One of the best performers on the ASX today is the Alterity Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ATH) share price. Driving the meteoric rise, the biotech company announced positive results for its lead compound, ATH434.

At the time of writing, Alterity shares are swapping hands for 4.25 cents apiece, up 41.67%.

What does Alterity do?

Alterity is an Australian biotech company that focuses to commercialise research into neurodegenerative disorders. This includes Parkinsonian movement disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease and others.

The company’s lead candidate ATH434 is currently in development. It aims to block the aggregation of pathological proteins that cause brain degeneration. Current remedies include medications and lifestyle choices to manage symptoms, but there is no treatment to cure the disease.

What were the results?

Investors are pushing Alterity shares higher following the release of its oral presentation at the virtual American Academy of Neurology.

According to Alterity’s update, its ATH434 compound has shown promising data for the treatment of Parkinsonian disorders.

The company highlighted the data obtained from the study strengthened evidence in ATH434 protecting brain cells and improving motor function. In a particular task, ATH434 advanced motor performance when assessing coordination and balance in animals. While findings are still new, the company stated that the important data provides future clinical development.

In addition, researchers also found a reduction in glial cell inclusions which is a pathological feature of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).

Alterity CEO, Dr David Stamler commented:

“These new data are very encouraging and provide a strong rationale for the disease-modifying potential of ATH434.”

About the Alterity share price

Since the sharp increase of 41 cents at the start of July, Alterity share price has moved sideways. In the last 6 months alone, the company’s shares have traded below 5 cents apiece.

Alterity has a market capitalisation of roughly $77 million, with a tad over 2 billion shares on issue.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Freelancer (ASX:FLN) shares shoot higher
• 2 fantastic ASX shares that brokers rate as buys
• Why Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and BHP (ASX:BHP) look set for another profit upgrade
• Netflix misses sub addition target, shares crash
• Why has the Arafura Resources (ASX:ARU) share price dropped 9%?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 S&P ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty nasty day today. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is down 0.5% to 6,981 points. Well below the 7,000 points it breached last week for the first time since the coronavirus crash last year. But one ASX share is not sharing in the market’s mood today. That would be Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN).

The Freelancer share price is currently up 5.03% to 84 cents a share. But its gains were far more dramatic earlier in the trading day. Freelancer shares closed at 80 cents yesterday but opened at 82 cents this morning before shooting as high as 93 cents a share soo after open. At the time, that was a gain of more than 16%. It’s not just today either. This company has been on a tear for most of the week o far. Since Monday, Freelancer shares are up close to 25%.

So who is Freelancer? and why is this current star of the ASX experiencing such love in a cold market today?

Who is this company?

Freelancer, as you can probably guess, is a company that facilitates freelancing work. Its flagship website, freelancer.com.au, is an online marketplace of sorts that helps connect freelance workers with jobs.

It’s not the kind of jobs you might first expect though. There are less ‘mow my lawn’ or ‘pick up my furniture’ jobs on Freelancer. More common jobs include ‘design a logo’, or ‘build my website’. Prospective contractors can bid on jobs, either through a lump-sum payment or an hourly fee.

Freelancer operates around the world. In fact, in FY2020, only 8.4% of completed projects that the company facilitated were in Australia. 24.3% came from the United States, but India, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada were also strongly represented.

Why is the Freelancer share price rising today?

Today’s stellar performance in the Freelancer share price appears to be the direct result of an ASX announcement the company made yesterday morning before the market open. This announcement was a quarterly report covering the 3 months to 31 March 2021.

For this period, Freelancer reported that its gross payment volume had ballooned by 39% compared to the prior corresponding period to US$192.9 million, an all-time high. Cash receipts were also up significantly, rising 32.1% to another all-time high of US$12 million. The company also reported a positive net operating cash flow of $4.2 million for the quarter, up from $0.47 million in the prior corresponding quarter.

Freelancer also told us that the company enjoyed a 51% increase in web traffic in FY2020, as well as a 22% rise in registered users, a 17% rise in posted jobs and a 20% bump in freelancer earnings.

So it’s likely to be the contents of this quarterly update that are getting investors attention over to the Freelancer share price today. At the current share price, Freelancer has a market capitalisation of $379.5 million.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Freelancer 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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There are some fantastic ASX shares that brokers have rated as buys for investors to look at.

When multiple brokers think that a business is a buy then it could be worthwhile taking an interest in that idea.

The below investments have a lot of growth potential and have been rated as buys by more than one broker:

Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)

Audinate is currently rated as a buy by at least three brokers including UBS. The broker has a share price target on Audinate of $10.10 over the next 12 months.

What does Audinate do? It’s a business that provides audio over IP networking solutions. It’s used in the professional live sound, commercial installation, broadcast, public address and recording industries. The product is called Dante.

Dante replaces traditional analogue audio cables by transmitting synchronised audio signals across large distances, to multiple locations at once, using just an ethernet cable.

It has been one of the businesses negatively affected by COVID-19 due to the effects of virtually no large events. However, the brokers see an opportunity and Audinate is seeing a recovery.

In the first half of FY21 it generated US$11.1 million of revenue, an increase compared to the US$9.3 million in the second half of FY20. It also generated $3.2 million of operating cashflow, which demonstrates the type of margins that Audinate can make in the future.

Audinate reported that its Dante-enabled products were up 27% to 3,008. Management say this is a key leading indicator of future growth.

Management believe the pandemic could serve as a catalyst for an acceleration of the transition from old school analogue cabling to networked audio and video.

Reject Shop Ltd (ASX: TRS)

Reject Shop is one of the largest discount retailers in Australia with a national store network of shops.

It’s currently rated as a buy by at least three brokers including Morgans. The broker has a share price target of $8.91 on the retailer.

Reject Shop is currently working on reducing its cost base by reducing administrative expenses and simplifying and standardising its in-store processes.

COVID-19 has affected its CBD and large shopping centre locations where there is reduced footfall.

However, despite the impacts of lockdowns on the business, it managed to generate a large amount of growth in the first half of its FY21.

Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew by 44.9% to $23.3 million and underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 46.5% to $16.3 million.

Management believe that the discount variety sector presents a significant opportunity for growth over the medium to long term. The ASX share is well positioned to capture this growth.

Once management are happy with the company’s reduced cost base, it will be well placed to pursue longer-term growth through store network expansion and growing its online presence.

According to UBS, the Reject Shop share price is valued at under 20x FY22’s estimated earnings.

More reading

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• 3 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended AUDINATEGL 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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It’s hard to think about profit upgrades when the market is tumbling, but that’s what the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price could be facing.

Analysts are probably going to be left scrambling yet again to upgrade their price forecast for iron ore.

These forecasts are well below the iron ore spot price. For instance, Goldman Sachs pencilled in a price of US$137 a tonne by end of June, reported the Australian Financial Review.

That implies a 27% crash in the ore price in the next 10 weeks!

Market underestimating the iron ore price rally

Goldman isn’t the only one with a seemingly conservative estimate. UBS is forecasting a price of just US$100 a tonne by year end when the spot price is around US$180 a tonne.

Further, UBS expects the steel-making mineral to weaken further in 2022 to US$75 a tonne.

These price predictions are quite typical of analysts’ forecasts as they have always lagged the spot price in the last year or two.

Why RIO and BHP could be cum earnings upgrade again

Experts have underestimated the resilience of the iron ore market, and there are few signs of this market deflating.

In fact, there are probably more tailwinds than headwinds. For one, global steel prices are strong – very strong.

This means that steel mills are making good margins even with the high iron ore price. Recent bullish updates from BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) and Sims Ltd (ASX: SGM) attest to this.

If iron ore customers are making a decent return, demand for the commodity will remain strong.

Better this time for RIO and BHP

Meanwhile, the demand dynamics during this commodity boom looks more enduring that the last “supercycle”.

Back in 2011, practically all the demand for iron ore was coming only from China. The Asian giant stepped up its infrastructure spending spree a decade ago to keep its economy growing through the GFC.

This time round, it isn’t only the Chinese pulling on the infrastructure building lever to get over COVID-19.

Firing on more than one cylinder

US President Joe Biden is also looking to unleash US$3 trillion ($3.9 trillion) on rebuilding his nation’s aging infrastructure.

Other countries, including the European Union, are also turning to infrastructure construction to reenergise their economies, although on a less impressive scale.

Foolish takeaway

We also can’t forget that iron ore output from Brazil remains hamstrung as COVID-19 continues to ravage its economy.

The country’s output will recover at some stage, but so far, the experts have underestimated the time this will take.

In the meantime, BHP, Rio Tinto and the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price will be making hay while the sun shines.

More reading

• Fortescue share price falls as Twiggy calls fossil fuels ‘most dangerous industry in the world’
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price drops despite 10-year iron ore highs
• ASX lithium shares are soaring. Is it too late to jump onboard?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• ASX 200 drops, Challenger plummets, Lynas falls

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of BHP Billiton Limited, BlueScope Steel 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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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.

Video streaming veteran Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported first-quarter results just after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 20. The report fell short of a couple of important targets and the guidance for the next quarter was modest. Netflix shares fell as much as 11.8% in after-hours trading, dropping back to levels not seen since March 25.

Netflix added 4 million net new subscribers during the first quarter, adding up to 207.6 million global paid memberships. Management’s guidance had suggested 6 million net additions. Revenue rose 24% year over year to $7.16 billion and earnings jumped from $1.57 to $3.75 per diluted share. The top-line result was roughly in line with guidance and earnings exceeded the stated target of $2.97 per share.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, Netflix’s management expects earnings to double while revenue increases by approximately 19%, landing near $7.3 billion. Subscriber additions are seen slowing down to 1 million names.

“In terms of Q1 performance, it really boils down to COVID, frankly,” said CFO Spence Neumann on the earnings call. “The extraordinary events of COVID continue to have a big impact on the world and for us, at a minimum, it creates some short-term choppiness in some of the business trends that we see.”

In particular, the health crisis generated more than 40 million new subscribers in 2020 while also slowing down the pace of content production dramatically. The soft customer additions in the first quarter followed as a reaction to that combination of factors. Many title launches and new season premieres that had been scheduled for the first half of 2021 have been pushed back to the second half of the year, which will skew the seasonal business rhythm once again. Neumann pointed out that the annual subscriber growth rate works out to about 20% over the last two years, smoothing out the extraordinary growth of early 2020 and the slower pace that followed. That’s in line with the company’s average customer growth in recent years.

Anders Bylund owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

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Anders Bylund owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU) share price has fallen today after news the company has pushed delivery of its Nolans Project back by 8 months.  The company also announced it won’t be initially mining cerium at the rare earth project. These adjustments to the company’s former plans come as it optimises its execution strategy.

At the time of writing, the Arafura share price is 9% lower than yesterday’s close, trading for 18 cents apiece.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the mineral exploration company’s news.

Optimising the project’s execution strategy

Today’s news from Arafura is that it’s decided to modify the execution strategy of the development of its Nolans Project. The new strategy will be a traditional detailed front-end engineering and design (FEED) model.

Nolans Project is to be a rare earth mine, mining neodymium-praseodymium. It’s located in the Northern Territory.

Arafura states the FEED model will result in a more competitive tendering process, a reduced risk for contractors and more cost certainty.

It will mean the contracts for construction and engineering will be split and, according to the company, will be more competitive as a result.

Also, its engineering contract will be carried on rates to a target cost, including performance and design warranties for the plant. The tendering of other contracts, such as the numerous on-site plants and infrastructure, will also be started.

All this will make the process 8 months longer than originally planned, due to the extended tendering process.

The company also shared its plans to defer the production of cerium at the project. Arafura said the optimisation process found cerium delivered only limited value to the project, as there will potentially be a future oversupply of the rare earth mineral. Only 5% of the project’s initial income was expected to come from cerium production.

Arafura said it was looking into federal government grants to help fund the FEED program. It has also applied for a grant through the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

Commentary from management

Arafura managing director Gavin Lockyer said the project was “shovel-ready”, with Arafura still optimising its delivery and funding:

Arafura’s ore to oxide model is a differentiator from other companies that are only proposing to produce concentrates or intermediate products for processing elsewhere, and the feedback we’ve received from both customers and financiers indicates strong support for that approach and for the shift to the more traditional FEED model for the project.

Arafura Resources share price snapshot

The Arafura share price has performed well on the ASX lately, despite today’s setback. Currently, Arafura shares are up 40% year to date and up by 203% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $234 million, with approximately 1.1 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Zelira (ASX:ZLD) share price falls despite strong trading update
• The Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) share price is down 10% today. Here’s why
• Here’s why the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price is tumbling lower
• Why ASX 200 retail shares like Super Retail (ASX:SUL) are worth watching
• Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL) share price falls on ASX entrance

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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The Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ZLD) share price is lower during mid-afternoon trade despite announcing a positive trading update.

At the time of writing, the cannabis company’s shares are fetching for 5.9 cents, down 1.67%.

Q3 FY21 quarterly update

Investors appear unfazed by the company’s latest snapshot, sending Zelira shares slightly in the negative.

According to its release, Zelira delivered a robust performance for the quarter ending 31 March 2021.

Cash receipts including product sales and licensing payment rose to a record $225,000, reflecting a 249% increase on H1 FY21. The strong growth predominately came from the company’s United States launch of its SprinjeneCBD oral care product in December.

Zelira noted that it’s planning a suite of new products to be rolled out over the next two quarters. It is expected that this will further amplify growth in sales and create additional revenue streams.

Zelira managing director, Dr Oludare Odumosu hailed the robust result, saying:

The March quarter performance is the strongest quarterly cash receipts reported for Zelira Therapeutics since its inception and clearly demonstrates the start of the Company’s revenue ramp up.

Our long-term focus to develop a portfolio of clinically validated and scientifically formulated cannabinoid medicine and consumer products is starting to bear fruit as commercialisation ramps up. We are well placed to build on the March quarter’s momentum and accelerate our progress in 2021 as we launch new products and expand into new geographies.

Zelira appointment

Complimenting the result, Zelira highlighted its February address of being appointed to the National Cannabis Roundtable (NCR) board of directors in Washington DC, United States.

Founded in late 2010, the NCR is a trade association focusing on federal cannabis reform in the United States. The group consists of innovators, investors and employers across the entire chain of legal cannabis businesses.

NCR is seeking to decriminalise cannabis at the federal level, ensuring patients and customers have access to state-based cannabis programs.

Zelira appointed Dr Odumosu to represent the company on the NCR board.

CEO of Trulieve and second vice chair of NCR’s board of directors, Kim Rivers commented:

We are excited to have Zelira join our growing Roundtable. Their focus on research and health is ground-breaking and will help us showcase the breadth and potential of the cannabis industry as we seek to further reform and grow the legal cannabis industry in the US.

Dr. Odumosu added:

The manner that the federal government handles reform will have fundamental impacts on the people we serve. Zelira is committed to bringing break-through therapeutics to market and we need to have a regulatory framework in place that will allow research to expand and grow on a Federal/National level.

Outlook

Looking ahead, Zelira plans on growing revenues from the multiple products it has across its Australian and United States portfolio. It noted that it is currently progressing licencing discussions for its Hope and Zenivol products in the United States. In addition, negotiations are set to resume in expanding distribution to other markets, particularly Germany and the United Kingdom.

Zelira share price snapshot

Zelira shares have gained around 40% over the past year, but are down 35% since the start of 2021.

Based on the current share price, Zelira has a market capitalisation of roughly $70 million, with 1.19 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• The Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) share price is down 10% today. Here’s why
• Here’s why the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price is tumbling lower
• Why ASX 200 retail shares like Super Retail (ASX:SUL) are worth watching
• Mighty Kingdom (ASX:MKL) share price falls on ASX entrance
• What’s with the WPP AUNZ (ASX:WPP) share price today?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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 Elixir Energy Ltd (ASX: EXR) share price is plummeting today following news of the company’s latest placement and share purchase plan.

At the time of writing, the Elixir Energy share price is down 10%, with shares in the company trading for 41 cents apiece.

Let’s take a closer look at the news released by the energy company today.

Elixir Energy’s capital raising

The Elixir Energy share price fall comes after the company announced it has successfully raised $10 million from a significantly oversubscribed placement.

The company will issue more than 27.7 million new shares under the placement.

They were each priced 20% less than the previous closing price and 18% less than the 5-day volume-weighted average price, at around 36 cents apiece.

Elixir Energy will also be completing a share purchase plan. It will issue shares at 36 cents apiece to raise another $20 million.

The share purchase plan is to open on Friday and will close on 7 May 2021.

The money raised by both expeditions will go towards Elixir Energy’s “multi-faceted” appraisal program in Mongolia. 

The company aims to bring forward the project development and production by between 18 and 24 months.

Commentary from management

Elixir managing director Neil Young said the company’s efforts have allowed it to expand and accelerate its program in Mongolia. He added:

In addition to the support from existing and new sophisticated investors in the successful placement announced today, we are pleased to provide the opportunity to ensure all of our shareholders have the chance to share in our growing success by participating in a SPP.

Elixir Energy share price snapshot

Despite the drop following today’s news, the Elixir Energy share price is having a fantastic year on the ASX.

Currently, it’s up by 189% year to date and has lifted a massive 1,925% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $366 million, with approximately 814 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• The Elixir Energy (ASX:EXR) share price is charging up today. Here’s why

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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The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has come under pressure on Wednesday.

In afternoon trade, the lithium producer’s shares are down 4% to $1.25.

Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price under pressure?

Investors have been selling Pilbara Minerals shares today despite the release of a strong third quarter update.

According to the release, the company achieved record production of 77,820 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of spodumene concentrate during the three months ended 31 March. This is up 22% from its second quarter production of 63,712 dmt.

Positively, during the latter two months of the quarter, the company was operating with annualised production capacity of approximately 330,000 tonnes per annum of dry spodumene concentrate. This equates to quarterly production of 82,500 dmt.

Why are its shares falling then?

Taking some of the shine off the quarter, and possibly the reason for the weakness in the Pilbara Minerals share price today, was its shipping update.

During the quarter, the company achieved spodumene concentrate shipments of 71,229 dmt. This was broadly flat on the prior quarter’s shipments of 70,609 dmt.

Management advised that its final March shipment was only partially completed as a result of port delays beyond its control.

Lithium prices continue to rise

Another positive from the report was that lithium chemicals pricing continued to significantly improve during the quarter. Furthermore, this is now starting to be reflected in the price received for spodumene concentrate sales.

Management notes that at the end of March it received a letter of credit ahead of an April 2021 spot sale of spodumene concentrate. This order implies a headline price of US$655/dmt, which it feels highlights the recent strong upward trajectory in pricing.

This compares very favourably to its unit cash operating cost of US$383/dmt that was achieved during the quarter. It is also a big increase on the average selling price of approximately US$410/dmt during the third quarter.

Even better, though, is that management continues to target a unit cash operating cost of US$320-350/dmt. This is based on an AUD:USD exchange rate of 0.72 and its processing plant operating at steady-state production.

If it achieves this and prices remain strong, the company will be generating significant free cash flows. This could be a big positive for the Pilbara Minerals share price in the coming quarters.

More reading

• ASX lithium shares are soaring. Is it too late to jump onboard?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 hits new post-COVID high
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) just delivered ASX lithium shares a big boost
• ASX 200 down 0.3%: Webjet completes note offering, Xero pushes higher

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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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ASX 200 retail shares like Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) are worth watching this afternoon. That’s because today saw the release of the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) retail trade data.

What’s the latest for ASX retail shares?

Today’s retail trade data contained some good news for retailers even as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 1%. Market conditions strengthened slightly during March with seasonally adjusted estimate up 1.4% from February 2021 to $423.9 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, Australian turnover climbed 2.3% in March 2021 compared to the year prior. Today’s ABS release suggested the March 2021 quarter will be relatively unchanged compared to last quarter in seasonally adjusted current price terms. In fact, the ABS is forecasting a 0.1% decline from the December 2020 quarter on that basis.

The 1.4% increase in March follows a 0.8% decline in February 2021. That was aided by both Victoria (+4%) and Western Australia (+5.5%) rebounding from coronavirus-related lockdowns.

Queensland’s figures edged lower, attributed to the 3-day Brisbane lockdown towards the end of the month, but this was offset elsewhere in the country. The strongest increases were seen in cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, particularly across Victoria and WA.

Through-the-year sales rose 2.3% compared to March 2020 figures, following a 9.1% increase in February 2021. The ABS attributed that to March 2020 coronavirus figures which saw a surge in supermarket retail spending at the likes of Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW).

ASX 200 retail shares like Super Retail are worth watching this afternoon on the back of the latest figures. At the time of writing, the Super Retail share price is up 0.8% to $12.40 while JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) shares have pared back 0.4% of losses following the release.

Foolish takeaway

ASX 200 retail shares are moving this afternoon after the latest retail trade statistics from the ABS. Month-on-month increases from Victoria and Western Australia offset weaker numbers in Queensland to help monthly turnover climb higher.

More reading

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• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price drops despite 10-year iron ore highs
• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy with yields above 4%
• The Renergen (ASX:RLT) share price is on watch today
• Why the Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) share price is at a 52-week high

Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET and Woolworths 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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