The Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG) share price will be on watch today, after the online book retailer released its half-year results for FY21 (1HY21) this morning.

Here’s a look at what the company has reported today.

Booktopia reports record first-half result

Booktopia reported a revenue increase of 51.1% to $112.6 million for the period.

The company shipped a record 4.2 million orders, compared to 3.2 million orders during the prior corresponding period. The average order value for 1H FY21 was $69.87.

The average annual spend for customers increased from $103.32 to $123.57.

Booktopia’s underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) (adjusted for IPO and conversion of preference share costs) fired up 502.3% to $8 million.

The company advised that strong ongoing demand and increased distribution capacity supported its 1H FY21 results.

Commenting on Booktopia’s performance, Chief Executive Officer Tony Nash said:

The demand we experienced from the beginning of the 2020 calendar year extended right through to Christmas, helping us to deliver the largest half-year revenue in the company’s history. Our investment in expanding capacity and automation ensured we were able to continue to meet our customer promise despite the unparalleled growth in volumes.

Outlook

Noting the uncertainty that the coronavirus continues to cause the business environment, Booktopia provided a revised FY21 forecast. 

The company is now expecting an FY21 revenue of $217.6 million, 7.9 million units shipped, and an underlying EBITDA of $12.9 million.

January and February 2021 have already delivered revenues in excess of those previously forecast. Booktopia also advised that its present database contains 5 million customers, with 2.3 million repeat customers.

Looking ahead, Mr Nash added that:

We will continue our growth strategy, investing in key areas of the business to cement our online market leadership and drive increased market share. This includes the continued expansion of our Publishing Services and Booktopia Publishing businesses.

The Booktopia share price has jumped 7.31% year-to-date and last closed at $2.79. The business has a current market capitalisation of $383.2 million and 137.4 million shares outstanding.

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Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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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There are a few different reasons why the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price could be a buy right now.

The old conglomerate has been operating for decades and it just reported its FY21 half-year result for the six months to 31 December 2020.

What businesses does Wesfarmers operate?

As a conglomerate, Wesfarmers operates a number of businesses including Bunnings, Kmart, Target, Catch and Officeworks. It has a chemicals, energy and fertilisers division. Wesfarmers also has an industrial and safety division.

How did Wesfarmers perform in the first six months of FY21?

Looking at its performance from continuing operations excluding significant items, Wesfarmers reported that its revenue grew by 16.6% to $17.8 billion.

Underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 25.2% to $2.2 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 25.5% to $1.4 billion.

Looking at the underlying earnings before tax of each business, Bunnings earnings grew 35.8% to $1.27 billion, Kmart Group earnings went up 42% to $487 million, Officeworks earnings rose 22% to $100 million and industrial and safety earnings grew $30 million to $37 million. However, the Wesfarmers chemicals, energy and fertilisers earnings dropped 7.5% to $160 million.  

As a result of the performance, Wesfarmers’ board felt comfortable to grow the interim ordinary dividend by 17.3% to $0.88 per share.

3 reasons why the Wesfarmers share price could be a buy

1: Strong Bunnings performance

Bunnings is the key business in the Wesfarmers portfolio, it generates more than half of the underlying profit of the business.

In this result its revenue increased by 24.4% to $9 billion. Excluding the net contribution from property, earnings increased 39%.

Wesfarmers thinks that the trading performance is expected to continue to benefit from consumers continuing to spend more time at home. It continues to invest in its digital capabilities, broadening its commercial markets and strengthening both its in-store and online offering.

Bunnings is going through ongoing store network expansion, with five warehouses and one smaller format store under construction which is expected to open in the second half.

However, growth is expected to moderate from March as the business begins to cycle the initial impacts of COVID-19 in the prior year.

2: Recovery of Kmart Group

Kmart, and particularly Target, have struggled to deliver growth in recent times. In this result Kmart managed to grow revenue by 9% to $5.4 billion.

Wesfarmers said that good progress has been made during the half on executing the planned changes to the Kmart and Target store networks, with initial trading results from converted stores exceeding expectations.

Kmart saw lower clearance costs during the period, with an improved inventory position. Kmart has also been investing in its in-store retail technology, and developing its data and digital capabilities. Its online percentage of sales rose to 8.7%.

Perhaps most importantly, Target’s profitability improved during the half, reflecting a higher proportion of full-price sales and lower operating costs, supported by the ongoing simplification of the business. Target prioritised online growth, with online sales rising to 15.9% of total sales for the half.

Catch continues to grow strongly, with the gross transaction value increasing 95.6%.

3: Diversification

One of the differences between Wesfarmers and most other operating businesses on the ASX is that management are able to acquire (and divest) businesses across different industries.

There’s currently a focus on retail, but it does also own its industrial businesses.

Wesfarmers has also recently announced the joint approval of its final investment decision for the Mt Holland lithium project. Construction of the mine, concentrator and refinery is expected to commence in the first half of FY22. The first production of lithium hydroxide is expected in the second half of the 2024 calendar year. Wesfarmers’ share of capital expenditure for the development of the project is estimated at approximately $950 million.

Valuation

The Wesfarmers share price is trading at 28x FY21’s estimated earnings according to Commsec.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX lower despite bumper dividends
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• 3 reasons the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price could be in the buy zone
• Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price on watch after broker upgrade
• ASX 200 mixed, CSL reports 44% profit growth, TWE soars

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

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Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC) share price should react positively to its profit news but a sombre outlook could give investors pause for thought.

However, the nearer-term outlook could be brighter than the company is making it out to be. Management made no mention of the extreme snow storm hitting the US. I’ll explain more later.

Reliance share price gets profit boost

The plumbing products supplier reported an 82% surge in interim net profit to $91.4 million while revenue increased by 13% to $642.4million.

Its bottom line was bolstered by a tax benefit but even adjusting for that, its adjusted net profit still managed an enviable 56% uplift to $99.3 million.

First half revenue growth would have been a more impressive 17% too if not for the weakening US dollar that lowered its Australian dollar adjusted figures.

The growth in profit prompted management to increase its interim dividend by a third to 6 cents a share.

Firing on all cylinders

But what supporters might be most pleased about is that all the markets that Reliance Worldwide operates in reported good growth.

Sales in its Americas division jumped 22% on a constant currency basis. Strong residential renovation and building activity in the US drove most of this increase.

Meanwhile, its Asia Pacific business experienced a 14% sales improvement while Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) jumped 10%.

Government stimulus and pent-up demand

The housing boom in Australia is the main contributor to growth in Asia Pacific. Record low interest rates and government stimulus have benefitted Reliance.

These same factors should also be supportive of the BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price, CSR Limited (ASX: CSR) share price and Boral Limited (ASX: BLD) share price.

Coming back to Reliance Worldwide, growth in its EMEA division was largely due to the UK. The company reported pent-up demand for its products in that country as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were eased.

Growth to moderate?

However, management is warning that the strong sales growth may not persist, at least not at the same pace.

For instance, the unwinding of both the HomeBuilder program and some state government incentives could also put the brakes on growth in Australia.

Also, the US housing market experienced a significant upswing since March 2020 and Reliance Worldwide believes things will slow from March this year.

Snowstorm could prove a second tailwind

But this may not be the case for the US, in my opinion. The snow storm that is sweeping over large parts of the US is likely to drive a spike in demand for its unique pipe repair product.

Extreme cold is good for Reliance Worldwide sales as water pipes burst when water freezes. As the snow storm recedes, I believe there will be a lot of pipes that will need repairing in more states than has historically been the case.

After all, you only need to look at Texas to see what I mean.

More reading

• Boral (ASX:BLD) share price slumps as dividend cut
• Real reporting season surprise isn’t about profits but dividends
• Top brokers just upgraded these 3 ASX shares to “buy”
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• Forget growth or value: Here’s a neutral way to pick shares

Brendon Lau owns shares of BlueScope Steel Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Reliance Worldwide Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Reliance Worldwide Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Replacing a wage with a reliable and growing passive income is likely to be a key aim for many people. While that task can take many years to achieve, it is possible to gradually build an income stream from dividend shares that offer rising shareholder payouts.

With many dividend stocks currently trading at attractive prices due to the uncertain global economic outlook, now could be the right time to start investing money in income opportunities. Over time, they could ultimately fully replace a wage to provide financial freedom in retirement.

Investing money in dividend stocks for a passive income

Despite the recent stock market rally, it is still possible to purchase dividend shares that offer high yields at the present time. Some sectors are unpopular among investors, which means that share prices are low. This could allow an investor to earn a relatively high passive income from their capital in 2021 and in the coming years.

Clearly, a large sum of capital would be required to earn an income return that is large enough to replace a wage. For most people, this will not be possible in the short run or even over the next few years. As such, investing money in companies that have high yields, as well as dividend growth potential, could be a shrewd move. They may be able to provide a growing income return that eventually replaces a salary.

Identifying the right dividend shares

Finding the right dividend shares to buy now could be crucial to an investor’s chances of generating a large and growing passive income. As such, buying companies that have affordable dividends could be a sound move. They may be less likely to reduce them. A stock’s dividend affordability can be checked by dividing net profit by dividends paid. A figure above one suggests they are sustainable at their current level given recent profitability.

Identifying dividend growth shares is a more challenging task. They are likely to depend on profit growth, since a rising dividend requires a greater pool of capital to pay it. Companies that could raise their dividends at a fast pace include those businesses operating in industries with recovery potential after the recent economic challenges, as well as companies in sectors that are likely to benefit from long-term shifts in consumer spending and demographics.

Of course, even the highest-yielding stocks and companies with strong dividend growth prospects can fold. Unforeseen circumstances can negatively impact on their financial performances and capacity to make shareholder payouts. Therefore, it is crucial to diversify across a wide range of businesses to create a reliable passive income stream. Over time, and with regular investing in such companies, it is possible to earn a surprisingly large income that may be enough to provide financial freedom in place of a wage.

More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX
• Bell Potter thinks the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is ‘mouthwatering’ 
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• Facebook news ban to devastate ASX: expert
• 6 high profile ASX 200 shares reporting results this week 

Motley Fool contributor Peter Stephens 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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At the start of each week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) remains the most shorted share on the ASX with short interest of 13.1%. This was up week on week from 12.5%. Last week the online travel agent released its half year results and reported an 89% decline in total transaction value to $267 million and a $40.1 million loss.
• Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) has seen its short interest rise to 12.3%. Short sellers appear to be targeting the seafood producer due to concerns that China could slap duties on Australian seafood exports.
• Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) has short interest of 9.3%. This communications satellite technology provider’s shares have been suspended for over a year while it undertakes a recapitalisation.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has seen its short interest rebound week on week to 8.8%. This biotech company’s shares have come under pressure in recent months following a series of disappointing trial results.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has 8.6% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week once again. Much to the dismay of short sellers, this poultry company’s share pushed higher last week after a solid half year update. Inghams posted a 28.4% increase in underlying profit.
• AVITA Medical Inc (ASX: AVH) has seen its short interest rise week on week to 8%. Last week the medical device company reported a 56% in half year revenue to $10.2 million but a loss of $15.8 million. The latter was 13% larger than the prior corresponding period.
• Service Stream Limited (ASX: SSM) has short interest of 7.3%. The essential network services company’s shares have come under pressure this year amid a series of mixed contract updates.
• Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) has entered the top ten with short interest of 7.3%. This gold miner’s shares are trading close to a 52-week low. Investors have been selling its shares due to industrial disruption at its Syama operation. This recently led to the company providing soft guidance for 2021.
• Western Areas Ltd (ASX: WSA) has seen its short interest fall to 7.2%. Short sellers have been going after the nickel producer due to production issues at its Flying Fox operation.
• Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) has 7% of its shares held short, which is down slightly week on week once again. The market appears concerned that COVID-19 is accelerating the structural pressures the department store operator is facing.

More reading

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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• Top fund manager names these 2 ASX shares as buys

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 Avita Medical Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Avita Medical Limited and Service Stream Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price surged 7% last Wednesday following stronger than expected half-year results for FY21 (1H FY21). Its shares pushed higher the next day to set an all-time record high of $115.97 before finishing the week at $107.68. 

Key results highlights 

Group same store sales (SSS) increased 8.5%, significantly higher than the company’s 3–6% medium-term target range. The pace of new store openings was also significant, with 127 net openings across the group. 

Domino’s reported its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in Japan lifted 54.9% against the prior corresponding period, with SSS up 36.4%. The company attributed the result to the fruits of its strategic initiatives over the past two years, driving material growth in new customers and purchase frequency. Store roll out continued at a high pace with 68 new store openings, taking Japan’s store tally to 742. 

The company’s Europe segment was strong as a whole with 1H FY21 EBITDA up 20.1% and SSS up 6.4% . Germany continued to outperform, driven by TV marketing under a single brand, ramp-up of organic store openings (15 stores) and a higher mix of delivery orders. In France, store openings gathered momentum (adding 19 stores) which is expected to continue, providing further evidence of a re-energised franchisee network.

ANZ performance was solid, but arguably overshadowed by Japan and Europe. Experienced franchisees grew sales 5.7% to $648 million with 13 new stores opening. 

The group’s EBITDA increased 23.8% to $218.7 million while underlying NPAT increased 32.8% to $96.2 million. 

The company hinted that given its strong balance sheet and franchisee profitability, it intends to accelerate expansion and remains “active in seeking additional Domino’s territories where they deliver value.” By 2025–2028, the company is targeting 1,200 stores in ANZ, ~1,000 stores in Japan and ~2,700 across its European operations. 

Bell Potter upgrades Domino’s share price target with a buy rating 

Following the strong result, Bell Potter strengthened its growth and margin assumptions across the group, particularly in the Japan segment. The broker’s 12-month price target increased to $122.00, from a previous $99.30. This represents an upside of 13.30% to its closing price on Friday. 

The broker believes that Domino’s has significant long-term growth prospectus, with Europe, Japan and acquisitions being the major drivers. 

Domino’s forward-looking guidance 

While the company was unable to provide any concrete earnings guidance, it did provide a positive outlook which cited an accelerated investment in new store openings and strategic acquisitions in the second half of FY21. The company stated that it expects “full year performance to be even higher than our already positive, medium term outlook”.

Domino’s went on to reaffirm its 3–5 year forecast horizon, which includes:

• Annual same store sales growth: +3 – 6%;
• Annual store growth: +7-9%
• Annual net capex: $60–100 million

The Domino’s share price is up 75% on this time last year, and on current prices the company has a market capitalisation of $9.32 billion.

More reading

• Don’t make the same mistake I made
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Why CSL, Domino’s, IPH, & Treasury Wine shares are storming higher
• Leading broker tips Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price to go even higher
• ASX 200 down 0.5%: Domino’s delivers, Westpac impresses, Coles sinks

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

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The Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) share price will be on watch this morning following the release of its half year results.

Those results show that Australia’s leading grower, packer, and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables is well and truly back on form after a couple of disappointing years.

How did Costa perform in 2020?

For the 12 months ended 27 December, Costa reported an 11.2% increase in revenue to $1,164 million.

This was driven by a 7% increase in Produce revenue to $930.2 million, a 49.1% jump in International revenue to $136.7 million, and a modest 0.8% increase in Costa Farms and Logistics revenue.

Boding well for the Costa share price is the fact that things were even better for Costa’s earnings in 2020.

The company’s operating earnings before SGARA and leasing (EBITDA-SL) increased 47.2% over the prior corresponding period to $144.8 million. This was driven by a strong harvest in China, a recovery from 2019 issues in the domestic market, and strong demand and pricing.

On the bottom line, the company posted a 108.4% increase in net profit before SGARA and leasing to $59.4 million. This reflects an effective tax rate of 14.8%, assisted by tax concessions in China and Morocco for agricultural companies. It offset COVID-19 costs of $5.4 million.

Thanks to its strong performance, the Costa board was able to declare a 5 cents per share fully franked dividend.

How does this compare to expectations?

The good news is that this result was significantly ahead of the market’s expectations. This certainly bodes well for the Costa share price on Monday.

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts suspected that there was upside risk to its forecasts and this has proven correct.

Morgans was forecasting a profit of $52.2 million, whereas the market consensus was for a profit of $48.1 million.

Management commentary

Costa Group’s outgoing CEO, Harry Debney, was rightfully pleased with the result.

He said: “The company has delivered a strong result for CY20, in which we recovered from the drought, successfully managed our way through COVID-19 without any major disruption to our crop yields and supply, and once again demonstrated the benefits of being a market leader, operating fully vertically integrated produce categories, a 52-week production footprint and a diversified portfolio.”

“There were favourable market conditions in CY20 supported by positive demand and pricing across a number of our produce categories, including citrus, berry, and avocado. Our superior blueberry IP, in particular our premium Arana variety, meant we were able to sell increased volumes while also receiving a significant price premium.”

Outlook

This morning Mr Debney revealed that the company is aiming to increase its citrus footprint materially in 2021.

He advised: “Today the company announces it is actively engaged in a citrus acquisition program to increase its Sunraysia citrus footprint to at least 700 hectares over CY21. To support this expansion, we have also commenced planning for development of a large-scale packing facility to be sited in Mildura (Vic), signalling how much of priority the Sunraysia region is with respect to our citrus growth plans.”

“The company is committed to investing in new crop growing methods to achieve improved yields, reduce production costs, and address climate related risks. This is why in CY21 we will commence a commercialisation program for the planting of 40 hectares of protected, trellised high density substrate avocado trees, across a number of regions aligned to our existing avocado plantings. A small trial undertaken over the past three years has already delivered global leading results, including faster tree maturity, higher yield, better fruit quality and greater efficiency of water use versus conventional plantings,” he added.

No guidance has been given for the year ahead, but management appears positive on its prospects. It notes that demand and pricing across produce categories generally remains strong in 2021.

It also advised that there have been favourable conditions in the Riverland over the summer months. In light of this, early to mid-season navel crops are looking promising at this stage. As a result, the 2021 season looks set to be an ‘on year’.

Finally, management notes that it has a strong balance sheet and operating cashflow. This provides it with the opportunity to continue to invest in quality bolt-on opportunities, international expansion, and domestic innovation projects to drive growth.

The Costa share price is up 35% over the last 12 months. Shareholders will no doubt be hoping it extends this run today following this stronger than expected result.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COSTA GRP 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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An investor behaviour expert has warned Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB)’s blocking of news to and from Australia will harm ASX share investors and the overall market.

On Thursday morning, the social media giant banned Australians from viewing or sharing news content and blocked Australian media companies from posting or sharing.

The move was in retaliation to the federal government’s world-first News Media Bargaining Code, which would force digital platforms to pay news publishers for their content.

Regardless of which side might be morally right, the ban will have “huge implications” for the local share market, said RMIT University senior lecturer Angel Zhong.

“Finance research finds that news and media attention improve stock market efficiency and promote stock market liquidity.”

Zhong, who is an academic specialising in investor behaviour, said many retail investors are in the habit of using Facebook to receive finance and company news.

So the company’s news blackout could be “detrimental to stock market efficiency and liquidity”. 

“For example, you read business news on Facebook each day on the way to work, which informs your portfolio adjustment decision,” Zhong said.

“However, with no news updates on Facebook, you no longer keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the market and economy, which means you may lose some opportunities to adjust your investment portfolio in time.”

The Facebook share price was 2.91% down on Saturday morning Australian time.

Why the Australian Government is holding firm

IBISWorld senior industry analyst Liam Harrison said the government was trying to address a “power imbalance” between the journalism industry and tech platforms.

“[The media code] is one way the government is attempting to support revenue for newspaper publishers, which has declined at an annualised 6.2% over the past five years,” he said.

“Facebook has argued [the code] ignores the value that journalism firms receive from user traffic directed through the Facebook News Feed. According to Facebook, journalism firms generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers, which were worth an estimated $407 million last year.”

According to Zhong, 1-in-3 Australians last month used social media as their primary source for news and information.

The other major platform the media code targets is Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG)’s Google search engine.

Google also threatened to block its product to Australians during negotiations but has since relented. Alphabet has now signed revenue-sharing deals with News Corporation (ASX: NWS) and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC).

But Zhong is still worried about further damage to ASX market dynamics if Google also becomes defensive.

“There are also concerns that Google may close some access to news, as Google is likely to be affected by the proposed legislation,” she said.

“This will further exacerbate the impact of limited and/or delayed access to news on share market efficiency.”

Facebook ANZ managing director William Easton wrote on a company blog Thursday that its situation differed from how Google uses news content.

“Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news, and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content,” he said.

“On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.”

Therefore, according to Easton, the proposed media code “seeks to penalise Facebook for content it didn’t take or ask for”.

More reading

• What ‘Facebook vs. The Rest’ means for you
• Facebook bans Aussies from sharing, viewing news
• Is eBay stock a buy?
• Nasdaq at record high! Here’s what it means for the ASX 200
• Why Cann, Creso, LiveTiles, & New Corp shares are tumbling lower today

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. Tony Yoo owns shares of Alphabet (A shares). 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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ASX 200 shares are still reeling from the economic impact of COVID-19. Reporting season, more broadly speaking, has highlighted ASX 200 companies experiencing flat revenue growth and weaker profits, but more predictable cash flows have enabled increased dividend payments and improved balance sheets across many companies. 

According to Commsec, the 91 ASX 200 shares that have reported earnings so far have shown: 

• Aggregate revenues +2% 
• Expenses +4% 
• Net profit -15.2% 
• Dividends +5.8%
• Cash +49.2% 

With that in mind, the last week of reporting season is arguably the most exciting with many big names due to update the market. 

ASX 200 shares reporting this week 

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) 

Woolworths is expected to report its half-year FY21 (1H FY21) results on Wednesday 24 February. The expectations are running high for the supermarket giant as in-home consumption has propped up earnings for many consumer staple-related businesses. Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) has already set a high bar following its strong 1H FY21 result that demonstrated its successful channel and trading plan execution, and increased demand for in-home consumption associated with COVID-19. Despite the strong report, the Coles share price finished the week down almost 10%, perhaps pointing to much of its strong performance already being priced in. 

The question is whether or not Woolworths will be able to exceed expectations, or will its share price meet the same fate as Coles. 

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) 

The Appen share price fell off a cliff in early December 2020 after it announced a negative trading update. The company noted that while Q4 had improved on Q3, the usual ramp up it traditionally sees at this time of the year was not occurring. Since the update, the Appen share price has continued to grind lower to a 9-month low of $21.60. Appen is expected to report its FY20 results on Wednesday 24 February. 

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) 

The Wisetech share price has underperformed its peers so far this year, increasing only 2.5% compared to the 4.3% increase in the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech (ASX: XIJ) index. 

Back in December 2020, Citi cited that it did have concerns that Wisetech’s acquisitions could take longer to integrate and deliver on expected returns. It feared that the market wasn’t factoring such risks into its share price and believed this could pose meaningful downside risks to forecasts. 

That said, WiseTech has provided the market with an outlook and FY21 guidance recently. This includes FY21 revenue to be in the range of $470 million to $510 million or a 9–19% increase on FY20. Its FY21 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) is anticipated to be in the range of $155 million to $180 million or a 22–42% increase on FY20. WiseTech is expected to report its results on Wednesday 24 February. 

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) 

Afterpay and Zip are both expected to report their much-anticipated results on Thursday 25 February. 

Morgans has forecast a 1H FY21 revenue of $473 million and net profit after tax (NPAT) of $5 million for Afterpay. This would mark the company’s first ever profit. 

The broker also forecasts 1H FY21 revenue of $162 million and a NPAT loss of $25 million for Zip. 

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) 

The A2 Milk share price has been impacted by pantry destocking, weak sales to the daigou channel in Australia and slow sales through its cross-border e-commerce channel. There are mixed views about where A2 Milk is going next, with Citi retaining a sell rating and share price target of $9.40, while Morgans maintains a buy rating with a price target of $12.20.

A2 will put the divided ratings to rest as its reports its 1H FY21 results on Thursday 25 February. 

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX lower despite bumper dividends
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 next week
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

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 Appen Ltd and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended A2 Milk. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, WiseTech Global, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post 6 high profile ASX 200 shares reporting results this week  appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) recorded a second straight week in the red last week after a tide of earnings reports resulted in some big re-valuations from investors. The index lost 0.2% for the week, leaving the ASX 200 at 6,793.8 points.

That’s a good 1.8% away from the post-March 2020 high of 6,917 points we saw back on 16 February, but still well above the 6,685 point level the ASX 200 started the year at.

After Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) reported the week prior, we heard from the rest of the big four banks last week. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) all delivered quarterly updates last week.

Of those three, it seems investors were most impressed by Westpac. The Westpac share price pushed 8.8% over the week spurred by the bank’s results on Wednesday. That included a 54% jump in quarterly profits. The ANZ share price also had a strong week, rising 7.2%.

Mining giants BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) also had strong weeks after announcing massive new dividend payments.

The BHP share price hit a new all-time intra-day high of $49.32 just after open on Wednesday as a result. Meanwhile, the Rio Tinto share price also reset its own highs when it hit $128.90 on Thursday.

BHP announced a fully franked interim dividend of US$1.01 for investors, a 55% beat on its previous interim payout. Rio announced a final fully franked dividend of US$4.02 (including a special dividend component) for its shareholders on Thursday.

ASX giant CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) also reported its results on Thursday. It initially delighted investors with a 16.9% increase in revenues and a 9% bump to its dividend.

However, all of these shares were caught up in a massive market sell-off on Friday, which dampened an interesting week with a 1.3% one-day slide.

Take CSL. The CSL share price spiked to $295.22 at market open on Thursday after the company’s earnings report was released. However, by Friday, it finished the week at $274.43, a slide of more than 7%. We saw very similar moves from all of the shares discussed above. So what happened on Friday?

Well, it seems that the ASX’s overlord, a.k.a. the US markets, had a bruising day of trading on Thursday, which dampened investors’ sentiment and perhaps triggered a wave of profit-taking from some of the week’s biggest performers on the ASX.

In the week’s other news, several ASX companies in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) and fintech sectors got speeding tickets from the ASX for seemingly-unprovoked spikes in price and share trading volume. These included Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU), Novatti Ltd (ASX: NOV) and IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU).

Oh, and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) hit another series of new all-time highs last week as well. The cryptocurrency is now trading for over US$57,500 per coin (at the time of writing) after exceeding US$50,000 for the first time on Wednesday.

How did the markets end the week?

It was a bit of a rollercoaster on the ASX 200 last week. Monday and Tuesday kicked things off on the right foot with rises of 0.9% and 0.7% respectively. Wednesday saw a retreat of 0.46%, while Thursday was essentially flat.

But Friday’s hefty 1.34% slide saw the index go backwards for the week. All up, the ASX 200 started at 6,806.7 points and finished up at 6,793.8 points, a drop of 0.19%.

Meanwhile, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) also took a step backwards, starting at 7,081.3 points, and finishing up at 7,064 points for a 0.24% slide.

Which ASX 200 shares were the biggest winners and losers?

Put the tea on and fetch the bikkies because it’s time for our Foolish take on the gossip pages. So let’s unpack the biggest winners and losers for the week, starting, as always, with the losers:

Worst ASX 200 losers	% loss for the week
NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX: NWH)	(15%)
GWA Group Ltd (ASX: GWA)	(14.9%)
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)	(13.9%)
Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)	(13.8%)

Last week’s wooden spoon went to contractor company NRW Holdings. NRW delivered its earnings report last week, and it was something of a mixed bag. Revenues and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 44% and 28% respectively, while net profits fell 17%. Investors have clearly chosen to take the ‘glass half empty’ view on this one.

Meanwhile, water company GWA Group was given a backhand by investors after an evidently disappointing earnings report. This included a 17% fall in profits to $20 million.

Next up was the newly-wedded ASX gold miner Northern Star Resources. Northern Star has been suffering some buyers’ remorse from investors of late after its merger with Saracen Mineral Holdings a few weeks ago. A sluggish gold price and a rising Aussie dollar aren’t assisting.

Finally, wealth manager Netwealth also had a clanger. The catalyst? You guessed it, earnings. Investors weren’t too impressed with what Netwealth put on the table, despite the company delivering an earnings boost of more than 30%.

Now with the losers out of the way, here are last week’s winners:

Best ASX 200 gainers	% gain for the week
EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)	24.2%
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)	21.3%
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)	15.7%
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)	14%

EML topped the ASX 200’s winners’ list last week with a whopping 24.2% gain. Investors couldn’t control themselves when EML released its earnings report, which came with a 61% rise in revenues to $95.3 million and a net profit growth rate of 30% to $13.2 million.

The Nearmap share price was also an earnings beneficiary when its own result came out. The mapping company gave the markets a 322% rise in earnings and a halving of its previous statutory loss to $9.4 million.

Lithium company Lynas also continues to shine. As my Fool colleague Gretchen Kennedy looked at, there are reports that China is looking to curb the exporting of the rare earth minerals that Lynas also produces.

Finally, Zip continued to enjoy rising sentiment last week. That was despite no major news out of the BNPL company, in addition to the ASX speeding ticket we touched on earlier.

A wrap of the ASX 200 blue-chip shares

Before we go, here is a look at the major ASX 200 blue-chip shares as we start another week on the markets. A note for this week: we have just surpassed the 12-month anniversary of the ASX’s last peak (and all-time high) of ~7,139 points that we saw on 21 February last year. So expect to see the odd 52-week high move around over the next few weeks!

ASX 200 company	Trailing P/E ratio	Last share price	52-week high	52-week low
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)	46.12	$274.43	$342.75	$242.67
Commonwealth Bank of Australia(ASX: CBA)	18.35	$82.51	$89.20	$53.44
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)	37.81	$24.09	$25.96	$13.47
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)	23.14	$25.11	$27.49	$13.20
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ)	21.98	$26.61	$27.29	$14.10
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)	12.13	$23.97	$26.40	$8.20
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)	42.93	$39.52	$43.96	$32.12
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)	37.69	$54.01	$56.40	$29.75
BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)	26.71	$47.32	$49.32	$24.05
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)	15.94	$123.26	$128.90	$72.77
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)	20.87	$16.41	$19.26	$14.01
Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS)	22.21	$3.31	$3.81	$2.66
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)	–	$12.77	$16.44	$9.10
Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)	83.62	$5.50	$8.34	$4.26
Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM)	15.59	$24.24	$38.15	$20.70
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)	–	$24	$33.66	$14.93
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)	21.49	$142.26	$152.35	$70.45
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)	–	$151.92	$160.05	$8.01

And finally, here is the lay of the land for some leading market indicators:

• S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) at 6,793.8 points.
• All Ordinaries Index (XAO) at 7,064 points.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) at 31,494.32 points after rising 0.003% on Friday night (our time).
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) going for US$57,550 per coin.
• Gold (spot) swapping hands for US$1,784.28 per troy ounce.
• Iron ore asking US$168.44 per tonne.
• Crude oil (Brent) trading at US$62.91 per barrel.
• Australian dollar buying 78.7 US cents.
• 10-year Australian Government bonds yielding 1.43% per annum.

That’s all folks. See you next week!

More reading

• Is the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price a buy?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Is the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price a buy?

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Bitcoin, National Australia Bank Limited, Newcrest Mining Limited, and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd., Nearmap Ltd., and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited and Telstra Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of COLESGROUP DEF SET, Netwealth, Transurban Group, Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended EML Payments and Nearmap Ltd. 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 Weekly Wrap: ASX lower despite bumper dividends appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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