Jun.01 — Lindsey Ford, fellow at The Brookings Institute, discusses the rising tensions between the U.S. and China, Hong Kong’s special trading status with the U.S. and the probability of sanctions against China. She speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.”
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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) is extending its bull run today as investors continue to pile back into equities best placed in the post-coronavirus economic recovery.
While value buys are getting increasingly hard to find after the near 30% bounce in the market since the low point of the COVID-19 bear market, there’s still a good handful of ASX shares that have room to run higher.
Here are the three latest buy-ideas from top brokers.
The first is Freedom Foods Group Ltd (ASX: FNP) with Goldman Sachs reiterating its “buy” recommendation on the stock, which also happens to be on its “conviction” list.
This is despite the group’s latest warning that its second half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would take a big hit.
A number of one-off blows from the COVID-19 pandemic is behind the bad news, including the shutdown of its OOH and Foodservice channels, a $4 million bad debt provisioning and a $5 million restructuring charge.
“We are confident the broader strategy anchored around nutritional dairy and plant based beverages remains on track,” said the broker.
“We don’t see FNP needing to raise capital in the short term despite elevated leverage…[and] expect earnings to grow significantly in FY21.”
Goldman’s price target on the stock is $5.75 a share, or a 64% upside to the current share price.
The dramatic rebound in the oil price may have put a rocket under the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price recently, but Credit Suisse thinks there’s more room to zoom.
The commodity bounced from a negative US$30+ a barrel to around US$35 a barrel, and the recovery bodes well for Santos’ two growth projects Dorado and Barossa.
Credit Suisse believes the breakeven for Dorado is as low around circa US$30 a barrel and that Santos will give the final green light to start on the Barossa project.
“We see STO in the wake of COVID-19 sell-off as potentially more leveraged to an oil recovery over the coming 18 months vs peers,” said the broker.
“Most of STO’s growth should readily return as the market recovers, and STO has leverage to long-term oil price assumptions should they return to pre-COVID-19 levels.”
Credit Suisse rates the stock as “outperform” with price target of $6.61 a share.
Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded its earnings forecasts for auto parts group Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) and reiterated its “overweight” recommendation on the stock.
“During lockdown we estimate industry sales were down >25% yoy in Australia and more like 85% in NZ,” said the broker.
“Our numbers previously baked in longer duration closures and a more measured ramp up. We now essentially see that pulled forward resulting in a 32% upgrade to FY21e EPS and 10% in FY22e.”
The broker lifted its price target on Bapcor to $7.20 from $6 a share, which suggests a 23% upside for the stock.
5 “Bounce Back” Stocks To Tame The Bear Market (FREE REPORT)
Master investor Scott Phillips has sifted through the wreckage and identified the 5 stocks he thinks could bounce back the hardest once the coronavirus is contained.
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But you will have to hurry — history has shown the market could bounce significantly higher before the virus is contained, meaning the cheap prices on offer today might not last for long.
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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Freedom Foods Group Limited. 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 Top brokers are urging you to buy these ASX shares today appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
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For the richest Australians, getting rich is only half the journey to achieving long-term wealth. The other half is maintaining and building their riches.
Australia has seen many billionaires over its history. But it’s those Australians able to keep and grow their fortunes who wind up having the biggest impact on our economy and cementing a lasting legacy.
The secrets of the rich are often hidden from us ‘ordinary people’.
But according to reporting in last week’s Australian Financial Review (AFR), it’s really not rocket science as to how the richest Australians have managed to not only keep their wealth, but increase it significantly over the past decade. In fact, the AFR reports that Australia’s top 20 richest people have collectively grown their wealth by almost 30% over the past year.
As reported in the AFR, mining baron Gina Rinehart regained the title of Australia’s richest person. Ms Rinehart clocked in with a fortune estimated at $21.2 billion, up a staggering 53% over the past 12 months. High iron ore prices have been exceedingly kind to Ms Rinehart, pushing her to the No. 1 spot for the first time since 2015.
But the second and third places went to 2 Australians who decided not to call Australia home. Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are the co-founders of Atlassian Corporation PLC (NASDAQ: TEAM). Atlassian is a United States-listed company that develops software solutions for business. The company’s shares have exploded in recent months, propelling the fortunes of Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar to more than $18 billion each.
Hui Wing Mau, a Hong Kong-based property developer took out the fourth spot with a fortune of $17.8 billion.
Gina Rinehart’s fellow iron ore enthusiast Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest of Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) also chalked up a top year, achieving the fifth spot. His fortune is now estimated at $17.6 billion, an eye-watering 120.6% higher than this time last year.
There’s not much point dissecting the list of richest Australians out of envy. Rather, consider the list with a view to the lessons we can draw. That is, what can we learn about how the rich get and stay wealthy? And how do we apply this to our own wealth creation?
Here is a common theme that has emerged. Two of Australia’s biggest wealth creation hotspots over the past year have been in mining and tech. Our country’s iron ore is cheap and abundant. I believe those companies that can harness it will continue to benefit from emerging markets like China and India. I also feel that to dismiss mining and ASX resources shares as ‘old fashioned’ is to do so at your own peril.
Turning to tech, we can see how just one Aussie tech company can build the fortunes of our second and third richest people whilst helping put Australia on the world stage. Atlassian isn’t even a large tech company by American standards, with its market capitalisation of US$45.48 billion. Nonetheless, it has succeeded in creating serious wealth for its founders and other share holders. If one Aussie company can achieve this, hopefully many others can follow in its footsteps!
In my view, considering how and where the rich are making their money can be a very useful guide for your own investing. So don’t envy these rich Australians, instead take inspiration from them. Then perhaps one day you’ll join them!
For some shares you might find inspiration in today, make sure you don’t miss the free report below!
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Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Atlassian. 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 European Cobalt Ltd (ASX: EUC) share price rocketed out a trading halt this morning in response to a potential acquisition. After flying by as much as 75% in morning trade, European Cobalt shares are sitting 45% higher at the time of writing at 2.9 cents per share.
It’s important to note that European Cobalt is very much at the smaller end of the ASX with a current market capitalisation of $22 million. The company is an ASX resources share that, as its name suggests, focuses on cobalt opportunities in Europe.
Its current projects include the Dobsina (Co-Ni-Cu) and Kolba (Co-Cu-Ni) mines in Slovakia, and the Jouhineva (Co-Cu-Au-Ag) mine in Finland.
This morning, European Cobalt announced it has secured an exclusive option to acquire the Edleston Gold Project in Ontario, Canada.
The project covers an area of 64.33 square kilometres and is located within the Cadillac-Larder Lake fault zone which has produced around 75 million ounces of gold.
More than CDN$10 million has been spent to date on geophysics and drilling across the Edleston Project by 55 North Mining Inc.
As a result, extensive mineralisation has already been established at the site, with 156 diamond drill holes over 46,000 metres of drilling completed.
High-grade intercepts from this previous drilling include 5.3 metres at 81.39 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 110 metres and 3.3 metres at 57.4 g/t gold from 207.4 metres.
European Cobalt managing director Rob Jewson believes the project is an advanced exploration opportunity, commenting:
“The work done to date has outlined a significant mineralised system which can be effectively targeted using IP geophysics. To date, only 540m of strike has been tested along a corridor with multiple moderate to strong IP conductors delineated along a total strike exceeding 3,300m.”
Non-executive technical director Dale Ginn has prior involvement in the discovery of Edleston and said:
“The mapping and aeromagnetic interpretation we completed previously on the Project has shown that there is up to 10km of strike prospective lithologies which are yet to be tested in addition to the priority IP targets already defined.”
European Cobalt signed an agreement with vendor 55 North Mining for a 30-day exclusive option period for a non-refundable option fee of CDN$100,000.
If European Cobalt decides to exercise the option, it will acquire 100% of the Edleston Project by providing consideration of CDN$650,000 cash and 100 million shares.
The proposed transaction remains subject to technical and legal due diligence to be undertaken by European Cobalt.
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One stock is an Australian internet darling with a rock solid reputation and an exciting new business line that promises years (or even decades) of growth… while trading at an ultra-low price…
Another is a diversified conglomerate trading over 40% off its high, all while offering a fully franked dividend yield over 3%…
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Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh 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 European Cobalt share price flies 75% higher after securing option to acquire Canadian gold project appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
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As I mentioned here at the weekend, the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) economic team is not ruling out negative interest rates in Australia.
While I’m not certain we will see rates fall into negative territory, I’m positive they will stay at ultra low levels for a long time to come.
In light of this, if you have $10,000 sitting in savings accounts, I would suggest you consider looking for superior returns in the share market.
But where should you invest it? Here are three top shares that I would buy with these funds:
I think the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF could be a good option for a $10,000 investment. It provides Australian investors with exposure to Wall Street’s famous NASDAQ 100 index. This index comprises the 100 largest non-financial shares on the NASDAQ and includes household names such as Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft. I believe the majority of the companies on this index have the potential to grow at a quicker rate than the global economy. As a result, I expect the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF to provide investors with strong returns for many years to come.
Another top option for a $10,000 investment could be Nearmap. It is a leading aerial imagery technology and location data company. Last week the company released a market update which revealed that its annualised contract value (ACV) had hit $102 million financial year to date. This means the company is on course to achieve its FY 2020 ACV guidance of $103 million to $107 million. While this is a large number, it is nothing compared to the market opportunity it has in the countries it operates in. This is estimated to be worth $2.9 billion per year. Given the quality of its technology, I believe it is well-placed to capture a big slice of this market.
A final option to consider investing $10,000 into is NEXTDC. It is a leading Data Centre-as-a-Service provider with operations in key locations across Australia. I believe it is well-placed for strong long term earnings growth thanks to the seismic shift to the cloud. Especially given its recent $672 million equity raising which will strengthen its balance sheet and fund its strategic expansion plans.
And if you have some funds leftover, these five recommendations below look like potential market beaters…
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One stock is an Australian internet darling with a rock solid reputation and an exciting new business line that promises years (or even decades) of growth… while trading at an ultra-low price…
Another is a diversified conglomerate trading over 40% off its high, all while offering a fully franked dividend yield over 3%…
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of NEXTDC Limited and Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS and Nearmap 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 ASX is home to a small but vibrant and growing biotechnology sector. There are a number of providers that are making significant inroads on a global scale.
Here we examine 3 ASX biotech shares that have all seen strong share price rises today.
The Zoono share price is up by a whopping 17% so far today. This strong rise is on the back of a solid rally in its share price last week.
From the beginning of last week, it has risen from $1.875 to its current price of $2.39. That’s an impressive gain of 27%.
Zoono produces antibacterial skin and surface sanitisers. It has seen strong demand for its products since January. Its sanitisers haven been tested on the coronavirus and have achieved a 99.9% efficacy.
In a recent update, Zoono revealed invoiced sales of over NZ$11.0 million (unaudited) for the month of April.
The company has recently signed new distribution agreements in the UK and Europe. Zoono also reported strong sales in India and China, and has a new distributer in Hong Kong.
Paradigm focuses on the treatment of osteoarthritis. This is the most common joint disorder in the United States (US).
The ASX biotech share has risen by a significant 7% today (at the time of writing). This is on the back of strong share price rally since late April.
Paradigm’s primary activity involves repurposing the drug pentosan polysylphate sodium (PPS) in injectable form through a drug called Zilosul. Zilosul has been registered in 4 of the 7 global pharmaceutical markets.
Paradigm has been conducting a trial into the use of Zilosul through the FDA’s expanded access program. Trials so far have reduced chronic pain by around 45%, which is very promising.
In early April, Paradigm conducted a $35 million institutional placement. It has reported it is in a strong cash position following this capital raise. The biotech company believes that this will fully fund its current work until the completion of its trials.
Opthea is a biotechnology company that develops new drugs for the treatment of eye diseases. Its share price is up by 11% today, which follows a strong rally in its share price since mid-March.
Opthea conducted a trial of its core drug OPT-302 last year. These trials indicated that it was capable of delivering significant vision improvement to patients. The company reported that the trials indicated the successful halting of the progression of the disease.
Opthea currently has a very strong balance sheet and it looks to be well-funded to carry it through its trials.
For more shares set to soar this year, don’t miss the free report below.
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Motley Fool contributor Phil Harpur 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 3 ASX biotech shares that have soared higher today appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
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With so many shares to choose from on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), it can be hard to decide which ones to buy.
The good news is that brokers across the country are doing a lot of the hard work for you.
Three top shares that leading brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:
According to a note out of UBS, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $32.00 price target on this artificial intelligence company’s shares. The broker was pleased with Appen’s latest update and feels there is upside risk to its earnings guidance for FY 2020. It was also pleased with management’s commentary around its near term prospects. I agree with UBS and feel Appen would be a great buy and hold option for investors.
Analysts at Citi have retained their buy rating and lifted the price target on this shipbuilder’s shares to $4.05. The broker made the move after Austal upgraded its FY 2020 guidance. In addition to this, Citi believes that its guidance could still be conservative. Outside this, the broker likes Austal due to its opportunities in autonomous vehicles and also in the Philippines. I think Citi makes some good points and it could be worth considering.
A note out of the Macquarie equities desk reveals that its analysts have retained their outperform rating and lifted the price target on this retailer’s shares to $9.00. The broker’s research indicates that the company’s Rebel and Supercheap Auto businesses may be performing well during the pandemic. While Super Retail Group isn’t my top pick in the retail sector right now, I think its shares could be worth a closer look at this level.
And here are more top shares which analysts have just given buy ratings to. All five recommendations below look dirt cheap after the crash…
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One stock is an Australian internet darling with a rock solid reputation and an exciting new business line that promises years (or even decades) of growth… while trading at an ultra-low price…
Another is a diversified conglomerate trading over 40% off its high, all while offering a fully franked dividend yield over 3%…
Plus 3 more cheap bets that could position you to profit over the next 12 months!
See for yourself now. Simply click here or the link below to scoop up your FREE copy and discover all 5 shares. But you will want to hurry – this free report is available for a brief time only.
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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 Austal Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Appen 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.
The post Leading brokers name 3 ASX 200 shares to buy right now appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.
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Our market staged a dramatic turnaround after losing ground in early trade, but two ASX stocks are in focus after leading brokers upgraded their recommendations on the these S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) names.
Stocks getting upgraded to “buy” are worth watching in a market that is getting devoid of attractively priced opportunities.
But the rebound in the market from the early sell-off shows that investors are keen to put capital back to work.
If you are in the same boat, Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) may be worth putting on your watchlist, according to Morgans.
The broker upgraded the citrus and mushroom grower to “add” from “hold” after management’s trading update at its annual general meeting.
Despite the global impact from the COVID-19 fallout, Morgans reckons Costa provided a “solid” update.
Its international business is performing more strongly than expected, there’s good demand and pricing across most of its produce categories, it’s completed its Monarto mushroom expansion project and there’s a big improvement to water security at its farms.
“With CGC’s International seasons now largely completed and the group’s overall EBITDASL materially weighted to the 1H (~70-80% skew), our focus is shifting to CGC’s prospects in FY21,” said the broker.
“Following recent widespread rainfall, the BOM’s favourable near-term outlook and general improvement in domestic produce prices/demand, CGC should enter FY21 in a much stronger position.”
Morgans lifted its price target on the stock to $3.60 from $3.05 a share.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse upgraded its call on Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) to “outperform” from “neutral” today as the stock went into a trading halt to announce a $1.4 billion cap raise.
The broker lifted its recommendation as it believes the bad news is largely in the price of the shopping centre owner’s stock and played down the need for management to do a dilutive capital raise.
Oops! Talk about bad timing!
However, the placement and share purchase plan (SPP) may not change Credit Suisse’s bullish turn on the stock as stores in malls are slowly but surely reopening.
“We note some of its peers have since reported ~80% of stores are now open as at the end of May. Smallto-medium enterprises (SME’s) represent an estimated 20-25% of income,” said the broker.
“As has been reported in the press, some larger tenants apparently have withheld rent—but we are not aware of any legal justification for doing so.”
Credit Suisse’s price target on Vicinity is $1.93 a share, but that’s likely to change once the broker factors in the cap raise.
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Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended COSTA GRP FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.
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