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The Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) share price is inching higher to start off the session today and is now trading at $1.74. That’s up 1.75%.

The regenerative medicine company’s shares are on the move after it reported its results for the first quarter ended September 30, 2021.

Here are the key takeouts from Mesoblast’s Q1 trading update.

Mesoblast share price gains on revenue and cash growth

Key investment highlights for the quarter include:

• Total Revenue was US$3.6 million for the first quarter FY2022, a year on year increase of US$2.3 million
• Net operating cash usage was US$19.6 million for the quarter, a reduction of US$8.6 million on the year prior
• Research and Development expenses reduced by US$10.0 million, or 52%, for the Q1 FY22 from US$19.3 million for Q1 FY21
• Manufacturing expense reduced by 37%, down from US$11.9 million for the first Q1 FY21
• Loss after tax improved to US$22.6 million, a US$1.9 million improvement year on year
• The net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was 3.49 US cents per share, compared with 4.21 US cents the same time last year.

What happened in Q1 FY22 for Mesoblast?

The company achieved several progress points this quarter. Total revenue for Q1 was US$3.6 million, an increase of US$2.3 million on Q1 FY21.

The boost in revenue was largely driven by growth in royalties and a US$1.2 million milestone payment regarding the Alofisel product’s manufacture and marketing in Japan.

In addition, royalty income from its Temcell HS segment in Japan was US$2.4 million, an increase of 22% on the previous quarter, and of 90% on Q1 FY21.

To secure cash, Mesoblast successfully entered into the refinancing and expansion of a senior debt facility with Oaktree Capital Management.

The new US$90 million, 5-year secured facility has a 3-year interest-only period and matures in November 2026.

As a result of the new debt, and other borrowing arrangements, finance costs were US$3.6 million for the quarter, compared to US$2.9 million for the year prior.

Even still, net cash operating usage was US$19.6 million for the quarter, a reduction of US$8.6 million year on year. As a result, the company’s after-tax loss improved by US$1.9 million on the same period in FY21 to US$22.6 million.

Mesoblast also made progress on developing its drug candidates this quarter. The company is in talks with the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) on how to get its rexlemestrocel-L candidate approved for use in “heart failure patients at high risk of cardiovascular mortality, heart attacks or strokes”.

Manufacturing expense also reduced by 37% to US$7.5 million due to a reduction in “process development activities”. During the quarter, Mesoblast also continued to build its “pre-launch inventory levels of remestemcel-L to support the long-term commercial supply for SR-aGVHD and COVID ARDS”.

What did management say?

Speaking on the announcement, Mesoblasts’s CEO Silviu Itescu said:

We are pleased to have entered into a strategic financing partnership with leading global investment management firm Oaktree Capital as we focus on bringing our first product to the US market and in line with our commercial growth strategy over the next five years.

In the past 12 months, the Mesoblast share price has lost more than 61%, falling 22% this year to date.

The post Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) share price crawls higher on Q1 trading update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The author Zach Bristow has no positions 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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Shares in resources giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) surged 1.5% at the open on Wednesday, after finishing up 4% in yesterday’s session. The BHP share price is $38.28 at the time of writing.

Investors responded positively to BHP and Woodside Petroleum Limited‘s (ASX: WPL) announcement yesterday. The pair is set to merge their respective oil and gas portfolios and create a global energy company.

BHP also advised yesterday it had approved a capital allocation of US$1.5 billion to develop phase 1 of its Scarborough project in Western Australia.

These top brokers have a buy rating on BHP shares. And each has recently updated the market on its outlook for BHP investors. Let’s take a closer look.

What’s the verdict on the BHP share price?

Following BHP and Woodside’s announcement yesterday, the team at RBC Capital Markets has weighed in on the debate. The transaction is still considered a taxable item in the eyes of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). RBC notes this could be a risk to cash flows.

However, it highlights BHP investors might benefit from the deal, given the dividend schedule and exchange ratio of Woodside shares.

RBC says that “the new WPL shares will be distributed to BHP shareholders as an in-specie fully franked dividend,” meaning that BHP shareholders won’t realise the tax impact.

It also states the “cost base of the issued WPL shares will also be higher relative to a pro-rata split (unlike South32 which received demerger relief)”.

RBC also takes note of “BHP’s orderly (and lengthy) exit from coal” in a previous note to clients, pointing to the sale of its BMC stake. The broker reckons that BHP is likely to share the profits of this deal with shareholders via a special dividend.

RBC also reckons that BHP will likely hold onto its own BMA metallurgical coal business and push towards high-quality steelmaking coal. These factors combined help build RBC’s buy case for BHP. It has an outperform rating and $42/share price target on the company.

Fellow broker Macquarie has also weighed into the investment debate. It too reckons BHP shareholders might benefit from a special dividend this year.

Macquarie thinks the miner could end FY22 in a net cash position of $3.2 billion. That’s since offloading its petroleum business and selling its BMC stake. This “indicates ample additional cash return capacity” even when factoring in an 80% payout ratio for FY22.

Regarding BHP’s sale of its BMC stake to Stanmore, Macquarie likes the deal structure as it won’t see BHP hand over operations until 2022. This “is a positive for BHP given the current buoyant coal prices,” as economic ownership won’t be backdated, unlike other divestments BHP has completed recently.

The broker also has an outperform rating on the BHP share price and values BHP at $52/share. This implies an over 36% upside potential at the time of writing.

What’s the sentiment?

Out of the 14 analysts covering BHP, 9 have a buy rating on the share. The average price target from the group is $43.98. This consensus figure implies an upside potential of around 15.5% at the time of writing.

The team at Argus is the most optimistic, with an $85.75/share price target. Whereas other brokers have a $39 valuation on BHP shares.

The spread in the top and bottom price targets from analysts covering the share is wide at $54 or 180%. No brokers have a sell rating on BHP at this stage.

BHP share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, the BHP share price has slipped into the red, after losing over 10% this year to date.

It has levelled off in the last month, and is up around 1% in that time. Regardless, BHP shares are lagging the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) return of around 13% in the last year of trading.

The post These top brokers say the BHP (ASX:BHP) share price is a bargain buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
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• Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price climbing as megadeals signed off
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: BHP, Woodside rise, TechnologyOne falls

The author Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has 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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With Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) readying itself to merge with Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) and (mostly) leave the ASX, Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) is set to become the market’s largest buy now, pay later (BNPL) share.

But is it a buy? The Motley Fool Australia analyst Kate Lee joined our chief investment officer Scott Phillips to weigh up the sector’s second-largest company.

Those interested in the entirely of the pair’s conversation can find The Motley Fool Australia YouTube channel here. Otherwise, we’ve laid out the highlights below.

Right now, the Zip share price is $5.36.

A quick note before we start: Lee and Phillips discussed the ins and outs of Zip a few months ago. Thus, some of the specifics may have changed in the time since.

Breaking down the good and the bad of Zip shares

According to Lee, Zip shares have some definite strengths.

Zip is the ASX’s second-largest BNPL provider by market capitalisation. With a valuation of around $3.1 billion, Zip is around 10 times smaller than Afterpay.

However, come the end of financial year 2021, Zip recorded $403.2 million of revenue. Meanwhile, Afterpay saw $978.9 million of income on a constant currency basis.   

Additionally, as Lee points out, Zip’s results for the fourth quarter of financial year 2021 saw its revenue boosted by 104% on that of the prior corresponding period. She commented:

In a way, and of course from a small base, they are actually growing faster than Afterpay… Yes, [Zip] is the second best, but surely there’s some room to catch up in terms of valuation.

Zip is also branching out into the United States BNPL market. The company acquired QuadPay last year and has recently rebranded it to Zip in the United States.

Lee pointed that only around 1% of transactions in the US use a BNPL service.

For context, the global average is around 3% and, in Australia and the United Kingdom, it’s approximately 5%.

It seems the United States BNPL sector has room to grow, and it is growing quickly.

However, Lee isn’t entirely bullish on Zip shares. She said:

There are two big elephants in the room, which are: #1, Intensifying competition which is always a bad thing, and #2, Regulatory risks.

Lee stated the company might have a tough time expanding into the United States, and further afield, as industry competition is rife:

There are big guys, small guys, some combination of banking and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), and there’s PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), Square – with Afterpay now…

When the sector gets crowded, this means you can’t increase your fees as easily because you need to compete… and you probably need to spend more to keep up your pace of growth.

Another shadow that could pounce on Zip is that of regulators, which could increase pressure on the industry. That is, of course, a risk to all BNPL providers.

Finally, as Zip’s scale is smaller than its competitors, it hasn’t got access to the amount of information that players such as Afterpay do. Lee noted:

In this technology world, the value of information is very high… this user data [is fed] back to their algorithm or artificial intelligence to analyse, to do a better job of credit risk analysis, which is actually the core quality of [BNPL] providers.

So, maybe that explains why Afterpay’s expenses are around 1% of its total transactions. As against Zip’s [which is] actually creeping up and is now standing at about 2.2%.  

I’m not saying it won’t get better… but generally it has the winners in terms of economies of scale, in terms of cash spending.

Lee concludes that, while she sees value in Zip shares, she doesn’t personally think it will be a market beater over the long term.

The post Are Zip (ASX:Z1P) shares a buy? Some pros and cons from Motley Fool analyst Kate Lee appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s what top brokers are saying about the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price forecast
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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 shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Square, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple and PayPal Holdings. 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 Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP) share price has been a very strong performer on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the cloud-based communications management systems platform provider’s shares are up 14% to $2.40.

Why is the Whispir share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been bidding the Whispir share price higher today following the release of an update on its guidance for FY 2022 ahead of its annual general meeting.

According to the release, Whispir now expects its revenue to be in the range of $64 million to $68 million in FY 2022. This represents a year on year increase of between 34% and 42%.

In addition, it is an improvement on its prior guidance of revenue in the range of $57.2 million to $60.2 million which was given just over a month ago.

But the good news doesn’t stop there. Whispir’s guidance for EBITDA excluding non-cash share-based payments for FY 2022 is now a loss of $11.2 million to $13.2 million. This compares to previous guidance for a loss of $13 million to $15.5 million.

What is driving this?

Management advised that Whispir is well positioned for growth in FY 2022, predicated by its book of long-term, blue chip clients.

It notes that several new business wins, including a sizeable customer in North America, provides confidence that the sales pipeline is strong, and the product is delivering to meet the changing needs of customers across the core regions of ANZ, Asia, and North America.

Commenting on the upgraded revenue and EBITDA guidance, Founder and CEO, Jeromy Wells said: “This improved forecast performance, in revenue and EBITDA, validates that our strategy is working. Our updated guidance also highlights the valuable role we’re playing in the delivery of COVID specific communications across our install base.”

“Our ‘return to work’ and ‘vaccine roll-out’ campaigns are clearly benefiting our top-line and they also provide an increased opportunity, for up-sell and cross-sell, introducing our platform, and our products, to an expanding customer base,” he added.

The post Why is the Whispir (ASX:WSP) share price rocketing 14% higher? 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 shares of and has recommended Whispir Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Whispir 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 Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price is falling on Wednesday. At the time of writing, shares in the company are down 2.41% to $5.065 apiece.

This follows the release of the retailer’s trading update for the period between 1 July 2021 and 21 November 2021.

Let’s take a look at how the company has fared.

Hard to beat record sales

In its update today, Harvey Norman has informed investors of a weaker start to the new financial year than its previous.

According to the release, aggregate sales revenue for the first 4 months and 20 days came in 8.8% lower than last year. For reference, the same period in 2020 was one of record performance for Harvey Norman.

At that time, sales revenue posted a year-on-year growth of 28.2%. Meanwhile, aggregated sales revenue is up 16.9% when compared to the pre-COVID-19 months in 2019.

A depreciation in multiple currencies where Harvey operates contributed to the weaker sales revenue growth. Namely, a 2.9% depreciation in the Euro, a 1.7% depreciation in the Singaporean dollar, and a 2.9% depreciation in the Malaysian Ringgit.

Although, this was partially offset by a 2.7% and 3.0% appreciation in the New Zealand dollar and UK pound respectively.

Similarly, the company’s profit before tax took a tumble compared to the prior corresponding period. Unaudited preliminary accounts for the period indicated a profit before tax of $217.42 million. This represents a 35.5% fall compared to last year’s $337.11 million. This significant drop in profits could be influencing the Harvey Norman share price fall today.

However, the retail giant is in a much better position than pre-COVID. Profit before tax is up 70.1% compared to the 2019 period.

Malaysia and Australian franchisees were the most impacted countries for sales revenue during the period. On a comparable basis, these regions were down 24.6% and 11.1% year on year.

Harvey Norman share price under the microscope

While the Harvey Norman share price remains above its pre-COVID levels, it has performed roughly in line with the benchmark index.

Since the start of 2021, the retail giant has gained 8.5%. Though, this fails to exceed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which has climbed 10.9%.

The Harvey Norman share price currently trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 7.7 times.

The post Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) share price falls as profit before tax sinks 35.5% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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 shares of and has recommended Harvey Norman Holdings 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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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?

The downward trajectory of popular meme token Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) is continuing Tuesday. As of 8 a.m. ET, it had fallen by more than 7% over the previous 24 hours. 

Earlier this week, it was reported that Shiba Inu had been dethroned as the most-traded cryptocurrency on popular exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). Top cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ether (CRYPTO: ETH) saw more trading volume than the meme token for the first time in three weeks. 

Additionally, Shiba Inu’s official Twitter account flagged various scams using the cryptocurrency to target investors interested in altcoins. The official Shiba Inu team has reiterated that it is not conducting any promotions of the token — no airdrops, no giveaways, no gifts, etc., so any social media account that says otherwise is likely involved in a scam.

So what?

Tuesday’s decline in SHIB was the largest among the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation. Investors appear to be concerned that Shiba Inu is losing momentum and appeal among the category of retail investors who have propped up its price in recent months. 

Falling back behind Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of trading volume is still nothing to be ashamed of. However, it’s clear that the speculative mania around Shiba Inu may be fizzling. This token has gone from accounting for approximately 25% of the trading volume on Coinbase a couple of weeks ago to 6.7% of the volume over the past week.

Additionally, concerns about the various scams popping up that utilize Shiba Inu may suggest to some investors that the meme token is simply too speculative to invest in. Those who have described the rally in meme tokens as a bubble may certainly point to the scammers attempting to target the Shiba Inu community as another reason to stay away from that cryptocurrency.

Now what?

For meme tokens like Shiba Inu, trading volume is an important metric. The fact that SHIB appears to be losing some lustre with investors suggests that its value may be under pressure for some time.

How much of this trading volume decline is related to investors losing interest, or to investors becoming wary of the bubble-like nature of the meme token space, is unclear. However, it appears that significant numbers of crypto investors are looking to rotate into (or at least diversify into) other surging cryptocurrencies right now.

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

The post Why Shiba Inu Coin sank 7% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Chris MacDonald owns shares of Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company The Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. 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.

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

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The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is pushing higher on Wednesday morning.

At the time of writing, the biotherapeutics company’s shares are up 1% to $319.78.

Why is the CSL share price rising?

The catalyst for the rise in the CSL share price this morning appears to have been the release of an announcement relating to its Seqirus business.

According to the release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted supplemental approval of a multi-dose vial (MDV) formulation of Audenz. This is the first-ever adjuvanted, cell-based influenza vaccine designed to help protect individuals six months of age and older against influenza A(H5N1) in the event of a pandemic.

Audenz was originally approved by the FDA in a single dose, prefilled syringe (PFS) presentation in 2020.

Management notes that FDA approval of the MDV presentation of Audenz marks an important milestone in Seqirus’ pandemic preparedness efforts in partnership with Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

BARDA is a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Under the terms of the public-private partnership, which was established in 2009, Seqirus would position itself to deliver 150 million influenza vaccine doses to the U.S. government to support an influenza pandemic response within six months.

Seqirus’ Executive Director, Marc Lacey, commented: “Producing AUDENZ in multi-dose vials allows for increased speed and efficiency, which is absolutely critical to help protect public health in the case of an influenza pandemic. According to the CDC, the influenza A(H5N1) virus is highly pathogenic and has high pandemic potential, so it’s critical to be prepared. Seqirus is committed to partnering with key stakeholders to develop adequate and effective influenza pandemic preparedness plans.”

What is pandemic influenza?

While similar to seasonal influenza, pandemic influenza is a contagious airborne respiratory disease which is unpredictable in timing and severity and has a higher risk of morbidity and mortality.

This is because there is likely to be little or no pre-existing immunity to the virus in the human population.

CSL notes that four influenza pandemics have occurred over the past century, with the 1918 pandemic being the most severe in recent history and estimated to have killed up to 50 million people worldwide. As such, this makes the work Seqirus is doing extremely important for the global population.

The post CSL (ASX:CSL) share price higher on US FDA flu vaccine news 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 shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. 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 PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price is heading in the right direction at last on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the sports betting company’s shares have bounced off their 52-week low and are up 4% to $7.80.

Why is the PointsBet share price rising today?

Investors have been bidding the PointsBet share price higher today after it announced a positive development in the key United States market.

According to the release, through an exclusive partnership agreement with Colonial Downs Group and subsequent joint application for licensure, PointsBet has been awarded a temporary supplier license by the Virginia Lottery to offer online sports wagering in Virginia.

PointsBet’s USA CEO, Johnny Aitken, commented: “Being awarded the opportunity to offer PointsBet’s market-leading speed and ease of use, unrivaled slate of betting options, and overall in-play excellence to the people of Old Dominion is a great achievement and responsibility.”

“Alongside Colonial Downs, PointsBet is proud to partner with the Lottery in Virginia for our first lottery-regulated market license award. We couldn’t be more thrilled to further expand our exclusive relationship with NBC Sports – a staple to sports lovers in Virginia – and ultimately provide the great people in the state with the sportsbook they’ve been waiting for,” he added.

What now?

As the official, exclusive sports betting partner of NBC Sports, PointsBet intends to utilise the media giant’s premium television and digital assets to promote the PointsBet brand in Virginia.

Management also highlights that NBC Sports provides PointsBet with year-round, multi-platform media and marketing opportunities across its unmatched portfolio of events. This includes exclusive multi platform gameday integrations across NBC Sports Washington (in Virginia), which is the regional broadcast home to the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.

Despite today’s gain, the PointsBet share price is down 32% in 2021.

The post Why the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price is racing 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. owns shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings 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 TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE) share price was a poor performer on Tuesday.

The enterprise software company’s shares dropped almost 3% to $12.55 following the release of its full year results.

Why did the TechnologyOne share price fall?

The softness in the TechnologyOne share price appears to have been driven by its results falling a touch short of expectations.

For example, the company delivered revenue growth of 4% to $312 million. As a comparison, according to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts were forecasting revenue of $315.1 million.

In addition, the broker highlights that TechnologyOne’s final dividend was increased 8% to 10.35 cents per share, whereas its analysts were forecasting a 10% increase.

That said, there were far more positives that negatives from the result according to Bell Potter.

For instance, Technology One still outperformed the broker’s profit expectations despite its revenue miss. Profit before tax (PBT) grew 19% to $97.8 million, which was the high end of the company’s guidance range and 1% ahead of Bell Potter’s forecast of $97.1 million.

This was driven by lower than expected expenses. The broker highlights that total expenses (including R&D and D&A) were down 1% despite the company guiding to flat expenses and increasing its R&D spend by 13% year on year.

Another highlight for the broker was the company’s key metric of SaaS annual recurring revenue. It notes that this grew 43% in FY 2021, which was ahead of its forecast of 35%.

Is this a buying opportunity?

Bell Potter appears to believe the weakness in the TechnologyOne share price is a buying opportunity. This morning it retained its buy rating and $15.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current TechnologyOne share price, this implies potential upside of almost 20% for investors.

It commented: “We have updated each valuation used in the determination of our price target for the earnings changes as well as market movements and time creep. […] The net result, however, is no change in our PT of $15.00 which is >15% premium to the share price so we maintain our BUY recommendation. Overall we are encouraged by the strong conversion of customers to SaaS and the material benefits this brings to the company.”

The post Is the TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE) share price a buy after its results? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: BHP, Woodside rise, TechnologyOne falls
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• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 3 ASX 200 shares cruising past 52-week highs today
• Why this top broker is bullish on the TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE) share price

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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The Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price has fallen off a cliff since late October, shedding more than 15%.

The banking giant has faced tough trading conditions, which have led investors to flee after reporting its full-year results.

At yesterday’s closing bell, Westpac shares clawed back some gains to end the day 0.6% higher to $21.81.

How is Westpac performing lately?

Investors appear to have mixed feelings about the value of Westpac shares in the current climate. The company failed to hit market expectations in its 2021 scorecard, and its shares plummeted after the release.

Westpac experienced net interest margin (NIM) pressures driven by a raft of unfavourable market environment factors. Key drivers included lower spreads across new mortgages, reduced business lending interest rates, and reductions in personal and business lending average balances.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe that NIMs will continue to see headwinds in FY22 from competition and lower rates. This is expected to partially offset tailwinds generated by lower wholesale funding.

On volumes, Goldman Sachs predicts system housing loan growth to continue its positive momentum and for business lending to recover. Post-COVID-19 is expected to bring about a more positive operating environment and confident business sentiment.

Are Westpac shares good value?

Following the FY21 results, a number of brokers weighed in on the company’s share price.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded their outlook to an “equal weight” rating from “overweight” for the Westpac share price. The broker cut its price target by 14% to $24.80.

Goldman Sachs also reassessed their rating, reducing the view on Westpac shares by 11% to $25.60. Based on the current share price, this implies an upside of approximately 15%.

The most recent note came from multinational investment bank Bell Potter. The firm discounted Westpac shares by 4.1% to a 12-month price target of $26.

Westpac share price snapshot

Despite sinking in recent times, the Westpac share price has gained around 10% over the last 12 months. Although, when looking over a 5-year time frame, Westpac shares are down by more than 30%.

Westpac has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.45 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $80.01 billion.

The post After falling 15% in a month, is the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price good value? 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 recommended 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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