ASX 200 insider buys are often a source of bullishness in a company’s stock price. Many investors consider a director or executive buying interests in the company they head to be confident in the future of its operations.

Shares of automotive retailer Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE) have edged higher on Wednesday and opened the day more than 1% in the green. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 share is swapping hands at $10.44 apiece.

While there is no market-sensitive news for the company today, filings from Tuesday reveal that one ASX 200 insider has bought up shares in the auto retailer for the first time in eight years.

The buys could be a welcome relief, too. Eagers’ stock price has clipped more than 28% in the red this year to date, with a 15% drop in the last month alone.

ASX 200 insider buy details

Eagers revealed in mandatory filings on Tuesday that director Marcus Birrell bought 200,000 shares for $2.1 million consideration.

The purchases were made through 11 separate on-market transactions via Birrell’s investment vehicle, Birrell Investments Ltd, and were all executed on Monday this week. These latest ASX 200 insider buys increase Birrell’s shareholding to 2.2 million ordinary shares in the company.

Notably, Birrell’s last acquisition was in July 2016, shortly after Eagers completed its purchase of Birrell Motors earlier that year.

Eagers shares nudged higher on Tuesday, finishing 2% higher, with the buying strength continuing into the Wednesday morning session.

Other insider moves and market updates

This ASX 200 insider buy follows a trend among Eagers’ directors. Billionaire Nick Politis is a large shareholder via his entities WFM Motors Pty Ltd and NGP Investments. He has also recently increased his stake, The Australian reports.

Since 22 May, Politis has added 420,000 shares, investing a total of $4.5 million. This brings his position in the company to 72.9 million shares.

Perhaps spurring the ASX 200 insider buys is the recent performance of Eagers’ stock price.

In May, the company warned that it expected a sharp reduction in earnings this year. Management projected the company would produce earnings “approximately 85% of the underlying profit before tax for the first half of 2023”. In other words, a 15% year-over-year decline was expected for H1 FY 2024.

Still, many experts are focusing on the company’s fundamentals rather than the short-term movements in its stock price. Perhaps the latest ASX 200 insider buys reflect this sentiment, too.

Bell Potter rates Eagers a buy with a price target of $13.35 per share, which represents a 29% upside potential at the time of writing.

The broker anticipates dividends of 64.5 cents per share in FY 2024 and 73 cents per share in FY 2025 (both fully franked). These forecasts imply forward dividend yields of 6.1% and 7%, respectively.

Could ASX 200 insider buys instil confidence?

The recent ASX 200 insider buys in Eager Automotive stock could be interesting developments for the company’s share price.

Investors were optimistic about the share on Wednesday despite the lack of other market-sensitive news for the company.

In the last 12 months of trade, the Eagers share price has slipped more than 20% in the red and underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by nearly 26%.

The post This ASX 200 insider is buying up company shares for the first time in 8 years! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Eagers Automotive Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

These four ASX All Ords shares could help the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) achieve a strong year of returns.

That’s according to Barrenjoey and Citi.

The brokers raised their outlook for the four companies, with the price target for one stock 98% above today’s levels.

Which companies are we looking at?

Read on!

(Broker data courtesy of The Australian.)

Four ASX All Ords shares with improved forecasts

The first ASX All Ords share earning a broker upgrade is Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR).

Shares in the diversified property group are up 2.1% today, trading for $1.91 apiece. Despite that lift, the Mirvac share price remains down 7% in 2024. Mirvac shares trade on an unfranked trailing dividend yield of 5.1%.

And Barrenjoey foresees a significant upswing ahead for the company. The broker raised Mirvac stock to an overweight rating with a $2.10 price target. That’s 10% above current levels.

The second ASX All Ords share with an improved broker outlook is property investor, developer and manager Dexus (ASX: DXS).

The Dexus share price is up 1.1% at the time of writing at $6.52 a share. Shares remain down 14% in 2024. Dexus shares trade on a partly franked trailing dividend yield of 7.7%.

Barrenjoey has a bullish outlook for the company. The broker raised Dexus to a neutral rating with a $7.50 price target. That’s more than 15% above current levels.

Which brings us to the third ASX All Ords share getting a broker upgrade, Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU), the largest global producer of zircon.

Shares in the critical minerals miner are up 0.3% today at $6.39. Shares remain down 4% in 2024. Iluka Resources shares trade on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 1.1%.

Citi foresees strong share price growth from here. The broker raised Iluka to a buy rating with a $7.80 price target. That’s 22% above current levels.

Rounding off the list of ASX All Ords shares earning a broker upgrade is resource explorer FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX: FFM)

The FireFly share price is, well, flying higher today. Shares are up 16.1% at the time of writing, trading for 81 cents apiece. That sees the FireFly share price up 26% in 2024.

Investors enthusiasm has been stoked by this morning’s announcement that FireFly has hit “more outstanding wide high-grade copper-gold intersections” from its drilling campaign at the Green Bay Copper-Gold Project, located in Canada.

Even after today’s big boost, Barrenjoey thinks the stock can run a lot further from here. The broker started FireFly Metals at an overweight rating with a $1.60 target price. That’s some 98% above current levels.

The post These four ASX All Ords shares just earned hefty broker upgrades. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares have rallied over the past year, rising by 23.39%, compared to a rise of just 6.54% for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Hence, investors may be wondering if FY25 could be another good year for the company.

ANZ’s financial year doesn’t follow the same calendar as most other companies or individuals. It finishes in September, so the outlook commentary can apply to the end of FY24 as well as FY25.

Three years ago, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)’s cash rate was close to 0% and now it’s 4.35%. This could have an important influence on the upcoming period.

HY24 result revealed rising cost-of-living challenges

ANZ recently reported its FY24 first-half result. It revealed it made $3.55 billion of cash net profit (down 1% compared to the FY23 second half), and it generated $3.4 billion of statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) (down 4% compared to the FY23 second half).

The ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott described the result as “strong”, and attributed some of the performance to its “disciplined focus on productivity and delivery”.

The ASX bank share boasted that its digital offering, ANZ Plus, had grown to almost 690,000 customers and was approaching $14 billion in deposits at the end of April. The net promoter score (customer satisfaction) was “consistently higher” than peers while attracting, on average, 35,000 customers every month, around half of which were new to the bank.

ANZ also said it had unlocked $200 million of savings through productivity measures during the period, making things simpler and delivering “enduring benefits” for the bank. That included further automation across home loan application processing and simplifying its technology.

The ANZ CEO noted while borrowers have generally remained resilient, there are “many who are challenged by rising cost-of-living”.

The ASX bank share revealed that the Australian portfolio of home loans, which were at least 90 days overdue, had more arrears in March 2024 than in March 2023 or March 2022.

Subdued economies

ANZ is not expecting the Australian or New Zealand economies to bounce back in the short term. Elliott said:

Both the domestic and international environments are expected to remain challenging across the remainder of the year. The Australian and New Zealand economies are likely to remain subdued, while geopolitical tensions, electoral uncertainty and the introduction of interventionist trade and industry policies will continue internationally.

Despite these conditions, we are well positioned with the diversity of our businesses, prudent management, and the strength of our customers holding us in good stead. In fact, our work to build a well-managed, de-risked and diversified bank, coupled with our unique international presence, means we are well placed to succeed in this environment.

Profit forecast for ANZ shares

The broker UBS currently forecasts that the ASX bank share could generate net profit of $7 billion in FY24 and $7.3 billion in FY25. This suggests that FY25 net profit could increase by 4.4% year over year.

UBS has predicted that ANZ shares could, excluding franking credits, have a dividend yield of just under 6% in FY25.

The broker has a price target of $30 on the business, suggesting the ANZ share price could slightly rise over the next 12 months.

The post Are ANZ shares undervalued considering its FY25 outlook? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares have been on a tear in 2024, soaring more than 316% into the green since January.

The counter-drone technology company’s stock hit an all-time closing high of $1.54 per share on Tuesday.

Investors continue to bid up DroneShield shares after a string of positive updates, which have many experts bullish. Let’s take a closer look.

Why DroneShield shares keep soaring

The driving force behind DroneShield’s stellar performance is arguably the company’s cutting-edge drone detection and disablement technology. This technology has attracted significant global demand from militaries, governments, and critical infrastructure sectors around the world.

And the growth numbers speak for themselves. In the first quarter of FY 2024, DroneShield reported a 900% year-over-year in revenue to $16.4 million. This meteoric growth has not gone unnoticed by investors, who have been eagerly buying up shares since that date.

Another significant milestone was the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) approving the first counter-small UAS (CUAS) procurement framework agreement in the organisation’s history. According to my colleague James, CEO Oleg Vornik said this was one of the “most strategically” important events since the company was founded.

Additionally, DroneShield secured a major repeat order from a US Government customer worth $5.7 million for its Counter-UxS systems. In my opinion, this contract win underscores the growing recognition and demand for DroneShield’s products.

Frazis Capital believes these defence contracts underline the potential growth of DroneShield shares as well. According to my Foolish colleague Bernd, the fund notes most of its FY 2024 revenue forecasts are from “high margin” defence contracts.

In addition, investor sentiment towards DroneShield shares remains highly positive. The company’s recent successful capital raises are good evidence of this.

In April, DroneShield completed an oversubscribed share purchase plan, raising $15 million from investors despite receiving $40 million worth of applications for the offer. In another share placement, the company raised $30 million by selling 37.9 million shares at 80 cents each.

What’s next for the company?

DroneShield’s growth prospects look fairly robust, with analysts projecting continued revenue increases.

Bell Potter recently rated DroneShield shares a buy, forecasting $97 million in sales and $24.4 million in earnings for FY 2024. According to CommSec, the stock is also rated a strong buy.

CEO Vornik has a bullish scenario that suggests DroneShield could grow sales to $500 million per annum within five years, driven by rising demand for counter-drone technology in both public and private sectors.

This is a 9x increase on FY 2023 revenues of $55 million if it were to occur.

Foolish takeaway

DroneShield shares have caught a strong bid in the last 12 months, driven by its technology and strategic contract wins. That has seen the company’s share price climb a massive 571% during that time.

And experts project further gains, given the company’s expanding market and revenue projections.

The post Surely DroneShield shares can’t just keep rising? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended DroneShield. 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 Scott Phillips.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) shares are having a relatively positive session.

At the time of writing, the lithium miner’s shares are flat at 3.5 cents.

This compares favourably to many of other ASX lithium stocks today.

For example, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are down 1.5%, Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares have tumbled 3%, and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are almost 4% lower.

Why are Sayona Mining shares outperforming?

It appears that the release of an announcement this morning has given investor sentiment a boost and kept the lithium miner’s shares above water.

According to the release, the results from 36 new drillholes totalling 8,803 metres at its 75% owned North American Lithium (NAL) operation in Quebec, Canada, are demonstrating “the high-grade nature of this strategic asset.”

The company notes that all the drilling results from the 2023 exploration program are now complete, validated, and released. Furthermore, the first results from the 2024 exploration drilling program, which is currently underway, are now being reported.

Management believes the 2023 drill program has been successful in demonstrating the potential to increase the mineral resource base at NAL. It highlights that it was designed to test extensions to mineralisation and provide in-fill data for the upgrade of mineral resource categories.

The latest drilling results include the identification of high-grade lithium mineralisation outside the mineral resource estimate (MRE) pit shells. This is particularly the case in the North-West and South-East extensions. It feels this supports the potential conversion of some of the inferred resources to indicated category within the MRE pit shells.

‘Superb quality’

Sayona Mining’s interim CEO, James Brown, appeared to be very pleased with the strong drilling results. He commented:

We are delighted to have another strong set of drilling results from North American Lithium which continue to highlight the superb quality of this mine. The results reported today have shown that mineralisation continues outside of the existing MRE pit shells so the next key step will be to complete a recalculation of the MRE to include recent drilling. Additionally, we will also complete a further 30,000 metres of drilling throughout 2024 to better understand the full potential of the NAL mineralisation.

The news hasn’t been enough to prop up the shares of Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL), which owns the remaining 25% interest in the NAL project. Its shares are down 3% to 15 cents at the time of writing.

The shares of both Sayona Mining and Piedmont Lithium remain down over 80% on a 12-month basis.

The post Why are Sayona Mining shares outperforming other ASX lithium stocks today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.1% in morning trade today, but this ASX All Ords stock isn’t going anywhere just yet.

Shares in the clinical dermatology company closed at 34 cents apiece yesterday, which sees the stock up almost 18% in five days.

Today shares in the ASX All Ords stock entered a trading halt pending a key approval announcement from the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Shares are expected to resume trading this Friday.

Any guesses?

If you said Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: BOT), go to the head of the virtual class.

Here’s what’s happening.

What’s happening with the ASX All Ords stock?

Last Wednesday, 12 June, Botanix announced that it had submitted the last label materials to the FDA for its prescription product Sofdra. Sofdra is developed to treat excessive underarm sweating. Also known as primary axillary hyperhidrosis, for our medically inclined readers.

That announcement saw the ASX All Ords stock charge higher over the next three trading days.

Investor enthusiasm looks to have been piqued by the company noting that its labelling discussions present the final step before the “anticipated FDA approval of Sofdra”. Botanix said its been in discussions with the FDA on product carton design and the wording of information to be provided to patients and physicians about Sofdra.

Commenting on the anticipated approval that sees the ASX All Ords stock in a trading halt today, Botanix CEO Howie McKibbon said:

Our team has been highly focused on completing these last label components, well in advance of approval.

Our label and packaging materials are an important part of the materials that we will use to communicate important safety and efficacy information upon approval of Sofdra.

The company said that FDA approval for Sofdra remains on target for this Friday, 21 June. Upon approval, it said that Sofdra will be the first new chemical entity approved for excessive underarm sweating.

Atop of Sofdra, the ASX All Ords stock has a range of other products in late-stage clinical development to potentially treat a variety of dermatology conditions.

Botanix share price snapshot

If you look back to the chart up top, you’ll see just how strong the Botanix share price has performed over the past months.

In 2024 alone, the ASX All Ords share has gained 76%.

Investors who bought shares 12 months ago will be sitting on gains of 205%.

And savvy investors who bought shares at the very end of 2022 (30 December) will have seen those shares rocket by 570%.

The post Guess which high-flying ASX All Ords stock was just halted ahead of a key FDA decision appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) shares are under pressure on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the insurance giant’s shares are down 1.5% to $18.08.

Why are QBE shares falling?

Investors have been selling the company’s shares this morning after it released an update on its North American strategic review and its expectations for the first half of FY 2024.

In respect to the former, the insurer has revealed that it plans to commence an orderly closure of its North America middle-market segment.

According to the release, the segment represented gross written premium of ~US$500 million in FY 2023 and has experienced performance challenges over several years.

Management believes that the closure of middle-market will serve to refocus North America’s strategy on those businesses, which hold more meaningful market position, relevance and scale.

The good news is that the closure will have no incremental impact on appetite or strategy for North America’s three core businesses, Specialty, Crop and Commercial.

QBE intends to begin non-renewing middle-market policies in accordance with applicable state regulations, with gross written premium expected to begin reducing in FY 2024, before falling more substantially in FY 2025.

A restructuring charge of ~US$100 million before tax will be recorded in the FY 2024 result to account for costs associated with the business closure. Positively, the closure is expected to have limited impact on QBE’s FY 2024 group combined operating ratio.

Half year update

With QBE rapidly approaching the end of its first half, it has taken this opportunity to update the market on its expectations for the six months.

The release reveals that first half gross written premium is expected to be ~US$13.1 billion. This represents constant currency growth of ~3% on the prior corresponding period, with net insurance revenue expected to be ~US$8.4 billion.

Group catastrophe costs in the five months to May 2024 are estimated at ~US$500 million. This compares to its first half catastrophe budget of US$609 million. Recent events have included US convective storms, the Dubai floods, and an initial estimate of US$175 million to US$225 million to account for QBE’s net exposure to the ongoing civil unrest in New Caledonia.

QBE’s investment performance has been solid. It notes that total investment income in the five months to May 2024 was US$643 million. This improved from US$406 million during the first quarter. The result includes a favourable credit spread impact of US$76 million and a risk asset result of US$104 million. As of May, the net impact from asset liability management activities remained neutral.

In light of the above and based on its preliminary view of its half year result, QBE continues to expect FY 2024 group constant currency gross written premium growth in the mid-single digits, and a FY 2024 group combined operating ratio of ~93.5%.

QBE shares remain up 18% over the last 12 months.

The post QBE shares drop on half year update and strategic review appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

The exchange-traded fund (ETF) Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) provides a way for Australian investors to gain exposure to the biggest companies listed on the US-based NASDAQ stock exchange.

The ETF seeks to track the performance of the largest 100 stocks by market capitalisation. This group is collectively the NASDAQ-100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX).

When you think of the NASDAQ, the first thing that may come to mind is mega US tech stocks.

That’s understandable, given that the NASDAQ is home to the Magnificent Seven — six of which are, indeed, mega US tech stocks.

Just to remind you, the Magnificent Seven stocks are Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG), Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

Tesla is the outlier among the group as it is in the consumer cyclical market sector.

And it’s not the only non-tech business in the NASDAQ 100, either.

The first thing you may not know

While the NASDAQ 100 (and thus, the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF) is certainly ‘overweight’ in tech stocks, there are also many stocks from other sectors.

Here is the latest Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF sector allocation, as published on betashares.com.au.

As you can see, only half the NDQ ETF’s allocation is tech stocks.

At the recent ASX Investor Day held in Sydney, Betashares investment strategist Tom Wickenden pointed out that the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF was a particularly complementary holding for ASX 200 investors.

One reason is their opposite sector weightings.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is dominated by banks and major miners, while the NDQ ETF is dominated by tech stocks.

The ASX 200 comprises 30.6% financial shares, 22.7% materials shares, and only 3.2% tech stocks. In contrast, the NDQ ETF has only 1.5% materials shares, 0.5% financial shares, and 50.5% tech stocks.

Furthermore, the NDQ ETF complements ASX 200 shares because it offers geographical diversification beyond Australia — and not just to the US economy, either.

This brings us to the second thing you may not know about the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF.

Only 50% of earnings come from the US

Although the NASDAQ is a US-based stock exchange and comprises many big-name US-based companies, NASDAQ 100 businesses tend to be global in nature with a globally diverse customer base.

This means they generate revenue in many different countries and are exposed to many different economies.

So, while you may initially associate the NASDAQ with the United States, it’s worth knowing that only 50.3% of revenue generated by the NASDAQ 100 comes from the US.

The rest comes from various other countries, with a revenue split very similar to the MSCI World Index.

Take a look.

Source: Betashares.com.au

This is notable because investors tend to look to MSCI indexes to attain worldwide diversification for their portfolios.

The MSCI World Index comprises 1,464 stocks across 23 developed countries. According to msci.com, the index “covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country”.

So, it’s interesting to note that the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF can offer virtually the same geographical earnings diversification, but your investment is more concentrated with just 100 stocks instead of 1,464.

Is that a positive or negative? You decide. We’re just letting you know.

An ‘investment in innovation’

Wickenden points out that the NASDAQ 100 “is the home of innovation globally” and thereby represents an investment in not just technology but also innovation, which encapsulates so much more than IT.

And ’tis the era, right?

Did someone say electric vehicles? Or green steel?

Wickenden says that of the nine listed companies to ever touch the trillion-dollar mark in market capitalisation, seven have achieved their success through major innovation.

Of course, those seven stocks are the Magnificent Seven. (Fun fact: The other two stocks that reached US$1 trillion were PetroChina and Saudi Aramco.)

He also says that innovation requires a serious commitment to research and development (R&D), and the NASDAQ 100 (and thus the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF) gives investors exposure to such companies.

Wickenden said:

If we look under the hood of the NASDAQ 100, what we find is it’s home to some of the most innovative companies in the world and also some of the biggest R&D spenders in the world.

We can see … over the past 10 years huge growth of research and development spending has coincided with huge growth of revenue and ultimately earnings growth for that index compared to other companies globally and especially compared to the Australian market.

Wickenden used Microsoft as a case study.

He said a huge investment in cloud computing many years ago resulted in Microsoft’s cloud computing division alone delivering more revenue than Australia’s Big Four banks combined last year.

You can check out the NDQ ETF’s entire portfolio and weightings here.

The Magnificent Seven’s weightings in the NDQ ETF at the time of writing are Apple 8.6%, Microsoft 8.5%, Nividia 8.4%, Alphabet 5.3%, Amazon 4.9%, Meta 4.5%, and Tesla 2.3%.

A short price history on Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF

The Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF closed Tuesday’s session at $45.60 per unit, up 0.75% for the day.

The NDQ ETF has risen 22% in the year to date and 34% over the past 12 months.

The post What you may not know about the Betashares Nasdaq 100 (NDQ) ETF appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in BetaShares Global Sustainability Leaders ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price has fallen to a 52-week low, as we can see on the chart below. It’s also down 32% since the start of 2024.

The ASX travel share has lost investor confidence after the FY24 first-half result wasn’t as strong as some investors were hoping.

Corporate Travel Management said macro issues beyond the control of the business impacted performance in the second quarter of 2024. That included negative travel sentiment relating to conflict in the Middle East, American client calendar-year travel budgets being fully utilised by the end of the FY24 first quarter due to “unsustainably high ticket prices” and a slower Chinese outbound recovery.

These issues affected FY24’s second-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) by approximately $15 million.

It also said the UK bridging contract is “materially underperforming” compared to the client’s initial expectations because of immigration challenges and timing delays. This is expected to have a $25 million impact to the full-year result.

But the ASX growth stock could have a very promising outlook for the rest of the decade.

Why the Corporate Travel Management share price could be undervalued

For starters, the business said the macro issues in the second quarter “appear to have dissipated, with the group experiencing a strong rebound in January 2024.” These issues are “unlikely to impact 2H24”.

The company has a five-year growth strategy to double its FY24 profit organically by FY29, which would represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15%, with any acquisitions adding to the growth.

Firstly, the company is aiming to grow its revenue by at least 10% per annum over five years by winning new clients. The new win target starts at $1 billion per annum and will increase to $1.6 billion per annum by FY29.

Second, the ASX growth stock wants to keep its client retention rate of 97% each year. The company is expecting client activity will grow by 3% per annum, offsetting any client losses.

Third, it’s hoping that its key projects will achieve revenue gains and savings over time, with a target of costs to only grow by 5% per annum. Revenue per full-time employee improvement will be a key performance measure of progress. Future projects are aimed at both market share growth and automation.

Fourth, Corporate Travel wants 50% of every new dollar of revenue to fall to the EBITDA profit line as it wins new clients, retains existing clients and implements the above-mentioned cost projects. This can translate into the EBITDA growing at a CAGR of 15% over five years.

Finally, any acquisitions are in addition to the above plans. Most acquisition targets are “highly leveraged with debt to survive COVID”. The ASX travel share is “actively pursuing” these opportunities, which will add “further growth, shareholder value and economies of scale.”

If the company executes its plans well and doubles its profit in the next five years, I think it could be a great market-beater, as long as technology and AI don’t negatively disrupt the travel industry.

ASX growth stock valuation

According to the estimates on Commsec, the ASX growth stock is valued at 16x FY24’s estimated earnings and just 12x FY26’s estimated earnings.

The post Near its 52-week low, this ASX growth stock could be the bargain of the year! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Corporate Travel Management. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Corporate Travel Management. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.