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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is heading south today, nearing its 52-week low of $1.40.

This comes after the buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider announced the results of its recent Share Purchase Plan (SPP).

At the time of writing, Zip shares are swapping hands for $1.47, down 4.85%.

What were the results of Zip’s SPP?

In a statement to the ASX, Zip advised it has completed its SPP.

In total, the company raised around $23.98 million – a significant shortfall of the $50 million offered to retail investors.

It appears that concerns the Zip share price could fall further led eligible shareholders to watch from the sidelines.

And indeed, they were right.

The final issue price under the SPP is $1.48 per share.

However, the company’s shares fell to an intraday low of $1.46 today. This means you could have picked them up cheaper than the SPP.

For those who did participate under the placement, the allotment of the new shares is scheduled for this Friday. Normal trading of the new shares will commence on Monday 11 April.

Recently, the company successfully completed a $148.7 million institutional placement from a number of institutional, sophisticated and professional investors. The price listed under the placement was $1.90.

Zip previously noted that the proceeds of its capital raising efforts will go towards strengthening its balance sheet.

In addition, it is also looking to shore up funds to execute on the potential synergies from the upcoming transaction. This relates to the $491 million all-scrip acquisition of Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL).

Zip share price summary

The Zip share price is down more than 85% since its 52-week high of $10.61 reached in April 2021.

The company’s share price has continued a downward trajectory, wiping off significant value on investor portfolios.

On valuation grounds, Zip has a market capitalisation of around $986.85 million, with approximately 669.05 million shares outstanding.

The post Zip shares sink on the release of its share purchase plan results appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Block and Zip sink, Paladin Energy raises $200m
• Why did the Zip share price get smashed in March?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares during the first quarter
• Zip share price backtracks ahead of share purchase plan closure

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street’s lead and is tumbling lower. The benchmark index is currently down 0.75% to 7,472.3 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Zip completes shares purchase plan

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is trading lower today. This follows weakness in the tech sector and a subdued response to the buy now pay later provider’s share purchase plan. In respect to the latter, Zip raised an additional ~$24 million at $1.48 per new share. This is less than half the $50 million it was seeking from retail shareholders.

Tech shares slump

It isn’t just Zip that is tumbling today in the tech sector. A number of ASX 200 tech shares are under pressure and deep in the red. This includes Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), which are dragging the S&P/ASX All Technology Index down by 2.5% at lunch. This follows a similarly sharp decline by the tech-focused Nasdaq index overnight amid fears that rate rises could slow economic growth.

Paladin Energy raises $200 million

The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price is falling on Wednesday. This morning the uranium producer announced the completion of a $200 million institutional placement. These funds were raised at an 8.9% discount of 72 cents per new share. Paladin intends to use the cash to support the restart of the globally significant Langer Heinrich Mine.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price with a 5% gain. This follows the release of a third quarter update by the medical device company. Going the other way, the Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is the worst performer with a 6% decline on no news.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Block and Zip sink, Paladin Energy raises $200m appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Hoping to pocket the ARB Corporation dividend? Read this
• Here’s why the Paladin Energy share price is sliding today
• The EML share price jumped 25% in March 2022. What happened?
• Why is the PolyNovo share price surging 13% higher today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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. owns and has recommended Block, Inc., POLYNOVO FPO, Xero, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Block, Inc. and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

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

There’s no denying that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been one of the market’s more rewarding stocks in recent years. Up more than 20,000% since the end of the year 2000, the e-commerce giant has arguably been the market’s best large-cap performer for the timeframe in question. It would be easy to be excited about owning it now.

However, past performance is no guarantee of future results. While many investors have high hopes for Amazon stock over the next 10 years, there’s no assurance that the world is due a repeat performance. Serious competition is starting to take shape, and the company is closer to market saturation than it was a couple of decades ago.

Still, there are positive signs. While another quintuple-digit surge may not be in the cards, a triple-digit advance by 2032 is hardly out of the question.

It’s not the Amazon you know

While the company started as an online book company back in 1995, it didn’t take long for Amazon.com to become an “everything store,” selling pretty much anything anyone might want to buy when they want to buy it. Counting all of its third-party sellers’ inventories, BigCommerce says the company offers at least 350 million products at any given time. No wonder it’s seen as the first place many consumers visit to make an online purchase!

In light of its existing reach, there’s no reason to think it won’t continue growing. BigCommerce adds that nearly 200 million people shop with Amazon every month. Still, there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet, most of whom are not yet regular Amazon customers.

The problem is that the company’s consumer-facing online retailing business isn’t exactly what you’d call wildly profitable. Here’s another interesting fact: It doesn’t matter. The graphic below is telling, visually comparing Amazon’s operating income for its North American e-commerce arm, its international e-commerce unit, and its cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS).

While at one time the company’s online shopping operation carried all the profit weight, since 2018 its cloud computing service’s bottom line has been just as important as its North American retailing business. Indeed, since 2019, AWS has been the biggest moneymaker by far, doing more for the bottom line than North America’s and its overseas e-commerce efforts combined.

As it turns out, the company’s customer acquisition and online shopping expansion is proving very expensive, with inflation only making matters worse. As was already noted, though, it just doesn’t matter. Amazon Web Services has become such a monster of a business that it can keep the rest of the company afloat while nascent CEO Andy Jassy works on reshaping the online shopping marketplace into something sustainable.

More of the same profit growth on the way

Yet, Amazon Web Services has only scratched the surface of its potential. Numbers from technology market research outfit Technavio puts things in perspective. Its outlook suggests the worldwide cloud computing industry will grow at an annualized pace of 17% through 2025, ending that period $287 billion bigger than when it started.

Notably, Technavio believes North America alone — where Amazon has concentrated its cloud computing efforts — will account for 40% of this growth for a business that’s already a major profit engine for the company.

And that’s still not all of Amazon’s noteworthy growth opportunities outside of conventional e-commerce. While the company has been mostly guarded about providing details of the young business, last year’s full-year report confirmed it generated $31.2 billion worth of advertising revenue, monetizing all the traffic its shopping site draws by helping third-party sellers and advertisers steer people to particular products.

While 2021 was a banner year in terms of growth, eMarketer is still calling for at least two more years of double-digit increases for the company’s ad business. For perspective, Alphabet‘s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google generated $43.3 billion worth of search-based advertising sales last year. Bear in mind that this is also high-margin revenue as Amazon is only monetizing a website and traffic it already had, tacking on incremental business.

Millionaire-maker alert

Bottom line? Yes, Amazon is still one of those stocks that could help your portfolio reach the million-dollar mark. But the same investing advice that applied before still applies now, of course. Namely, keep your portfolio diversified and keep your expectations in check.

It’s unlikely that Amazon shares will see massive gains again over the coming 10 years since the bulk of the 20,000% return it dished out since the year 2000 was rooted in the fact that Amazon’s growth was so unexpected. Investors see it coming now, but they didn’t then.

Nevertheless, Amazon certainly has the potential to double or even triple in value throughout the coming decade. The key is simply leaving it alone for that long and letting the stock do its thing.

John Mackey, 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. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. The Motley Fool recommends Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

The post Could Amazon help you become a millionaire by 2032? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Amazon stock rocketed off course today
• Will Amazon start paying a dividend?
• 3 differences between you and billionaires, and 1 thing you have in common
• 1 investing strategy to grow your money like magic
• Why Amazon stock was outperforming the market today

James Brumley owns Alphabet (A shares). John Mackey, 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. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

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The Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF) share price is down 3.56% amid news of a potential deal with Christian Super.

Australian Ethical is a fund manager that offers superannuation services.

Potential Australian Ethical merger with Christian Super?

Australian Ethical announced today that its superannuation subsidiary, Australian Ethical Superannuation, has signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding with Christian Super to explore a potential merger.

At this stage, the two parties have entered a non-binding period of due diligence and transition planning. If successfully concluded, Christian Super members will join Australian Ethical Super through a successor fund transfer in late 2022 or early 2023.

Australian Ethical expects to complete the due diligence process by the end of May 2022. The company plans to release more details once it is complete.

What’s attractive about a potential deal for Australian Ethical?

The fund manager said that both parties are confident the opportunity aligns with members’ best financial interests, offering “compelling” member benefits through increased scale, while also significantly amplifying their “combined impact as proven pioneers of ethical and responsible investing.”

If this merger goes ahead, it could see Australian Ethical manage more than $9 billion. That would be on behalf of 100,000 Australians across its range of superannuation, managed fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) products.

According to Christian Super, it has 30,000 members and around $2 billion of funds under management (FUM).

Why is Christian Super considering this?

APRA recently imposed additional licence conditions on the trustee of Christian Super, Christian Super Pty Ltd. The conditions are to protect the best financial interests of the fund’s members.

They address concerns arising from APRA’s investigation into Christian Super’s investment oversight, governance and strategic decision making. The conditions also aim to “rectify[ing] Christian Super’s persistent investment underperformance, which culminated in the fund’s MySuper product failing the first annual performance test” in August 2021.

Under those terms, Christian Super is required to merge with a larger, better-performing fund by 31 July 2022.

Christian Super acknowledges that being part of a larger fund with more members and retirement savings is likely to deliver additional financial benefits to Christian Super members.

Why choose Australian Ethical? According to the Christian Super board, it seemed the most attractive when evaluating various factors.

Board commentary

Chair of Australian Ethical Steve Gibbs said:

We’re delighted to be exploring this opportunity with Christian Super. It is a meaningful endorsement of our purpose and investment philosophy, which remain unchanged and only strengthened by this opportunity.

Recent research shows that more Australians than ever expect their money to be invested responsibly and ethically. This comes as no surprise to us at Australian Ethical. We’ve seen extraordinary growth as Australians seek to invest in line with their values.

This opportunity not only accelerates the trajectory we are on through clear stakeholder benefits but also significantly enhances our influence as the leading ethical investment voice in Australia.

Australian Ethical share price snapshot

Since the start of the 2022 year, the Australian Ethical share price has dropped 48.8%.

The post Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) share price in focus on possible Christian Super merger appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are these 2 compelling ASX shares buys in April 2022?

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. owns and has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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At lunch on Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed Wall Street’s lead and is tumbling lower. The benchmark index is currently down 0.75% to 7,472.3 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

Zip completes shares purchase plan

The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is trading lower today. This follows weakness in the tech sector and a subdued response to the buy now pay later provider’s share purchase plan. In respect to the latter, Zip raised an additional ~$24 million at $1.48 per new share. This is less than half the $50 million it was seeking from retail shareholders.

Tech shares slump

It isn’t just Zip that is tumbling today in the tech sector. A number of ASX 200 tech shares are under pressure and deep in the red. This includes Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), which are dragging the S&P/ASX All Technology Index down by 2.5% at lunch. This follows a similarly sharp decline by the tech-focused Nasdaq index overnight amid fears that rate rises could slow economic growth.

Paladin Energy raises $200 million

The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price is falling on Wednesday. This morning the uranium producer announced the completion of a $200 million institutional placement. These funds were raised at an 8.9% discount of 72 cents per new share. Paladin intends to use the cash to support the restart of the globally significant Langer Heinrich Mine.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price with a 5% gain. This follows the release of a third quarter update by the medical device company. Going the other way, the Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) share price is the worst performer with a 6% decline on no news.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Block and Zip sink, Paladin Energy raises $200m appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Hoping to pocket the ARB Corporation dividend? Read this
• Here’s why the Paladin Energy share price is sliding today
• The EML share price jumped 25% in March 2022. What happened?
• Why is the PolyNovo share price surging 13% higher today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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. owns and has recommended Block, Inc., POLYNOVO FPO, Xero, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Block, Inc. and Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/P6UyKJ4

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.

There’s no denying that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been one of the market’s more rewarding stocks in recent years. Up more than 20,000% since the end of the year 2000, the e-commerce giant has arguably been the market’s best large-cap performer for the timeframe in question. It would be easy to be excited about owning it now.

However, past performance is no guarantee of future results. While many investors have high hopes for Amazon stock over the next 10 years, there’s no assurance that the world is due a repeat performance. Serious competition is starting to take shape, and the company is closer to market saturation than it was a couple of decades ago.

Still, there are positive signs. While another quintuple-digit surge may not be in the cards, a triple-digit advance by 2032 is hardly out of the question.

It’s not the Amazon you know

While the company started as an online book company back in 1995, it didn’t take long for Amazon.com to become an “everything store,” selling pretty much anything anyone might want to buy when they want to buy it. Counting all of its third-party sellers’ inventories, BigCommerce says the company offers at least 350 million products at any given time. No wonder it’s seen as the first place many consumers visit to make an online purchase!

In light of its existing reach, there’s no reason to think it won’t continue growing. BigCommerce adds that nearly 200 million people shop with Amazon every month. Still, there are nearly 8 billion people on the planet, most of whom are not yet regular Amazon customers.

The problem is that the company’s consumer-facing online retailing business isn’t exactly what you’d call wildly profitable. Here’s another interesting fact: It doesn’t matter. The graphic below is telling, visually comparing Amazon’s operating income for its North American e-commerce arm, its international e-commerce unit, and its cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS).

While at one time the company’s online shopping operation carried all the profit weight, since 2018 its cloud computing service’s bottom line has been just as important as its North American retailing business. Indeed, since 2019, AWS has been the biggest moneymaker by far, doing more for the bottom line than North America’s and its overseas e-commerce efforts combined.

As it turns out, the company’s customer acquisition and online shopping expansion is proving very expensive, with inflation only making matters worse. As was already noted, though, it just doesn’t matter. Amazon Web Services has become such a monster of a business that it can keep the rest of the company afloat while nascent CEO Andy Jassy works on reshaping the online shopping marketplace into something sustainable.

More of the same profit growth on the way

Yet, Amazon Web Services has only scratched the surface of its potential. Numbers from technology market research outfit Technavio puts things in perspective. Its outlook suggests the worldwide cloud computing industry will grow at an annualized pace of 17% through 2025, ending that period $287 billion bigger than when it started.

Notably, Technavio believes North America alone — where Amazon has concentrated its cloud computing efforts — will account for 40% of this growth for a business that’s already a major profit engine for the company.

And that’s still not all of Amazon’s noteworthy growth opportunities outside of conventional e-commerce. While the company has been mostly guarded about providing details of the young business, last year’s full-year report confirmed it generated $31.2 billion worth of advertising revenue, monetizing all the traffic its shopping site draws by helping third-party sellers and advertisers steer people to particular products.

While 2021 was a banner year in terms of growth, eMarketer is still calling for at least two more years of double-digit increases for the company’s ad business. For perspective, Alphabet‘s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google generated $43.3 billion worth of search-based advertising sales last year. Bear in mind that this is also high-margin revenue as Amazon is only monetizing a website and traffic it already had, tacking on incremental business.

Millionaire-maker alert

Bottom line? Yes, Amazon is still one of those stocks that could help your portfolio reach the million-dollar mark. But the same investing advice that applied before still applies now, of course. Namely, keep your portfolio diversified and keep your expectations in check.

It’s unlikely that Amazon shares will see massive gains again over the coming 10 years since the bulk of the 20,000% return it dished out since the year 2000 was rooted in the fact that Amazon’s growth was so unexpected. Investors see it coming now, but they didn’t then.

Nevertheless, Amazon certainly has the potential to double or even triple in value throughout the coming decade. The key is simply leaving it alone for that long and letting the stock do its thing.

John Mackey, 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. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. The Motley Fool recommends Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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

The post Could Amazon help you become a millionaire by 2032? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Amazon stock rocketed off course today
• Will Amazon start paying a dividend?
• 3 differences between you and billionaires, and 1 thing you have in common
• 1 investing strategy to grow your money like magic
• Why Amazon stock was outperforming the market today

James Brumley owns Alphabet (A shares). John Mackey, 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. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

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The Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF) share price is down 3.56% amid news of a potential deal with Christian Super.

Australian Ethical is a fund manager that offers superannuation services.

Potential Australian Ethical merger with Christian Super?

Australian Ethical announced today that its superannuation subsidiary, Australian Ethical Superannuation, has signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding with Christian Super to explore a potential merger.

At this stage, the two parties have entered a non-binding period of due diligence and transition planning. If successfully concluded, Christian Super members will join Australian Ethical Super through a successor fund transfer in late 2022 or early 2023.

Australian Ethical expects to complete the due diligence process by the end of May 2022. The company plans to release more details once it is complete.

What’s attractive about a potential deal for Australian Ethical?

The fund manager said that both parties are confident the opportunity aligns with members’ best financial interests, offering “compelling” member benefits through increased scale, while also significantly amplifying their “combined impact as proven pioneers of ethical and responsible investing.”

If this merger goes ahead, it could see Australian Ethical manage more than $9 billion. That would be on behalf of 100,000 Australians across its range of superannuation, managed fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) products.

According to Christian Super, it has 30,000 members and around $2 billion of funds under management (FUM).

Why is Christian Super considering this?

APRA recently imposed additional licence conditions on the trustee of Christian Super, Christian Super Pty Ltd. The conditions are to protect the best financial interests of the fund’s members.

They address concerns arising from APRA’s investigation into Christian Super’s investment oversight, governance and strategic decision making. The conditions also aim to “rectify[ing] Christian Super’s persistent investment underperformance, which culminated in the fund’s MySuper product failing the first annual performance test” in August 2021.

Under those terms, Christian Super is required to merge with a larger, better-performing fund by 31 July 2022.

Christian Super acknowledges that being part of a larger fund with more members and retirement savings is likely to deliver additional financial benefits to Christian Super members.

Why choose Australian Ethical? According to the Christian Super board, it seemed the most attractive when evaluating various factors.

Board commentary

Chair of Australian Ethical Steve Gibbs said:

We’re delighted to be exploring this opportunity with Christian Super. It is a meaningful endorsement of our purpose and investment philosophy, which remain unchanged and only strengthened by this opportunity.

Recent research shows that more Australians than ever expect their money to be invested responsibly and ethically. This comes as no surprise to us at Australian Ethical. We’ve seen extraordinary growth as Australians seek to invest in line with their values.

This opportunity not only accelerates the trajectory we are on through clear stakeholder benefits but also significantly enhances our influence as the leading ethical investment voice in Australia.

Australian Ethical share price snapshot

Since the start of the 2022 year, the Australian Ethical share price has dropped 48.8%.

The post Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) share price in focus on possible Christian Super merger appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Are these 2 compelling ASX shares buys in April 2022?

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. owns and has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Calls for tighter Russian sanctions following alleged war crimes in Bucha could give some ASX shares a second boost.

Our market has already been outperforming since Russia invaded Ukraine. The conflict is driving up commodity prices and a new round of global sanctions could give commodities another leg up.

This puts resource-rich ASX shares in the driver’s seat even as inflation and economic growth risks weigh on the broader market.

ASX coal shares among the sanction winners

If you are wondering which shares on our bourse are best placed to outperform, Datt Capital’s managing director Emanuel Datt has picked five to watch in an article on Livewire.

Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) are on Datt’s list.

Whitehaven sells thermal coal to Japanese and Korean customers, while New Hope produces thermal coal from its majority-owned Bengalla mine located in NSW.

ASX shares looking cheap in this climate

“Whitehaven trades at just over 1x expected [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] EBITDA at current thermal coal spot prices and is currently buying back 10% of its shares on market,” said Datt.

“New Hope trades at just over 1x expected EBITDA at current thermal coal spot prices and is due to pay an interim fully franked dividend of 30c a share (equating to over 12% yield grossed up).

“The company has one of the highest franking credit balances of any company on the ASX and we expect the board to release this embedded value to shareholders in a timely manner.”

Another ASX mining share in the commodities box seat

Another ASX share to watch is South32 Ltd (ASX: S32). The diversified miner is a significant producer of base metals, aluminium, and coking coal.

“S32 is highly capital disciplined and has been buying back its shares on-market since 2017 and this continues today,” Datt explained.

“These repurchases have been highly value-accretive to shareholders and the company trades at approximately 2x EBITDA at current spot prices.”

Two ASX shares shining bright

The BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) share price also looks cheap in this environment. The steel producer is buying back around 10% of its shares on-market and trades at circa 2x EBITDA. That’s arguably too low given its strong fundamentals and positive outlook for steel prices and demand, added Datt.

The tailwinds behind the BlueScope share price should also benefit the Vulcan Steel Ltd (ASX: VSL) share price.

Recently listed on the ASX, Vulcan is a steel distribution business operating in the ANZ region.

Is this ASX share set to double in price?

“Vulcan is experiencing excellent tailwinds from these inflationary markets with reported EBITDA per tonne of steel sold doubling in HY22 relative to FY2022,” said Datt.

“The business has several attractive qualitative factors which make the present value quite compelling and we value the business around 50% higher than present market prices.”

The post Could these ASX shares be set to benefit from increasing Russian sanctions? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 commodities players were the major winners in March. Take a look
• 3 ASX shares to buy in the hottest sector right now: experts
• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares during the first quarter
• What boosted the Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price on Friday?
• Here’s a look at some ASX shares with ex-dividend dates coming up in April

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns BlueScope Steel Limited and South32 Ltd. 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 Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking for a few new additions to your portfolio in April, then look no further. Analysts at Morgans have picked out a number of ASX 200 shares that they class as their best ideas for the month ahead.

These are the shares they think offer the highest risk-adjusted returns over a 12-month timeframe and are supported by a higher-than-average level of confidence.

The first three we looked at can be found here. Whereas below are three more ASX 200 shares that the broker rates highly:

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)

If you’re looking to gain exposure to booming energy prices, then Morgans believes Santos could be a good way to do it. Its analysts have an add rating and $9.00 price target on the company’s shares.

It explained: “We expect the resilience of STO’s growth profile and diversified earnings base see it best placed to outperform against a backdrop of a broader sector recovery. While pre-FEED, we see Dorado as likely to provide attractive growth for STO, while its recent acquisition increasing its stake in Darwin LNG has increased our confidence in Barossa’s development.”

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Another ASX 200 share that Morgans likes is toll road operator Transurban. The broker expects the company’s dividends to rebound strongly as traffic volumes improve post-COVID. Morgans has an add rating and $14.29 price target on Transurban’s shares.

It commented: “TCL owns a pure play portfolio of toll road concession assets located in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and North America. This provides exposure to regional population and employment growth and urbanisation. […] Watch for rapid recovery in DPS alongside traffic recovery and WestConnex acquisition prospects.”

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Morgans is very positive on this conglomerate. It currently has an add rating and $58.50 price target on the company’s shares. It rates Wesfarmers highly due to the strength of its retail portfolio and its talented management team.

The broker commented: “WES possesses one of the highest quality retail portfolios in Australia with strong brands including Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks. The company is run by a highly regarded management team and the balance sheet is healthy. While COVID-related staff shortages are a challenge, the core Bunnings division (>60% of group EBIT) remains a solid performer as consumers continue to invest in their homes. We see the recent pullback in the share price as a good entry point for longer term investors.”

The post Broker names 3 more of best ASX 200 shares to buy in April appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Coles share price falls amid reports Wesfarmers is selling down its stake: Time to buy?
• ASX 200 commodities players were the major winners in March. Take a look
• Why now is the time to sell Santos shares: fund manager
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the 5 worst-performing ASX hydrogen shares of the March quarter

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 owns and has recommended Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price rocketed up 25% in March.

That came as welcome news to crypto investors, who’d watched the world’s number 2 crypto by market cap tumble more than 36% from 1 January through to 24 February.

Down just over 2% in the past 24 hours to US$3,321 (AU$4,551), the Ethereum price has now fallen 12% year-to-date.

With a big month of gains behind us, we asked an expert panel what could send the token higher and what might drag it lower over the coming quarter.

We’ll start with the potential headwinds.

What headwinds could send the Ethereum price lower in Q2?

Josh Gilbert, crypto analyst at multi-asset investment platform eToro, told the Motley Fool:

The biggest expected headwind for the Ethereum price is the threat of the merge and consequential upgrades being delayed. Since the start of the ETH 2.0 rollout most of its announced upgrades have been pushed back. This isn’t unusual though, as there are always associated risks when it comes to high technological upgrades.

Gilbert also pointed to rising competition from rival altcoins, particularly in the non-fungible token (NFT) space as a potential headwind:

Ethereum has started to see NFT volumes impact its price, due to the number of transactions on the network. One of the world’s biggest NFT marketplaces, Opensea recently announced that it would integrate Solana-based NFTs into the marketplace. As a direct response to this, users could choose to transition to Solana if gas fees get out of hand on the Ethereum network.

Ian Lowe, CEO of crypto wealth platform Dacxi, also pointed to the coming merge, or protocol upgrade, as something crypto investors should watch closely:

The Ethereum price may become more volatile in the coming months, mainly because Ethereum is transitioning its technology to ‘Ethereum 2.0.’ using less energy-intensive Proof-of-Stake protocols. We will have to wait to see how the wider community responds to these upgrades.

Our third crypto expert, Daniel Sekers, managing director of crypto trading platform YourPortfolio, said the Ethereum price could come under pressure if investors lose confidence in its security.

Sekers told the Motley Fool:

I think the biggest impact you will see here right now will be driven by market sentiment. As recently as last week we saw reports of a US$600 million theft of Ethereum with hackers allegedly breaching gaming platform Ronin. This would be the second-biggest theft of assets using Ethereum that we are aware of.

Whilst this recent hack should reflect on the security of the platform from where the Ethereum was stolen, what we have seen in market reactions previously to these types of hacks is that investors lose some confidence in that particular currency.

Those are some headwinds for crypto investors to keep on their radar.

But what might push the Ethereum price higher?

What are the tailwinds that could send Ether higher in Q2?

Gilbert said, “The most significant tailwind for Ethereum in Q2 will be the scheduled rollout of ETH 2.0’s highly anticipated ‘merge’ upgrade. The merge represents Ethereum’s official switch from its Proof-of-Work model, to the Proof-of-Stake model.”

Should the merge go as planned, it will make Ethereum “more scalable, secure and sustainable by eliminating the need for energy-intensive mining,” he said.

Lowe said that the recent strong run indicates a “shift in momentum [that] should continue to drive the Ethereum price in the short to medium at least, with Ethereum breaking US$3,000 early on, after breaking through prior resistance at US$3,200”.

Sekers said that Ethereum’s coming shift from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake consensus is “one of the biggest developments that we will likely see in the near future”.

According to Sekers:

This is super important to the ongoing cost of transactions and will reduce the cost of transacting on the Ethereum blockchain. In addition, this will likely reduce the energy consumption underlying the Ethereum blockchain making it more popular with mainstream investors who are considering the ESG impacts of their investments.

The post The Ethereum price just ended a stellar month. Expert panel predicts what’s next appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• The Ethereum price rocketed 25% higher in March. Here’s why
• Here’s what ESG investors should know about cryptos like Bitcoin
• Why Ethereum and Dogecoin are dropping today
• This cryptocurrency just exploded 30% higher, overnight
• Ethereum price outpaces Bitcoin as crypto investors eye ‘The Merge’

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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