The Sheffield Resources Ltd (ASX: SFX) share price whizzed higher today, hitting a 52-week high of 48 cents in mid-afternoon trade before retreating. This comes after the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) gave the nod for an investment by its proposed joint venture partner, YGH Australia Investment Pty Ltd.

At close of trade today, the Sheffield share price was swapping hands for 39 cents, up 21.87%.

What’s driving the Sheffield share price up today?

In today’s release, Sheffield advised that FIRB has cleared the pathway for Yansteel to invest $130.1 million in a 50% stake of the Thunderbird Mineral Sands project. The favourable outcome will see Sheffield and Yansteel become equal strategic partners.

Both parties will finalise their joint venture agreements in coming weeks. They will also conduct a feasibility study to assess the project potential, with a final investment decision expected next year.

More on the Thunderbird joint venture

The Thunderbird project is considered a high-quality site, located in the north-west Western Australian region. A bankable feasibility study in March 2017 found the area contained one of the largest – and highest-grade – mineral sands discovered in the last 30 years.

Should the project fulfil its potential, the 42-year mine life is estimated to generate earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $5.1 billion.

What did management say?

Sheffield managing director Bruce McFadzean welcomed the result, saying:

The advice from FIRB is a positive step forward for Yansteel, Sheffield and the development of the Thunderbird Mineral Sands Project. It is a significant event for shareholders and the Kimberley community, demonstrating state and federal governments’ support for continued investment in the local resources sector.

Sheffield share price summary

The Sheffield share price reached a 52-week high of 48 cents today. While its shares dipped during the COVID-19 global crisis, the Sheffield share price has rebounded strongly since July.

More reading

• 3 ASX shares rated as buys by fundie
• Why Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) share price is soaring 6% higher
• ASX 200 falls on Tuesday
• Qantas (ASX:QAN) budget flights to exceed pre-COVID levels by March
• This is Jeff Bezos’s most important investing lesson

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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There are some ASX shares worth buying and owning according to fund manager Naos Asset Management.

What is Naos Asset Management’s investment approach?

Naos is led by chief investment officer (CIO) Sebastian Evans. NAOS Ex-50 Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX: NAC) is one of the listed investment companies (LIC) operated by Naos.

That particular LIC generally looks at businesses with market capitalisations between $250 million and $6 billion. That’s what Naos deems to be a ‘mid-cap’.

The fund manager has a number of investment focuses. It looks for businesses that are good value with long term growth potential. With its portfolio, Naos believes it’s better to have a quality portfolio rather than numerous holdings. That’s why it only holds around 10 positions in each fund, with each ASX share representing a high-conviction position.

Naos invests in the small cap ASX shares and mid caps for the long-term. It considers the performance and the liquidity of its positions whilst ignoring the index. Performance can sometimes be quite variable when compared to the index.

It looks to invest purely in industrial companies whilst also considering the ESG factors (environmental, social and governance).

Here are three ASX shares worth owning, according to Naos:

Objective Corporation Limited (ASX: OCL)

Naos describes Objective Corporation as a business that’s founder led and provides specialist software for regulated industries such as government, councils and financial services. The fundie says that Objective has mission critical software, built on providing improved governance, service delivery and workflow-process efficiency.

The fund manager says Objective Corporation is a global leader in the space, with over 1,000 customers and 10 product offerings across many countries.

The ASX share held its annual general meeting recently and released a detailed presentation. Whilst there were no new comments provided, Naos thought there were a few interesting comments that supported the view of long-term growth of the business. One comment related to FY21 guidance being reiterated for “material growth in revenue and profitability”. Another comment was about how acquisitions remain a core part of the strategy. Finally, more detail was provided about how the integration of iTree, together with the recent product launches of Gov365 and Objective Build is progressing.

Naos said that with annualised recurring revenue (ARR) now standing at $53 million, the fundie believes the ASX share is on target to achieve, or even exceed, the long term ARR ambition of more than $127 million.

Eureka Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: EGH)

According to Naos, Eureka Group is a provider of quality and affordable rental accommodation for independent seniors within a community environment. Eureka owns 30 villages and manages a further nine villages with a total of more than 2,000 places across Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Eureka recently held its annual general meeting (AGM) and the ASX share gave a market update in early November which included FY21 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) guidance of $9.8 million to $10.2 million. This equates to growth of 21% to 26% compared to the prior corresponding period. Occupancy has remained above 95% and the business still wants to sell non-core assets, which will provide the funding for organic growth and acquisition opportunities that Eureka is targeting.

The fund manager believes Eureka has multiple levers that can be pulled to help earnings growth at a significant rate going forward, and when overlaid with the current industry tailwinds, Naos thinks Eureka will be highly attractive to investors, particularly in this low interest environment as investors seek returns.

Experience Co Ltd (ASX: EXP)

Experience Co is a business that is one of the largest adventure tourism businesses with experiences like tandem skydiving, indigenous experiences and tours to the Great Barrier Reef. The company currently has numerous locations throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Naos said that with many of the domestic state borders being opened, or expected to be opened in the near future, Experience Co will have a strong tailwind from this leading into the key summer holiday season.

The Australian operations are currently operating at between 30% to 40% capacity compared to the prior corresponding period. Naos believes there is significant earnings potential from greater domestic demand which may lead to greater profit leverage. The fund manager thinks Experience Co will emerge with a much more efficient business, lower costs and a greatly reduced commission model to third party sellers which may result in EBITDA being significantly higher than the results it generated under the previous management’s strategy.

More reading

• 3 little-known small cap ASX shares rated as buys by fundie
• The 13 ASX shares that could have doubled your money in 2020
• The Objective Corp (ASX:OCL) share price is up ahead of AGM
• Ask a fund manager: Totus Capital’s Sam Granger reveals the methods behind his outperforming High Conviction Fund
• 3 little-known ASX shares rated as buys by fundie

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 EXPERNCECO FPO and Objective Limited. 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 Meteoric Resources NL (ASX: MEI) share price lived up to its name today, surging up 6.35% to close at 6.7 cents.

This reflects a 120% boost year-to-date and follows the company’s positive announcement on its capital raising. In comparison, the wider All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) closed 0.49% down at 6866 points.

What’s lifting the Meteoric Resources share price today?

In this morning’s ASX release, Meteoric Resources announced a successful capital raising to accelerate its drilling programs.

The company reported it has firm commitments to raise up to $4 million before costs at an issue price of 5.7 cents per share to sophisticated and professional investors. That includes $2 million from an investment syndicate spearheaded by ‘legendary resources’ investor Keith Biggs.

Meteoric plans to use the funds to accelerate its promising drilling exploration programs in Brazil and Western Australia. That includes extending its drilling further southwest at Butchers Creek and the drilling in early 2021 of a new giant IP anomaly located beneath Juruena.

Commenting to the capital raising, Meteoric Resources managing director Andrew Tunks said:

We are delighted with the support shown to us by our existing shareholders which will enable us to continue our consistent in the ground exploration spend. Despite the global troubles of 2020, the MEI exploration teams have delivered some remarkable drilling results across both our projects…

At Palm Springs, in what was our first drilling program, we have extended known mineralisation from the historic Butchers Creek Open Pit over 360m south and delivered some amazing results…To top off a remarkable year, we completed a deep IP/MT survey across the Juruena Project and delineated a giant IP chargeability anomaly which we will drill test in early 2021.

Company snapshot

Meteoric Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on iron, gold, copper, and nickel deposits. It has projects in Brazil, Canada, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. These include Juruena Gold Project, Brazil; Palm Springs Gold Project, Western Australia; Novo Astro Project; Warrego North Project; and Webb Diamond JV.

From mid-January through to 6 May, the Meteoric share price was anything but meteoric, tumbling 75%. Since those lows, shares have surged an eye-popping 560%. That’s enough to put Meteoric Resources share price up 120% year-to-date.

More reading

• Why the Cardiex (ASX:CDX) share price, up 73% in 2020, is gaining again today
• Why the Immuron (ASX:IMC) share price is rocketing up 10% today
• Here’s why the Zelira (ASX:ZLD) share price just rocketed to a new high
• Why the Botanix (ASX:BOT) share price is soaring up today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 hits a 6! Thank iron ore

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) ended 0.4% lower today to 6,631 points as iron ore miners fell backwards.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) partners with Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN)

The Zip share price went down 1% and the Harvey Norman share price rose 0.2% after it was announced that the two businesses are going to work together.

Zip will be partnering with Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne franchisees to offer Zip’s buy now, pay later payment solutions.

Peter Gray, who is the co-founder and chief operations officer, said: “We are thrilled to partner with such iconic brands. We look forward to providing customers with additional choice and better ways to pay as they shop with confidence at Harvey Norman, Domayne and Joyce Mayne.”

Zip said this partnership with Harvey Norman continues to deliver on its strategic vision of providing customers with convenience and choice in how they choose to pay, while also driving towards Zip’s mission to be the first payment choice everywhere and every day.

APRA lifts dividend restrictions

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has provided updated capital management guidance to authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) and insurers. It has lifted the limit where it told banks to retain at least half of their earnings.

From the start of 2021, banks won’t have to hold onto a minimum level of earnings retention.

APRA Chair Wayne Byres said an improved economic outlook and the capital strength of the banking system have enabled a change in APRA’s capital management guidance.

He also said: “A decade-long process of increasing capital levels and bolstering resilience in the banking system has put Australian banks in their current position of strength, allowing the sector to support customers and the broader economy at a time of crisis.

“The results of APRA’s extensive ADI stress testing provide reassurance that the banking system remains well positioned to absorb the impact of a severe economic shock and retain the capacity to continue supplying credit into the economy.

“While the reduction in the number of loan repayment deferrals and improved economic outlook have allowed APRA to relax its July guidance for ADIs to retain at least half their earnings, the boards of ADIs and insurers are expected to maintain a prudent approach to capital management and dividend payouts.”

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price dropped 1%, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price fell 0.5%, the National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price almost fell around 0.7% and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price fell 0.9%.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

The Pushpay share price didn’t move today because it went into a trading halt.

Pushpay is doing an underwritten bookbuild to facilitate a sell down of shares held by interests associated with co-founder Chris Heaslip (former CEO and former director) and interests associated with executive and ‘visionary’ Chris Fowler.

The sale is for 54.68 million shares, which is almost 5% of the issued Pushpay capital, comprising 41.67 million shares held by interests related to Chris Heaslip and 13.01 million shares associated with Chris Fowler.

After the transaction, Mr Heaslip’s interests’ stake in Pushpay will reduce from 4% to 0.2% and the Fowler interests’ stake in Pushpay will reduce from 2.4% to 1.2%.

Pushpay said that the sale will provide further free float and liquidity and is underwritten at a floor price of NZ$1.75 per share, which is a 7.4% discount to the last closing price.

As part of the announcement, Pushpay re-iterated its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) guidance for FY21 of US$54 million to US$58 million. However, the company said that uncertainties and impacts surrounding COVID-19 and the broader US economic environment remain.

More reading

• Creso Pharma and Nuix were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• Here are the US shares ASX investors are buying
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: APRA removes bank dividend restrictions, Fortescue slides, Zip higher
• What would more stimulus mean for ASX 200 shares?
• APRA removes dividend restrictions for the banks

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 PUSHPAY FPO NZX and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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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Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN)’s budget brand Jetstar has revealed it will already exceed pre-COVID volume of flights within 3 months.

The stunning announcement was made Tuesday, with the airline citing a pent-up demand for domestic travel with international transit still closed.

“Travel demand to popular holiday spots is bouncing back in the lead up to the summer holidays,” said Jetstar chief Gareth Evans.

“While international borders remain closed, more Australians are set to explore places around the country they have never visited, which is great news for local hospitality and tourism operators.”

Jetstar now enjoys a monopoly in the budget aviation subsector, with Virgin Australia’s low-cost arm TigerAir shut down earlier this year.

More than 850 return weekly flights servicing 55 routes would be operational by March, Jetstar announced Tuesday. And this is actually 110% of its weekly schedule in March 2019.

Qantas shares were down 0.49% on Tuesday, trading at $5.04 at 3.29pm AEDT.

Australians want to travel, even if it’s not overseas

The airline recently conducted a survey that showed 86% of Australians planned to go on a domestic trip during 2021. More than half stated they wanted to visit a location that they’d not been to before.

“Australians are globally renowned for loving travel and as we approach 2021, demand for our low fares services is stronger than ever,” Evans said.

There are still many destinations that are not economically viable, such as Adelaide and Newcastle. But Jetstar can even operate on these routes due to the federal government’s aviation industry assistance, which will continue through 28 March.

The new Virgin, under different owners, has vowed to operate as a mid-tier carrier and avoid competing with Qantas or Jetstar.

But Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX) has just broken out of its rural roots and will start flying between the 3 big cities – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

“We have a lot of repair work to do given the huge toll the COVID crisis took on airlines,” said Evans.

“But the flexibility we have across our fleet means we can offer these extra services, help boost tourism and the local economies of the communities we fly to and also get more of our people back in the air.”

Jetstar’s study showed Hobart and Melbourne has surged in popularity, while Cairns and the Gold Coast appealed to families as an alternative to international destinations.

The New Zealand government also announced earlier this week that a bidirectional travel bubble would open across the Tasman Sea by March.

More reading

• ASX 200 rises on Monday
• Why I’m sticking with my Afterpay shares: fundie
• This is when ASX airport shares will take off
• Why this broker thinks it’s time to buy Qantas (ASX:QAN) shares
• Qantas faces union in court over 2,000 sackings

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Qantas Airways Limited. 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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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.

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is one of the most admired leaders in business. Over the last generation, Bezos has steered Amazon from a tiny online bookseller to a tech behemoth with a leading position in retail, cloud-computing, voice-activated technology, and logistics, among other arenas. Amazon is now worth $1.5 trillion, and Bezos is the wealthiest person in the world.

While there is little doubting his business acumen, however, attention is rarely devoted to his thinking as an investor. The recently released Invent & Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos represents the most comprehensive collection of Bezos’s thinking on a wide variety of subjects, and the title itself sums up a core philosophy of Amazon — innovating and experimenting. And there’s one theme the Amazon chief keeps coming back to about his approach as an investor and acquirer of businesses.

Missionary vs. mercenary

In the introduction to the book, Walter Isaacson describes a conversation with Bezos about leadership and his thinking when he meets with a CEO about a potential acquisition. Bezos says:

I’m always trying to figure one thing first and foremost: Is that person a missionary or mercenary? The mercenaries are trying to flip their stock. The missionaries love their product or their service and love their customers and are trying to build a great service. By the way, the great paradox here is that it’s usually the missionaries who make more money.

Amazon’s biggest acquisition was its $13.7 billion takeover of Whole Foods in 2017. Anybody familiar with Whole Foods and its founder John Mackey likely knows that Mackey is an evangelist for clean eating. He founded Whole Foods in Texas back in 1980 when healthy eating was little more than a niche category.

Even today, Whole Foods doesn’t sell products like Coca-Cola or Cheerios, and has a long list of ingredients that are banned from its stores, which aligns with its mission of serving only the highest-quality foods and setting standards of excellence among food retailers. For much of its time as an independent supermarket chain, Whole Foods regularly bested the competition in growth and profitability.

The implication for everyday investors

There are a number of lessons that investors can take away from Bezos’s focus on missionaries over mercenaries — and it should be noted that Bezos himself is a missionary, obsessed with pleasing the customer, advancing new technology, and inventing and experimenting. 

The biggest takeaway is that investors should start by focusing on founder-led companies, which have been shown to outperform other stocks. Entrepreneurs are likely to be the most passionate about their own businesses, as they are selling their own ideas and creations. While Bezos himself is a great example of why you should invest in founder-led companies, below are two more inspiring missionary-led companies that have delivered blockbuster results.

• Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk wasn’t technically a founder of Tesla, though he was retroactively named co-founder and has led the company since its early days. More than anyone else, Musk seems to be responsible for the electric vehicle revolution — and we’ve now reached a tipping point in the eventual conversion from combustion vehicles to electric cars. Musk’s persona is a big part of the cult feeling surrounding Tesla — the stock, the brand, and the vehicles — and under his guidance the company achieved what few once thought possible, building a high-performance electric car at scale. Musk is now one of the world’s richest people, but he’s still motivated by stretching the bounds of engineering at both Tesla and his space exploration company SpaceX. He also sees the climate crisis as a call to arms, and he’s even told Detroit automakers to accelerate their transition to electric vehicles.
• Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ: ZM) founder and CEO Eric Yuan has one of the most compelling biographies around. Born and raised in China, his visa to come work in the U.S. was denied eight times before he got through. Yuan barely spoke English at the time, but was a strong coder and worked his way up at WebEx and then Cisco. He had an idea for a better video communications platform than what was on the market, but Cisco wasn’t interested — and thus Zoom was born. When he started the company, Yuan took 40 Cisco engineers with him, a sign of his leadership capabilities. Zoom, of course, has become both a utility and a verb during the pandemic, and Yuan has beaten the tech giants and led his company to become the dominant videoconferencing platform. In an interview at the University of Miami, Yuan explained how he came to his top goal after an epiphany about employee happiness: “That’s why when I started the company that was my priority. As a CEO, my number-one job is not about the customer, product or service, it’s about our employees’ happiness. If I can make our employees happy, together we can make our customers happy.” It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that Yuan was named #1 CEO by Glassdoor in 2018, and that the company was on its Top 5 list of best places to work in 2018 and 2019.

In addition to screening for founder-led companies and using Glassdoor ratings for insights into company culture, it’s also worth considering the mission of the company itself. Mission-driven companies tend to outperform others, as the mission anchors the corporate culture and helps management screen for employees who are truly committed to those goals.

Amazon’s mission, to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, is one major reason for its success, as it’s guided the company into entirely new business lines where it sees opportunities to make life better for customers. And that mission focus has paid off: According to a number of polls, Amazon ranks among the top companies in customer satisfaction, and that customer trust has doubtless been one of the biggest drivers of the company’ success. Bezos himself said in an early shareholder letter, “The customer franchise is our most valuable asset.”

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

More reading

• Here are the US shares ASX investors are buying
• Can Tesla Q4 production meet soaring demand?
• Amazon’s driverless electric vehicle is coming
• How the 21st century actually started in 2020
• Shopify stock’s 166% rally in 2020 isn’t sustainable

Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Amazon. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Tesla, and Zoom Video Communications and recommends the following options: short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Amazon and Zoom Video Communications. 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 Cardiex Ltd (ASX: CDX) share price is up 3.9% to 5.3 cents in afternoon trading after the company released a positive update on its half year sales.

The rise comes as the wider All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is slipping, down 0.2% to 6884 points.

What’s driving the CardieX share price higher?

In its half year sales and corporate update, CardieX revealed it had achieved record sales for the first half of the 2021 financial year. This puts the health technology company in a position to post a 30% increase in sales compared to H1 FY2020. It’s also the strongest first half results the company has posted in 5 years.

The company attributed the strong sales growth to continuing strength in sales to the research market along with new clinical trial contracts with Bayer AG (announced on 20 August).

In a forward-looking statement, CardieX CEO Craig Cooper said:

I expect this strength to continue into next year given the current pipeline of research sales and new clinical trials in process. With widespread vaccine distribution about to commence, I also expect sales to our traditional clinician market to recover strongly as the US comes out of continuing lock-downs and stay-at-home orders.

In an update to the company’s previously announced share purchase plan (SPP), Cooper said:

We’re targeting to raise $1.0 million under the SPP, however we may decide in our absolute discretion to close the SPP early, scale back applications, or accept an amount above or below the $1.0 million target depending on the level of demand received. We’re expecting to close the SPP on Thursday, 31 December 2020.

CardieX also announced the appointment of Steven Kesten as its new chief medical officer and Mark Gorelick as its new chief product officer.

Company snapshot

CardieX is a global health technology company focused on vascular health issues. Its AtCor Medical division develops medical devices for measuring arterial stiffness and central blood pressure waveforms.

After falling for most of the previous 5 years, the CardieX share price has turned around in 2020. Despite dropping 66% during the wider COVID-19 market rout in February and March, CardieX shares are up 73% year-to-date. And up an impressive 420% from the 25 March lows.

More reading

• Why the Immuron (ASX:IMC) share price is rocketing up 10% today
• Here’s why the Zelira (ASX:ZLD) share price just rocketed to a new high
• Why the Botanix (ASX:BOT) share price is soaring up today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 hits a 6! Thank iron ore
• Hydrix (ASX:HYD) share price falling despite positive AGM update

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

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Easton Investments Ltd (ASX: EAS) shares are charging higher today after the company reported an increase in its year-on-year profits. At the time of writing, the Easton share price has surged 7.89% higher to reach a new, 52-week high of $1.23.

Why has the Easton share price surged today?

The Easton share price is charging higher after the company announced its year-on-year profit has increased by 98% to $3.51 million, in the five months to 30 November. This figure is up from $1.77 million in the prior corresponding period.

Easton Investments, which owns GPS Wealth, Merit Wealth and The SMSF Expert, further reported that its Wealth Solutions division had seen a 55% rise in profits from $850,000 in 2019, to $1.31 million in the five months to 30 November this year.

Its Accounting Solutions division meanwhile, returned $2.12 million in profits for the five-month period, compared with $1.43 million at the same time last year

“Both of the company’s operating divisions, Accounting Solutions and Wealth Solutions, have reported strong revenue and earnings growth over the period, while corporate costs have remained flat,” the company said.

Cautious guidance

Despite the upbeat news, Easton remained cautious about providing a full, half-year forecast. The company advised that its final half-year results will be impacted by one-off costs associated with the proposed transaction with HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB). 

In October, HUB24 agreed to purchase new shares in Easton Investments, while divesting its subsidiary, Paragrem, and giving the ownership to Easton.

That agreement will effectively see HUB24 become a 40% shareholder in Easton, with the combined company set to become one of Australia’s leading providers of services to accountants and financial advisers.

Easton says it expects to be in a position over the coming days to provide an update on the HUB24 transaction.

The company has also today declared a special dividend of 5 cents per share, fully franked, to be paid on 21 January 2021.

About the Easton share price

The Easton share price has increased by over 40% since the HUB24 announcement was made in October. On a year-to-date basis, Easton shares have gained around 30%, today reaching a new 52-week high.

The company commands a market capitalisation of $39 million.

More reading

• IOOF (ASX:IFL) share price lifts after investor briefing
• 3 ASX shares growing the dividend rapidly
• HUB24 (ASX:HUB) share price edges lower following AGM update

Eddy Sunarto has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 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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The Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price has continued its remarkable run on Tuesday.

In afternoon trade the cloud-based business and accounting software provider’s shares are up a sizeable 9% to a new record high of $156.72.

This latest gain means the Xero share price is now up a sizeable 30% since this time last month and an even more mouth-watering 96% since the start of the year.

Why is the Xero share price charging higher?

There have been a few catalysts for the rampant rise in the Xero share price this year.

This includes its strong performance during the pandemic, bullish broker notes, and its inclusion in exclusive indices.

In respect to the latter, on Friday afternoon S&P Dow Jones Indices announced its quarterly rebalance of the S&P/ASX Indices and revealed that Xero would be joining the ASX 50 index along with payments company Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

These two market darlings will be replacing energy producer Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and retail property company Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX).

Given that some investment companies have strict mandates on the shares they can buy, this change has potentially brought Xero onto the radar of some fund managers.

In addition to this, it will also have led to index-tracking funds having to buy shares.

Can the Xero share price go higher?

As I mentioned above, the Xero share price was also given a boost from bullish broker notes over the last few months.

One of the most bullish notes came from Goldman Sachs earlier this month. It initiated coverage on the company with a buy rating and $157.00 price target.

At the time, this price target implied potential upside of 18% for its shares. However, with the Xero share price now fetching $156.72, the upside appears limited from here.

Goldman Sachs likes Xero due to the quality of its offering, its large and growing total addressable market (TAM), and its attractive unit economics.

The broker estimates that its TAM is already worth NZ$14 billion across its key markets but could grow by a further NZ$62 billion in the future. Goldman believes this would be possible if it broadens and monetises its app ecosystem and expands into new geographies.

More reading

• Why Amaysim, Orocobre, Pacific Smiles, & Xero shares are pushing higher
• Here’s why Bubs (ASX:BUB) and this ASX share are underperforming in 2020
• Why ASX oil stocks could replace the ASX tech boom in 2021
• Why the Webjet (ASX: WEB) share price is climbing higher
• Why the Xero (ASX:XRO) share price just hit a new record high

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

The post The Xero (ASX:XRO) share price is now up 96% in 2020 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Immuron Ltd (ASX: IMC) share price is surging today following a research agreement with Monash University for combating COVID-19. At the time of writing, the Immuron share price is up 10.42% to 26.5 cents.

Immuron is clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of a novel class of specifically targeted polyclonal antibodies. The company researches and develops hyperimmune products for markets in Australia, the United States and Canada.

Product sales comprise Travelan and Protectyn, which is used for the prevention of travellers’ diarrhoea.

What’s pushing the Immuron share price higher?

The Immuron share price has been a positive mover today compared to the broader All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) which is down 0.3% to 6.877 points.

According to today’s release, Immuron advised that its hyperimmune bovine colostrum, called ‘IMM-124E’ has shown antiviral activity against COVID-19 in a laboratory. The hyperimmune bovine colostrum is used currently in the company’s key products, Travelan and Protectyn.

To further support the promising results, Immuron has partnered with Monash University to undertake further research. The agreement will see Monash University examine and evaluate the efficacy of IMM-124E against the COVID-19 virus.

This follows the company’s previous efforts in engaging with domestic and international researchers to advance its work.

What is hyperimmune bovine colostrum?

Bovine colostrum is a milky fluid that comes from the udder of cows the first few days after giving birth.

This fluid contains proteins called antibodies that can fight bacteria and viruses that cause diseases. Antibody levels in bovine colostrum can be 100 times higher than levels in regular cow’s milk.

Researchers have created a special type of bovine colostrum called ‘hyperimmune bovine colostrum’. It’s produced by cows that have received vaccinations against specific disease-causing organisms and is high is specific kinds of antibodies.

Bovine colostrum is most commonly used to treat diarrhea and other infections.

What did the research team from Monash University say?

Microbiology Department deputy head, Professor Dena Lyras, said the university had been fortunate to obtain access to the SARS-CoV-2 recombinant proteins developed at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.

Dr Melanie Hutton went on to talk about the research team’s plan, saying:

These reagents will be used to initiate the research work and to develop a suitable assay for evaluating the inhibitory efficacy of IMM-124E.

Furthermore, specific immune components will be purified from IMM-124E and will be used to evaluate their ability to inhibit the binding of an antibody positive human serum sample to specific COVID-19 proteins, such as the spike protein which is crucial for cell entry.

Immuron share price summary

Investors are likely to have a mixed response to the Immuron share price. Although its shares have risen more than 85% in the past 12 months, short-term charts show the Immuron share price on a gradual decline.

The company’s shares did see a sharp spike in July reaching 95 cents, following a market update to IMM-124E. However, the share price quickly came crashing down as investors pocketed the profit.

More reading

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• Why the Botanix (ASX:BOT) share price is soaring up today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 hits a 6! Thank iron ore
• Hydrix (ASX:HYD) share price falling despite positive AGM update
• Vulcan (ASX:VUL) share price rises 20% and breaks new record. Here’s why.

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

The post Why the Immuron (ASX:IMC) share price is rocketing up 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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