You’re probably familiar with the old adage, ‘Share markets go up by the stairs and down by the elevator.’

The idea is that it can take years for share markets to gain 20%, while they can lose that much in a matter of weeks.

But there’s a reason I called it an ‘old’ adage. That’s because in recent years, share markets are as prone to take the elevator up as they are to ride it down.

Now that’s neither inherently good or bad. It’s simply a new reality we need to be comfortable with as investors.

There are a number of culprits driving this change of pace. I won’t list them all, but here are some of the larger factors: the rise of high-speed trading; the growth of leveraged derivatives markets; Robinhood investors chasing the latest ‘hot ASX tips’; global leaders directly involving themselves in the stock markets, talking share prices up or down (yes, we’re looking at you Donald Trump); global central banks becoming ever more proactive with quantitative easing (QE) and ever lower interest rates; and most recently, global governments pumping out trillions of borrowed dollars in fiscal stimulus to keep their economies afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

Of all the factors above, central banks’ easy money policies and governments’ herculean spending packages are the 2 biggest drivers pushing share markets into the elevator on the way up.

Remember late 2018?

Let’s look at the phenomenal influence of central bank actions first. And we’ll turn the clock back 2 years to the days when the only corona anything the world was familiar with was the beer.

The first 8 months of 2018 saw the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gain 3%. Not exactly shooting the lights out. But then that figure doesn’t include dividends.

Then the world’s most watched central bank, the US Federal Reserve, ushered in 2 more interest rate hikes. Those came atop the 2 the Fed had already passed earlier in 2018. This saw the official US interest rate rise to 2.5%. And it earned the wrath of Donald Trump.

Why?

Because Trump had pinned the strength of his presidency on the strength of the share markets. And with the Fed indicating it planned additional monetary tightening (less easy money) in 2019, share prices tanked in markets across the globe.

From 31 August through to 21 December 2018, the ASX 200 fell 14%. Investors with shares in the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF (ASX: A200) would also have lost 14%, as the exchange traded fund is designed to closely track the movements of the ASX 200 index.

US markets were even more battered. Tech shares had been performing strongly in the first 3 quarters. This saw the tech-heavy NASDAQ-100 (INDEXNASDAQ: NDX) gain 15% by 28 September.

Then the central bank-inspired selling began. And from 28 September through to 21 December, the Nasdaq 100 dropped 21%. Aussie investors holding shares in Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) would have seen the share price drop 17% over that same time.

So what happened in late December 2018?

US Fed Chair Jerome Powell reversed course, indicating there would likely be no further tightening in the immediate future. And indeed, the US Fed cut rates twice in 2019, along with providing additional QE. As did other central banks across the world, including the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The result?

The BetaShares Australia 200 ETF share price gained 30% from 21 December through to 21 February. And the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF share price gained 61% over that same time.

I’m sure you recall what happened in the weeks after 21 February.

Enter COVID-19

If you want a snapshot of share markets riding the elevator down, there’s no period like the month from 21 February through to 23 March that illustrates this better.

During this time, the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF share price lost 35%. And the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF share price lost 21%.

Historically, if share markets needed to laboriously climb back up the staircase, recouping those kinds of staggering losses could take years.

But this time, the world’s central banks, who moved quickly to slash interest rates to new record lows and dial up the QE, were joined by global governments, who unleashed trillions of dollars in fiscal stimulus. With both governments and central banks vowing to do whatever it takes to keep their economies afloat, investors began to take note.

And on 23 March, share markets pushed the up button on the proverbial elevator.

This saw the BetaShares Australia 200 ETF share price rocket 36% as of last Monday 19 October. Similarly, the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF gained 41% as of Wednesday 14 October.

Since then both ETFs (and the indexes they track) have fallen. Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF is down 4% from its recent peak last week, while BetaShares Australia 200 ETF is down 3%.

Could they have further to fall?

Of course.

Which brings us to the question…

What do you do when your ASX 200 shares are falling?

Now obviously that decision is up to you and your own personal circumstances.

You may want to run the old slide rule over your specific share holdings and weed out any you believe won’t hold up over time, or add some that look unfairly beaten down.

But with today’s share markets as likely to ride the elevator up as down, if you’re happy with the longer-term outlook of the shares in your portfolio, your best bet may be to do nothing at all.

More reading

• ASX 200 flat: Afterpay impresses, Coles beats expectations, & HUB24 in a trading halt
• The RBA says the recession could be over. What does it mean for your ASX shares?
• Is the A200 ETF (ASX:A200) the best ASX ETF?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• The ASX 200 sank almost 2% today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. 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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Today, our ASX stock of the day is Wiseway Group Ltd (ASX: WWG). The Wiseway share price was going ballistic this morning, up 30.56% to 24 cents a share. Wiseway shares closed at 18 cents a share yesterday, but opened at 20 cents a share this morning before rocketing up even higher. The share price has retreated back to 20 cents at the time of writing.

Today has seen a new 52-week high for the company (24 cents), although Wiseway has had a highly volatile year on the ASX so far. The Wiseway share price got as low as 3.2 cents a share back in August, meaning any investor who bought in at those lows is now looking at a 650% gain today. However, Wiseway shares were trading as high as 46 cents a share back in November 2018, so this company hasn’t exactly been a long-term winner so far.

But what does Wiseway do, and what is causing today’s dramatic movement in the Wiseway share price?

What does Wiseway do?

Wiseway describes itself as “one of the leading forward freight companies in Australia”, offering “extensive high-quality services for the whole Australia wide and globally”.

Wiseway services all aspects of international forwarding and logistics, including air freight, sea freight, customs clearance, transportation, warehousing, distribution, and logistics solutions.

The company prides itself on offering its services at “economical costs”. It does this by prudently outsourcing multiple facets of their business to keep expenses down, whilst still providing “all export and import related activities under one roof”.

Why is the Wiseway share price rocketing today?

Wiseway released a trading update for the quarter ending 30 September to the ASX this morning before market open. The company told investors that, during the quarter, revenues were up 53% to $31 million. This was up $10.7 million from the prior corresponding period. The $31 million in revenue for FY2021 so far compares favourably with the total revenue of $102.6 million that the company banked in the entirety of FY2020.

The company reported revenue across 8 segments: Air freight, sea freight, perishables, airtruck road transportation, Airnex cargo sales agent, imports and distribution, New Zealand, and China.

China shipments fuel growth

The vast majority of these segments saw massive growth across the quarter. Chief amongst these was perishables, which exploded 576% from the 2019 quarter’s revenue of $600,000 to the 2020 quarter’s $4.2 million. Wiseway’s largest segment, air freight, grew by 24% from $17.8 million in 2019’s quarter to $22.2 million in the 2020 quarter.

According to Wiseway CEO Roger Tong, the company’s surge resulted from “trade activity and transaction volumes from China, particularly via major e-commerce platforms”. He added:

As an essential service provider during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wiseway has continued to operate its import and export services between Australia, and Asia. Wiseway’s integrated service offering, through leveraging its relationships with key distribution partners, has enabled delivery of customers’ cargo in and out of Asia via a combination of alternative routes.

On the growth in Wiseway’s perishables division, Mr Tong said:

The standout was the stellar performance in our perishables business, of exporting fresh produce, live seafood, chilled seafood, chilled fresh milk and chilled meat… The market for imported fresh produce in China is seeing unprecedented growth in demand, for which Wiseway is perfectly positioned to deliver on.

Where to from here for Wiseway?

The company was quick to caution investors that the outlook for the rest of FY2021 was unpredictable, even though “demand for logistics services remains high”. Of course, the company says it remains very bullish on the future, noting that its importing services for general cargo and e-commerce, now fully set up, are gaining momentum… up 182% on the previous year’s quarter.

Overall, Wiseway’s performance shows the positive impact the pandemic has had on certain industries, in this case, logistics. It will be interesting to see where the company goes from here.

More reading

• Why I would buy and hold cheap shares today
• Amazon to hire 100,000 seasonal workers as demand is expected to soar
• Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price barnstorms back with 11% rise
• Why the IOUpay (ASX:IOU) share price jumped 14% this morning
• Why the Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) share price is soaring higher 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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The stock market crash means that there are a relatively large number of cheap shares available to buy today. Certainly, some stocks have recovered following the market’s downturn earlier this year. But weak investor sentiment towards a range of sectors means it is possible to build a diverse portfolio of undervalued companies.

With many bargain stocks being high-quality businesses, they could deliver impressive returns as the economy recovers. They may also produce high income returns that catalyse your portfolio over the coming years.

High quality businesses may be undervalued

Not all cheap shares are weak businesses. In many cases, high-quality companies are trading at prices that are significantly lower than their historic averages due to the uncertain economic outlook. This has caused investors to demand wide margins of safety even where a company has the financial means to return to strong growth over the long run.

While a challenging economic environment may impact negatively on the performances of many companies this year, over the long run those businesses with solid finances and wide economic moats have the potential to produce strong profit growth.

Buying cheap shares may be a means of accessing such companies while investor sentiment is weak. Over time, investor sentiment has the potential to improve, while their profitability may do likewise. This could have a positive impact on your portfolio’s performance in the long run.

An economic recovery is likely

Cheap shares could be among the stocks that benefit the most from an economic recovery. Their low prices may provide significant scope for a turnaround in the coming years.

While an economic recovery may seem unlikely at the present time, a similar feeling is often present during downturns and bear markets. However, the world economy has always returned to positive GDP growth even after its most difficult periods. As such, the same outcome is very likely to come into existence as current risks facing the global economic outlook gradually recede.

Furthermore, the scale of monetary policy stimulus that is being used in major economies could mean that asset prices move higher over the long run. This could lift the valuations of cheap shares and produce impressive returns for investors.

Income opportunities provided by cheap shares

Cheap shares may also have high dividend yields. While this may not seem to be relevant to some investors, such as those individuals who are seeking growth rather than income, a large proportion of the stock market’s historic total returns have been derived from the reinvestment of dividends.

Therefore, buying stocks with high yields could be a means of obtaining a higher total return in the long run. High-yielding shares may also become more popular due to continued low interest rates that push their prices higher in the long run. This could boost your portfolio’s performance and improve your financial situation.

More reading

• Amazon to hire 100,000 seasonal workers as demand is expected to soar
• Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price barnstorms back with 11% rise
• Why the IOUpay (ASX:IOU) share price jumped 14% this morning
• Why the Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) share price is soaring higher today
• ASX 200 flat: Afterpay impresses, Coles beats expectations, & HUB24 in a trading halt

Motley Fool contributor Peter Stephens has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

With the coronavirus pandemic creating a swell in online shopping demand, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) continues to add employees as it anticipates another demand surge for the holidays. Early in the pandemic, the company added 100,000 new full- and part-time workers. 

The company says it has promoted more than 35,000 operations workers across North America this year, and now will add another 100,000 seasonal workers in anticipation of the holiday crunch.

Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, Alicia Boler Davis, said in a statement that many of the 35,000 newly promoted workers joined the company through seasonal hirings, similar to the one announced today. 

The company said the new jobs would focus on “stowing, picking, packing, shipping, and delivering customer orders”, but will also include a variety of other positions needed for IT, human resources, safety, and operating robotics. Amazon pays its workers a minimum of $15 per hour, and said many of the new job locations included holiday bonus incentives. 

Last month, Amazon said it was adding another round of 100,000 full- and part- time positions in the US and Canada as it opened new warehouse facilities, bringing its total global workforce to approximately 1 million. 

The boost in online shopping has been reflected in Amazon’s financial results. For its second quarter ended 30 June 2020, net sales grew to $89 billion, up 40% compared to the prior year period. When the company reports third-quarter results tomorrow, it said it expected sales to be up between 24% and 33% compared to 2019. Any boost from the company’s Prime Day sales event that occurred this month won’t be seen in its financial reports until fourth-quarter results are announced. 

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

More reading

• A look into Mike Cannon-Brookes’ share portfolio
• 3 FAANG stocks to buy right now
• Why is everyone talking about Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock?
• 3 reasons you should buy Amazon stock before there’s a coronavirus vaccine
• Amazon Earnings: What to Watch on Thursday, Oct. 29

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Howard Smith owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Amazon 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. 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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) share price has come storming back today after seeing falls of 14.2% over the previous 4 days’ trading. The company had been part of a recent sell off across e-commerce retailers more broadly. Other online shopping companies such as Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN), Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL), and Marley Spoon AG (ASX: MMM) had also seen market losses. However, at the time of writing, the Temple & Webster share price has surged by 11.51% to $10.95. 

What was troubling the Temple & Webster share price?

On Friday 23 October, fund managers decried the market valuations of many of the online shopping and delivery companies. Chris Tynan, an investment analyst at DNR Capital commented:

The mania over e-commerce feels similar to infant formula and vitamins in 2015… Consumer behaviour has been squeezed online and some of it will stick. If you were ever able to float an internet consumer business then it’s now.

Without commenting on individual stocks, there will be some great businesses that emerge from the hysteria, but many will struggle in a normalised consumer environment.

As noted, consumers have been squeezed into the online trading space and may not stay there once the economy normalises. However, investors have been piling back into Temple & Webster shares and other e-commerce shares today. 

Reasons for optimism

Temple & Webster made more profit in Q1FY21, due to a furniture and homewares boom, than it did throughout FY20. The company achieved $8.6 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), compared with $8.5 million in FY20. In addition, sales were up by 138%. In October thus far, the company reported that sales have more than doubled when compared with last year’s figure. 

RBC Capital Markets analyst, Tim Piper, has said.

As the market leader in online-based furniture and homewares in Australia, TPW has benefited from the accelerating shift to online and we expect the step-up in penetration to remain in a sizeable proportion.

We think TPW can also continue to grow market share, which should compound the growth expected in the underlying market.

Foolish takeaway

The Temple & Webster share price has continued to see volatility. There are clearly conflicting views over valuations in the e-commerce space more broadly, which has likely contributed to this volatility. In addition, the AFR believes fund managers have also been taking profits.

However, the company is still reporting total sales performance as rocketing, even with national lockdowns largely over. Although this bodes well for the Temple & Webster share price, it remains to be seen if it will endure when the economy normalises.

More reading

• 3 explosive ASX growth shares to buy with $3,000
• Is it bad news that the Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) share price lost 26% over a week?
• How did ASX retail shares perform in the latest quarter?
• Why Adore Beauty, Adairs, Marley Spoon, & Resolute shares are dropping lower
• Is Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX:TPW) still a buy?

Daryl Mather has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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. 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 IOUpay Ltd (ASX: IOU) share price has spiked 13.64% this morning following the company’s announcement of a corporate update and investor presentation. At the time of writing, the IOU share price is trading at 25 cents after closing yesterday’s session at 22 cents.

What does IOUpay do? 

IOUpay provides fintech and digital commerce software and services in South East Asia (SEA) to enable its institutional customers to securely authenticate end-user customers and process banking, purchase and payment transactions. 

The company’s core technology platform enables large customer communities to extend their information technology applications to any mobile device and integrate mobile technology throughout their existing business. This includes various features such as: 

• Secure communication to existing customers 
• Credit scoring 
• Customer onboarding 
• Bill payments 
• Processing purchases and payments 
• Account debiting 

The company currently services the top 20 banks in Malaysia as well as large telcos and corporates in Malaysia and Indonesia. Its clients choose IOUpay as the integration is seamless, low cost and secure. The platform has capability to e-KYC (electronic know your customer), credit score and approve in advance or at the point of sale.

IOUpay is a small cap company with a market capitalisation of just $80 million and a current cash at bank balance of $2.7 million as at 23 October 2020. 

Investment highlights 

The IOU share price is on the rise today after the company reported multiple operational highlights in its update. These included: 

• IOUpay has become one of the largest mobile banking and payment services providers in Malaysia, currently processing more than 17 million transactions per month. 
• Its top tier customers include Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Standard Chartered PLC (LSE: STAN), Heineken, Mazda and major telecom providers in Malaysia. 
• The company has several new product initiatives to drive growth including digital payments, merchant growth services and a buy now, pay later (BNPL) product. 

IOUpay’s growth strategy

The company is positioning its platform to be a fully integrated financial services provider for big brand merchants and their customers in Malaysia and Indonesia. 

On the mobile banking front, the company aims to grow payment processing and secure banking transactions for consumers through partnership expansions targeting SEA. It also plans to leverage the tailwinds in digital cash through partnerships with the largest e-wall, e-money and digital banking operators. 

Digital payments is also a significant space that IOUpay aims to capitalise on. The company intends on offering a BNPL product as well as expanding existing product offerings to a broad SEA market. 

The investor presentation provided a roadmap for commercial activity and platform launches. This includes expanding its digital payment projects in Indonesia in Q4 2020, cross-market Malaysian BNPL and bill payment customer bases in Q1FY21 and a rewards program in Q2FY21. 

Overall, the company is in its early days but believes that SEA represents a huge market opportunity with significant growth potential in digital payments. 

More reading

• Douugh and Ioupay were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week
• Are speculators driving today’s 44% Ioupay (ASX:IOU) share price gains?

Lina Lim has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Standard Chartered. 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 Smart Parking Ltd (ASX: SPZ) share price has soared higher today following the release of its Q1 trading update.

In late-morning trade, shares in the parking technology company have risen 9% to 12 cents. This compares to the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) which is up 0.1% to 6,252 points.

Business update

For the period ending 30 September, Smart Parking recorded a strong growth despite COVID-19 severely impacting the business in Q1.

Car volumes continued to recover, jumping 152%, and parking breach notices (PBN) issuances surged 388% since coronavirus lows in April. The result led Smart Parking to record a positive operating cash flow of $0.6 million.

The UK sales team restructure delivered 56 new site installations, meeting business performance expectations. KFC UK & Ireland installations have started with 15 sites outfitted, and 2 in New Zealand.

Smart Parking advised of technology project delays across all territories due to COVID-19. Gatwick Airport in the UK has been sent equipment, but installation has been deferred until H2 FY21. A recent Queen Victoria Market contract in Victoria will look to fit out guidance systems across 500 parking bays in the next quarter.

Total order book and work in progress remains firm at $3.2 million. The company noted an annualised personal savings of $1.2 million from a reduction in head count.

Smart Parking closed the quarter with a cash balance of $9.3 million, including a draw down loan of $2.7 million.

Outlook

As Q2 is under way, the company is seeking further growth opportunities while the market recovers to pre-COVID levels.

In the pipeline is 40 new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) installations for the current quarter. Smart Parking is focused on achieving 1,000 ANPR installations by June 2023.

Internet of things (IoT) product launches are progressing, as the company seeks new customers, pushing for greater revenue prospects.

About the Smart Parking share price

The Smart Parking share price has failed to climb back since COVID-19 hit the market. Shares in the tech company reached a low of 7 cents in March, after trading around 24 cents the month before.

With a market capitalisation of $43 million, investors will be watching to see if Smart Parking can regain its former glory.

More reading

• Why the IOUpay (ASX:IOU) share price jumped 14% this morning
• ASX 200 flat: Afterpay impresses, Coles beats expectations, & HUB24 in a trading halt
• Why the Emerge Gaming Ltd (ASX:EM1) share price jumped 12% today
• Cloud computing and gaming boost Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings results
• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Mach7, National Storage, & Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are dropping lower

Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Smart Parking 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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At lunch on Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fought back from early weakness and fighting to get into positive territory. The benchmark index is currently roughly flat at 6,048.1 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Afterpay impresses.

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is surging higher today after the release of its first quarter update. The payments company’s update revealed that its strong growth has continued in FY 2021. For the three months ended 30 September, Afterpay reported a 115% increase in underlying sales to a record of $4.1 billion. This was driven by increased usage and further strong customer growth. Afterpay ended the period with 11.2 million active customers. This was a 98% increase on the prior corresponding period.

Coles beats expectations.

The Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) share price is pushing higher today after the release of a stronger than expected first quarter update. For the three months ended 30 September, Coles delivered a 10.5% increase in total sales revenue over the prior corresponding period to $9.6 billion. As a comparison, analysts at Goldman Sachs were forecasting total first quarter sales of $9,365 million, up 7.7% on the prior corresponding period. All three of Coles’ segments performed positively and delivered strong same store sales growth.

HUB24 equity raising.

The HUB24 Ltd (ASX: HUB) share price is in a trading halt today after launching an equity raising this morning. The investment platform provider is aiming to raise $60 million to fund three strategic transactions. This includes the acquisition of investment platform provider Xplore Wealth Ltd (ASX: XPL). The total investment for the transactions is approximately $93 million, with HUB24 expecting them to deliver approximately 13% earnings per share accretion in FY 2022.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers.

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) share price with a 10% gain. This morning Credit Suisse upgraded its shares to a neutral rating from underperform following its AGM update. The worst performer has been the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDI (ASX: URW) share price with a 4% decline. This morning the shopping centre operator revealed that leading independent proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, has recommended that shareholders vote in favour of its 3.5 billion euros capital increase.

More reading

• Why Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Mach7, National Storage, & Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield are dropping lower
• Why Resmed, Coles, Afterpay and one other have made early share price gains
• Why the HUB24 (ASX:HUB) share price is in a trading halt
• Coles (ASX:COL) share price on watch after beating Q1 expectations
• How ASX shares like Afterpay (ASX:APT) push for explosive growth

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 Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Blackmores Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and COLESGROUP DEF SET. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 Ltd. 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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Small cap ASX shares in the e-sports sector have made significant progress in the development of respective e-sports media, software and tournament products. This has seen the likes of Emerge Gaming Ltd (ASX: EM1) and Esports Mogul Ltd (ASX: ESH) deliver triple digit returns in recent months.

Today, the company announced a significant milestone for pre-registrations for its MIGGSTER platform. The Emerge Gaming share price rocketed up 12.5% to 16 cents in early trade and has since retreated to 12 cents, up 4.17% at the time of writing.

A new mobile gaming platform

MIGGSTER Mobile is a mobile casual e-sports platform that uses Emerge’s proprietary e-sports tournament platform technology. The platform will offer avid mobile gamers the opportunity to turn hours of entertaining mobile gaming into prizes and rewards. All while competing against the community and sharing their success with gaming friends. 

The revenue proposition for MIGGSTER Mobile is that it will be offered as a subscription service,with users paying US$8.50 per month. From a consumer perspective, subscribers can enter into tournaments involving their favourite mobile social games, using their leisure time to earn rewards, win prizes and participate in a minimum aggregate prize pool of US$500,000. 

The planned launch will invite subscribers to sign up to the MIGGSTER Mobile platform on tiered subscription packages. These include bi-annual packages of US$51.00 and discounted annual packages. 

Why the Emerge Gaming share price is up today

The company recorded 3 million user pre-registrations on 19 October 2020. Today, the company added a further 3 million user pre-registrations. The strong user interest and continuing strong momentum is likely to be the catalyst for the Emerge Gaming share price jump today.

MIGGSTER is currently promoted to a network of more than 14 million affiliate members across 150 countries. Its promotion is creating much needed awareness and interest for a highly anticipated MIGGSTER Mobile product launch in November 2020. 

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Motley Fool contributor Lina Lim 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.

The post Why the Emerge Gaming Ltd (ASX:EM1) share price jumped 12% today appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported the results of its fiscal first quarter (ended Sept. 30), which trounced expectations on the strength of the company’s cloud services and continuing swell in gaming activity. Revenue of $37.2 billion grew 12% year over year, easily surpassing analysts’ consensus estimates of $35.72 billion, while also surpassing the high end of management’s forecast, which topped out at $36.05 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) of $1.82 increased 32%, eclipsing the $1.54 expected by analysts.

Management cited strong demand for Microsoft’s cloud computing services, with CFO Amy Hood noting, “We continue to invest against the significant opportunity ahead of us to drive long-term growth.”

Azure Cloud continued to grow like gangbusters, up 48% year over year, ticking up slightly from 47% growth in Q4. This pushed the intelligent cloud segment higher, up 20% year over year. Within the segment, commercial cloud produced revenue of $15.2 billion, up 31% year over year, achieving a run rate of more than $60 billion, while generating gross margins of 71%.

The more personal computing segment got a boost, climbing 6%. Gaming continued its outsized growth, growing 22% year over year, providing fuel for the segment. Xbox content and services increased 30%, driven higher by strong third-party titles and subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass, as well as demand from Microsoft’s own titles. Surface also held up its end, with revenue that increased 37%.

The productivity and business processes segment did its part with strength across its portfolio, up 11% year over year, as Office commercial products grew 9% driven by Office 365 commercial, which jumped 21%.

Microsoft could get another boost from gaming in the current quarter, as the company is releasing the next generation Xbox console next month, just in time for the holidays. In September, Microsoft revealed that for those not able to spend $499 on a new device, the company would begin offering consoles included in a monthly subscription.

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

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Danny Vena owns shares of Microsoft. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft 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 Microsoft and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft and short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft. 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.

The post Cloud computing and gaming boost Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) earnings results appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

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

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