The Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price fired up more than 7.5% to 17 cents at the time of writing, after reaching a 19 cent high in opening trade this morning.

Argosy Minerals is a mining and exploration company with a 77.5% (and ultimate 90%) interest in the Rincon Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina. The company also has a 100% interest in the Tonopah Lithium Project in Nevada, USA.

Argosy share price gains after $30 million pump 

Today, the company advised that it has received firm commitments for a $30 million placement to institutional, sophisticated and professional investors.

The capital raised will fully fund the production of battery quality lithium carbonate product from the Rincon site and contribute to on-going cash flow generation.

Argosy estimates that the Rincon site is presently a 2,000 tonnes-per-annum (tpa) operation. The construction timeframe is approximately 12 months with an estimated 4-month commissioning period after.

The company also plans to conduct feasibility and development works at the Rincon site to prepare for a 10,000 tpa scale operation.

According to today’s release, Argosy believes that the company is now positioned to be the only developer able to provide battery quality lithium carbonate at commercial qualities in the near-term.

Positioning Argosy Minerals for growth 

Argosy managing director Jerko Zuvela said the new funding was a testament to the company’s project developments and future position.

Commenting on the $30 million placement, Mr Zuvela said:

We received a significant endorsement of our business with this placement, and are now fully funded to achieve 2,000 tpa scale production at our Rincon Lithium Project.

This provides a clear mandate and pathway for continued commercial scale development, as we become only the second ASX-listed battery quality lithium carbonate producer.

This places the company in an enviable position to generate cash flow and be in a much stronger position to advance strategic arrangements whilst developing the 10,000 tpa operation.

The Argosy share price has gained around 113% over the past 12-month period.

More reading

• Why Argosy Minerals, Sigma, Vocus, & Zip shares are charging higher
• The Argosy Minerals (ASX:AGY) share price surged 17% higher today. Here’s why

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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Online furniture retailer Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) had a breakout year in 2020, moving from relative obscurity to become a household name during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Along with e-commerce company Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) and plus-size women’s clothing retailer City Chic Collective Limited (ASX: CCX), Temple & Webster became a retail market darling of the COVID-19 economy, boosting sales and increasing its market penetration. While traditional brick-and-mortar retailers like troubled department store Myer Holdings Limited (ASX: MYR) watched their share prices tank during lockdowns, this new generation of digital-focussed retailers saw their profits (and share prices) zoom higher last year.

From a low of just $1.52 during the March market crash, Temple & Webster shares surged a whopping 824% to a record high of $14.05 by late October. However, since then the company’s shares have lagged, edging back down to below $10 throughout most of November and December as investors waited to see how the company would perform as brick-and-mortar retail, particularly in Victoria, reopened after harsh lockdowns.

Has this business momentum carried over into FY21?

As my Fool colleague James Mickleboro reported last week, Temple & Webster recently released its first-half FY21 results to the market. The company reported half-year revenues of $161.6 million, a year-on-year increase of 118%, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $14.8 million, a hefty 556% uplift. However, this still fell short of analysts’ expectations over at Goldman Sachs, who had forecast revenue of $171.1 million and EBITDA of $17.6 million.

The market response to the results was muted. Overall, Temple & Webster shares have remained flat at $11 or thereabouts for most of the week (they are trading at $11.19 as at the time of writing).

How does this compare to its competitors?

One of Temple & Webster’s key competitors is furniture retailer Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK), which operates more than 50 showrooms across Australia.

Nick Scali also reported strong first half FY21 results last week. Sales revenue jumped more than 24% versus first half FY20 to $171.1 million while underlying EBITDA surged more than 90% higher to $60.2 million. Underlying net profit after tax was $40.5 million, an increase of almost 100%.

Interestingly, while Nick Scali didn’t see the same sort of explosive share price growth of companies like Temple & Webster last year, it didn’t experience the same level of volatility throughout November or December either. Instead, its share price has climbed consistently higher, from a low of $2.65 back in March all the way up to $11.32 as at the time of writing. The Nick Scali share price is currently trading just short of the record high price of $11.61 posted at the beginning of January.

The battle between these two competitors will be interesting over the year ahead. Nick Scali arguably has a stronger pedigree and will benefit more from easing COVID-19 restrictions than its online rival. However, at this growth rate, Temple & Webster could surpass Nick Scali in terms of annual revenues by the end of  FY21.

More reading

• ASX stock of the day: Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) goes from strength to strength
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• Why Magellan, News Corp, REA Group, & Temple & Webster shares are racing higher
• 2 fast-growth ASX tech shares that are being sold off
• ASX 200 falls 0.9%, Nick Scali reports, Vulcan jumps

Rhys Brock owns shares of Kogan.com ltd and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some ASX dividend shares that have dividend yields above 5%.

A yield of more than 5% is much higher than the current Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yield.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX: CLW)

This is a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns a diversified portfolio of different properties.

It’s invested across a number of different industries including long WALE retail (weighted average lease expiry), industrial and logistics, office, telecommunication exchanges and agri-logistics.

The business just reported its FY21 half-year result. At 31 December 2020, it had 459 assets with a valuation of $4.48 billion. Its WALE grew by 0.1 year to 14.1 years. Its occupancy rate was 97.5%.

Some of its most recent acquisitions include the David Jones property in the Sydney CBD and 70 BPs in New Zealand.

The business said that its distribution for the half year was increasing by 3.6% to 14.5 cents per unit. The net tangible assets (NTA) of Charter Hall Long WALE REIT increased by 5.1% to $4.70 per unit.

Charter Hall Long WALE REIT said that its operating earnings per share (EPS) for FY21 is still expected to be no less than 29.1 cents per unit, which would be growth of at least 2.8%. That translates to a FY21 distribution yield of at least 6.1%.  

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

JB Hi-Fi is one of the biggest retailing businesses on the ASX. It operates JB Hi-Fi Australia, JB Hi-Fi Australia New Zealand and The Good Guys.

The ASX dividend share has been steadily growing its dividend each year for the past several years.

JB Hi-Fi has seen elevated levels of sales growth ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit as consumers looked for ways to learn, work and be entertained at home.

FY20 saw total sales go up 11.6%, underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew by 30.5% to $486.5 million and underlying EPS went up 33.2% to 289.6 cents.

That result saw the company increase its final dividend by 76.5% to 90 cents per share and the total FY20 dividend went up by 33.1% to 189 cents per share.

At the current JB Hi-Fi share price, that means it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.2%.

JB Hi-Fi recently gave an update for its FY21 first half result which showed that sales are expected to be up 23.7% to $4.94 billion, EBIT was up 75.9% and net profit was up 86.2% to $317.7 million. Online sales grew by 161.7% to $678.8 million, representing 13.7% of total sales. JB Hi-Fi said that a well-executed Black Friday promotional period more than offset the impact of the government mandated temporary store closures during the half.

The ASX dividend share said that gross margins improved significantly in key categories, particularly in The Good Guys. However, this was somewhat offset by the sales mix at JB Hi-Fi Australia and JB Hi-Fi New Zealand.

JB Hi-Fi said that disciplined cost control combined with strong sales growth to drive significant operating leverage.

The company continued to pay landlords and team members throughout the half, including periods where stores were temporarily closed.

More reading

• 2 ASX dividend shares with yields above 4%
• 3 ASX dividend shares with large yields and consistent payouts
• Got money to invest for dividends? Here are 3 ASX shares
• 3 highest yielding ASX dividend shares
• 2 ASX dividend shares rated as strong buys by brokers

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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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One of the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) on Monday has been the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price.

In afternoon trade the buy now pay later provider’s shares are up a massive 10% to $9.60.

This means the Zip share price is now up a remarkable 72% since the start of 2021. As a comparison, the ASX 200 is up around 3% year to date.

Why is the Zip share price surging higher?

Investors have been fighting to buy Zip’s shares this year thanks largely to its impressive second quarter update in late January.

That update revealed that Zip delivered a 103% increase in transaction volume to a record $1.6 billion for the three months ended 31 December.

A key driver of this strong performance was Zip’s US-based QuadPay business.

Despite increasing competition from PayPal and Shopify, QuadPay reported a 217% increase in transaction volume to $673.1 million. This was driven by a 180% lift in customer numbers to 3.2 million and a 655% jump in merchants to 8,400 in the world’s largest retail market.

What about today’s gains?

Today’s gain in the Zip share price appears to be attributable to the aforementioned QuadPay business.

Thanks to its huge success, Zip is rumoured to be considering a secondary listing in the United States.

According to the AFR, management will spend the next few days in front of US investors, highlighting the meteoric growth of QuadPay.

By issuing American Depository Receipts that would mirror its ASX-listed shares, Zip would be able to trade in the US, giving it greater access to US capital markets.

The AFR notes that this would allow institutional investors who cannot invest in the ASX because of investment mandates to buy shares. However, according to the report, discussions regarding the US listing are believed to be at an early stage.

Though, there does appear to be substance to the rumours. A number of brokers are understood to be pitching secondary listings of a range of Australian technology shares that they think could attract US investor interest.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.6%: Vocus rockets, Zip surges, & Treasury Wine rebuffs speculation
• Why Argosy Minerals, Sigma, Vocus, & Zip shares are charging higher
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: RBA unleashes ASX’s inner animal
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Could these exciting small cap ASX shares be the next big thing?

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. 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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Buying travel shares such as Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) while the outlook for the pandemic remains unclear?

While that may sound like a higher risk investment than sticking with market darlings such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) powerhouse Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Vince Pezzullo, deputy head of equities at Perpetual Investments, explains why Perpetual bought – and continues to hold – Qantas shares.

The case for Qantas

Following the COVID-fuelled market rout last year, the majority of S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares rebounded strongly from the 2020 March lows.

If you had spare cash and managed to capitalise on the rebound, good on you.

But Pezzullo explains why it’s important for investors to look beyond this cyclical rebound (quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

You need to be focusing on the businesses where it’s not just about the cyclical recovery. Look for the second leg, which is, ‘how has management taken advantage of a pretty quick and material slowdown to rationalise the business?’ Qantas is one of them, they’ve basically realigned the entire business very quickly.

That realignment came along with Qantas’ $1.4 billion capital raising last year. And, according to Pezzullo, that raising made the stock a more attractive investment. “That’s one of the stocks we haven’t owned for a long time. We were a bit nervous about the balance sheet [but] once they did the raising that for us was a good enough reason.”

With massive government stimulus packages around the world supported by rock bottom interest rates and central bank quantitative easing (QE) programs, today’s investment climate is a different place than it was last year. The world now also has multiple coronavirus vaccines to potentially stamp out the pandemic. Which are just some of the reasons Pezzullo says your investment approach needs to evolve as well:

You really have to be on your toes now, so to speak, to ensure that you can take advantage of what may occur due to some of the actions in the last 12 months. That’s quite an open statement, but that’s what I’m suggesting: that doing the same thing as last year will not work for the next 18 months to two years.

Qantas share price snapshot

The Qantas share price, up 0.4% in intraday trading today, is down 2.7% so far in 2021.

Shares remain down 25.5% from 12 months ago, though the share price has soared 123.8% since the 19 March low.

Qantas pays an annual dividend yield of 2.8%, fully franked.

More reading

• What to expect from the Qantas (ASX:QAN) first half result
• Here’s why the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price is soaring today
• ASX 200 down 0.7%: AGL & Origin sink lower, Qantas pushes higher
• 4 most trusted ASX companies (and the 4 least trusted)
• Alliance Aviation (ASX:AQZ) share price surges 13% higher on Qantas (ASX:QAN) deal

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T 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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In afternoon trade on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 6,880.2 points.

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

Cann Group Ltd (ASX: CAN)

The Cann share price is down 3% to 64 cents after revealing that it has been the victim of a cyber security incident. According to the release, the cannabis company has recently made payments of approximately $3.6 million to an overseas contractor. These payments were in relation to works being undertaken for Cann’s Mildura facility. However, those payments have been received by an unknown third party as a result of a complex and sophisticated cyber fraud.

Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH)

The Creso Pharma share price is down almost 5% to 20 cents. This morning the cannabis company announced that it has brought the marketing and sales function of its cannaQIX product inhouse, taking over from its commercial partner Doetsch Grether in Switzerland. This follows a growing trend of direct inbound sales enquiries and interest in cannaQIX product.

LiveTiles Ltd (ASX: LVT)

The LiveTiles shares price is down 5.5% to 25 cents. Investors may be taking a bit of profit off the table after the software company’s shares jumped notably higher on Friday. That gain was driven by speculation it could be a takeover target. Though, LiveTiles has rebuffed this speculation, revealing that it isn’t in discussions.

News Corp CDI (ASX: NWS)

The News Corp share price has fallen 3.5% to $27.39. This also appears to be due to profit taking after a very strong gain last week. In fact, thanks largely to a very strong second quarter update, the media giant’s shares were among the best performers on the ASX 200 last week with a 16.9% gain.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.6%: Vocus rockets, Zip surges, & Treasury Wine rebuffs speculation
• Why the Cann (ASX:CAN) share price is crashing 10% lower today
• Why the News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price is at multi-year highs
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: RBA unleashes ASX’s inner animal
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week

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 LIVETILES FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended LIVETILES 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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At lunch on Monday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a solid gain. The benchmark index is up 0.6% to 6,882.2 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Vocus takeover approach

The Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC) is rocketing higher today after being the subject of a takeover approach. The telco has received a confidential non-binding, indicative proposal from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and its managed funds. According to the release, MIRA has made an offer of $5.50 per share. This represents a 25.5% premium to its last close price. Vocus has granted MIRA with due diligence access.

Zip surges higher

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is surging notably higher on Monday. This appears to have been driven by speculation that the company could be considering a secondary listing in the United States. This is expected to give the buy now pay later provider greater access to US capital markets. According to the AFR, management will spend the next few days in front of US investors. It will no doubt be highlighting the meteoric growth of its US based QuadPay business.

Treasury Wine demerger speculation rebuffed

The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price is pushing higher today despite rebuffing speculation that it is planning to split into three separate entities. The wine company advised that it “has formally paused work on a potential demerger of its Penfolds brand, and further that it is not currently considering a demerger of any brands/businesses within its portfolio.”

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Monday has been the Vocus share price with its 14% gain. This follows the aforementioned receipt of a takeover approach. The worst performer has been the News Corp (ASX: NWS) share price with a 3.5% decline. This appears to be due to profit taking after a particularly strong gain last week.

More reading

• Why Argosy Minerals, Sigma, Vocus, & Zip shares are charging higher
• Treasury Wines (ASX:TWE) share price lifts amid media speculation
• Why the Vocus (ASX:VOC) share price is zooming 19% higher today
• Why the News Corp (ASX:NWS) share price is at multi-year highs
• Why the Pinnacle (ASX:PNI) share price rocketed 25% last week

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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Treasury Wine Estates 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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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.

Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) has been a consistent winner for shareholders over the years. Even though the sneaker giant is approaching $40 billion in annual revenue, the swoosh just keeps growing. 

Over the last five years, the stock has more than doubled in value, but what we want to know is this: Can Nike sustain its momentum long enough to turn a small investment into a million dollars? 

Nike’s past returns and growth

The first thing to consider is Nike’s historical rate of return. Since the company has had a very similar main product line throughout the nearly 50 years it has been selling shoes under the Nike trademark, we shouldn’t expect the stock to deliver a higher return than it has historically.

A $10,000 investment in Nike stock in 1990 would have grown to be worth $1.58 million today, including dividend reinvestment. 

NKE Total Return Level data by YCharts

Keep in mind, Nike was growing revenue much faster in the 1990s than it is today. In fiscal 1995, revenue grew 25%. At the time, revenue had climbed fivefold over the previous 10 years from fiscal 1985. 

Since fiscal 2010, Nike’s revenue has only doubled, reflecting a slowing growth rate as Nike’s business gets larger. 

The important thing to remember is that, while stocks can do anything in the short term, there is a high correlation between a company’s growth in profits and the stock price return over a long period of time.

Nike’s long-term goal is to grow revenue at a high-single-digit rate and grow earnings per share (EPS) in the mid-teens range. If Nike can sustain that level of earnings growth over 30 years, it’s certainly possible that a $10,000 investment could be worth more than $600,000 in 30 years.

Any company that is growing over a long period of time can deliver massive gains if you hold the stock long enough. That’s the beauty of compounding interest, and why stocks are great wealth-building tools.

Nike’s revenue target is a reasonable goal given that the athletic apparel industry continues to show signs of expansion. Other fitness brands like lululemon athletica and Peloton Interactive are also showing strong growth. One estimate placed the sports apparel market at $167 billion in 2018 and expected to reach $248 billion by 2026.

Nike has been growing in line with the industry. Between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2019, Nike grew revenue at a compounded rate of 6.5%, but revenue growth was accelerating above that rate in fiscal 2020 right before the pandemic hit. Earnings per share didn’t grow as much over those three years due to investments to support the digital business’s growth. 

If Nike can deliver on its long-term outlook, you could turn a small investment into a million bucks, or at least get within striking distance. Here’s how Nike can deliver.

Nike’s strategy

Nike’s investments in the direct-to-consumer business are laying the foundation for improving margins and growing profits. 

The swoosh remains a hot brand, driving explosive growth through Nike’s mobile apps, particularly SNKRS, where Nike drops highly anticipated sneakers in limited quantities that sell out quickly. For the fiscal second quarter ending in November, Nike reported that its mobile apps grew 200% year over year. 

Nike’s total revenue growth clocked in at 7% in the last quarter, excluding currency, consistent with management’s long-term target. Nike’s digital channel now makes up more than 30% of the business, and management sees it reaching 50% soon.  

Nike is now a digital-first company, and since digital sales generate higher profits than sales through wholesale channels, earnings per share should grow faster than Nike’s single-digit revenue target over the long term. This is why analysts are currently forecasting Nike to post annualised growth in earnings per share of 34% over the next five years. 

During the fiscal second-quarter conference call, CEO John Donahoe summed up the key drivers that should fuel this growth stock higher over time. “The structural tailwinds we’re seeing, including permanent shifts toward digital, athletic wear and health and wellness, continue to offer us an incredible opportunity,” he said. 

Not many consumer discretionary companies can sustain a mid-teens level of earnings growth over several decades, but I will never say never about any great business. Look at it like this: Nike has been around for about 50 years, and management is still talking about growing earnings at double-digit rates.

So, yes, Nike is a millionaire-making stock, but you must be willing to hold the shares for a long time.

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

More reading

• Why the DroneShield (ASX:DRO) share price is climbing higher
• Why Argosy Minerals, Sigma, Vocus, & Zip shares are charging higher
• Why the Imdex (ASX:IMD) share price is leaping 9% today
• Treasury Wines (ASX:TWE) share price lifts amid media speculation
• What to expect from the a2 Milk (ASX:A2M) half year result

John Ballard owns shares of Peloton Interactive. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Nike and Peloton Interactive. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nike. 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) share price is climbing higher today. This comes after the company announced that it had deployed its recently updated next-generation software.

At the time of writing, the DroneShield share price is trading up 2.9% to 17.5 cents.

What did DroneShield announce?

In this morning’s release, the defence contractor started rolling out its newest artificial intelligence (AI) software to all existing customers’ systems.

Droneshield tested the machine learning/AI-based detection and classification software against unmanned robotic systems and other potential threats in electronic warfare fields. The company noted that it saw the updated software substantially improve on detection responsiveness and lower false positives. This led to faster speeds in detecting, classifying and tracking new threats from DroneShield systems.

The company highlighted its technological advantage through the use of lightweight machine learning architecture. Designed to run on low power FPGA (Field-Programable Gate Array) hardware, the system can operate in environments where power is limited. The chip can also operate far away from unsecured networks for long periods where security has been compromised.

The company stated that the new software package is compatible with all current DroneShield platforms. This includes RfPatrol, DroneSentry, and DroneSentry-X.

Words from the CEO

Commenting on the software, DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik, said:

DroneShield customers receive regular software updates via enrolling into a Subscription-as-a-Service (SaaS) model at the time of purchase of their systems. Importantly, the software also has capabilities for deployment outside of the C-UAS space, on a hardware agnostic basis. DroneShield is currently engaging in such deployments with its Five Eye country military customers.

DroneShield share price review

Despite today’s rise, the Drone Shield share price is down almost 20% from 12 months ago.

The company’s shares took a steep dive in April, falling to an all-time low of 8.4 cents. Since then, its shares slowly began to turn around, moving on an upwards trajectory. However, in the last 6 months, the DroneShield share price has stabilised around the late teens.

Based on the current share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $68 million.

More reading

• DroneShield (ASX:DRO) share price lifts on contract update

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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and started the week strongly. In late morning trade, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 6,880.3 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are charging higher:

Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY)

The Argosy Minerals share price is up 3% to 16.5 cents. This morning the lithium-focused mineral exploration company announced the receipt of firm commitments to raise $30 million through a significantly oversubscribed placement. Management advised that it was supported by high quality institutional investors. This means the Rincon Lithium Project is now fully funded through to 2,000tpa lithium carbonate production and cash-flow generation.

Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG)

The Sigma share price has jumped 7% to 73 cents. Investors have been buying the pharmacy chain operator and wholesale distributor’s shares following the release of a trading update. That update revealed that Sigma has had a very strong second half. As a result, it expects to report operating earnings growth of over 35% for FY 2021. Management also spoke positively about its future growth.

Vocus Group Ltd (ASX: VOC)

The Vocus share price has surged 14% higher to $4.99 after confirming the receipt of a takeover approach. According to the release, the company has received a confidential non-binding, indicative proposal from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) and its managed funds. MIRA has tabled an offer of $5.50 per share, which represents a 25.5% premium to its last close price. Vocus has granted MIRA with due diligence access.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)

The Zip share price has climbed 8.5% to $9.43. This appears to be due to speculation that the buy now pay later provider could be looking at a secondary listing in the United States. This would give the company greater access to US capital markets.

More reading

• Here’s why the Sigma (ASX:SIG) share price is surging 6% higher
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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 ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

The post Why Argosy Minerals, Sigma, Vocus, & Zip shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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