

Commenting on the update, Amcor CEO Ron Delia said:

Amcor is maintaining momentum and executing well in the face of a dynamic operating environment. As a result, we delivered strong year-to-date performance and we are raising our full year adjusted EPS growth outlook to 14-15% in constant currency terms.

The business delivered strong adjusted EBIT growth of 9% on a year-to-date basis and organic growth has continued to strengthen as we progress through the fiscal 2021 year. Delivery of cost synergies related to the Bemis acquisition continues to progress ahead of original expectations, leaving us well positioned to exceed the original target with at least $180 million of pre-tax benefits by the end of fiscal 2022.

Amcor share price snapshot

The Amcor share price has increased 18% over the last 12 months and is up nearly 5% year-to-date. Although, in an exclusive interview with Motley Fool Australia last month, a leading fund manager explained why the company has sold its Amcor shareholdings as the market progressed post-COVID.

Amcor has a market capitalisation of $18.2 billion.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 0.7%: ANZ half year results, Nearmap jumps
• These are the latest ASX shares to be downgraded by brokers today
• 2 ASX shares ready for a post-COVID rally: fundie

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Amcor 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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You might think ASX healthcare shares would be among the most insulated from the digital disruption, but that view doesn’t gel with all experts.

In fact, some are predicting that the healthcare sector could be next to be shaken by the digital and online revolution, reported the Australian Financial Review.

The news may worry many investors holding ASX healthcare shares. They only need to look at the media and retail sectors to see how significant the impact of this may be.

ASX medical shares and the digital disruption

The idea that some medical services could be heading online and away from brick-and-mortar outlets isn’t that preposterous. COVID-19 proved the benefits of telemedicine.

But before you equate the Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) share price with the Ramsay Health Care Limited Fully Paid Ord. Shrs (ASX: RHC) share price, Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) share price or Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) share price, consider these points.

The experts quoted in the AFR article spoke more about data collection than visits to doctors or hospitals.

More about data than visitation

The idea is that the pooling of non-identifiable patient data could help medical practitioners and patients make more informed decisions.

Such stats might be useful for Monash IVF Group Ltd (ASX: MVF) for instance where statistics could help improve the chances of a successful treatment.

But change never comes easy. This is especially so for the medical fraternity as these professionals are trained to avoid risk and to stick to tried and proven methods.

What’s needed to drive the digital change

The factor that could counteract the resistance for change is cost savings. This is one of the largest expenditure items for federal and state governments.

This provides a big incentive to embrace digital technologies, especially during these times when government budgets have blown out due to the pandemic.

If consumers believe that the digital disruption will also help them cut their bills, including health insurance bills, and speed up treatments, they could also be a powerful push factor.

Needless to say, the Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL) share price and NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price would welcome anything that bolsters their margins.

Real risk to earnings from digital disruption

On the other hand, if digital medicine does lower costs, medical facility owners could feel the squeeze in parts of their operations.

Even if margins stay constant on a percentage of sales basis, profits will drop as the top-line drops.

Further, the digital revolution will provide opportunities for new rivals to challenge and beat the incumbents. We don’t need to list any examples here.

But there’s no need for ASX investors to panic. Even if there is a greater acceptance of telemedicine, changes come slowly. It took years for digital alternatives to dislodge newspapers and brick and mortar retailers.

This gives the sector precious reaction time to pivot and adapt.

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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Sonic Healthcare Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia has recommended NIB Holdings Limited, Ramsay Health Care Limited, and Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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