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.

It took 13 years for Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to add 100 million customers to its Prime customer loyalty program, but it took just 3 years to add the next 100 million.

In his annual letter to shareholders, his final as CEO of the e-commerce giant, Jeff Bezos said Amazon Prime has surpassed 200 million subscribers globally. What’s even more impressive is that Amazon has added more than 50 million new members since January 2020, when Bezos announced the company had exceeded 150 million Prime members.

Amazon announced earlier this year that Bezos will step down as CEO and transition to the role of executive chair, effective in the third quarter of 2021. He used the shareholder letter to provide some insight into his plans. In his new role, Bezos said he will “focus on new initiatives,” without providing specifics. “I’m an inventor. It’s what I enjoy the most and what I do best. It’s where I create the most value.”

He also pushed back against the perception of downtrodden Amazon employees, as they’re frequently portrayed in the media. “When we survey fulfillment center employees, 94% say they would recommend Amazon to a friend as a place to work,” he said. However, in a nod to the recent lopsided vote against a union at an Alabama warehouse, Bezos said, “We need to do a better job for our employees.”

Bezos also shared a letter from customers who originally purchased two shares of Amazon stock for their son’s birthday back in 1997, saying it was “all we could afford at the time.” The letter writers, identified as Mary and Larry, recounted the various stock splits that eventually turned those two shares into 24. We don’t know the exact date of the purchase, since it was redacted, but Amazon shares sold for a split-adjusted high of $5.40 in late 1997.

At current prices, the total value of those 24 shares is more than $80,000, illustrating the power of time for investors.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920.0 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940.0 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

More reading

• Better buy: Microsoft vs. Alphabet
• Analyst: Amazon still has a 70% upside potential over three years
• The stock that I’d hold for the next 5 years: fundie
• Tesla and Palantir were some of the most popular US shares last week
• Better buy: Amazon vs. GameStop

Danny Vena owns shares of Amazon. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon and recommends the following options: long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon and short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Jeff Bezos just revealed Amazon Prime’s latest subscriber number — and it’s a doozy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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The Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) share price is on the charge today. Shares in the Aussie miner have rocketed 7.9% higher at the time of writing to 48 cents per share – a new 52-week high.

Why is the Neometals share price surging higher?

The big news today was a new agreement to sell titanium to a Chinese titanium slag producer. Neometals has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Jiuxing Titanium Materials (Liaonging) Co. Ltd.

That news has helped propel the Neometals share price to a new 52-week high during Friday trading. According to the release, the MOU contains an evaluation framework and key commercial terms.

That MOU will help the parties work towards a binding formal offtake agreement for the supply of 800,000 dry tonnes per annum (dtpa) of mixed gravity concentrate or 500,000 dtpa of ilmenite and 275,000 dtpa of iron-vanadium concentrate for a 5-year period on a take-or-pay basis from first production.

It’s a significant agreement that centres on Neometals’ Barrambie Titanium and Vanadium Project. Neometals says that the Barrambie site is the most advanced, undeveloped hard-rock titanium mineral resource in the country.

The Neometals share price is climbing on the back of the update which included a set of next steps. Neometals will mine a 250-tonne bulk sample from Barrambie and transport mixed concentrate to China.

Jiuxing will blend and batch smelt 100 tonnes in its commercial titanium smelter with negotiation of full-form offtake agreements and BOO/T agreements.

Foolish takeaway

The Neometals share price has charged higher to a new 52-week high in early afternoon trade. That comes on the back of a significant milestone deal for its Barrambie Project.

Today’s MOU announcement brings Neometals one step closer to a major, binding supply agreement to a leading Chinese titanium producer.

That has buoyed investors spirits and pushed shares in the Aussie mining group higher.

More reading

• Why the Neometals (ASX:NMT) share price is shooting 8% higher
• ASX lithium shares are surging across the board. Here’s why

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

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The Monadelphous Group Limited (ASX: MND) share price surged to a more than one-month high as the so-called “Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) discount” was unwound.

The Monadelphous share price surged 5.7% to $11.40 during lunch time trade, making it the best performer on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO).

In contrast, the Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price is in second place with a 4.6% increase and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price is third with a 3.9% gain.

Monadelphous share price trades without Rio Tinto discount

Investors got excited with the Monadelphous share price after management said it was reached an out-of-court settlement with its client Rio Tinto.

The legal threat was a big overhang on the Monadelphous share price since for nearly a year. An adverse court ruling against the engineering contractor could have brought the group to its knees.

Rio Tinto launched court proceedings against Monadelphous in August last year. The mining giant was claiming $493 million in damages during a fire at its iron ore processing facility at Cape Lambert.

Large liability that’s hard to price

Rio Tinto blamed Monadelphous for the fire, which happened during a maintenance shutdown that was managed by Monadelphous.

While claims tend to be exaggerated ahead of a court battle, Monadelphous would have been in deep trouble even if Rio Tinto won half of what it wanted.

After all, the contactor’s FY20 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) only amounted to around $90 million.

Monadelphous’ settlement provides more than one tailwind

While Monadelphous wouldn’t say how much it had to pay to keep Rio Tinto at bay, it did say that the settlement is covered by the proceeds of insurance.

Both parties now consider the matter resolved.

That’s good news. But what’s also a big positive is that Monadelphous appears to have managed to keep its working relationship with Rio Tinto.

“Monadelphous highly values its long-term business relationship with Rio Tinto,” said the contractor in its ASX statement.

“[Monadelphous] is pleased that this matter has been resolved amicably, and is looking forward to continuing to work closely with this very important customer into the future.”

Is the Monadelphous share price about to re-rate?

I won’t be surprised to see the Monadelphous share price run higher from here. The ASX share has underperformed the market over the past year as it’s barely above breakeven.

In contrast, ASX miners have soared. The Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price surged 82% over the period, while the BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price added 51% and Rio Tinto increased by 31%.

There are worries that ASX mining shares are starting to look fully valued. This means laggards that are exposed to high-flying commodity prices could be next to fire up.

Monadelphous share holders like myself will be keeping our fingers crossed!

More reading

• Why you should buy these 2 defensive ASX shares today
• Why Eagers Auto, Mayne Pharma, Monadelphous, & Newcrest are pushing higher
• Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) share price edges higher on trading update
• ASX 200 down 0.2%: Origin sinks on earnings downgrade, gold miners charge higher
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Brendon Lau owns shares of Beach Energy Limited, BHP Billiton Limited, Monadelphous Group Limited and Rio Tinto Ltd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post The Monadelphous (ASX:MND) share price surges as Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) overhang lifts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) price is rocketing, up 90% over the past 24 hours alone.

At the current 24 cents, Dogecoin now ranks as the 8th largest cryptocurrency in existence, with a market cap of US$23.4 billion (AU$30.4 billion).

That’s according to data from CoinMarketCap, which also tells me that, while Dogecoin doesn’t trade on the newly listed Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), you can turn to crypto exchanges Binance, Huobi Global, OKEx, FTX, or CoinTiger, among others.

Why is the Dogecoin price heading for the moon?

Back on 1 January this year, you could have picked up a single Dogecoin for less than half a cent. Or 0.469 cents, to be precise.

At the time of writing – and it’s changing almost minute by minute – the Dogecoin price is 23.8 cents. That’s a gain of – wait for it – 4,996% since we awoke to celebrate the new year.

The Bitcoin price, by comparison, is up a more sedate 118% so far in 2021.

So, what’s driving the Dogecoin price to the moon?

Certainly, Dogecoin has benefited from the broader cryptocurrency bull run of late, which have driven Bitcoin and Ether (the number 2 crypto by market cap) to new record highs as well.

That bull run can be attributed to a wider involvement in cryptos by institutional investors, alongside growing investor unease that central bank and government stimulus efforts will see a surge in inflation in global fiat currencies.

On the institutional side, this week’s listing of crypto exchange Coinbase on the tech-heavy Nasdaq offered a boost for most of the leading digital assets.

The billionaires’ boost

And let’s not forget Elon Musk.

The Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder earlier this year was credited for aiding Bitcoin’s price rise when he announced that Tesla would accept Bitcoin for its vehicles. And that the company would hold onto those Bitcoin rather than exchanging them for dollars.

Musk is also credited with providing some strong tailwinds for the Dogecoin price.

On 1 April (yes, April Fool’s Day), the Tesla billionaire tweeted “Doge Barking at the Moon”, along with an image of just that. The implication was widely believed to mean that Musk expected the Dogecoin price to rocket.

As indeed it has.

Speaking of billionaires, let’s not forget Mark Cuban. He’s the owner of the US basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks. His NBA team began accepting Dogecoin for payments last month.

On Wednesday, 14 April, Cuban looks to have stirred the coals under the Dogecoin price when he tweeted:

FYI, the Mavs sales in dogecoin have increase 550pct over the past month. We have now sold more than 122k in Doge in merchandise! We will never sell 1 single Doge ever. So keep buying.

And if the Dogecoin price needed even more institutional support, it got it from Conagra Brands Inc‘s (NYSE: CAG), Slim Jim brand.

As CoinDesk reports:

Smoked meat stick vendor Slim Jim has an actual official dogecoin strategy…

The social media-savvy snack food saw its Twitter follower count increase 160% and tweet impressions soar to the moon (35 million impressions in 25 days) after it began engaging in Shiba Inu meme coin content last quarter, according to the CEO of parent company Conagra Brands.

“We’ve seen a marked uptick in audience interaction, including direct engagement and advocacy from the person [who] created dogecoin,” CEO Sean Connolly said on Conagra’s April 8 earnings call. 

A bit of history

Dogecoin was created by the US’ Billy Markus and Australia’s Jackson Palmer. The company emerged from (or was forked from, in crypto parlance) Litecoin in 2013. Based on a dog meme, they intended the altcoin to be a light-hearted version of the more serious cryptos, like Bitcoin.

Unlike Bitcoin, which is capped at a total final supply of 21 million once the last virtual coins have been mined, the Dogecoin supply is uncapped. That means potentially an unlimited amount of Dogecoin could be mined.

What that will mean for the Dogecoin price longer-term, remains to be seen.

More reading

• Do you think the Bitcoin price is a bubble? Read this
• Why Cryptocurrency stocks like Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain crashed Today
• Cathie Wood ARK funds buy 750,000 Coinbase shares after IPO
• Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) shares pop and drop in debut
• The Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) IPO price has been announced

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 and 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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The Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) share price opened 7% higher to 18 cents this morning, following an announcement about the company’s international expansion into Australia with its acquisition of Goodments Pty Ltd.

In early afternoon trade, the Douugh share price has pulled back slightly to be up by 6.06%.

What’s driving the Douugh share price?

Today, the Douugh share price opened higher after the company announced that its recent Goodments acquisition will re-launch its trading platform in Australia to drive customer and revenue growth in the short-term. The company will then consolidate the Goodments investing app into the Douugh app in partnership with its banking-as-a-service partner, RAB. 

Douugh plans to leverage the heightened level of interest in the share market from millennials and Gen-Z and offer the demographic a broader wealth management offering, which will include retirement, single stocks/exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and crypto investing.

Acquiring Goodments to fast-track investing offerings 

Founded in 2017, Goodments is an emerging playing in the responsible investing space, building customer-centric products that match sustainability-minded people with investments that align with their environment, social and ethical values. 

The company is a regulated Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holder that has strong relationships with financial institutions, brokers and key plays in the investment industry.

The Goodments acquisition has allowed Douugh to accelerate a number of development pathways to drive customer growth and revenues in both the US and Australian markets. 

In terms of the US market, the acquisition will help fast-track the launch of the Douugh Wealth offering in the US, creating a launchpad to drive revenues through the introduction of a monthly subscription. 

Commentary from management 

Douugh’s Founder and CEO Andy Taylor commented on the acquisition: 

The acquisition of AFSL licensed Goodments and the recent award of our RIA licence in the US allows for the rollout of Wealth Jars. With this feature we can target customers in the investing space who are currently using platforms like Betterment, Acorns and Stash with a holistic solution for their money management, focused on growing automated long-term wealth. This should result in larger average deposit balances being received and ultimately a higher penetration of customers paying in their salaries, which is our north star metric. 

He added:

Goodments are currently offering their more than 13,000 customers access to a range of fractionalised US stocks like Tesla, Virgin Galactic, Nike, Square and Apple. As well as high performing ETFs from companies like Ark Invest, Vanguard and Blackrock. 

In the current climate, many millennials and Gen Z’s are gravitating in record numbers to the sharemarket to help them grow their savings and build wealth. 

More reading

• Zip (ASX:Z1P) eyes potential stock and crypto trading services
• Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price races 6% on performance update
• The Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is up 12% this morning. Here’s why
• Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price dips on remedial action completion

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

The post Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is up 6% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) climbing dramatically this week to a new post-COVID high, it can be tempting to think these sorts of lucrative market conditions can last forever. Alas, this has never been, and will never be, the case. The markets are a volatile beast, and can both giveth and taketh away. While some investors embrace this inherent volatility as a useful way to buy shares on the cheap, it can be downright scary, and off-putting, for many others. That’s where defensive ASX shares can be useful.

There are defensive ASX shares out there that have the potential to increase the stability and decrease the volatility of one’s portfolio if that’s an important consideration for you. Here are two such ideas today:

iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF (ASX: IXI)

This exchange-traded fund (ETF) from iShares only invests in a basket of global companies in the consumer staples sector. Consumer staples is an investing term that describes all of the goods and services we all tend to need, rather than want. This includes food, drinks, household essentials like laundry powder, soap and dishwashing liquid, and vices like alcohol and tobacco.

The beauty of this sector is that it tends to be almost completely immune from economic conditions. We all need to eat, drink and run our houses in good times and bad. And that makes these companies extremely defensive investments. Some of this ETF’s largest holdings include Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO), Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG), Unilever plc (LON: ULVR) and McDonald’s Corp (NYSE: MCD). Even our own Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) feature. 

This ETF has returned an average of 12.11% per annum over the past 10 years. It charges a management fee of 0.46% per year.

Magellan Infrastructure Fund (ASX: MICH)

This listed fund is run by Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG). Magellan is one of the most popular fund managers in Australia. This fund focuses entirely on infrastructure. It invests in companies with large, stable infrastructure investments like toll roads, ports, airports, energy infrastructure and power generation and transmission. Like consumer staples, demand for these assets tends to be very consistent and inelastic. That means they tend to generate cash flows in good times and bad, making them very useful defensive investments.

Magellan Infrastructure Fund holds companies like Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO), Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) and our own Transurban Group (ASX: TCL).

This defensive ASX share has returned an average of 5.81% per annum since its inception in 2016. It charges a management fee of 1.05% per year.

More reading

• Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) share price edges higher on trading update
• ASX 200 down 0.2%: Origin sinks on earnings downgrade, gold miners charge higher
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• ASX 200 rises, Zip sinks, BOQ reports
• How pent-up demand could turbocharge ASX 200 energy shares

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Procter & Gamble. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Unilever. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET, iShares Global Consumer Staples ETF, Transurban Group, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Magellan Infrastructure Fund. 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 Anatara Lifesciences Ltd (ASX: ANR) share price is one of the best performers on the ASX today. This comes after the company announced it has secured an Australian patent for its animal health product, Detach and provided an update on its piglet challenge study.

At the time of writing, the life sciences company’s shares are swapping hands for 21.5 cents, up 19.4%.

New patent grant

Anatara shares are pushing higher after investors appear pleased with the company’s latest progress.

According to its release, Anatara advised it has been granted a patent to add to its portfolio. Approved by IP Australia, the patent will seek to protect Anatara’s intellectual property, and provide a pathway for future commercialisation.

The new patent is titled, ‘Anti-diarrhea formulation which avoids antimicrobial resistance’ (patent number AU2019204496).

Anatara stated that its product, Detach uses the patent as a non-antibiotic solution to assist in controlling diarrheal disease. The patent covers using bromelain, an extract from pineapple stems, as a way to treat and prevent diarrhea caused by pathogenic microbes. However, the company noted that the new formulation does not kill pathogenic microbes.

The AU2019204496 patent is wholly-owned by Anatara, and is set to expire on 24 August 2038.

Anatara CEO, Steven Lydeamore commented:

The granting of the patent secures our intellectual property position and is a significant milestone towards commercialising our Detach animal health product. Scour in piglets is an expensive, debilitating and in some cases, life-threatening condition, and having a product that is registered for use in Australia, we are well placed to leverage our patent as we work towards a commercial deal.

Piglet challenge study commences

In further news boosting Anatara shares, the company revealed that its BONIFF-SMEC (bromelain-based formulation) (semi-moist extruded creep) study has begun. The project aims to test the formulated feed additive on piglets under an enterotoxigenic E. coli model. Anatara will closely evaluate the efficacy of the modified additive on piglet health, welfare, and performance after weaning.

The study is being conducted in partnership with Ridley Corporation, and is expected to be completed in June 2021.

Lydeamore commented:

Having focused our efforts on research and development over a number of years, we have developed a strong animal health pipeline and I look forward to providing the market with an update on the commercial significance of both the pig and poultry challenge trials in the coming months.

Anatara share price review

Over the past 12 months, the Anatara share price has gained over 20%, with year-to-date jumping 26%. The company’s shares reached a 52-week high of 28 cents during the middle of last year, before treading lower.

More reading

• Why you should buy these 2 defensive ASX shares today
• Alumina (ASX:AWC) share price dips on latest Alcoa update
• Why the Queensland Pacific Metals (ASX:QPM) share price just soared 15%
• Netflix is losing market share, but this is the actual risk to shareholders
• Why Eagers Auto, Mayne Pharma, Monadelphous, & Newcrest are pushing higher

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.

The post Why the Anatara (ASX:ANR) share price is rocketing 19% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Alumina Limited (ASX: AWC) share price is edging lower today. The negative price movement comes after the aluminium supplier provided an update on the FY21 Q3 of its Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC) business partner, Alcoa Corp (NYSE: AA).

At the time of writing, Alumina shares are trading for $1.76 – down 1.12%. By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently 0.26% lower.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news and why it could be affecting the Alumina share price.

What’s going on with the Alumina share price?

In a statement to the ASX, Alumina advised shareholders of the Alcoa earnings report. As well, it provided “select information” on the Alcoa Bauxite and Alumina Segments, AWAC joint venture and other market data.

As stated, AWAC is a joint venture between Alumina and Alcoa. Alumina is a minority shareholder in the company, with a 40% stake. Alcoa owns the remaining portion. AWAC is the largest alumina business in the western world with a production capacity of 14.1 million tonnes of alumina per year.

From the Alumina update, Alcoa’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in its alumina segment increased 134% to $227 million between Q2 to Q3. Its bauxite segment, however, fell 50.8% to $59 million during the same period. The EBITDA margin in the alumina segment increased from 10.4% to 20.2% while in bauxite it decreased from 39.5% to 24.3%. These figures are not overly impressing investors, judging by today’s Alumina share price slump.

Bauxite is an ore that contains aluminium oxides. It is then refined into alumina, which is then itself refined into aluminium.

Alumina also revealed its cost of production in AWAC increased by $23 to $229 per tonne while its realised price of AWAC product also appreciated – up by $26 to $298 per tonne. The net margin, therefore, increasing by $3 per tonne. The business claims the increase in production costs are attributable to “the higher Australian dollar, impacts from the Western Australian crusher move and seasonal maintenance.”

Alumina received $62 million from AWAC during the quarter. This is up by $7.4 million from the previous quarter.

Its net debt position increased from the last quarter from $49.6 million to $77.6 million.

Management commentary

Alumina CEO Mike Ferraro said:

With a slightly higher margin than Q4 2020, AWAC continued to generate significant cash flow for the quarter, distributing a net $62m to Alumina Limited.

An abnormal spike in Handysize freight costs in February 2021 had a negative impact on the Chinese alumina import parity price, which has caused a decline in API in recent weeks. Since late March, the Handysize freight cost has begun to fall and we expect it to continue to decline over the course of 2021, which is likely to put upward pressure on the API. Freight costs of Capesize vessels, which are used to transport bauxite from Guinea to China, have been relatively stable over the same period.

Aluminium commodity price

Aluminium futures are currently trading on the commodities market for US$2,336.50 per tonne. It’s at its highest price since June 2018. Over the past year, the Aluminium price has increased by 57.13%. The website Trading Economics is attributing the rise to increasing global demand and decreasing supply out of China due to emission regulations. In economics, this is known as the law of supply and demand.

Trading Economics is also forecasting the price of aluminium to decrease over the next 12 months. It expects its price to sit around US$2,144 by then.

Alumina share price snapshot

Over the past year, the Alumina share price has increased by around 16%. It is, however, down by around 6% since the beginning of this year. Based on the current price, Alumina shares are paying a dividend yield of 4.29%.

Alumina has a market capitalisation of $5.1 billion.

More reading

• Why Alumina, Delorean, Next Science, & Pushpay shares are tumbling lower
• Why the South32 (ASX:S32) share price is outperforming today
• ASX 200 dips, Sydney Airport falls, AGL rises

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

The post Alumina (ASX:AWC) share price dips on latest Alcoa update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd (ASX: QPM) share price has rocketed by 15% this morning after news the company has produced battery specification nickel sulfate.

Tests were able to produce battery quality nickel sulfate from nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) produced at Queensland Pacific’s pilot plant operations.

Today, the Queensland Pacific Metals share price opened 5% higher than yesterday’s close. It has continued rising at currently sits at 12 cents a share, up 15%.

Let’s look closer at the news from Queensland Pacific.

Today’s news

In today’s release, Queensland Pacific shared it has defied even its own expectations of the quality of nickel sulfate produced by its pilot plants operations.

It recently engaged The Simulus Group to undertake bench scale test work to produce nickel sulfate.

Currently, MHP is the preferred product to refine nickel sulfate for batteries. The process is a conventional commercial flowsheet that is widely used in the industry.

The conventional industry flowsheet involves re-leach, solvent extraction, impurity removal and crystallization, which Simulus used to successfully produce nickel sulfate.

The result was better than the company’s targets. Queensland Pacific stated that, based on industry specifications, the results meet even the strictest of battery specifications.

It claimed the ability to produce nickel sulfate from its New Caledonian-sourced products is an important milestone for the company.

Queensland Pacific is now beginning pilot scale testwork to produce nickel sulfate from its remaining mixed hydroxide precipitate. It is also working with the CSIRO to find an alternative refining flowsheet to reduce the costs of processing nickel sulfate.

Commentary from management

QPM’s managing director Stephen Grocott commented on the findings. He said:

We have now completed the full process from a raw ore source to a final battery chemical product. The Australian Government is trying to develop the nation’s capability for advanced manufacturing and the TECH Project is the perfect example of a project that would fit this bill.

Queensland Pacific Metals share price snapshot

The Queensland Pacific Metals share price is having a roaring year so far on the ASX.

Currently, it’s up 162.5% year to date. It’s also up a whopping 950% over the last 12 months.

Queensland Pacific Metals has a market capitalisation of around $112 million, with approximately 1 billion shares outstanding.

More reading

• Netflix is losing market share, but this is the actual risk to shareholders
• Why Eagers Auto, Mayne Pharma, Monadelphous, & Newcrest are pushing higher
• Selfwealth (ASX:SWF) share price keeps tumbling
• Eagers Automotive (ASX:APE) share price edges higher on trading update
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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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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.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is losing market share to be sure — but consider the circumstances. It was the first company to make streaming video a mainstream phenomenon, and for years, it was the only serious name in the business. It’s only natural that the recent launches of big rival services such as Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) Disney+ and AT&T‘s (NYSE: T) HBO Max would chip away at Netflix’s share of the on-demand video space.

But there’s room for more than one winner in this business, and Netflix’s market-leading 204 million paid worldwide subscribers is still only a fraction of its total addressable market. Shareholders need not ramp up the anxiety levels just yet.

Stock-picking can be a funny business. Sometimes investors may use all the wrong reasons to mentally justify why a company deserves to be priced at a steep premium, but then quickly change their minds with little to no warning when circumstances shift.

It’s this phenomenon that should make the streaming market’s new entrants so concerning to Netflix shareholders. We’ve never actually seen Netflix forced to compete seriously until now. To the extent that its commanding market share and impressive growth rates are the reasons the stock’s price-to-earnings ratio has lingered above 60, current investors should at least be cautious.

Netflix is losing ground

Continued dominance of a market is never guaranteed. Just ask investors of Yahoo!, MySpace, or IBM. There was a time when shares of IBM and Yahoo! were priced as if those companies would never stop growing, while privately held MySpace fetched a price of $580 million when News Corp. acquired it back in 2005 — and was in 2007 valued at around $12 billion. Six years after News Corp. bought it, MySpace was sold again — for $35 million. Competitors stepped up to the plate, as they always do.

Netflix is no MySpace, to be clear, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that its best days are behind it. As tough as things have been competitively speaking over the course of the past year, they’re only going to get tougher as players like HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu step up their streaming games.

Data from market intelligence outfit eMarketer lets us flesh out this trend with some numbers. It reports that Netflix secured 36.2% of the U.S. over-the-top television industry’s revenue in 2020, down from 44.4% in 2019. By 2022, its share is expected to be down to 28.4%, and almost even with Disney’s slice of the U.S. streaming market.

That math is roughly in line with similar research from Ampere Analysis suggesting Netflix lost 30% of its U.S. market share last year.

Its next customers won’t come cheap

In its defense, Netflix is winning a relatively smaller piece of a rapidly growing pie. Last year’s revenue of $25 billion was up 24% year over year, propelled by subscriber growth at a similar rate, and its profits grew at nearly twice that pace. While year-over-year revenue gains are projected to slow, earnings growth is forecast to remain robust through 2025. This may be why Netflix shares continue to trade at 91 times trailing earnings and 57 times forward earnings.

That’s a profit outlook, however, seemingly based on the assumption that per-subscriber marketing costs will remain suppressed. They won’t. They can’t.

See, players like AT&T and Disney are increasingly supporting their fledgling streaming platforms and gaining traction with their efforts. Whereas eMarketer forecasts that Disney and Netflix will be equals within the U.S. by 2022, Digital TV Research’s principal analyst Simon Murray predicts Disney+ will dethrone Netflix as the nation’s streaming leader sometime between 2024 and 2026. Disney itself says it’s expecting to have between 230 million and 260 million Disney+ subscribers by 2024, versus Netflix’s current headcount of 204 million. Netflix will be forced to respond, likely starting with more — not less — spending on marketing, or content, or both.

Indeed, after reining in its marketing spending early in the pandemic, in the fourth quarter, the company ramped it back up. The result was that marketing spending ate into last year’s surge in operating income … almost dollar-for-dollar. Yet Netflix only picked up a relatively modest 8.5 million subscribers for the fourth quarter, despite the boost to its marketing outlays.

The message? The streaming market’s cheap, the low-hanging fruit has been picked.

Bottom line

It’s clear that Netflix’s status as the bully on the block is in jeopardy. To what degree that matters remains to be seen. Just know that not much takes the wind out of a stock’s sails like seeing the underlying company lapped by a newcomer, or seeing its market share chipped away by a flock of new competitors. Just ask IBM, which was once the dominant name of the business computing industry, but was ultimately upended by a combination of Intel, HP, and the army of motherboard manufacturers they led away from IBM’s ecosystem.

NFLX data by YCharts.

Given all of this, it’s curious that Netflix shares have considerably underperformed the broad market over the course of the past six months — a period when the appeal of a host of new streaming competitors became clear. It may be a subtle, subconscious hint of the market’s brewing doubts about Netflix stock’s steep valuation. Perception isn’t everything, but it’s certainly a lot.

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

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James Brumley owns shares of AT&T. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Intel and recommends the following options: long January 2023 $57 calls on Intel and short January 2023 $57 puts on Intel. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Netflix is losing market share, but this is the actual risk to shareholders appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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