There’s only one word that can describe the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s performance this Monday: fire. ASX 200 shares, including CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), were indeed on fire today.

Not only did the index add a healthy 0.73%, but it has also hit yet another new record high. Yep, the ASX 200 clocked a fresh record of 8,037.3 points this morning. That was shortly after blowing through the psychologically-important 8,000-point threshold for the first time ever as well.

But let’s talk about ASX 200 healthcare giant CSL.

New ASX 200 highs all around

It was a top day for CSL shares as well. The ASX’s third-largest stock also saw its shares at a fresh new high today, albeit a 52-week one. This morning, the CSL share price opened at $308.93 a share after closing at $306.60 last week. But soon after, those same shares climbed up to a flat $311, the new high watermark for CSL.

At market close, the company cooled off a little to end the day up a decent 0.64% at $308.56.

This share price puts CSL up by 7.03% in 2024 to date. This company is also sitting on a 12-month gain of 19.22%.

Saying that, CSL’s new 52-week high isn’t nearly as momentous as that of the broader ASX 200. The company has been here several times before. At least once a year since 2020, CSL shares have ascended above $310 a share. It happened in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. But each time CSL hit this milestone in the past, investors got cold feet and subsequently sent the company lower.

So, while today marks the first time in 12 months that CSL shares have had ‘311’ at the front of their pricing, we have to go way back to early 2020 to find the last time CSL was at an all-time high. That occurred on 20 February 2020, when CSL hit $342.72 a share.

But it’s now more than four years later, and we still haven’t seen CSL get anywhere near that all-time record high.

Check all of this out for yourself here:

What’s next for CSL shares?

Fortunately for CSL investors, ASX brokers seem to be excited about what lies in store for the CSL share price.

Last week, my Fool colleague James covered broker Bell Potter’s bullish view of the healthcare stock.

Calling CSL “an attractive buying opportunity”, here’s some of what the broker said:

CSL has been in a holding pattern since 2020, and for good reason. COVID hit the business with higher collection costs for plasma, depressing margins. We anticipate the start of a margin recovery phase for CSL, driving above-market earnings growth over the next few years…

Given the company’s proven quality and growth prospects, we believe significant upside remains.

It’s not just Bell Potter though. We’ve recently covered the views of brokers at Macquarie. Macquarie is also bullish on CSL shares, giving the company a buy rating as well as a 12-month share price target of $330.

Like Bell Potter, Macquarie sees substantial potential for CSL to grow its earnings over the next few years, and as such, views the current CSL share price as undervalued.

No doubt these optimistic projections will be welcomed by CSL’s investors. But, as always, we’ll have to wait and see if today’s new 52-week high is a sign of things to come.

The post CSL shares hit new 52-week high! What’s next? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in CSL. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

ASX bank shares have been on a tear. Over the past year, the S&P/ASX 200 Banks Index (ASX: XBK) soared 30%, surpassing the S&P/ASX 100 Index (ASX: XTO), which rose shy of 10% during the same period.

Now, all eyes are on the upcoming reporting season to take cues for the next move from here.

Meanwhile, some US banks have already started reporting earnings, starting with Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), and JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM).

Of particular interest were Wells Fargo shares, which plunged nearly 6% after reporting earnings last Friday.

What caused this drop, and can we take cues from the Wells Fargo earnings for ASX bank shares?

Weaker net interest income from Wells Fargo

In the second quarter, from April to June 2024, Wells Fargo recorded US$11.92 billion in net interest income, down 9% from a year ago. Noninterest income grew 19% to US$8.77 billion, leading to a revenue growth of 1% to US$20.53 billion. Net income decreased slightly by 1% from a year ago to US$4.91 billion. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said:

We continued to see growth in our fee-based revenue offsetting an expected decline in net interest income.

The bank explained that the lower net interest income was due to the impact of higher interest rates on funding costs and lower deposit balances. The surge in noninterest businesses was driven by higher trading revenue in its Markets division and higher fees in investment banking and wealth management services.

Looking ahead, Wells Fargo expects FY24 net interest income to fall 8% to 9%, compared to previous guidance of 7% to 9%. The bank expects higher expenses for the full year due to higher compensation expenses and a special assessment expense. Reflecting this, the bank guided for noninterest expense of US$54 billion, compared to the previous guidance of US$52.6 billion.

Wells Fargo shares had risen 32% over the past year before Friday’s 6% fall. The company’s results and weaker FY24 guidance were insufficient to meet the heightened market expectations. While total revenue and profits were in line with analysts’ expectations, the weaker performance in net interest income and FY24 guidance disappointed investors.

Wells Fargo’s rapid contraction in net interest income might be a good indication of what to look for when ASX banks report.

How did ASX bank shares perform so far?

Like US banks, ASX bank shares rose substantially in the past year. Share price performances and FY25 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios based on S&P Capital IQ estimates are:

• Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) shares rose 30% in a year and trade at FY25 P/E of 23x
• Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares rose 31% in a year and trade at FY25 P/E of 15x
• National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares rose 37% in a year and trade at FY25 P/E of 16x
• ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) shares rose 21% in a year and trade at FY25 P/E of 13x

ASX banks expect to report their earnings updates in August 2024, mostly between 14 and 20 August.

The post Prepare for earnings! What ASX bank share buyers can learn from Wells Fargo results? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Kate Lee 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 JPMorgan Chase. 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.

We won’t know how stock markets in the United States will respond to this weekend’s attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump until US markets open on Monday morning (overnight Aussie time).

We do know that the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just roared into new all-time high record territory, currently up 0.6% at 8,006 points.

And we know that S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) futures are up 0.2%, indicating a likely positive start to the week in US stock markets.

This comes after Trump, who’s running against incumbent President Joe Biden in hopes of retaking the White House in November’s presidential elections, survived a sniper attack at a campaign rally on Saturday (Sunday morning in Australia).

A bullet grazed the former president’s ear, and a spectator was tragically killed in the attack, with several others wounded before police eliminated the 20-year-old shooter.

While our most ardent hope is that this heinous attack marks an end to escalating political tensions and violence, our beat is the stock markets.

With that in mind, here’s what investors might expect in the wake of the failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

How the Trump shooting could impact stock markets

Biden’s popularity was already plunging amid concerns over the 81-year-old’s potentially deteriorating mental faculties following the recent presidential debate. Now, Trump’s literal dodging of a bullet and subsequent defiant public appearances are widely seen to have boosted Trump’s election chances.

So, what does that mean for the ASX and global stock markets?

According to Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at ATFX Global Markets (quoted by The Australian Financial Review), “Undoubtedly, there’ll be some protectionist or haven flows in the Asia early morning. I’d suspect gold could test all-time highs, we will see the yen getting bought and the dollar and flows into Treasuries too.”

To date, we haven’t seen any major moves in the gold price, with the yellow metal trading near its Friday levels of US$2,411 per ounce.

Cryptocurrencies are another story.

Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, said (quoted by Bloomberg), “This news marks a changing point in American political norms. For markets, it means haven trades but more skewed towards non-traditional havens.”

Rodda said he had noted more client flows into Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and gold after the shooting. Indeed, the Bitcoin price is up 6.5% since the Trump campaign rally attack, currently at US$62,486.

Stock market volatility likely to spike

Investors should also prepare for more stock market volatility, said Frank Monkam, senior portfolio manager at Antimo.

According to Monkam:

Yesterday’s assassination attempt of President Trump is likely to mark the ‘grand opening’ of an elevated period of volatility for risk assets. Trump trades are also poised to move on the high conviction list for investors, with a particular focus on rates markets where the re-pricing of fiscal profligacy will look to offset the prospects of imminent Fed cuts.

With Trump favouring tariffs and looser fiscal policies, analysts are also forecasting a stronger greenback and weaker US Treasuries.

“The bond market should at some point, become aware of President Trump’s higher odds of winning the White House than any of his rivals. And I continue to believe that as his odds rise, so should the probability of a bond market riot,” Marko Papic, chief strategist at BCA Research, said.

Traditional energy companies could benefit as part of the so-called Trump trade while renewable energy companies could see their stock market prices come under pressure.

According to Michael Purves, CEO of Tallbacken Capital Advisors, there’s also the potential that ASX and US stock market investors could now see the US Fed opt to hold interest rates higher for longer.

“Trump’s stated policies are (at least now) more inflationary than Biden’s, and we think the Fed will want to accumulate as much dry power as possible,” Purves said.

Foolish takeaway

While I generally like to craft my own Foolish takeaway on the stock markets, I don’t think I could put it any better than Oliver Pursche, senior vice president at Wealthspire Advisors.

According to Pursche (quoted by Bloomberg):

Regardless of what may or may happen Monday morning [US time], not reacting may prove to be the smartest thing you can do as a stock investor because generally people overreact in the wrong direction.

Markets will find their equilibrium and get back to the things that matter from an investment perspective, which are economic growth, monetary and fiscal policy and corporate earnings.

The post How is the stock market reacting to yesterday’s attack on Trump? 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 positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The NIB Holdings Limited (ASX: NHF) share price is up 0.5% amid a leading expert’s rating change on the ASX healthcare share. This coincides with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rising by 0.6%, so the stock is not outperforming.

As we can see on the chart above, NIB shares are down by 7% in the last month. This sizeable decline in a relatively short amount of time has led one expert to think that the NIB share price is now good value.

Let’s have a look at how much upside broker Morgans thinks the ASX healthcare share has.

Buy rating on NIB shares

According to reporting by The Australian, Morgans Financial has decided to change its rating to add on NIB shares.

A price target on a business tells us where the broker thinks the share price will be in 12 months. Analysts don’t have a crystal ball, but it’s just their best guess about where the valuation will go. If they’re correct, some price targets can imply large shareholder gains.

As reported by The Australian, the price target on the ASX healthcare share is $7.92. That suggests a possible rise of 13%. Combine that with the potential dividends over the next 12 months, and we’re looking at a possible mid-to-high-teen return from NIB shares.

What has happened in recent times for the ASX healthcare share?

The company’s last price-sensitive announcement was in March 2024. It revealed that its health insurance premiums would increase by an average of 4.1%. Its previous two increases, in 2023 and 2024, were the two lowest increases of the past 20 years.

At the time, NIB acknowledged that many household budgets were strained, but spending was growing across healthcare, driven by “an ageing population, the rise of chronic conditions and the cost of new technologies.”

NIB’s management noted that it aspires to be a health management and health insurance company.

The company also recently presented at the Macquarie conference in May. In that presentation, it showed that its revenue had grown every single year since FY05 and its underlying operating profit has been growing over the long term as well, aside from the COVID-hit years.

One of NIB’s successes in recent years has been expanding into adjacent markets such as New Zealand, international workers and students, travel insurance, disability ‘navigation’, and more. The business has also been growing its market share in the core Australian private health insurance market.

NIB aims to become the disability sector’s leading navigator by supporting NDIS participants and others with identified disabilities. It aims to reach around 50,000 participants by the end of FY25.

Outlook for NIB shares

In FY24, the business is expecting to achieve net policyholder growth of between 3% and 4% while maintaining stable underlying margins, before gradually returning to the target of between 6% and 7%.

Morgans seems confident on the company’s outlook.

The post NIB shares rise as top broker calls the stock a buy 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 Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and NIB Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investing in ASX small-cap shares has its risks, but it can also yield outsized gains.

One example is Smart Parking Ltd (ASX: SPZ), whose share price has doubled over the past year. For context, the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index (ASX: XSO) and the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) have advanced by approximately 6% during the same period.

Can Smart Parking keep doing its smart magic?

Why did Smart Parking shares soar?

As the company name implies, it specialises in cutting-edge parking technology. It provides real-time space availability, efficient space management, and seamless payment solutions.

Smart Parking’s stock has been rising due to the company’s strong business performance. The provider of car parking technology has been rapidly expanding its presence in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The number of parking sites under management has increased from 286 in June 2018 to 1,219 in December 2023.

Such rapid expansion of its car parks under management led to strong financial results. In 1H FY24, which ended on 31 December 2023, the company delivered a 20% revenue growth to $26.6 million and a 26% growth in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to $6.7 million.

The company has been rapidly expanding its presence in Europe. Smart Parking initially focused on growth in the UK, then expanded to New Zealand in FY21, Australia and Germany in FY22, and most recently Denmark.

The company’s total addressable market is growing as the overall market expands. There are 45,000 parking sites in the UK, 90,000 in Germany, and 10,000 in Denmark, totaling 145,000 in these three countries. Smart Parking currently holds less than 1% market share in these areas.

Business outlook

Smart Parking’s growth comes from its operations’ scalability and the ongoing expansion. In March 2024, the company acquired Local Parking Security in the UK, adding 126 new parking management sites.

Management is optimistic about the future. In the 1H FY24 update, the company reaffirmed its target to reach 1,500 sites under management by December 2024, marking a 25% increase from its December 2023 figure.

The company also sees “significant new interest and investment from private equity in the UK private parking management market.” Two transactions in 1H FY24 demonstrate the attractive growth opportunity in the UK, the company added.

How expensive are Smart Parking shares?

Smart Parking shares are valued at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28x based on its trailing 12 months’ earnings and 22x based on FY25 earnings estimates by S&P Capital IQ. Compared with a few other ASX technology small-cap shares, using S&P Capital IQ estimates:

• VEEM Ltd (ASX: VEE) shares are valued at 31x FY25 earnings estimates
• DUG Technology Ltd (ASX: DUG) shares are valued at 36x FY25 earnings estimates
• IPD Group Ltd (ASX: IPG) shares are valued at 17x FY25 earnings estimates

The Smart Parking share price is down 1% at $0.54 at the time of writing.

The post Up 102% in a year, can this ASX small-cap technology company keep on rising? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Kate Lee 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 Dug Technology, Ipd Group, and Veem. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Ipd Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Dug Technology and Veem. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.