The PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price has continued its positive run on Monday.

In afternoon trade the medical device company’s shares are up over 4% to $3.22.

This leaves the PolyNovo share price trading just short of its record high of $3.28. It also means the company’s shares are now up 30% since this time last month.

Why is the PolyNovo share price rocketing higher this month?

There have been a number of catalysts for the strong gain by the PolyNovo share price this month.

The first is of course the development of three potentially effective COVID-19 vaccines. This has given investor sentiment a huge boost and sent global share markets charging higher.

In addition to this. a couple of company-specific announcements have gone down well with investors and given the PolyNovo share price a lift.

What did PolyNovo announce?

On November 13, PolyNovo announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the pivotal trial IDE for NovoSorb BTM.

This authorisation allows the company to begin patient recruitment, once various hospital Independent Review Boards grant approval. This relates to its treatment of full thickness burns.

Management is now seeking to utilise 20 sites and enlist 150 patients for the clinical study of NovoSorb BTM.

Recruitment is expected to start in early 2021 and conclude around the end of 2023. This program is being supported by Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) funding of $150 million.

In addition to this, another announcement on 19 November gave the PolyNovo share price a boost.

That announcement revealed its entry into Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg (Benelux), and Sweden through an extension of its partnership with PolyMedics Innovations in Germany.

Management notes that PMI has been an excellent partner for it in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Sales in these markets are exceeding projections to date and showing signs of further growth.

PolyNovo’s Managing Director, Paul Brennan, was happy with the news. He said: “We are very pleased to extend our partnership with PMI. They are an excellent sales organisation with very good relationships with surgeons not only in DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) but also in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands.”

Shareholders will no doubt be hoping December is just as kind to the PolyNovo share price. Time will tell!

More reading

• ASX 200 rises on mixed Thursday
• The Polynovo (ASX:PNV) share price is climbing higher today. Here’s why.
• Why Aurelia Metals, PolyNovo, SKYCITY, & Tyro shares are dropping lower
• Why the Polynovo (ASX:PNV) share price up 6% higher today
• Why Elders, Jumbo, Northern Star, & PolyNovo shares are charging 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 POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) appears to be likely to be the first drugmaker, along with its partner BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), to win U.S. emergency use authorization (EUA) for a coronavirus vaccine. AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN), with plans to produce up to 3 billion doses next year, might distribute more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine globally than any other company.

Do these leading positions mean that Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) is playing second fiddle in the coronavirus vaccine race? Not for investors. Here are three key advantages that Moderna holds over both Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

1. No sharing required

Many of us were taught in kindergarten that it’s good to share — and our kindergarten teachers were right. In the biopharmaceutical world, though, sharing profits can translate to slower growth. Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca will share the rewards gained from their COVID vaccines.

Pfizer, as mentioned earlier, teamed up with BioNTech on coronavirus vaccine candidate BNT162b2. The big drugmaker forked over $72 million in cash to its partner, and bought a $113 million stake in the German biotech. BioNTech is also eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $563 million. The two companies didn’t reveal how they’re splitting revenue and profits on any sales of BNT162b2, but Pfizer certainly won’t pocket all of the money the vaccine could make.

AstraZeneca partnered with the University of Oxford to develop and distribute experimental COVID-19 vaccine AZD1222. No financial details of the collaboration were announced. However, you can bet that Oxford will receive some level of royalties from any sales of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Moderna has full ownership of COVID-19 vaccine candidate mRNA-1273, and doesn’t have to share any potential revenue or profits from sales of the vaccine. Granted, Arbutus Biopharma owns the patent to lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology used in the past by Moderna. However, Moderna has publicly stated that mRNA-1273 doesn’t use any technology covered by Arbutus’ patent.

2. Platform possibilities

If AstraZeneca wins regulatory approvals for AZD1222, the company has no other vaccine candidates that use similar technology waiting in the wings. It’s the same story for Pfizer. However, good news for Moderna’s mRNA-1273 could bode well for the rest of the biotech’s pipeline.

Moderna hopes to leverage commercial success for mRNA-1273 into a full-blown mRNA (messenger RNA) platform. In addition to mRNA-1273, the company’s pipeline currently includes 12 other mRNA vaccines and therapies in clinical testing. Moderna thinks it could expand that number to as many as 50 clinical-stage programs if the anticipated big bucks from mRNA-1273 begin to pour in.

Believe it or not, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel thinks that the biotech could even become the biggest vaccine company in the world within the next four years. That view could be overly optimistic, but Moderna should grow at a much faster rate than AstraZeneca or Pfizer because of its platform possibilities.

3. Size

Last — and least, in a literal sense — is Moderna’s size advantage over Pfizer and AstraZeneca. You might be thinking, “What size advantage?” After all, Pfizer’s market cap tops $200 billion. AstraZeneca’s market cap is close to $140 billion. Moderna is tiny in comparison, with a market cap in the ballpark of $50 billion. However, Moderna’s smaller size is actually a big advantage.

It’s not surprising at all that Moderna’s stock gains so far in 2020 have been a lot better than the performances turned in by AstraZeneca and Pfizer. That’s because positive developments for mRNA-1273 have moved the needle a lot more for Moderna than similar positive developments for AZD1222 and BNT162b2 have done for AstraZeneca and Pfizer, respectively.

Moderna still has a lot more room to run than either AstraZeneca or Pfizer. An additional $5 billion to $10 billion annually would be nice for these two big drugmakers, but wouldn’t cause either of the two pharma stocks to skyrocket. On the other hand, that kind of revenue would likely light a fire beneath Moderna’s share price.

We should soon know if mRNA-1273 will win EUA in the U.S. and regulatory approvals in other countries. If it does, Moderna stands to make billions of dollars in a short period. Its size, combined with its full ownership of its COVID vaccine and its platform possibilities, will almost certainly make Moderna a much bigger winner again in 2021 than AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

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

More reading

• Why Platinum Asset’s healthcare fund doesn’t own CSL (ASX:CSL) shares
• Why AstraZeneca’s potential vaccine is more exciting than you think
• Why Moderna Is Less Risky Than You Think
• With the Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) share price blasting up, have the forward-looking markets got it right?
• Here are the US shares that CommSec customers are buying

Keith Speights owns shares of Pfizer. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

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The Xtek Ltd (ASX: XTE) share price is edging higher today following the appointment of a new non-executive director. At the time of writing, the Xtek share price is up 0.81% to 62 cents. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 0.72% to 6774.7 points.

What’s moving the Xtek share price?

The Xtek share price is inching higher after the company announced that former Minister for Defence, Mr Christopher Pyne, will be joining its board.

According to the release, Mr Pyne holds significant experience in the commercial, political and defence industries. Having served as a member of parliament for 25 years, he was responsible for initiating Australia’s $200 million defence program. In addition, Mr Pyne assisted in developing the 2016 Defence White Paper and implementing projects within it.

Mr Pyne is the current chair of Pyne and Partners, and principal of GC Advisory, both of which provide consulting services to businesses on government and political matters. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, these companies operate domestically and overseas.

Accredited as an industry professor at the University of South Australia Business School, Mr Pyne specialises in the defence and space environments. In the lead up to his position in parliament, he practised law as a solicitor at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and Thomson Geer.

The strategic appointment will seek to utilise Mr Pyne’s skillset to assist Xtek in commercialising its products in global markets.

Management commentary

Xtek chair, Mr Uwe Boettcher, spoke on the new appointment of Mr Pyne, saying:

We are delighted to welcome Christopher to the XTEK Board. His extensive experience and expertise, and his vast knowledge of the Australian Defence Industry, will be of immense value to the Company as it continues to execute its strategy to commercialise its proprietary technologies globally, as well as further strengthen its domestic capabilities.

We look forward to working with Christopher going forward and his contribution to XTEK.

Adding to Mr Uwe Boettcher’s comments, Mr Pyne said:

XTEK is on the verge of significant growth as it continues to develop and commercialise its IP globally, building on its domestic distribution networks and capabilities. I look forward to contributing to this next stage of growth and being part of this market leading Company.

Xtek share price summary

The Xtek share price is up over 10% since the start of the month, and 61% since hitting an all-time low of 38.5 cents in March. However, when compared with the beginning of 2020, the Xtek share price is down around 18%.

More reading

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• Why this ASX cybersecurity ETF is a buy today
• Xtek (ASX:XTE) share price soars 7% on AGM update
• The Native Mineral (ASX:NMR) share price leaps 17% higher. Here’s why…
• The Ioneer (ASX:INR) share price has rocketed up 11% today and 61% in November

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Surefire Resources NL (ASX: SRN) share price is on fire today. Surefire shares are up 38.7% at the time of writing to 4.3 cents a share. Surefire shares closed at 3.2 cents on Friday last week, but opened at 4.7 cents a share this morning and shot as high as 5 cents before settling to the current price.

It’s been a spectacular trading day for Surefire, whose shares were essentially trading at zero for most of the year before jumping up in mid-July. Shareholders would be up 320% on their money between 31 July and today on current prices. As it stands, Surefire now has a market capitalisation of $32.1 million.

So why is this company appreciating in value so dramatically today?

Surefire gains?

Surefire put out some notices to the ASX after market close on Friday. These detailed that the company has issued 200 million new shares.

The gold miner released another announcement before market open today, this one titled “Spectacular Results from Yidby Gold project”.

Surefire only acquired the Yidby project in August this year. The project is located at the southern portion of the Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt, and rests on three exploration licences. These licenses cover 113.77 square kilometres, with “3 gold prospects hosting significant gold mineralisation”.

The Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt is reportedly an area of massive natural wealth, with several other gold and iron ore mines and operations surrounding Yidby. Surefire notes that many of these surrounding gold mines have potential reserves of more than a million ounces of gold.

Since August, the company has reportedly fast-tracked reviewing the [Yidby] project and is establishing a program of works with the [WA] Department of Mines, Industry, Resources, and Safety. In addition, it has “planned and executed its maiden drilling program”.

Here’s some of what the company had to say on the gold discovery:

Surefire Resources NL… is pleased to announce significant, high-grade intersections from drilling at the Yidby Road Prospect on its Yidby Gold Project, located 320km northeast of Perth in the mid-west region of Western Australia… Each of Surefire’s 2020 RC drillholes intersected gold mineralisation.

Some of these samples indicated gold concentration as high as 14.47 grams of gold per tonne of ore. One sample returning a grade of 26.57 grams per tonne of ore.

More reading

• Why the Mach7 (M7T) share price is closing in on a record high today
• Why is the Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT) share price dropping 7% today?
• Qantas (ASX:QAN) axes 2,000 jobs
• Why Platinum Asset’s healthcare fund doesn’t own CSL (ASX:CSL) shares
• Report finds Aussies keen to save tax cut money

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T) share price is pushing higher on the day of its annual general meeting.

In afternoon trade, the healthcare technology company’s shares are up 3% to $1.25.

This leaves the Mach7 share price trading within touching distance of its record high of $1.28.

What happened at the annual general meeting?

At the event, management provided investors with a summary of its performance in FY 2020, an update on current market conditions, and its guidance for FY 2021.

Mach7 was a strong performer in FY 2020 despite the pandemic. For the 12 months ended 30 June, the enterprise imaging solutions provider delivered a 102% increase in revenue to $18.9 million.

Things were even better for its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Margin improvements led to its EBITDA jumping 181% higher year on year to $3.3 million.

Current trading conditions.

Management notes that COVID-19 has had an unpredictable impact on hospital revenues across the globe.

However, it is seeing signs of image volume returning and hospitals reengaging with previously planned projects and investment.

And while it is difficult to predict the budgetary impact to its current and future customers, management notes that its products are well-placed in the current environment as they help to solve the ongoing issue of providing care from outside the walls of the hospital.

Pleasingly, the company’s pipeline is very strong in respect to late-stage deals, which management feels is alluding to a strong second half of FY 2021.

It also notes that it is experiencing continued strong partnerships with its largest clients. As of today, $10.8 million of sales orders (total contract value) have been recorded in FY 2021.

Finally, new marketing initiatives are kicking off this week to assist in bolstering its sales pipeline for FY 2022.

FY 2021 guidance.

Mach7 expects to deliver a minimum of $11.5 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) from its existing customer base in FY 2021. This represents >90% growth on FY 2020.

Management is also forecasting positive EBITDA growth for FY 2021. It notes that ARR provides 70% coverage of existing cost run rate, excluding one-off costs.

It also expects to deliver positive cash flows for the year. However, it advised that this will continue fluctuate quarter to quarter due to the irregular timing of cash receipts from license fees.

More reading

• 2 exciting small cap ASX shares to buy
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• Why the Mach7 (ASX:M7T) share price is zooming 9% higher today
• This under-the-radar ASX tech company’s shares are up 150% since March

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 MACH7 FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MACH7 FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Computer memory designer Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) share price has retreated 7.27% today, paring back gains of more than 30% in November. Investors have bought Weebit Nano shares this month amid optimism around the company’s potential commercialisation of memory technology next year.

At the time of writing, the Weebit Nano share price has dropped lower to $1.85. 

Weebit Nano’s recent capital raising

Weebit Nano has progressed efforts recently to take its latest memory chip technology to market. 

On 20 November, the company announced it had raised $12 million for commercialisation and to accelerate research and development of its ReRAM technology. The money will be used to strengthen its sales team and increase marketing activities ahead of the product launch mid-next year.

That $12 million was priced at $1.70 a share, and is part of an overall $15 million capital raise. The placement was made to new and existing sophisticated and institutional investors, and did not require shareholder approval.

Meanwhile, the remaining $3 million targeted under the capital raise will come via a share purchase plan (SPP) in December. An SPP is a form of capital raising by a listed company that offers shareholders the opportunity to apply for new additional shares. Australian regulations currently limit the maximum application per shareholder under an SPP to $30,000.

Only last week, Weebit Nano also reported the expansion of its strategic agreement with French research institute CEA-Leti. The company says the expanded deal will strengthen its competitive advantage, and enables it to upgrade the applications of the ReRAM technology into a wider range of future products.

More about the company

Weebit Nano is an Israeli company founded in 2015, and trading on the ASX since 2016. It focuses on addressing the growing need for new and advanced memory chips. 

Weebit claims that its ReRAM product is cheaper, faster, and more energy efficient than the existing Flash technology. The company touts ReRam as an emerging memory technology that combines the advantages of both RAM and Flash, and believes its commercial usage will increase dramatically over the next few years.

In its first-quarter update for FY21, Weebit said that its ReRAM technology was on track to transfer to the semiconductor fabrication plant. This brings it a step closer to commercialisation.

About the Weebit Nano share price in 2020

The Weebit Nano share price has surged more than 350% as the market sees its product nearing commercialisation. It has a 52-week high of $2.47, and currently commands a market cap of $212 million.

More reading

• This cheap ASX share is supplying US giants: fundie
• Which small cap ASX shares were the best performers in October?

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) told 2,000 employees on Monday morning that their jobs would be terminated.

Staff were informed their ground crew roles across 10 airports would be outsourced.

The decision came after the airline started an evaluation of outsourcing options back in August.

The move would save Qantas about $100 million a year, it estimated.

Qantas has now sacked 8,500 of what used to be a 29,000-strong workforce before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is another tough day for Qantas, particularly for our ground handling teams and their families,” Qantas domestic and international chief Andrew David said.

“Unfortunately, COVID has turned aviation upside down. Airlines around the world are having to make dramatic decisions in order to survive and the damage will take years to repair.”

The Qantas share price was flat at the time of writing, trading at $5.52.

Union bid ‘falls well short’

The evaluation process saw external service providers bid for the ground handling work to see how cheap they could perform the currently in-house functions. 

The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) also had a right to put in a bid of its own, but the airline ultimately rejected that proposal.

“The TWU’s in-house bid claimed that significant savings could be made but it failed to outline sufficient practical detail on how this might be achieved, despite us requesting this information multiple times throughout the process,” said David.

“Even with the involvement of a large accounting firm, the bid falls well short of what the specialist external providers were able to come up with.”

The Motley Fool has contacted TWU for comment.

Qantas revealed that a number of other third parties submitted bids that met all the requested objectives. Some of the bids saved as much as $103 million annually.

The winning bidders will be notified on Monday, with the transition to outsourcing to take place in the first quarter of next year.

“We have used these specialist ground handlers at many Australian airports for decades and they’ve proven they can deliver a safe and reliable service more efficiently than it’s currently done in-house,” David said.

“This isn’t a reflection on our people but it is a reflection of economies of scale and the urgent need we have because of COVID to unlock these efficiencies.”

Qantas will have its domestic operations return to 60% of pre-COVID levels by Christmas. International flights are a long way off, although the airline’s chief executive Alan Joyce indicated last week mandatory passenger vaccinations might provide a shortcut.

“International travel isn’t expected to return to pre-COVID levels until at least 2024,” David said.

“We have a massive job ahead of us to repay debt and we know our competitors are aggressively cutting costs to emerge leaner.”

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price heading to $7.00?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 next week
• Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price flying closer to recovery?
• Why the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price is soaring 6%

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Qantas Airways Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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If you haven’t bought any shares of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) yourself, you likely still own part of the company via your super fund.

With a market capitalisation just shy of $138 billion, the Aussie-based, global biotechnology company is the second largest share trading on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

It’s been a volatile year for the company’s shareholders, who watched the CSL share price plunge 21% during the COVID-19 market panic in late February and early March. Since then, a series of sharp ups and downs have delivered a year-to-date gain of 10%.

Over the past 2 years, the CSL share price has soared 71%.

Advantage Moderna

Despite CSL’s strong performance history and major blue chip status, Platinum Asset Management’s unlisted international healthcare fund doesn’t own any shares.

Platinum’s data reports that the fund returned 25.7% net of fees over the 12 months to October 2020, a period where the ASX 200 lost more than 10%.

So why doesn’t the fund own any shares of CSL?

Bianca Ogden, head of Platinum’s international healthcare fund believes CSL is a great company, but explains it may not be spending enough on R&D to keep up with the advancements made by competitors, particularly in the cutting-edge field of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).

Ogden prefers Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA), which the fund has held since 2018.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Ogden was impressed by its mRNA vaccine technology, stating: 

What does [the mRNA technology] mean to the vaccine industry – to the incumbents? That has been one of our major investment ideas since 2018 and why we went with mRNA. What can it do to the vaccine industry?

The Moderna share price leapt 16% higher in Friday’s trading on hopes its COVID vaccine will soon roll out across the world. Shares are now up 561% year to date.

According to Ogden:

A lot of people don’t actually understand . . . how it’s much more dependent on your manufacturing set up and your supply, than on drug risk.

But we also found that I can buy a plasma business at Takeda [Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (TYO: 4502)] for a lot less than if I buy a CSL. And when I then look at Takeda’s activity and changes that are happening to their R&D organisation, I find that more exciting.

The takeaway for CSL?

Lift research and development spending or risk losing market share.

More reading

• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 on track for a top month
• Why AstraZeneca’s potential vaccine is more exciting than you think
• 10 fantastic ASX shares to buy in December
• Why Moderna Is Less Risky Than You Think
• 2 ASX 50 shares to buy today

Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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In many ways, 2020 has been a year of paradigm shifts when it comes to saving and spending money. On the one hand, we have had the coronavirus pandemic, which shuttered countless businesses, even entire industries, for months on end earlier in the year. Unemployment spiked, with uncertainties over the future of our economy still with us today.

On the other, 2020 has seen an unprecedented level of government spending in the economy. Think back to 2019, and the idea of a government-funded employment subsidy of $1,500 a fortnight seemed ludicrous. And yet that’s what we’ve seen this year with the JobKeeper program, which has been credited with saving thousands of jobs during the worst of the lockdowns. On top of that, we have also seen generous one-off payments to pensioners and other welfare recipients, as well as the coronavirus supplement. This supplement increased the level of money one could expect to receive on the JobSeeker (formally NewStart) unemployment benefit effectively double in 2020. Most of these programs are being slowly unwound as the economy recovers. But most won’t be fully tapered off until March 2021 (which could change in the future, of course).

And on top of all that state-sponsored spending, the federal government also brought forward billions of dollars in tax relief in this year’s budget. The ‘stage 2’ tax cuts that were originally scheduled for FY2022 have now been backdated to FY2021 (from 1 July 2020).

So how are Aussies planning on using these tax cut dollars? Well, a report from wealth manager Colonial First State sheds some light on this matter today.

Spending vs saving

The report has analysed how Australians are planning to spend (or not spend) these tax cut dollars. It makes for interesting reading.

Firstly, the report notes that 57% of the people surveyed do not intend to spend the money at all. They are reportedly more keen to slot the extra dollars away in savings accounts, rather than the 22% who want to spend the extra dosh, perhaps by hitting the Black Friday sales. This is especially true of young people aged between 18-34, and also with women. Apparently, 66% of young Australians want to save this money, against an average of 57%. It also finds that women are 10% more likely than men to try and save the cash as well.

However, the proportion of those persons who want to invest the extra tax money is a lot lower. The report finds that just 17% of those surveyed want to put the extra money towards their mortgage. An even lower figure of 16% plan on investing the money in the share market, and an even lower again 6% want to top up their superannuation funds.

Of the 22% who plan on spending the money, 33% of those people intend to spend it on life’s essentials like bills, groceries and insurance. Another 24% plan on going shopping for things like clothes and electronics, whereas 10% are putting it towards the Christmas fund.

Since the intended aim of the tax cuts was to help stimulate the economy through increased spending, the federal Treasurer might not be too keen on the findings of this report.

More reading

• Why Platinum Asset’s healthcare fund doesn’t own CSL (ASX:CSL) shares
• 4 ASX growth shares to buy in December
• Why Kathmandu, Resolute, Select Harvests, & Treasury Wine Estates are dropping lower
• What Australia’s recovery from the COVID recession means for the Santa Rally
• Flexigroup rebrands to Humm (ASX:HUM) on the ASX today

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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We’re nearly into the final month of the year. Time will tell if there’s a Santa rally or not. But there are some ASX growth shares rated as a buy by a Motley Fool investment service.

Here are those ASX growth share picks:

Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)

This is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) which looks to give investors exposure to global cybersecurity giants, as well as emerging players, from a range of global locations.

As of last week, its largest positions were: Crowdstrike, Okta, Zscaler, Accenture, Cisco Systems, Cloudflare, F5 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Leidos and Science Applications.

Since inception in August 2016, its net return has been 16.8% per annum. That’s after the annual management fee of 0.67% per annum.

BetaShares said that with cybercrime on the rise, the demand for cybersecurity services is expected to grow strongly for the foreseeable future.

The Motley Fool Pro service currently rate the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF as a buy.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Pushpay is an electronic donation business that largely services the faith sector, namely being large and medium US churches.

The ASX growth share is aiming to reach a market share of around 50% which would see it generate US$1 billion of annual revenue.

Pushpay recently said it expects “significant operating leverage to accrue as operating revenue continues to increase, while growth in total operating expenses remains low.”

In FY21 Pushpay is aiming to more than double its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) to a range of between US$54 million to US$58 million.

The company just went through a share split, which is why the Pushpay share price looks like it has fallen from where it was last week.

Pushpay is currently rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Pro service.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

Kogan.com is an e-commerce website that sells a wide variety of products and services. TVs, computers, phones, appliances, furniture and clothes are just some of the products that it offers. It also sells various services that a household may want such as energy, mobile plans, insurance, credit cards, home loans, superannuation and internet.

The ASX growth share also offers a membership service that includes free delivery and discounts available only to members.

Mr Kogan, the founder of the company, has spoken about the benefit to the company of its growing number of people using its loyalty scheme: “The Kogan First community of members grew exceptionally during the second half, and importantly these loyal members on average purchase and save much more often than non-members, demonstrating loyalty to the platform, and also demonstrating the significant savings and other benefits available through the loyalty program.”

Kogan.com is currently rated as a buy by the Motley Fool Share Advisor service.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is an auto parts business, the biggest in Australia and New Zealand. It has a variety of brands including trade business Burson Trade, retail chain Autobarn and various wholesale specialists.

The ASX growth share recently gave a trade update. Burson Trade revenue was up 10%, with same store sales growth of 7.7% – it was up 17% excluding Victoria. New Zealand revenue grew by 6% on same store sales growth of 4%. Retail revenue soared 47% higher, with Autobarn same stores sales going up 36%. Finally, specialist wholesale revenue went up 45%, though excluding acquisitions revenue went up 18%. Overall, group revenue went up by 27%.

However, due to the uncertainty, Bapcor wasn’t able to give any guidance for the rest of the year.

The Motley Fool Dividend Investor service currently rates the Bapcor share price as a buy.

More reading

• Is the Bapcor (ASX:BAP) share price a buy?
• Why these All Ords shares have been smashed this month
• The NAB (ASX:NAB) share price is up 25% in November
• 10 fantastic ASX shares to buy in December
• 4 great ASX growth shares to buy

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 BETA CYBER ETF UNITS and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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