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It could be a big day on the ASX for this suddenly-massive company. At market open the Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is already heading up, 1.08% at the time of writing to $6.55.

Santos has hit the market as an approximately $22 billion entity today following the finalisation of its merger with Oil Search.

Let’s take a look at what’s driving the oil and gas giant’s stock on Monday.

Santos share price rises amid finalised merger

Today marks the first day the ASX has opened without Oil Search. Instead, it has heralded a much larger gas and oil producer.

The merger of the 2 companies was given its final green light on Friday afternoon.

By Friday evening, Oil Search’s stock had been pulled from the ASX and the Papua New Guinea Stock Exchange.

It followed on from a rocky merger process which saw delays from the Papua New Guinea National Court and an expert finding the transaction undervalued Oil Search shares.

Santos and Oil Search’s all scrip merger will see Oil Search shareholders receiving 0.6275 Santos shares for every Oil Search security they hold.

The new shares begin trading on a deferred settlement basis today, and on a normal settlement basis on 20 December.

Following the transaction, the oil and gas giant will have pro-forma 2021 production of around 117 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The company will also welcome 3 Oil Search directors to its board.

According to the ASX, at its current share price, Santos has a market capitalisation of around $13.49 billion. But that could change today, as the market might look to revalue the now-conjoined company.

Additionally, the Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) share price is one to keep an eye on following the merger’s finalisation today. The software development company was flagged as the replacement for Oil Search in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). While its share price surged 12% on the back of the news, in early trade on Monday the Life360 share price is down 1.89%.

The post $22 billion of newly merged Santos shares are fronting the ASX this morning. Here’s what you need to know appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• What will happen to Oil Search (ASX:OSH) shares following the Santos merger?
• Why Afterpay, AVZ, Irongate, and Santos shares are dropping
• Done deal: Santos (ASX:STO) and Oil Search (ASX:OSH) merger becomes effective
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Life360, Inc. 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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The Dubber Corp Ltd (ASX: DUB) share price has started the week in the red.

In morning trade, the call recording technology company’s shares are down 2% to $3.12

Why is the Dubber share price falling?

Investors have been selling down the Dubber share price today after weakness in the tech sector offset the signing of a deal with telco giant Optus.

According to the release, the company’s Unified Call Recording and Voice AI platform is launching on the Optus mobile network.

The release notes that this represents an Australian first and will see the platform made available as a native feature of the Optus mobile network. As a result, enterprise customers on Optus now have access to a cost-effective and complete recording and conversational insights solution across virtually any form of communication.

Management believes this will fill a gap for users. It highlights that the offering allows enterprise and government users to securely record all mobile calls for compliance, customer, people and revenue intelligence.

The launch is expected to provide an accretive revenue stream for Dubber, with additional revenues ultimately determined by the uptake of the service by Optus enterprise customers.

Management commentary

Dubber’s CEO, Steve McGovern, appeared to be pleased with the deal.

He commented: “With Dubber at the heart of one of Australia’s largest and most critical mobile networks, we are making the native recording available with AI on every participating phone. Optus is expanding its leadership in connecting Australian businesses to their employees and customers and this now includes the ability to try AI based enrichment of conversations with insights, automated workflows, and more. A conversation on Optus’ network is now worth more to a customer through the ability to capture and reveal insights from that conversation alongside others from other Optus services.”

Mr McGovern also believes there is a significant addressable market for Dubber to target with this offering.

He explained: “Optus Mobile Voice Recording and AI powered by Dubber opens up a significant addressable market, provides a key solution where, historically, there has been a tangible compliance gap and represents a significant leap forward in achieving Dubber’s vision of ‘AI for every phone’. Whatever industry you are working in – financial services, healthcare, retail, government, legal, entertainment, travel, or transport – the power of native mobile recording, sentiment analysis, storage, transcription and real-time “search-ability” will be available to you on your Optus mobile service.”

The post Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price falls despite announcing Optus deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Dubber (ASX:DUB) share price plunges 6% despite BT deal

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 Dubber Corporation. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Dubber Corporation. 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 Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8) share price is falling on Monday morning.

At the time of writing, the media networking solution provider’s shares are down 3.5% to $10.11.

Why is the Audinate share price falling?

The Audinate share price is falling on Monday despite announcing a new acquisition. This may be due to broad weakness in the tech sector this morning.

According to the release, Audinate has signed an agreement to acquire the video business of Belgium-based Silex Insight for an up-front cash payment of US$6.5 million. This represents approximately 2.3 times forecast revenue for the financial year ending 31 December 2021.

A revenue earn-out of up to US$1.5 million may also be payable based on the uplift in revenue for the twelve-month period from acquisition date.

The company notes that the Silex video business produces video networking products for manufacturers of audio-visual (AV) equipment. The products include IP Cores, Viper Board, Video ASSP, and three video compression technologies.

Management believes it is a strategically compelling acquisition because it complements Audinate’s existing video capabilities in Cambridge, UK. Furthermore, it aligns with the company’s strategic vision for video over IP. In particular, the transaction will increase video FPGA expertise, enable acceleration of the video product roadmap, and cement critical mass for video engineering in Europe.

Audinate’s Co-Founder and CEO, Aidan Williams, was very positive on the acquisition.

He commented: “We are very excited to acquire a team with widely recognised video hardware expertise and an existing revenue base. The video codecs and deep product expertise in the team, in combination with our Dante networking technology, will enable us to go to market with a variety of full-service video offerings.”

“This acquisition complements the video software skills in the Cambridge (UK) team we established earlier in the year. Together these two deals significantly enhance our video capabilities and know-how – outcomes that have been achieved in only twelve months, notwithstanding the challenges presented by COVID,” Williams added.

The proposed transaction is expected to complete on 31 January 2022, subject to the achievement of conditions precedent standard for this type of transaction.

The post Audinate (ASX:AD8) share price tumbles despite announcing acquisition appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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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. owns and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO. 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 Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU) share price is on course to start the week with a gain.

In early trade, the immuno-oncology company’s shares are up 4% to 53.5 cents.

Why is the Imugene share price charging higher?

The catalyst for the rise in the Imugene share price on Monday has been the release of two positive announcements this morning.

In respect to the first announcement, the company revealed that it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Investigational New Drug (IND) approval to initiate a Phase I clinical trial of its oncolytic virotherapy candidate, VAXINIA (CF33-hNIS, HOV2).

This allows Imugene to start patient recruitment and dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the MAST (Metastatic or Advanced Solid Tumors) study in multiple solid tumour type patients.

Imugene’s Managing Director and CEO, Leslie Chong, commented: “Imugene receiving this IND approval for VAXINIA from the FDA is a crucial step forward. The start of our VAXINIA OV study is a significant milestone for clinicians treating patients faced with the challenge of solid tumour cancers. Accomplishing this goal speaks to the perseverance and dedication of Imugene’s and City of Hope’s research and development teams as we continue to build on our clinical and commercial potential.”

What else was announced?

Also boosting the Imugene share price was news that it has received FDA IND approval to initiate a new phase 2 clinical trial of its immunotherapy candidate, HER-Vaxx.

This allows Imugene to start patient recruitment and dosing for the nextHERIZON study in HER2/neu overexpressing metastatic or advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction, also known as Advanced Gastric Cancer (AGC).

Leslie Chong commented: “Imugene receiving this IND approval for HER-Vaxx from the FDA is another important step forward. To achieve two IND’s for our programs (OV and B Cell) concurrently is an outstanding result for the team.”

It certainly has been a big month for the company. Last week it was announced that the Imugene share price would be added to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) at the quarterly rebalance later this month.

The post Why the Imugene (ASX:IMU) share price is charging higher 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 Bruce Jackson.

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As COVID-19 Omicron and inflation fears drove investors away from growth stocks in recent weeks, technology shares have suffered.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is down more than 4.7% in the past month, even though a rise in interest rates actually hasn’t happened yet.

But for many of these tech shares, the underlying businesses haven’t fundamentally changed, nor their future potential.

As such, let’s take a look at 2 ASX tech shares that Medallion Financial managing director Michael Wayne thinks are up for a big 2022:

Pricing power and large overseas market

Raiz Invest Ltd (ASX: RZI) is a micro-investment app that’s seen its shares rise 76% this year, although it did most of the heavy lifting before March.

Wayne reckons this fintech is one to watch next year.

“As we enter 2022, one business that we think is well-positioned to prosper even in the event of an inflationary environment is a company called Raiz,” he posted on Livewire.

“We believe the potential impact of rising inflation on the business is unlikely to have much of a direct impact on customer willingness to invest.”

According to Wayne, the business has shown an ability to increase prices to increase its revenue, rather than purely relying on attracting new clients.

“Over the years, the company has been able to steadily implement platform fee increases from $1.25 per month to $2.50 per month and now $3.50 per month — levels of growth that far exceed the minor growth experienced in customer acquisition costs.”

Raiz is also expanding into south-east Asia, where the market is even more primed as a “first-mover” for mobile-based investment solutions.

“Indonesia has a very large official population of 277 million, of which approximately 55 million are considered to be target customers for Raiz,” said Wayne.

“Aside from being a large potential customer base, the target population is smartphone savvy with each Indonesian having to an extent skipped the personal computer era and said to own on average 4 mobile phones per person.”

Raiz shares closed Friday at $1.74, up 2.35% for the day.

‘A compelling investment opportunity’

Longtime ASX darling Seek Limited (ASX: SEK) has continued on its merry way in 2021, gaining in excess of 20% during the year.

The job-hunting website hasn’t fared too badly even during the tech rout in the past month, with the stock price actually pushing up 3.14%.

Wayne’s team still likes the look of Seek in their portfolio.

“We remain positive on Seek as the apparent earnings implications resulting from years of product and early-stage venture investments are starting to be realised,” Wayne told Money magazine.

“With a footprint spanning the globe, solid management team, high demand for skilled employees, and a pipeline of new opportunities offering differentiating characteristics, we believe Seek presents as a compelling investment opportunity within the current market.”

It’s not necessarily a consensus pick among other professionals though.

According to CMC Markets, 5 out of 10 analysts rate Seek as a “hold” while 4 think it’s a “strong buy”.

Seek shares closed Friday at $35.22.

The post 2 ASX tech shares to keenly watch in 2022 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Could this ASX share really be the next Afterpay (ASX:APT)?
• Raiz (ASX:RZI) share price climbs 8% as Seven West Media makes strategic investment
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• SEEK (ASX:SEK) share price falls despite FY 2022 guidance update
• Why Chalice Mining, CBA, Nufarm, and SEEK shares are sinking

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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 SEEK 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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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.

What happened

As of 1:00 p.m. ET, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) appreciated 3.3%, 1.2%, and 4.8%, respectively. Earlier in the day, Ethereum showed a 24-hour gain of 3.8%. These modest moves higher have coincided with a rather strong momentum this weekend, on the heels of an early Saturday sell-off that hit the cryptocurrency market yesterday.

Cryptocurrency investors appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to these large-cap cryptocurrencies, in the wake of what has turned out to be a bumpy week for these major tokens. Each of these three tokens started its sell-off on Wednesday, following a congressional meeting between key cryptocurrency CEOs and lawmakers to discuss the potential for regulation in the cryptocurrency market earlier this week.

So what

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano account for approximately 65% of the cryptocurrency market combined. These blockchain networks are behind the vast majority of real-world use cases in the cryptocurrency world. Accordingly, investors often look to these top-6 tokens as bellwethers of which way the wind is blowing in the cryptocurrency universe.

This week’s choppy price action suggests investors are increasingly concerned about the regulatory outlook for the cryptocurrency market moving forward. Capital inflows into the cryptocurrency market may be hampered by higher regulation, with taxation concerns related to Biden’s spending bill already providing headwinds for this sector.

Additionally, early enthusiasts have jumped into the cryptocurrency market due to the idea that the government can’t touch this asset class. The privacy and anonymity provided by major cryptocurrencies are some of the key reasons investors have jumped aboard. The lack of ties to the government, regulators, or other large financial institutions also plays a significant part in their investment theses.

Thus, there’s concern that any sort of appeasement efforts by large cryptocurrency players could impact the investment thesis for this entire sector, which would have adverse impacts particularly for large-cap tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano.

Now what

Based on the initial conversations between prominent cryptocurrency figures and regulators, it appears the market is pricing in some likelihood of broad regulation taking hold in the cryptocurrency space. For investors, these headwinds may be hard to price in, leading to some near-term volatility in the price of these major tokens.

This weekend, it appears these three major tokens are starting to find some footing. There have been plenty of peaks and valleys in the past. And perhaps this will be just the latest volatile swing on a march to new all-time highs. 

However, the risks associated with cryptocurrency investments remain much higher than most asset classes. Accordingly, the wait-and-see approach the market is taking right now with these top tokens may be warranted. 

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

The post Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano continue to recover from late-week selloffs appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Polkadot are heading lower today

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

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The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price can’t seem to catch a break, with investors abandoning the financial services company. This has led its shares to sink 20% since this time last month despite AMP announcing a number of updates.

The company’s shares hit a low of 91.5 cents on 7 December. That’s a smidgen off its multi-decade low of 88.5 cents reached in late September.

At Friday’s market close, AMP shares registered a 1.56% loss to 94.5 cents.

AMP focuses on planned demerger and strategy

The path for the new AMP has seen management implement a number of sweeping changes to drive greater business efficiencies. By simplifying its operating models, this enables the company to address the different clients, geographies, cultures, and growth trajectories across the group.

Last month, AMP provided an update regarding its planned demerger for AMP Limited and AMP Capital’s Private Markets business (PrivateMarketsCo).

It noted that the operational separation is on track for end of 2021, with the demerger effective in June 2022.

However, the AMP share price has taken a dive regardless of the announcement. This can be drawn from the recent impairment charges of $325 million weighing down the company’s balance sheet.

In addition, news broke that AMP may need to raise capital to fund its businesses post-merger. Costs associated with the separation and transformation of AMP are expected to be up to $295 million within the coming years.

A small shareholding sale facility conducted during 27 November and 2 December saw AMP shareholders offload the company’s shares. The facility reached out to its 700,000 shareholders who retain a value of $500 or less in AMP shares.

In total, 205,148 AMP shareholders sold about 52.03 million AMP shares at a price of $1.0929 per share. This represented the volume-weighted average price received by the broker for all the shares sold under the facility.

AMP previously stated that the sale facility will reduce administration and registry costs associated with servicing small shareholdings.

About the AMP share price

Adding further disappointment, the AMP share price has continued to slide in the last 12 months, down 45%. Year-to-date, its shares are hovering around a 40% loss for the period.

This is in stark contrast to the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) which has gained 15% from this time last year. In 2021, the index has pushed 18% higher.

AMP presides a market capitalisation of roughly $3.09 billion, with approximately 3.27 billion shares outstanding.

The post Why has the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price fallen 20% in a month? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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. 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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The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price edged higher on Friday, coming within range of breaking a multi-year high.

By Friday’s closing bell, the telco provider’s shares had picked up momentum, climbing 0.25% higher to $4.06. This means that the share price is now trading at the same levels as pre-COVID.

Telstra returns to Australia’s top corporate rankings

The release of the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) corporate tax transparency report for 2019-20 saw Telstra notch up a few places.

Part of the $57.2 billion haul for the ATO, Telstra re-entered the top 10 club of Australia’s biggest tax payers.

Coming in at first place, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) took the mantle, paying around $5.2 billion in tax. Fellow mining peer BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) was not far behind, having to dish out $4.6 billion to the ATO.

Moving down the list, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) occupied the third and fourth spot, respectively.

This was followed by the remaining big 3 banks, retail conglomerate, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), and finally Telstra.

The top-10 exclusive club had a combined tax bill of almost $25 billion. This is close to half the amount the remaining 1,578 organisations paid in tax.

Telstra paid $901 million to the ATO in 2019-20, a 4.4% increase from the $861 million paid the previous year.

The club no one wants to be part of

Notably, this is in stark contrast to United States tech giants Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB). The trio paid a collective total of $190 million in Australia, where revenue topped about $11.93 billion together. Apple generated the lion’s share with nearly $10 billion in total income for the financial year.

Unsurprisingly, the number of Australian companies that paid no tax in 2019-20 rose during COVID-19. The ATO revealed that 33%, or 782 businesses out of the 2,370 corporate entities examined, did not pay tax.

The ATO noted that multinational profit shifting was to blame, with companies declaring operating losses. A common loophole around the world, whereby tax is levied on profits and not gross income. Companies usually shift funds into countries that have extremely low taxes such as Ireland, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

About the Telstra share price

Throughout 2021 the Telstra share price has continued to climb, posting a gain of almost 35% for the period.

Late last month, the company’s shares reached a multi-year high of $4.09, a level not reached since 2017. It’s worth noting that the share price closed just 2 cents below that on Friday at $4.07.

Based on valuation metrics, Telstra commands a market capitalisation of around $48.07 billion, with approximately 11.84 billion shares on issue.

The post Telstra (ASX:TLS) just rejoined this exclusive, top-10 club appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. 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. Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Alphabet (A shares) and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Meta Platforms, Inc., and Westpac Banking Corporation. 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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Once a week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) remains the most shorted ASX share after its short interest rose again to 13.9%. Short sellers appear to believe the Omicron variant of COVID-19 could push back the travel market recovery.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest rise to 12.4%. A bad year got even worse for this ecommerce company last week when it was kicked out of the ASX 200 index.
• Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) has short interest of 11.6%, which is up again week on week. Much to the delight of short sellers, Redbubble was also kicked out of the ASX 200 index at the next quarterly rebalance.
• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has short interest of 9.4%, which is up week on week. Short sellers appear to believe Webjet’s recovery will be disrupted by the Omicron variant.
• Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) has short interest of 9.1%, which is up week on week. Balance sheet and trial uncertainty appear to be behind this high level of short interest.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has seen its short interest remain flat at 9%. Intense competition, concerns about rising industry fraud, and increasing costs could be weighing on sentiment.
• Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX: OBL) has short interest of 8.3%, which is up strongly week on week. It remains unclear why short sellers are targeting the class action funder, but their conviction appears to be increasing.
• Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) has entered the top ten with short interest of 8.1%. This appears to have been driven by reports that big tech companies are bypassing Appen and opting for in-house data annotation for artificial intelligence models. The launch of a competing product by Amazon could also be weighing on sentiment.
• BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) has short interest of 8%. Short sellers could be expecting weaker iron ore prices to lead to the mining giant falling short of expectations.
• Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) is back in the top ten with short interest of 7.5%. This medical device company’s softer than expected sales and CEO resignation have weighed on its shares this year.

The post These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares 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. owns and has recommended Appen Ltd, Kogan.com ltd, POLYNOVO FPO, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended Appen Ltd and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited and Webjet 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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The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has had a shocking 30 days, potentially due to the recent identification of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

But now, as the future begins to look a little brighter for the travel industry, is it time to buy into Australia’s trademark airline? These fundies think so.

The Qantas share price is $5.01. That’s 11.17% lower than it was this time last month.

Let’s take a look at what’s got experts excited over the Qantas share price.

Fundies mark Qantas share price a buy

According to Shaw and Partners senior investment advisor and author of Market Matters James Gerrish and Tribeca Investment portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu, Qantas is soaring towards bigger horizons.

The pair told Livewire they expect the airline to begin emerging from the pandemic stronger and leaner than before.

Gerrish commented on the last two years for the company:

[It’s] one of those businesses that have made good use of the pandemic, and I don’t say that lightly ­– obviously management have taken a challenging period, worked with it, and right-sized the business for the future.

So, they’ve done a whole bunch of things around their cost base [and] the domestic market has become a lot more rational.

In Gerrish’s eyes, that makes Qantas a buy at its current share price.

Liu also picked Qantas as a stock to buy. She believes the company will “deliver significant returns to shareholders”.

Though, Liu’s reasons are slightly different to Gerrish’s. Liu said:

The [Qantas] share price has come off as the new variant is, sort of, sending a bit of fear around.

My view is that this company is going to make most of its high margin money around Australia, rather international trouble, and that’s well on track…

And, as James said, they have right-sized the cost base and, in the next 12 to 18 months, we’ll return to normal [with] borders open.

While the last month has been tough for the Qantas share price, it’s still 2% higher than at the start of 2021.

The post Down 14% in a month, is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 retail shares lift as Aussies head into Christmas with $240bn in savings
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• Why has the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price had such a lousy start to December?
• Is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price at risk of a capital raise?

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper 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 Bruce Jackson.

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