• 2 quality ASX 50 shares to buy now

    three building blocks with smiley faces, indicating a rise in the ASX share price

    The S&P/ASX 50 index is home to 50 of the largest listed companies on the Australian share market.

    This means the index hosts many of the highest quality and most well-known companies that the ANZ region has to offer.

    While not all of the shares on the index are necessarily in the buy zone, two that could be are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

    Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)

    Lendlease is a global property and infrastructure company. Although its performance in recent years has been underwhelming, its outlook is becoming increasingly positive.

    This is due to the divestment of its struggling engineering business and the announcement of a major new strategy. The latter is shifting its earnings mix and business model favourably. This appears to have positioned it perfectly for long term growth and should be supported by some major urbanisation projects. These include Thamesmead Waterfront in London and a partnership with Google in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Goldman Sachs is a fan of the strategy shift. It currently has a buy rating and $16.54 price target on the company’s shares. The broker believes that its shares could re-rate to higher multiples once it starts to successfully execute its new strategy.

    Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

    Another ASX 50 share to consider buying is Xero. It is a leading cloud-based business and accounting software provider with a focus on small to medium sized businesses.

    Thanks to the evolution of its platform over the last few years from an accounting solution into a full service small business solution, Xero has been growing at a rapid rate. This has continued in FY 2021 despite the pandemic’s impact on small businesses.

    Goldman Sachs is also a fan of Xero and believes it still has a long runway for growth. This is due to the quality of its offering, the ongoing shift to cloud-based solutions, its global market opportunity, and burgeoning app ecosystem. The latter has been bolstered recently with a number of bolt on acquisitions. This includes Planday, Tickstar, and Waddle.

    Goldman Sachs has a buy rating and $153.00 price target on its shares.

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

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  • ASX 200 rises, Zip sinks, BOQ reports

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up 0.5% today to 7,059 points.

    Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

    Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

    Zip said that it had successfully priced its $400 million zero coupon senior unsecured convertible notes due 2028. The notes will mature on 23 April 2028 unless otherwise redeemed, repurchase or converted in accordance with their terms and conditions.

    The conversion price of the notes is $12.39 per share, which represents a conversion premium of 35% over the reference share price.

    Zip said that the buy now, pay later company will use the proceedings of the offering will be used for driving growth in core markets, expanding into new regions and for general corporate purposes.

    The co-founder and chief operating officer Peter Gray said:

    We are very pleased with the strong global demand for this offering. This transaction further diversifies Zip’s sources of capital and allows us to pursue our global growth aspirations while reducing potential dilution of existing shareholders.

    Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ)

    The BOQ share price dropped around 0.7% today after the regional bank released its FY21 half-year result.

    BOQ revealed cash earnings after tax increase of 9% to $165 million. However, cash earnings per share (EPS) only grew by 3% to 34.3 cents. Statutory profit grew by 66% to $154 million.

    Management explained that the growth was driven by above system growth, a net interest margin (NIM) improvement, cost discipline and a strong capital position.

    The ASX 200 share’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio increased by 12 basis pointed to 10.3%. BOQ’s half-year dividend was increased by 11 cents per share to 17 cents per share.

    Regarding the ME Bank acquisition, BOQ CEO and managing director George Frazis said:

    The acquisition of ME Bank announced in February 2021 is on schedule, with integration planning well progressed and the regulatory approvals process underway. We anticipate the acquisition to be completed by the end of the our financial year. The acquisition is expected to be cash EPS accretive, including full run-rate synergies in the first year. The acquisition of ME Bank is a meaningful step in making BOQ Group a compelling alternative to the big banks. We are confident that our multi-brand, niche segment strategy will give us a competitive advantage and provide genuine choice to millions of Australians.

    Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

    The Transurban share price finished flat today after giving its quarterly traffic numbers to the market.

    During the three-month period to 31 March 2021, average daily traffic (ADT) increased by 1.1% compared to 2020 and decreased by 3.8% compared to 2019.

    Traffic impacts across each of Transurban’s markets continue to vary.

    Sydney ADT increased by 21.8% to 936,000. A large majority of this increase was down to traffic at the new assets of NorthConnex, M5 East and M8. Without those, traffic would have increased by 4.5%.

    Melbourne ADT decreased by 15.2% to 675,000 transactions due to restrictions, according to Transurban.

    Brisbane ADT went up by 3.3% to 403,000 trips despite brief lockdowns during the period.

    North American ADT decreased by 26.9% to 101,000 trips.

    Boral Limited (ASX: BLD)

    The Boral share price ended slightly higher after announcing some potential divestment news.

    The ASX 200 share said that as part of the review of its North American fly ash business.

    The Boral CEO and managing director said:

    We have conducted a detailed study of the US fly ash industry and remain confident in the long term demand dynamics for the industry, including significant incremental demand growth potential from the US government’s proposed new infrastructure program.

    New opportunities for supply exist from harvesting landfills, imports and natural pozzolans, which we expect will more than offset the decline in fresh fly ash supply as the US transitions away from coal fired power generation. As we continue to build our alternative supply strategy, strategic alliances and opportunities for partnership will be considered in parallel with divestment options or continued ownership.

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    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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Transurban Group. 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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  • Why is the Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) share price up 23% today?

    hand on touch screen lit up by a share price chart moving higher

    The Invictus Energy Ltd (ASX: IVZ) share price has had a stunning day today. At the time of writing, Invictus shares are up 23.33% to 18 cents a share after closing at 16 cents a share yesterday.

    Today’s share price appreciation is just the latest chapter in what has been a great year to own Invictus Energy shares. Twelve months ago, this company was sitting at a price of just 2 cents a share. That means that Invictus is now up 825% over the past year. Since 27 March 2020, this prospective oil driller has risen an incredible 1,750%. Even in 2021 so far, investors have enjoyed gains of 260%, including 50% since 30 March.

    So why are Invictus shares pushing dramatically higher today?

    Conviction for Invictus shares

    Well, there is no major news or announcements out today that would be directly affecting Invictus shares. However, a lot has been happening at this company lately. 

    Late last month, the company completed a share placement program, which raised $8 million from the issuance of just over 25 million shares at a price of 11 cents each. Then, on 29 March, Invictus announced that it had signed a petroleum exploration development and production agreement with the government of Zimbabwe for 25 years. This agreement will allow the Cabora Bassa project, of which Invictus has an 80% ownership, to proceed. Invictus’ license covers 250,000 acres in the Cabroa Bassa Basin in Northern Zimbabwe. The company states that it holds “potentially the largest, seismically defined, undrilled structure in onshore Africa”.

    We haven’t had any substantial news out of the company since, apart from some routine paperwork announcements. However, investors seem to have been growing more confident in Invictus with each passing day.

    Another factor might be at work as well. The breakthrough for Invictus on its Cabora Bassa project could not have come at a better time. Over the past 2-3 weeks, global oil prices have risen considerably. According to Bloomberg, it was only back on 23 March that Brent crude was asking just over US$60 a barrel. Today, it’s commanding US$66.66 a barrel. There’s little doubt investors have failed to notice this in recent weeks, judging by the Invictus share price.

    At the current market valuation, Invictus Energy has a market capitalisation of $99.95 million (so close to the ton).

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

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    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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  • Why the Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) share price is up 50% in a month

    South32 share price

    Galan Lithium Ltd (ASX: GLN) shares have been soaring lately, surging by 50% over the past month.

    On 18 March, Galan Lithium entered a trading halt. At the time, the company’s shares were swapping hands at 47 cents each. By today’s market close, the Galan share price was trading at 73.5 cents after having risen 6.5% today.

    So, what’s been driving the Galan Lithium share price since 18 March? Let’s take a look.

    Lithium, lithium and more lithium

    Galan Lithium broke its trading halt on 22 March with exciting news, leading its share price to close 12.8% higher than the previous session.

    Just prior to the market’s open on 22 March, the company announced test results had found the brine evaporation process at its Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project was capable of producing 25% more lithium than was previously predicted.

    According to the release, HMW’s lithium chloride concentrate increased to 6% lithium. This represented a significant increase from the original measure of the process which found 4.8% lithium.

    HMW is located in Argentina, in the area known as the South America Lithium Triangle. The HMW project has a low carbon footprint with comparable results to other lithium miners in the area.

    Galan Lithium stated it’s still running tests to optimise lithium chloride solutions to deliver the best chemical solution in the shortest amount of time.

    What else has been happening for Galan?

    After the HMW news in March, we hadn’t heard anything more from Galan.

    That was until this morning when the company announced it had finished a review of historical CSIRO data and had found improved prospects at its Greenbushes South Lithium Project.

    A CSIRO study from 1987 defined geochemical anomalies with the laterite soils across the Greenbushes region. Galan Lithium stated this study confirms the feasibility to explore for a concealed deposit of mineralised Li-Sn-Ta pegmatites – a rock type that may host spodumene.

    Now, Galan is repeating some of the soil sampling done in the original study to validate the results and plan its next move at the project.

    The Greenbushes South Lithium Project is located around 3 kilometres south of the Greenbushes Lithium Mine. The Greenbushes Lithium Mine is the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world.

    Galan Lithium share price snapshot

    Galan Lithium is having a cracking time on the ASX this year. At the time of writing, the company’s share price is around 90% higher than it was at the beginning of 2021.

    It’s also up by almost 360% over the last 12 months.

    The company has a market capitalisation of around $165 million, with approximately 240 million shares outstanding.

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  • China’s dairy stocks rise: What does this mean for the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price?

    pouring glass of milk from glass milk bottle

    The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price could be one to watch. In particular, as Chinese dairy companies stage a strong rally on Thursday. 

    Why the A2 Milk share price is on watch 

    In a paper released on Wednesday, the People’s Republic of China said that it should remove all birth control and encourage people to have more children. A number of China’s listed dairy companies have worked with ASX-listed dairy companies. 

    Beingmate for example, is one of the largest Chinese-owned companies in the infant nutrition industry. Its shares have climbed 10% today, but remain around all-time record lows.

    In late 2020, Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Beingmate to manufacture Bubs Goat Infant Formula made from 100 per cent Australian goat milk in China. Interestingly, Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (ASX: FSF) also has a 2.82% shareholder in the company. 

    Elsewhere, shares such as Guangxi Royal Dairy, Lanzhou Zhuangyuan Pasture, and Xinjiang Tianrun Dairy have all opened higher on Thursday. 

    A potential turnaround in the share price 

    Bell Potter released a note on Monday, upgrading the A2 Milk share price to a buy with a $9.50 target price. The broker observes that the company is working through its excess stock and exports to China are picking up from December 2020 lows. It believes that these early signals could indicate that the recent downgrade cycle is reversing. 

    The report also highlighted A2’s expanding offline Chinese distribution. It believes that the company’s distribution points are looking to approach 30,000 in the March quarter and might mitigate the headwinds of declining China births, which is down 15% year-on-year in 2020.  

    Overall, Bell Potter is pointing to a recovery that’s in its very early stages. Investors likely want to see a material improvement in the company’s financial performance following back-to-back earnings downgrades. 

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    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 BUBS AUST FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BUBS AUST FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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  • How pent-up demand could turbocharge ASX 200 energy shares

    oil and gas operations at sunset signifying senex share price

    S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy shares have come roaring back from their early pandemic lows.

    Battered by international and domestic travel restrictions, which sent crude oil prices plummeting into the basement in March and April last year, energy shares joined travel shares for the ignominious honour of posting some of the steepest falls on the ASX 200.

    You may recall that less than a year ago, on 27 April 2020, a barrel of Brent crude oil was worth US$19.99.

    Today that same barrel is selling for US$66.54. An increase of 232%.

    The bullish outlook for crude oil prices

    While COVID-19 remains a wild card in the outlook for crude oil demand and prices, a growing number of analysts, including JP Morgan, are bullish on the short-term outlook for oil.

    Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp shares that outlook. Moya said (quoted by Bloomberg), “There’s going to be tremendous pent-up demand for crude. There are some areas that are seeing cases trend higher, but the restrictions are going to be short-lived as vaccines get distributed.”

    Bill O’Grady is the executive vice president at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis. Commenting on his outlook for the crude market, O’Grady said, “There’s always bearish factors in any market, but now that we’ve broke out to the upside, it likely means we’re going to retest the old highs, if not go through them.”

    Two leading ASX 200 energy shares

    Two of the top oil and gas shares on the ASX 200 are Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).

    At the current price of $7.18 per share, Santos has a market cap of $14.9 billion. The company trades on a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 12.8 times. Up 2% in late afternoon trading today, the Santos share price is up 69% over the past 12 months. That compares to a gain of 30% on the ASX 200.

    Woodside, up just under 1% today, is trading for $24.36 per share, giving it a market cap of $23.5 billion. Woodside shares have gained 16% over the past 12 months and 6% year-to-date.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

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    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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  • What Coinbase’s float means for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price

    A woman nervously crosses her fingers, indicating hope for positive share price movement

    While they may seem to be a world apart, Coinbase Global Inc‘s (NASDAQ: COIN) float on the Nasdaq Index may mean big things for the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price.

    Coinbase floated on the Nasdaq in the wee hours of 3am AEST this morning. While most of Australia was sleeping, the cryptocurrency trading app’s share price bombed. It started its trade at US$386.31, but by the time most of us woke up at 6am AEST, it was swapping hands for just US$328.28.

    Having said that, Coinbase’s US$385.31 opening price is much higher than Nasdaq’s reference price of US$250.

    But what does all this have to do with Australian banking giant Westpac? Let’s take a look.

    A friend of a friend…

    It was first suggested that Coinbase’s floating could contribute $500 million to Westbank’s coffers. Not a bad payday for the bank, which didn’t have to put in much effort to receive it.

    This is all because of an investment Westpac made into a capital fund by the name of Reinventure.

    You see, way back in 2015, Reinventure made an investment into the, now much discussed, Coinbase. Now, in 2021, it’s making a big profit off of that decision.

    What happened when Coinbase debuted?

    Due to the volatility of Coinbase’s first day trading on the Nasdaq index, its valuation has slipped lower than was expected. According to a report from Bloomberg, Coinbase’s opening share price gave the company a valuation of US$100 billion.

    At its intraday high (a whopping US$429.54), Coinbase had a valuation of US$112 billion. Unfortunately for Coinbase, Reinventure and Westpac (along with many others, I’m assuming), by the end of the day’s trade Coinbase was valued at around $86 billion.

    The Motley Fool Australia previously reported on the US$70 billion to US$100 billion estimation made of Coinbase’s valuation by the Australian Financial Review.  

    We reported that, if that were to be the case, Reinventure would come out with a profit of roughly $450 million from its $50 million investment.

    Not a bad payday for Reinventure, and of course, Westpac.

    Westpac share price snapshot

    Even after Coinbase’s exciting debut, the Westpac share price is sluggish on the ASX today.

    At the time of writing, shares in Westpac have lifted 0.63%, trading at $25.49.

    The banking giant has a market capitalisation of around $92.9 billion, with approximately 3.6 billion shares outstanding.

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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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  • DDH1 (ASX:DDH) share price edges higher on credit facility

    Five stacked building blocks with green arrows, indicating rising inflation or share prices

    The DDH1 Limited (ASX: DDH) share price is on the rise following the approval of credit facility from Bankwest. In late-afternoon trade, the drilling company’s shares are fetching for $1.06, up 2.9%. At one stage, DDH1 shares reached an intraday high of $1.10, reflecting a record for the newly-listed company.

    Funding for growth

    The DDH1 share price entered new territory today after providing investors with a positive update.

    According to its release, DDH1 advised that it agreed to the terms with Bankwest to receive debt facilities of up to $60 million. Furthermore, the available funds consist of a $50 million revolving credit line and $10 million in asset finance.

    This follows the company’s previous announcement in its Initial Public Offering (IPO) prospectus to secure funding to drive future growth.

    DDH1 stated that the Bankwest debt facilities represent the sole significant credit line available for expanding its operations. In addition, it paves the way for another third-party, asset-backed finance if needed.

    The company is focused on executing its growth strategy in servicing increasing demand from its clients and winning new work. By the first half of FY22, DDH1 is planning to have 103 drill rigs in its arsenal, up from the current 97 to date. This will allow the company to expand operations and further enhance its market position as Australia’s leading mineral drilling contractor.

    The revolving credit facility has a 5-year term and can be used for a variety of purposes. This includes general corporate purposes including acquisitions, capital expenditure, and working capital. The $10 million asset finance is uncommitted and can only be used for equipment purchases.

    Management commentary

    DDH1 chief financial officer, Ben MacKinnon welcomed the approval of the credit facility, saying:

    We are delighted to have agreed on terms with Bankwest that provide DDH1 with funding to execute our strategic growth plan – at a time when there is increasing market demand in Australia for the high- quality services that we deliver.

    The support from Bankwest underscores DDH1’s standing as a financially responsible and disciplined mineral drilling sector operator and is built on our strong balance sheet, which had net cash of $3.3 million at 9 March 2021.

    Since the company’s inception in 2006, DDH1 has established a track record of executing its long-term vision alongside balancing short-term profitability and investment in growth, enabling us to remain consistently profitable while growing market share.

    DDH1 share price snapshot

    Since listing last month at an issue price of $1.10, the DDH1 share price has slightly lost over 2%. The company’s shares notably fell to a low of 81 cents that day, never reaching its issue price until today.

    On valuation grounds, DDH1 commands a market capitalisation of roughly $366.8 million, with 342.8 million shares on issue.

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

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  • What’s going on with the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price today?

    A young man pointing up looking amazed, indicating a surging share price movement for an ASX company

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a pretty momentous day today. On the surface, the ASX 200’s 0.66% gain (at the time of writing) doesn’t look like much to write home about. But this gain means that the ASX’s flagship index is now at a post-COVID high. And we’ll only need another 1% or so to exceed the pre-COVID high on top of today’s levels from February 2020 as well. But one ASX blue chip is performing even better than the ASX 200 today. And that’s the Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price.

    While the ASX 200 is up 0.66%, Rio shares are up a decent 3.04% today to $117.80 a share. That’s still not quite at Rio’s all-time high of $130.30 that we saw back in late February. But it’s also a good 10% above where we saw Rio shares just a couple of weeks ago in late March.

    What’s more, Rio shareholders received their $5.17 per share dividend this morning. So it’s certainly been a good day to hold this ASX miner. 

    So what is driving Rio shares higher today?

    Rio shares: Paying the iron price

    We can almost certainly thank the twin pillars of Rio’s profitability the Aussie dollar and commodity prices for the appreciation we have seen today in the Rio share price. 

    Firstly, the Aussie dollar is now back above 77 US cents after spending most of the past month closer to 75 cents than 76. Since commodities are almost always priced in US dollars, a rising Aussie dollar makes it cheaper for Rio to sell its commodities in Australian dollar terms. And that is naturally positive for Rio shares.

    Secondly, commodity prices have been on a tear in recent weeks. Rio’s largest operations are in iron ore production. And iron ore is now back to sky-high levels above US$170 per tonne after dipping towards US$150 a few weeks ago. Additionally, copper prices are also at historical highs, as my Fool colleague reported earlier this week.

    What’s more, the rise of electric vehicles is tipped to push copper even higher over the coming years. Oil is also pushing higher this week with Brent crude is now above US$66 a barrel, whilst gold is holding steady at around US$1,740 an ounce.

    All of these factors are adding up to a perfect storm of sorts for the Rio Tinto share price today. Along with other ASX resources shares. And Rio shares’ trailing dividend yield of 5.22% probably isn’t hurting investor sentiment either.

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  • 2 highly rated ASX growth shares to buy

    steps to picking asx shares represented by four lightbulbs drawn on chalk board

    Fortunately for growth investors, there are plenty of quality options for them on the Australian share market.

    Two options to consider buying are listed below. Here’s why they are highly rated:

    Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

    The first ASX growth share to look at is Megaport. It is a leading provider of elastic interconnection services globally. The company utilises software defined networking (SDN) to allow customers to rapidly connect their network to other services across the Megaport Network.

    This means that services can be directly controlled by customers via mobile devices, their computer, or its open API.

    The shift to the cloud has led to increasing demand for Megaport’s services. As a result, it now connects more than 2,050 customers in over 700 enabled data centres globally. This led to Megaport reporting Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) of $6.3 million at the end of December. This was up $1.7 million or 37% year on year.

    Goldman Sachs is confident in its growth outlook. The broker currently has a buy rating and $15.55 price target on its shares. This compares to the current Megaport share price of ~$12.25.

    Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

    Another ASX growth share to look at is Temple & Webster. It is one of Australia’s leading online retailers with a focus on furniture and homewares.

    Temple & Webster has been growing at a rapid rate over the last few years thanks to the shift to online shopping. And while its growth went into overdrive during the pandemic, management expects to remain a high growth company post-COVID.

    Especially given its expanding private label range and the low penetration of online furniture and homewares sales in comparison to other Western markets.

    Morgan Stanley is very positive on the company’s future. The broker currently has an overweight rating and $14.00 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Temple & Webster share price of ~$10.37.

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    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 MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and 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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