Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) announced on 7 January 2021 it had started to experience connectivity issues for approximately 15% of its active terminal fleet. Since the announcement, the Tyro share price has slumped 20% lower to a 9-month low. 

Goldman Sachs released a report on Wednesday that believes the temporary terminal connectivity issues could weigh on Tyro’s medium-term growth prospects. 

Terminal connectivity issues 

Tyro has disclosed that its first half total transaction volume (TTV) was $12.118 billion, which was 3.7% ahead of Goldman’s forecasts. However, this was offset by the connectivity issues that have indicated to reduce Tyro’s TTV by around 5% to what would otherwise be expected for that period, said Goldman. 

The connectivity issues are reported to impact 19% of its merchants, or 6,300 merchants. A further 11% or ~3,650 have been impacted but have multiple terminals on site, allowing for the working terminals to still be used. Around 70% of merchants are not affected by this issue at all. 

The company advised it has a team of 250 personnel working to replace the affected terminals and indicated that a “majority” of merchants should be back online by the end of this week and balance in the course of next week. 

Goldman observes that the direct impact on Tyro’s lost merchant fees should be “relatively immaterial”. However, the impact on potential lost revenues for its merchants “could be material” and estimates a loss of “$57.5 million to 230 million”, assuming merchants are not able to find an alternative basis to process sales. 

Tyro has said that once connectivity is restored, it will be in a position to consider compensation for customers and other options. 

Alongside this, Goldman is also concerned about the possibility that merchants may churn to alternative service providers regardless of compensation received. The broker cited that on social media, several merchants indicated they bought a Square terminal as a workaround. 

Furthermore, the report fears that future market share gains may slow as a result of reputational damage and delayed/lost opportunity for future partnerships such as its partnership with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN).

Lower Tyro share price target 

Goldman lowered its 12 month Tyro share price target from $3.65 to $3.15 with a neutral rating. This represents a 11% upside to Tyro’s close on Wednesday. Its lower price target was driven by anticipated lower new customer growth rate assumptions.

More reading

• Does Xinja’s downfall mean neobanks are dead?
• Why BrainChip, Pilbara Minerals, Premier Investments, & Tyro shares are dropping lower
• Top fund managers reveal 3 top ASX shares to buy for 2021
• Tyro (ASX:TYR) could face legal action for catastrophic outage
• Why Altium, Clover, PolyNovo, & Tyro shares are dropping lower

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Tyro Payments. 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 Outage issues could weigh on growth for the Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3bHfQfE

One area of the market that has been performing strongly in FY 2021 has been the retail sector.

Thanks partly to the redirection of spending, stimulus, and tax cuts, a number of retailers have reported strong sales and profit growth.

Two retail shares that have been growing strongly and have been tipped as buys are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

Baby Bunting is Australia’s leading baby products retailer. It has been a strong performer in FY 2021, reporting financial year to date (to 2 October) comparable store sales growth of 17%. Impressively, this figure includes its Melbourne metropolitan stores which were impacted by lockdowns. Excluding these stores, comparable store sales would have been up 28.5% on the prior corresponding period.

Analysts at Citi are positive on the company and see a long runway for growth ahead. This is largely due to management’s plan to almost double its store network from 56 stores to over 100 stores in the future. In fact, the broker sees opportunities for this number to increase thanks to opportunities in the New Zealand market. This will be a big positive as a greater size should provide it with increased buying power with suppliers and supply chain efficiencies.

Citi has a buy rating and $5.48 price target on the company’s shares.

Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI)

Another retailer growing strongly in FY 2021 is Universal Store. The fashion retailer recently released a very strong trading update which revealed that it expects its underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be in a range of $30 million to $31 million for the first half. This represents growth of between 61% and 67% on the prior corresponding period and was driven by strong like for like sales growth and gross margin improvements.

This update impressed analysts at Morgans. Particularly given how it performed strongly despite facing headwinds such as lockdowns and continued restrictions on youth events like music festivals. And with the company now cycling a weak six-month period from a year earlier, the broker sees scope for its second half EBIT to increase 125% on the prior corresponding period.

After which, Morgans is forecasting its earnings to grow at a 30% compound annual growth rate through to FY 2023. It feels this makes its shares cheap at the current level and has an add rating and improved price target of $6.93 on them.

More reading

• Why Oil Search, Praemium, Premier Investments, & Universal Store are storming higher
• Here’s why the Universal Store (ASX:UNI) share price is surging 10% higher
• Why these ASX shares just stormed to 52-week highs or better
• 3 recent ASX IPOs to watch
• Citigroup picks the best ASX retail stocks to own for 2021

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.

The post 2 ASX retail shares delivering stellar growth in FY 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2LTBFNP

The dividend outlook for ASX stocks is much improved for FY21 but there’s one large cap that could lead the pack.

Dividends from S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) stocks were slashed in COVID-19-stricken FY20 but the worst seems to have passed.

Companies are again ready to grow their dividends this financial year and ASX big banks like the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price are good examples.

Best large cap dividend grower for FY21?

While the dividend increase from this sector is expected to be impressive, it could be outpaced by the Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) share price.

UBS is predicting that dividends from the medical testing facilities operator will surge by 87% in FY21 compared to the previous year.

This puts Sonic’s dividend payment at $1.59 a share and we will find out as early as next month if UBS’ estimates are on the money.

COVID testing drives Sonic’s dividend surge

What’s driving the big dividend upgrade is COVID testing. This is something I’ve highlighted over a week ago as Australia ramped up its testing regime.

Now that the first half of FY21 is passed, the broker has run the numbers on what the increase in COVID PCR tests will mean for Sonic, and it’s substantial.

The contribution isn’t only from Australia where the emergence of the more contagious UK-variant sent state governments into a testing frenzy. The increase in testing in Europe and the US is also benefiting Sonic’s bottom line.

PCR worth more than $1 billion to Sonic

“We note that in US/Germany/UK, testing rates increased in the Oct-Dec 2020 period (vs Jul-Sep), with a degree of softening in AUS (prior to a surge in late December),” said UBS.

“For 1H21, we now derive ~A$1.4bn (out of total group revenue of A$4.65bn), specifically from PCR testing revenue (an increase of ~A$400mn vs our previous forecast, translating to a ~20% FY21 EPS upgrade), with 16.4mn tests conducted in the six month window.”

Based on the high margin contribution from PCR testing, the broker is forecasting a 74% growth in group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 1HFY21.

That is a little above the 71% growth reported in Sonic’s September quarterly update.

Is the Sonic share price cheap?

But UBS isn’t quite ready to recommend the Sonic share price as a “buy” at this point. It pointed to the group’s poor track record at growing earnings per share, despite the benefit of acquisitions.

It also pointed out that the rate of COVID testing will drop in the next 12 to 18 months if the rollout of mass vaccinations stays on schedule.

Given how vaccinations programs from the US to UK have kicked off though, that might be a big assumption.

UBS rates the Sonic share price as “neutral” with a 12-month price target of $34.75 a share.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• 3 reasons we might see higher ASX share prices in 2021
• Does the ASX care that Donald Trump has been impeached, twice?
• Why this broker likes ANZ (ASX:ANZ), NAB (ASX:NAB), and Westpac (ASX:WBC)

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of National Australia Bank Limited and Westpac Banking. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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

The post This ASX 200 stock is tipped to lift dividends by 87% this year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2XTD36d

Late yesterday afternoon, Australian-based gold producer Medusa Mining Limited (ASX: MML) notified the market of a tragic incident at one of its mines in the Philippines.

What happened?

In yesterday’s release, Medusa advised that it received notice of a fatal accident through its Philippines operating company, Philsaga Mining Corporation.

Two workers were fatally injured while carrying out maintenance tasks at an underground pumping station on the third level of the mine.

Medusa said that the incident took place on 12 January and the Philippine Mines and Geosciences Bureau was immediately notified. Authorities have launched a full investigation into the cause of the tragedy.

The affected families of the workers are receiving support as Philsaga Mining Corporation works with the contracting company involved.

In its announcement, Medusa commented that the accident occurred “despite the additional daily focus on safe work practices, additional training and improved procedures.”

The company advised it has immediately reinforced its safety procedures in relation to the circumstances of the accident, and is reviewing all safety components.

Lastly, Medusa noted that following safety inspections, all other areas of the mine continue to operate as normal.

Medusa share price snapshot

Medusa operates two projects, the Co-O mine and the Royal Crowne Vein Prospect, both located in the Philippines.

The Medusa share price has been a weak performer over the past 12 months, down 10% since this time last year.

Based on the current share price of 76 cents per share, Medusa commands a market capitalisation of $159 million.

More reading

• 3 blue chip ASX dividend shares with big yields
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• Are they really profiting from JobKeeper?
• These ASX shares are growing at a rapid rate in FY 2021

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 Medusa Mining (ASX:MML) reports fatal underground accident appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2KeTUwS

Luckily in this low interest rate environment, there are a number of blue chip shares offering investors generous yields.

Three blue chips that are highly rated right now for income investors are listed below. Here’s what you need to know:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

With the worst now seemingly behind the banks, investors have been piling into the sector again in recent months. The good news is that it may not be too late to invest and still generate a generous yield. According to a note out of Morgans, now that dividend restrictions have been removed, its analysts are forecasting a $1.27 per share dividend in FY 2021. This represents a fully franked 5.2% yield. Morgans has an add rating and $26.00 price target on its shares.

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

Another blue chip that comes highly rated is BHP. Thanks to favourable commodity prices, particularly the sky high iron ore price, analysts at Macquarie are tipping the mining giant to generate significant free cash flow this year. The broker expects this to result in a fully franked ~$3.85 per share dividend in FY 2021. Which based on the current BHP share price, represents an 8.3% dividend yield. Macquarie has an outperform rating and $46.00 price target on its shares.

Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)

This telco giant has struggled for a number of years due to the NBN rollout but has been tipped to return to growth in the not so distant future. This is thanks to its T22 strategy and the arrival of 5G internet. In the meantime, analysts at UBS believe that Telstra will be able to maintain its 16 cents per share fully franked dividend for the foreseeable future. Based on the current Telstra share price, this equates to a 5.2% dividend yield. UBS has a buy rating and $3.70 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 2 ASX 50 shares to buy
• Why this broker likes ANZ (ASX:ANZ), NAB (ASX:NAB), and Westpac (ASX:WBC)
• Why this top broker thinks the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price could surge ~40%
• BHP, Rio Tinto’s new copper mine under threat

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 3 blue chip ASX dividend shares with big yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2XFAJPV

On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and stormed higher. The benchmark index rose 0.4% to 6,715.3 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise again.

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a positive note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 8 points or 0.1% higher this morning. This follows a positive night of trade on Wall Street, which in late trade sees the Dow Jones up 0.2%, the S&P 500 up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq trading 0.3% higher.

Oil prices push higher.

It could be a good day for energy producers Beach Energy Limited (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.1% to US$53.48 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has risen 0.5% to US$56.35 a barrel. This was despite rising COVID cases in Europe and new lockdowns in China renewing concerns about global oil demand.

Gold price softens.

Gold miners such as Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) will be on watch after the gold price dropped lower. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is down 0.5% to US$1,847.60 an ounce. This appears to have been driven by a strengthening US dollar.

Iron ore price rises.

It could be a good day for mining giants BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) on Friday after the iron ore price pushed higher again. According to Metal Bulletin, the iron ore price has risen 1.3% to US$172.36 a tonne overnight. In late trade in the United States, the US listed shares of BHP and Rio Tinto are up 4.5% and 4%, respectively. Similar gains were made by their UK listed shares.

Whitehaven rated neutral.

The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price could be fully valued according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. The broker has responded to its “weaker than expected” December quarter update by retaining its neutral rating and $1.60 price target on the coal miner’s shares. This compares to the current Whitehaven Coal share price of $1.81.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• 2 ASX 50 shares to buy
• 3 reasons we might see higher ASX share prices in 2021
• Does the ASX care that Donald Trump has been impeached, twice?
• Why the Meridian (ASX:MEZ) share price is dropping lower today

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.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/35Y5i8f

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.4% today to 6,715 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF)

Australian Ethical announced its quarterly update for the period ending 31 December 2020.

It said that its funds under management (FUM) grew by another 16.9% to $5.05 billion, up from $4.32 billion at 30 September 2020.

It received net inflows of $270 million for the quarter.

The company attributed the increase to strong investment performance and strong net flows.

In the financial year to date to 31 December 2020, FUM has grown by 24.6%.

The Australian Ethical share price went up more than 1% in reaction to this.

Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX: PME)

The Pro Medicus share price went up 15% after revealing that it won a new contract in the US.

The healthcare imaging company announced that it had won a seven-year contract with Intermountain Healthcare worth $40 million.

Intermountain is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West region of Utah, Idaho and Nevada.

Pro Medicus’ Visage will replace the legacy PACS and other specialty systems across the 24 hospitals and more than 200 clinics. The contract includes the Visage 7 Viewer and the Visage 7 Open Archive. The Visage 7 platform will be fully deployed in the public cloud, using the Google Cloud Platform.

Planning for the rollout is to begin in the third quarter of FY21, with data migration commencing immediately by Visage’s engineering team. The first sites will be scheduled to go-live shortly thereafter.

Pro Medicus CEO Dr Sam Hupert said: “This is a very important deal for us, not only because of its size and scope, it will provide us with a material footprint in Intermountain West, previously an untapped region for us. It also validates our decision to engineer Visage 7 from the ground up to be natively cloud capable, with Intermountain deploying both the Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Open Archive as part of our Visage in the cloud offering, making this one of the largest cloud-based PACS implementations in the world.

“This is our fifth major contract win in six months. We believe this validates our belief that we have unique, market leading technology which, coupled with our expanded product portfolio and native cloud capability, has significantly increased our total addressable market in our key jurisdictions of North America, Europe and Australia.”

Bell Financial Group Ltd (ASX: BFG)

The Bell Financial share price went up 3.6% after giving a profit update for FY20.

It said in the year to 31 December 2020 that revenue went up 18% to $299 million, funds under advice (FUA) grew 9% to $63.9 billion, net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 44% to $46.7 million and the earnings per share (EPS) went up 44% to 14.6 cents.

The company will give a full update of its result in February.

Buy now, pay later operators rise

The entire buy now, pay later industry got a boost today after global competitor Affirm jumped after its own initial public offering (IPO).

Australia’s biggest player, Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), saw its share price grow by almost 10%, the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price rose by 5%, the Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price went up 7.5% and the Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price rose 1.8%.

More reading

• 3 reasons we might see higher ASX share prices in 2021
• Does the ASX care that Donald Trump has been impeached, twice?
• What’s next for WAAAX shares in 2021? 
• Bell Financial (ASX:BFG) share price rising on full year results
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price jumps 10% on bullish broker note

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 and recommends Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. and 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 Australian Ethical Investment Ltd., Pro Medicus Ltd., and Sezzle Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post ASX 200 rises 0.4% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3icq5cL

There has been plenty in the media lately about companies deemed to have profited from JobKeeper.

And it’s easy talkback and tabloid fodder, not to mention great retail politics.

Here’s how it works:

1. Company gets $X million in JobKeeper payments.

2. Company makes $Y million in profit.

3. Cue outrage

And it seems logical, right.

If a company made $10 million in profit, but got, say, $5 million in JobKeeper payments, isn’t it logically true that half of the profit was funded by the taxpayer?

And shouldn’t it be paid back?

(And, if you’re a politician, shock jock or tabloid rabble-rouser, why would you bother thinking any more deeply on the topic?)

By the way, the answer to ‘Isn’t it logically inescapable that the taxpayer funded the profit?’ is a resounding ‘no’.

Or, more accurately, not necessarily.

But it takes a little thinking – something that, well, doesn’t always get done in our social media and soundbite world.

First, remember that the money for JobKeeper might be paid to the company, but is passed through to the employee. So the company can’t keep the cash and profit from it.

Ah, you say, but if they made a profit, they could have just paid the employees themselves.

Yep. They could have.

Except that, in some (many, perhaps most?) cases, they wouldn’t have.

They would have laid the workers off (or significantly reduced their hours).

Sure, some wouldn’t have. And yes, those companies likely did earn more profits than in a ‘normal year’.

But many – again, perhaps most – would have sacked, laid off, or reduced hours, thereby preserving their profits; rather than keep a full complement of staff, and make a loss in doing so.

Which makes for a pretty tricky policy issue.

I am in complete agreement that taxpayers money shouldn’t be used for corporate welfare (of more sorts than just JobKeeper, by the way).

But if we can’t know, in advance, which employees would have been kept on, and which let go, how do you otherwise design a program that protects jobs – the very aim of JobKeeper.

You could ask those companies whether they intended to lay off workers, I guess. And one or two might even be honest. The rest would either be blatantly dishonest, or – more likely – would have honestly said “We don’t know, because we don’t know how bad things will get”.

And yes, if we’d had 12 months to debate the merits of a scheme designed to keep the maximum number of jobs through an unexpected pandemic, it’s even possible other checks and balances might have been introduced.

But the government was scrambling, and, frankly, came up with a scheme that was astonishingly successful – and our fast return from recession to growth is evidence of same.

(For the record, we can never distinguish entirely between causation and correlation. We can’t know how deep the recession would have been without JobKeeper, nor how slow the recovery might have been. But it’s a fair bet that JobKeeper was instrumental in shortening the recession and moderating its depth.)

Should we ‘claw back’ JobKeeper, then, if companies made a profit?

I mean, we could, but remember that companies entered the scheme in good faith, and to retrospectively demand repayment would be to undermine the effectiveness of a similar scheme in future.

Companies will ask themselves: “If we have to pay this back, would we be better off just sacking workers now, and maximising profits, rather than having to roll the dice on some future clawback of JobKeeper?”.

Because, remember, this was all about maximising employment and minimising unemployment.

It was always a ‘least worst’ option, costing scores of billions, designed to be such a no-brainer that it kept people in work and – and remember this bit – allowing them to make mortgage and other loan repayments, to continue consuming, and to keeping other businesses afloat… which meant more jobs saved.

The economy is always circular – a virtuous circle when growth begets growth, but a vicious circle when decline causes further decline.

So, we can say that companies shouldn’t have received the money, if they were going to make a profit anyway… but we have to remember that – given managers are responsible for maximising profits one way or the other – the cost might have come in the form of huge job losses, and the resultant worsening of economic conditions and the lengthening of a recession.

Yes, paying taxpayer money to profitable companies sticks in the craw. But it might just have been the least worst of the available options. 

We truly need to be careful what we wish for.

More reading

• These ASX shares are growing at a rapid rate in FY 2021
• Are these 2 beaten-up ASX shares turnaround ideas?
• US decides against delisting Tencent and other Chinese giants
• Why the Cyclopharm (ASX:CYC) share price popped 6% today
• Why the Odyssey (ASX:ODY) share price is up a whopping 60% today

Motley Fool contributor Scott Phillips 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 Are they really profiting from JobKeeper? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3oJk4a9

Unfortunately, the pandemic has stifled the growth of a number of popular companies in FY 2021 such as A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU).

The good news, though, is that not all companies are struggling because of COVID-19. In fact, the two shares listed below are on fire this financial year. Here’s what you need to know:

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

The first share which has been delivering strong growth in FY 2021 is Bigtincan. It is a leading provider of enterprise mobility software globally.

Bigtincan’s software helps businesses increase their sales win rates, reduce expenditures, and improve customer satisfaction. This is achieved by pulling everything from sales content management, coaching and training, document automation, and internal communications into one intuitive, custom-tailored, sales enablement platform. This has proven very popular during the COVID crisis.

So much so, thanks to strong demand, the company expects to report annualised recurring revenue (ARR) in the range of $49 million to $53 million in FY 2021. This represents a sizeable 37% to 48% increase year on year.

And it is worth noting that this is still only scratching at the surface of its $6 billion market opportunity. This gives it a very long runway for growth in the coming years.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Another company growing rapidly is Pushpay. It is a donor management and community engagement provider to the church market. Thanks to the quality of its platform, its leadership position, and the shift to a cashless society, Pushpay has experienced a significant increase in demand for its offering over the last 12 months.

This has led to stellar revenue and operating earnings growth in FY 2021. For example, just this week Pushpay upgraded its earnings guidance for a second time due to a stronger than expected finish to the calendar year. 

Instead of operating earnings of between US$54 million and US$58 million, management is now forecasting FY 2021 operating earnings of between US$56 million and US$60 million. This will be up a massive 123% to 139% year on year. This has been driven by strong revenue growth, the recent launch of ChurchStaq, and further operating leverage. 

More reading

• 3 reasons why the Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price could be a buy
• ASX 200 drops lower
• 3 highly rated ASX growth shares to buy now
• 3 ASX shares to buy that fund managers love
• Why ARB, Mesoblast, Pushpay, & Super Retail shares are racing higher

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 and recommends Altium and BIGTINCAN FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post These ASX shares are growing at a rapid rate in FY 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3i9MCXI

There are some ASX shares that soared in 2020. Other ones have been beaten up over the past 12 months.

Here are two businesses that have fallen by around 20% over the past year:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The Altium share price has dropped by around 21% over the past 12 months.

The electronic PCB software business implemented temporarily lower prices at the end of FY20 and longer payment terms to ensure that its client base and market share would keep rising.

The ASX share’s management has a plan for the tech company to become the global leader of its industry during this decade. When it reaches market leadership that is likely to mean that the company will be making around US$500 million of revenue.

However, Altium recently gave a trading update for the six months to 31 December 2020 that included continuing COVID-19 effects on its business and clients.

Altium said that its total first half revenue was down 3% to US$89.6 million because of COVID-19 conditions in the US and Europe, as well as challenging economic conditions in China for licence compliance activities.

The company said that the Americas underperformed with a decline of 10% in revenue for the half as the unprecedented levels of COVID-19 negatively impacted the sales performance.

NEXUS recorded a decline in growth of 14% for the half due to the timing of deals with a significant pipeline in the second half.

Altium said China underperformed with a decline of 15% in revenue for the half as licence compliance activities have become more challenging at the low end of the market due to uncertain economic conditions after COVID-19 in China.

However, Altium did share some positives. It said that board and systems revenue was stronger in the second quarter relative to the first quarter. The first quarter revenue was down 11% year on year, but improved to be flat year on year in the second quarter. This was notwithstanding the significant restructuring undertaken in Altium’s sales organisation to enable the company’s pivot to the cloud.

Electronic manufacturing has rebounded with Octopart benefiting from this recovery and achieving 19% revenue growth for the half. Management said this was a positive leading indicator for PCB design growth that should drive Altium Designer sales in the second half.

There was also strong growth in term-based licences over the first half, up 166%.

At the current Altium share price, it’s valued at 38X FY23’s estimated earnings according to Commsec.

APA Group (ASX: APA)

The APA share price has fallen by 17% over the last 12 months

This ASX share owns a large network of 15,000km of natural gas pipelines around Australia with a presence in every mainland state and the Northern Territory. It also owns or has interests in gas storage facilities, gas-fired power stations and renewable energy generation (wind and solar farms). APA owns, or manages and operates, a portfolio of assets and delivers half the nation’s natural gas usage.

The Morrison Government has indicated that gas could play an important part in the recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

APA recently announced that it would be building a new pipeline in Western Australia that would link up with its existing pipeline in the state. The infrastructure ASX share believes that building this pipeline could cause some local resource companies to ask for a connection for cheap energy.

Once completed, the project will unlock more operating cashflow for APA, enabling it to pay a higher distribution. The business has grown its distribution for shareholders every year for a decade and a half.

It currently offers investors a distribution yield of 5.3%.

More reading

• What’s next for WAAAX shares in 2021? 
• 3 ASX 200 shares to buy right now
• Here’s what this leading broker thinks about the Altium (ASX:ALU) share price
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• ASX 200 rises 0.1%

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of APA Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Are these 2 beaten-up ASX shares turnaround ideas? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/38EQcWS