The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a very positive day on Tuesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 1.2% to 6,856.4 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are sinking:

Advance Nanotek Ltd (ASX: ANO)

The Advance Nanotek share price is down 9% to $4.01. This may be due to profit taking after some strong gains recently. As the company creats ingredients that go into sunscreen products, investors may have been hopeful that demand will increase now that COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price is down 1.5% to $47.19. This is despite there being no news out of the mining giant today. However, while Goldman Sachs continues to rate BHP shares as a buy, this morning it warned that iron ore was likely to go from being in a deficit this year to a surplus in 2022. This is expected to put pressure on the price of the steel making ingredient.

Limeade Inc (ASX: LME)

The Limeade share price has continued its slide and is down a further 2.5% to 88.5 cents despite a rebound in the tech sector. Investors have been selling the employee experience software company’s shares since the release of its results last month. Particularly disappointing investors was its guidance for FY 2021. Management expects revenue of US$50 million to US$53 million. This is a decline on FY 2020’s revenue of US$56.6 million. Falling customer numbers is weighing on its performance.

Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS)

The Metcash share price is down 3.5% to $3.40 following the release of its strategy update. At the event, the wholesale distributor also revealed that its strong sales momentum had continued for all business segments during the second half of 2021. Supermarket, hardware, and liquor sales have all experienced double-digit growth compared to the prior corresponding period. Investors may have been expecting an even stronger update.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• Should you buy BHP, Fortescue, or Rio Tinto shares?
• Why the Metcash (ASX:MTS) share price is in focus
• Chinese factory output is up an astonishing 35%
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Advance NanoTek Limited and Limeade, Inc. 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 Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is on watch today. This comes after its official launch in Southern Europe with merchants in France, Spain, and Italy. While Afterpay has yet to release an announcement on the ASX, co-founder and Co-CEO Nick Molnar confirmed the launch this morning. 

At the time of writing, the Afterpay share price is trading at $111.30, up 2.74%. 

Clearpay to bring the Afterpay share price to Europe 

Afterpay previously announced the completion of its Pagantis acquisition on 10 March. It hinted that Spain, France, and Italy would be the first countries to go live through its subsidiary, Clearpay. The company’s commentary cited that these three countries combined have an addressable e-commerce market that exceeds 150 billion euros. 

In Afterpay’s half-year results presentation, the company highlights buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) as an emerging participant in the $9.4 trillion global retail market. By geography, North America, the European Union, the UK, and ANZ represent a respective 60.5%, 27.5%, 7.5%, and 4.5% of the global retail market. The presentation also noted Afterpay had over a $1 billion pipeline of global merchants in process of contracting for the EU. 

With the green light obtained from the Bank of Spain, Afterpay now has the ability to provide its products to a broader market. This includes Germany and Portugal, alongside its launch in France, Spain, and Italy today. 

Comments from the CEO

Nick Molnar further commented on the recent growth in e-commerce and entry into Europe: 

In the last year, global ecommerce grew faster than it had in the last ten years. By introducing Clearpay, we are giving Europeans a better way to access the things they want and need in their lives via a flexible payment service that allows shoppers to spend their own money and pay over time – instead of turning to expensive loans and credit cards which come with interest, fees and revolving debt.

Afterpay has taken the first-mover advantage into the EU. This puts it ahead of ASX-listed BNPL rivals such as Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL). Zip currently has two minority investments providing the company leverage into the United Arab Emirates, Czechia, and Poland.  

The Afterpay share price has pushed higher this afternoon and is currently 2.85% higher at the time of writing. 

More reading

• Here’s what Citi thinks about the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Why did the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price and 2 other BNPLs fall today?
• ASX 200 recovers, Evolution Mining acquisition, Afterpay sinks
• Here’s why the Sezzle (ASX:SZL) share price is crashing 5% today

Kerry Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) share price is up 5.42% in early afternoon trading after ASX gold miner announced its latest drill results.

At the time of writing, the Bellevue share price is trading for 81.7 cents per share after earlier posting gains of nearly 7%.

What drill results did Bellevue report?

In today’s release, the company reported a new batch of high-grade results from its drilling program at the Marceline discovery within its Western Australia Bellevue Gold Project.

The fresh batch of results extends the known strike length of Marceline to 500 metres. Bellevue reported that the mineralisation remains open in every direction and that it will continue with step-out and infill drilling at the discovery.

The company listed the following significant results:

• 8m @ 20.1g/t including 0.9m @ 102.7g/t gold from 489.4m in DRDD590
• 1m @ 45.5g/t gold from 503.4m in DRDD600
• 2m @ 21.0g/t gold from 459m in DRDD614
• 0m @ 16.7g/t gold from 455.7m in DDUG0005
• 9m @ 13.0g/t gold from 462.1m in DRDD598
• 2m @ 45.1g/t gold from 479.4m in DRDD589
• 2m @ 6.0g/t gold from 379.8m in DRDD598
• 5m @ 12.1g/t gold from 459.9m in DDUG0010

What did management say?

Commenting on the latest drill results, Bellevue managing director Steve Parsons said:

These latest results, with grades of more than 20 g/t, show that Marceline is a significant discovery in its own right. But given the scope to leverage the planned and existing infrastructure at Bellevue, Marceline has the potential to contribute to the production profile and mine life estimates in the stage two feasibility study.

One of the main benefits being that $10 million of capital has already been costed in the stage one study and any additional ounces coming into the mine plan from the Marceline Lode are expected to benefit from a lower level of capital intensity.

Bellevue Gold expects to complete its stage two feasibility study at Marceline in the June quarter.

Bellevue Gold share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Bellevue shares have gained 133%. That compares to a 40% gain on the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

Year-to-date, however, the Bellevue share price is down 31%.

More reading

• Why the Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) share price is on watch
• Why is the Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) share price frozen?
• Why the Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) share price is crashing 23% lower today
• Why Bellevue Gold, Coles, NRW, & Perpetual shares are trading lower today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben 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 Dexus Property Group (ASX: DXS) share price has been steadily rising today following the announcement of its agreement with AMP Capital Diversified Property Fund (ADPF).

At the time of writing, shares in the real estate group are changing hands for $9.55 a share, up 2.19%.

Merging to be bigger and better

According to the release, the Dexus Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) has entered into an implementation agreement with the independent board committee of ADPF.

Similar acronyms aside, the two property funds are said to share similarities in property assets. As per the release, the overall sector allocation and portfolio quality of ADPF are comparable to the DWPF portfolio.

The proposed merger has been in the works for the past 6 months. Additionally, it seems the objective of the merger is to optimise performance through economies of scale. That should mean fewer costs and greater profits, explaining the increased Dexus share price today.

Dexus CEO, Darren Steinberg, added his comments in the release:

We are pleased to be able to make progress that will enable this merger to be voted on by both sets of Unitholders. This merger delivers further economies of scale from a management, procurement and leasing perspective across the platform and is strongly aligned with our objective of being the wholesale partner of choice.

If the merger is approved ADPF’s $5 billion fund will combine with DWPF’s $10 billion fund to… you guessed it, make a $15 billion property fund. The fund will remain invested in the office, retail, and industrial sectors.

What’s next for the Dexus property fund?

As noted in the release, Dexus and DWPF have struck a balance in the transaction structure that addresses the needs of ADPF unitholders, while also providing liquidity for DWPF. Consequently, the merger is subject to respective responsible entities, as well as both DWPF and ADPF unitholders.

Voting on the merger is expected to be held late next month. If approved, Dexus will then provide further details around how much the group will need to contribute and what the expected returns are.

Dexus share price snapshot

The Dexus share price was clobbered last year due to concerns of COVID-19. The uncertainty surrounding lease arrangements on office spaces, retail stores, etc. had investors fleeing. However, unlike many other shares, Dexus is still nowhere near its pre-pandemic highs. In fact, over the past 12 months, the property group’s share price has dropped 19.4%. 

In spite of the impacts, Dexus continues to pay a significant dividend, yielding 5.5%. 

The property market is picking up pace once again. Although, as mentioned by the AFR, there are ‘looming headwinds’ as lifestyles have changed.

More reading

• AMP (ASX:AMP) selling assets too cheaply warns Macquarie
• Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) share price rises as it inks office deal with AMP (ASX:AMP)
• Demoted AMP exec paid $1m bonus for 53 days’ work
• AMP (ASX:AMP) share price on watch as second buyer for its asset could emerge
• ASX 200 sinks 2.4%, Afterpay plunges, AMP jumps

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) share price has been a very strong performer on Tuesday.

In afternoon trade the online furniture and homewares retailer’s shares are up over 10% to $10.12.

Despite this strong gain, the Temple & Webster share price is still trading 28% lower than its 52-week high of $14.05.

Why is the Temple & Webster share price surging higher?

There have been a couple of catalysts for the strong rise in the Temple & Webster share price today.

One has been a rebound in the tech sector after bond yields eased overnight in the United States. This has led to the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) rising a solid 2.3% this afternoon.

In addition to this, the Temple & Webster share price was given a boost this morning by a broker note out of Morgan Stanley.

According to the note, the broker has initiated coverage on the company’s shares with an overweight rating and $14.00 price target.

Even after factoring in today’s strong gain, this price target implies potential upside of almost 40% for its shares over the next 12 months.

Why is Morgan Stanley bullish?

The broker believes that recent weakness in the Temple & Webster share price has brought its shares down to an attractive level, creating a buying opportunity for investors.

Its analysts believe it is very early in the company’s growth story and see significant room for growth in the future. Particularly given the low levels of online penetration in the sector compared to the United States and UK markets.

Morgan Stanley isn’t alone with this bullish view. Goldman Sachs currently has a buy rating and $12.45 price target on its shares.

It is a fan for the same reason, noting that “we remain attracted to the structural tailwind of online commerce penetration and note that TPW has a leading position within its category which itself has a significant room for further online commerce growth.”

This could potentially make it worth considering Temple & Webster with a long term view.

More reading

• Why Clover, PointsBet, Syrah, & Temple & Webster shares are racing higher
• 2 ASX shares that are rapidly growing
• Will the ASX share e-commerce boom last?
• Why Afterpay, Nearmap, Temple & Webster, & Z Energy are tumbling lower
• 2 great ASX tech shares to buy today

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster 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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The Resapp Health Ltd (ASX: RAP) share price is soaring today. ResApp shares are up 8.33% at the time of writing to 7.8 cents a share. The company closed at a price of 7.2 cents yesterday but opened at 7.3 cents this morning before rising as high as 8 cents.

Despite this healthy move today though, this is a company that has been on struggle street in recent months. ResApp is still down around 71% from its 52-week high of 23 cents, and down nearly 80% from where it was in mid-October last year. Saying that, the company is also up 58% from the 52-week low of 5.2 cents a share that we saw just a fortnight ago on 5 March (timing can be everything).

So who is this company? And why are ResApp shares soaring today?

Res-who?

ResApp was founded in 2014 and listed on ASX in 2015. As its name implies, ResApp is a digital healthcare company. It aims to develop digital healthcare solutions for both doctors and patients, specifically in the area of respiratory disease. The company develops software exclusively for smartphones, which are designed to be integrated into existing telehealth services. ResApp’s products can assist with diagnosing some of the most common repository illnesses. These include everything from common colds and the flu to sleep apnoea, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The company has developed algorithms that assess ‘lung sounds’ from breathing and coughing to accurately diagnose diseases. Using this machine learning, ResApp can provide a far more accurate diagnosis than a traditional stethoscope.

Why is the ResApp share price shooting higher today?

A number of events have transpired in quick succession for ResApp over the past week or so that might be influencing the company today.

Firstly, last week the company announced it was commencing a clinical study in the United States to assess the links between COVID-19 and coughing for its app. It’s aiming to develop an algorithm to identify COVID-19 through cough sounds recorded on a smartphone. The ResApp share price responded well to this announcement at the time.

Additionally, in a separate release last week, ResApp announced that it had inked a deal with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (whom you might know as the maker of a COVID-19 vaccine). This deal is unrelated to COVID though. It instead involves AstraZeneca’s Japanese subsidiary using ResApp’s technology to support asthma patients. As we reported, the ResApp share price responded very positively at the time.

Further, ResApp was, as of last Friday (and effective yesterday) kicked out of the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) by its administrator S&P Global. Normally, exclusion from an index does not bode well for an ASX company. But somewhat perversely, this logic doesn’t seem to apply for this particular All Ords rebalance. Yesterday, we covered how a similar phenomenon was occurring with Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (ASX: AGI). The same thing seems to be happening to ResApp today.

Finally, before market open this morning, we were treated to an interesting insight into the company’s directors. According to ASX notices, three company directors have loaded up on ResApp shares over the past few days. That’s an obvious vote of confidence in the company from management which investors typically love to see.

It’s likely that one or a combination of these factors are pushing up the ResApp share price today.

More reading

• What’s happening with the Tesserent (ASX:TNT) share price today?
• ASX stock of the day: Ainsworth Game Technology (ASX:AGI) shares rise 11%
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• Why Afterpay, Piedmont Lithium, ResApp, & Santos are charging higher
• ResApp (ASX:RAP) share price jumps 19% on AstraZeneca deal

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has slumped 30% from its record all-time highs of $160.05 set on 11 February.

While investors might eye the recent weakness as an opportunity to buy discounted Afterpay shares, here’s what Citi thinks about the Afterpay share price. 

Citi neutral on the Afterpay share price 

Citi believes the latest round of stimulus payments in the United States is a positive for the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector as it could support an increase in consumer spending. The first round of the US$1.9 trillion relief package is expected to reach bank accounts as soon as this weekend. 

The broker also pointed to data showing that Afterpay’s US website visits grew more than ~91% year-on-year in February, but the growth rate is slowing from ~106% in January. While February figures were good, the broker believes the company is underperforming its rival Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P). 

Taking a look at both company’s half-year results, Zip did appear to deliver higher percentage growth across all key metrics. Afterpay recorded a 106% increase in underlying sales to $9.8 billion, an 80% increase in customers to 13.1 million and a 73% increase in active merchants to 74,700.

On the other hand, Zip delivered a 141% increase in transaction volume to $2,320.6 million, a 217% increase in customers to 5.7 million and an 82% increase in merchants to 38,500. 

As a result, Citi retained a neutral rating with a $124.80 target price. 

The Afterpay share price in 2021

While Zip might be growing faster than Afterpay, the company has several exciting global expansion opportunities to drive its growth and global retail relevance. 

Afterpay is ramping up its in-country and cross-border merchants in Canada. It noted several major retailers either contracted or integrating into Canada. The region currently has an underlying sales run rate of approximately ~$90 million based on January 2021 trading.

Today, Afterpay co-CEO Nick Molnar announced on LinkedIn that the company’s European subsidiary Clearpay would launch across Spain, France and Italy. Afterpay’s half-year results noted that it was working to build the tech stack to launch into 4 new countries, with more than $1 billion pipeline of global merchants in the process of contracting for the EU.  

Afterpay also has a new stand-alone banking app expected to launch in Q1 Fy22. Afterpay Money is a money management app that focuses on providing insights and features to help users manage their money. Users can treat the app like a traditional banking app with features such as a linked debit card and digital wallet. 

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Why did the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price and 2 other BNPLs fall today?
• ASX 200 recovers, Evolution Mining acquisition, Afterpay sinks
• Why Afterpay, Fortescue, GWA, & Jupiter Mines are dropping today
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: Afterpay sinks, Evolution announces acquisition

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The Tesserent Ltd (ASX: TNT) share price has had an eventful day so far with the company releasing 3 major announcements to the market in the past 24 hours.

Starting with the latest announcement first, the cybersecurity company said it has acquired yet another cybersecurity business, this time with government connections.

Tesserent has also made a deal to increase the amount of money the company can borrow. And finally, the company announced its admission to the ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) after the closing of trade yesterday. 

All this news has made it an interesting day for the Tesserent share price, which plunged by 3% after opening but has since bounced back. 

At the time of writing, the Tesserent share price is 28.5 cents, up 3.64% on yesterday’s close. 

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

New acquisition

In Tesserent’s newest acquisition, the company has purchased Secure Logic, a provider of managed security services to the NSW and federal governments.

Secure Logic operates a 24/7 security operations centre in Sydney and also provides security for corporate and financial clients domestically and internationally. The company has offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangalore.

Tesserent advised it plans to use the acquisition to leverage its state and federal government relationships and capabilities.

Further, the acquisition will help establish a strategic partnership to distribute Tesserent-owned products across Australia and New Zealand.

The company will pay for the acquisition with a mix of cash and Tesserent shares, putting forward $10.75 million and approximately 42,000,000 shares. It noted Secure Logic’s audited $9 million recurring revenue and $4.2 million sustainable EBITDA as a key reason for the acquisition.

Tesserent chairman Geoff Lord said the acquisition would help the company reach its goal of making a $150 million turnover by the end of the 2021 financial year.

Increased debt facility

Tesserent’s new agreement with existing debt facility provider PURE Asset Management has raised its debt capacity by $20 million, leaving the company with a total debt facility of $35 million.

The company said it planned to use the new debt facility to continue its strategy of growth through acquisition. It has previously acquired several competing cybersecurity businesses, including Pure Security, Rivium, Airloom and iQ3. 

It also managed to secure improved repayment terms – the interest rate on the new facility has decreased from 8.9% to 8.5% per year.

As part of the deal, Tesserent provided Pure with approximately $20 million worth of warrants.

In this case, the warrants work like an IOU for company shares. Pure is guaranteed to receive nearly 44.5 million Tesserent shares at a future date,  locked-in at 45 cents apiece.

These shares will be received directly from Tesserent. Tesserent stated that by agreeing to receive warrants, Pure showed it has faith in the company’s long-term strategy.

Tesserent co-CEO Julian Challingsworth said the company was pleased to continue its relationship with Pure.

This extended facility provides the funding cornerstone to continue to drive the company’s acquisition strategy with minimal dilutionary impact on our existing shareholders.

Growth through acquisition continues to increase our capabilities, geographic reach and the number of organisations that the Tesserent group serves. We now have increased funding flexibility and certainty around funding potential future acquisitions to continue this strategy.

Tesserent share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Tesserent share price has risen by an incredible 612%. However, the company’s shares are also down by more than 18% year to date.

Based on the current Tesserent share price, the company has a market capitalisation of around $275 million with 1 billion shares outstanding. 

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• Tesserent (ASX:TNT) share price jumps 14% on solid half-year results
• ASX tech correction? 10 of the worst-hit shares
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes higher, despite tech selloff
• Why the Murray River Group (ASX:MRG) share price lifted today

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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Shares of Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) and News Corporation (ASX: NWS) are both trading higher during Tuesday’s session. At the time of writing, the Nine share price is sitting at $3.03, up 1.34%. Meanwhile, the News Corp share price is trading 0.89% higher at $31.86.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is also in the green today, currently having risen by 0.91%.

The positive share price movements for the media companies come following recent news of both companies signing deals with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB).

Facebook to pay News Corp, signs letter of intent with Nine

News Corp announced today it has come to a three-year agreement with Facebook under which the social media giant will pay News Corp for use of its Australian news content. This includes content from publications including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and news.com.au.

The company also announced today that Sky News Australia, a News Corp cable television network, has come to a parallel agreement with Facebook.

News Corp had previously come to an agreement with Facebook for its US content in October 2019.

Commenting on today’s announcement, News Corp CEO, Robert Thomson said:

The agreement with Facebook is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses.

He added:

We are grateful to the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims and his team for taking a principled stand for publishers, small and large, rural and urban, and for Australia.

Mr Thomson was referring to the recently passed News and Media Bargaining Code legislation enacted by the Australian Government. Facebook and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) owned Google were the initial subjects of the law.

Facebook was so opposed to the code it initially blocked all Australian news from being shared on its platform for five days. The social media company only dropped the news ban when the government agreed to make several amendments to the bill.

Prior to today’s announcement from News Corp, speculation was already circulating yesterday regarding a possible deal between the company and Facebook.

News Corp did not disclose the value of the deal.

The Australian Financial Review (AFR) is reporting today that Nine Entertainment has also signed a letter of intent with the US$780 billion social media company. Nine is unlikely to formally announce a deal, according to the paper.

Facebook News

Facebook intends to showcase news on its latest Australian offering, Facebook News. Launched in 2019, and coming to Australia soon, a section of the platform will be devoted to displaying news stories personalised to individual user preferences. Facebook will pay publishers for this content.

The company had previously excluded Australia from the initial launch of the product due to the aforementioned dispute with the government over its media code.

Nine and News Corp share price snapshots

One year ago, the Nine and News Corp share prices were sitting at $1.17 and $14.76, respectively. If an investor had bought shares in one of these companies at that time, they would be sitting on a tidy 159% or 116% return on investment.

The market capitalisations of Nine and News Corp are $5.1 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.

More reading

• Could this have moved the News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price today?
• Could this be the pin to pop the Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) bubble?
• ASX 200 climbs, Westpac in the clear, Nine reveals a WIN-ning deal
• Why the Southern Cross Media (ASX:SXL) share price is tumbling 14%
• Nine (ASX:NEC) share price edges higher on positive update

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Marc Sidarous 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 Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. 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 Immutep Ltd (ASX: IMM) share price is soaring in early-afternoon trade. This comes after the company announced a second clinical trial collaboration with subsidiaries of Merck & Co. (MSD). At the time of writing, the biotechnology company’s shares are up 5.97% to 36 cents.

New Phase 2b trial

The Immutep share price is on the move as investors have been rallying up on the positive news.

According to its release, Immutep advised that it has entered a second clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD. This will see Immutep commence a new Phase 2b trial, named TACTI-003 using first-line head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

HNSCC is an aggressive life-threatening cancer that affects either the mouth, sinuses, nose or throat. The disease has a high mortality rate. Because of this, it is considered one of the most common cancers in the world. Global cancer statistics revealed 890,000 cases were diagnosed with 450,000 deaths reported in 2018 alone.

The trial will be a 1:1 randomised and controlled study involving around 160 first-line HNSCC patients. Furthermore, Immutep will seek to assess the safety and efficacy of its lead product candidate, eftilagimod alpha with MSD’s KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab). This will be compared against administering pembrolizumab alone to treat the HNSCC disease.

Immutep’s TACTI-003 trial will take place over multiple locations across the United States, Australia, and Europe. Moreover, the first patient is expected to be enrolled in the study during the middle of this year.

It’s worth noting that the company is also evaluating eftilagimod alpha and KEYTRUDA in its Phase 2 TACTI-002 trial. The encouraging results received led Immutep to conduct an additional TACTI-003 study.

Words from the CEO

Furthermore, Immutep CEO Marc Voigt touched on the company’s developments, saying:

We are excited to be deepening our collaboration with MSD through this second agreement and the TACTI-003 clinical trial. Advancing to this later stage Phase IIb trial will allow us to explore the combination therapy in the commercially relevant 1st line therapy setting which has a high unmet medical need.

About the Immutep share price

The Immutep share price has gained close to 30% over the past 12 months. However, the company is down 13% year-to-date.

Based on the current valuations, Immutep has a market capitalisation of about $233.5 million. Additionally, Immutep has 648 million shares on issue.

More reading

• Why the Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price will be in focus today
• Why is the Immutep (ASX:IMM) share price dipping 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.

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

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