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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is charging higher again on Thursday.

In late morning trade, the artificial intelligence data services company’s shares are up almost 3% to $11.65.

This means Appen’s shares are now up 30% since this time last month.

Can the Appen share price keep rising?

The good news is that one leading broker believes the Appen share price can keep rising from here. In fact, it has a price target well beyond where the company’s shares are trading today.

According to a note out of Citi from last week, its analysts have a buy rating and $17.10 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current Appen share price, this implies potential upside of 47% over the next 12 months. Not bad considering its recent gains!

Why is the broker bullish?

Citi has been bullish on Appen for a while, believing that it is well-placed to benefit from increasing demand for high quality data for artificial intelligence and machine learning models.

These models require huge quantities of high quality data in order to make their models successful. And that data needs to be prepared before being used. So, with a million-strong team of experts across the globe, Appen is able to provide tech giants such as Facebook and Google with the data they require.

Recently, however, COVID-19 led to many tech giants holding back on their artificial intelligence investment. This put a dampener on Appen’s growth and significant pressure on the Appen share price.

But at long last, the tide appears to be turning. Citi’s note highlights that Facebook has recently revealed that it intends to lift its artificial intelligence investment materially in FY 2022. The broker feels this bodes well for Appen and could lead to an increase in demand for its services.

All in all, while the Appen share price has rallied hard in recent weeks, this broker doesn’t appear to believe it is too late to get on board.

The post Is the Appen (ASX:APX) share price a serious bargain? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Move over Appen: A new artificial intelligence stock to list on the ASX
• Analysts name 2 excellent ASX growth shares to buy
• These were the best performing ASX tech shares in October
• The Appen (ASX:APX) share price has jumped 23% in the last month
• 3 fantastic ASX shares that could be buys in November

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 Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Appen 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 Envirosuite Ltd (ASX: EVS) share price is climbing during morning trade on Thursday.

The Sydney-based environmental tech company has announced a strategic partnership with Aeroqual, which is a global leader in air quality monitoring technology.

At the time of writing, the Envirosuite share price is up 4.44% to an intraday high of 24 cents.

Envirosuite sets eyes on growth opportunities

In a statement to the ASX, Envirosuite advised it has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aeroqual.

The strategic partnership will see them pursue and develop joint market opportunities. This involves combining the two environmental technologies from both companies and packaging them together.

Aeroqual offers a global air quality monitoring platform based on smart sensing technology and advanced software algorithms.

Envirosuite’s proprietary software monitors and manages all-weather impacts, which allows customers to optimise their operations. The company hones in on air quality and metrology consultancy using real-time and predictive technologies.

Under the MoU, Envirosuite and Aeroqual will focus on driving revenue and customer traction across a number of industries.

The industries at the top of the list are mining, waste, wastewater, and industrial sectors in North America.

It’s worth noting that Aeroqual already has an established customer base in the United States. Clients include Anglogold Ashanti Ltd (ASX: AGG), the United States Environmental Protection Agency and New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Envirosuite and Aeroqual are already working on other projects together in Spain, Malaysia and the US.

What did management say?

Envirosuite CEO Jason Cooper said:

The Envirosuite team is excited to expand our opportunity potential with Aeroqual, a leader in air quality stations, monitors and technology, to complement our EVS Omnis platform, provide expertise and combined solutions for advanced air quality management and intelligence within our respective high-growth industries.

We believe this partnership has the potential to help industries to transform their environmental management practices and accelerate growth within Mining, Waste, Wastewater and Industrial facilities.

Envirosuite share price snapshot

The Envirosuite share price has risen by more than 20% over the past 12 months.

The company’s shares hit a rough patch during the middle of this year. That changed late last month when the share price accelerated to a 52-week high of 24.5 cents.

Based on today’s Envirosuite share price, the company commands a market capitalisation of $270.01 million. It has approximately 1.2 billion shares outstanding.

The post This deal just caused the Envirosuite (ASX:EVS) share price to pop appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Envirosuite (ASX:EVS) share price climbs 9% on NASA contract

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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It has been a very disappointing day for the Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price.

In morning trade, the pizza chain operator’s shares are down 19% to $114.80.

Why is the Domino’s share price crashing?

Investors have been selling down the Domino’s share price this morning in response to its annual general meeting update.

That update, which was released yesterday after the market close, revealed a surprisingly weak performance from the company’s Japanese operations.

According to the release, during the first quarter, Domino’s Japan delivered strong growth prior to the government lifting national State of Emergency at the end of September.

Since then, with restaurants, bars, and shopping centres now reopened, network sales in Japan are negative on a one-year basis. Though, the company notes they are positive on a two-year basis.

Given current trading conditions and the material contribution of the Christmas trading period to Domino’s Japan’s full year performance, management warned that it was now unable to forecast whether FY 2022 Japan sales and earnings would surpass those recorded in FY 2021.

What about the rest of the business?

Domino’s revealed that first quarter network sales rose 8% or 4.3% on a same store sales basis over the prior corresponding period.

The company stated: “While this represents an improvement compared to the Full Year trading update, sales growth has been uneven across regions, with operations affected by local conditions including lockdowns and ongoing changes in customer behaviour, making short-term forecasts challenging.”

In addition, the company warned that currency and inflationary headwinds would impact its financial performance.

Nevertheless, the company’s CEO, Don Meij, remains positive on the future. Especially given its bold store rollout plans.

He commented: “While there are short-term challenges ahead of us as we transition to ‘living with COVID-19’, this is not new: our experienced teams have successfully navigated multiple challenges since the start of this pandemic.”

“Our network is already more than 7% larger this Financial Year (and 15% larger than this time last year), through continued organic new store openings and acquisitions, including the opening of 66 new stores and the addition of 156 stores with the acquisition of Taiwan.”

“We have a busy new store pipeline and this year we aim to open a record number of new stores; indeed, we are targeting FY22 to be the largest expansion of our store footprint in our Company’s history. We also remain active in pursuing additional markets.”

“A year ago, we noted: ‘We have the right product, value offering, and team members to confront this challenge’ – and our view remains unchanged,” he concluded.

Broker response

This update didn’t go down amazingly well with brokers, which goes some way to explaining why the Domino’s share price is performing so poorly today.

In response, the team at Credit Suisse retained their underperform rating and cut their price target down to $77.73.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs is likely to see the weakness in the Domino’s share price as a buying opportunity. While it was disappointed with its update, it held firm with its buy rating and trimmed its price target to $147.00.

It commented: “Overall, we believe that the longer term growth outlook driven by strong store growth remains unchanged. We make no changes to our store forecasts, but backend weight the rollout in FY22 in line with guidance. Overall, our revised forecasts still imply a 3 year CAGR EBITDA outlook of +14.6% driven by overall strength in Europe (+19.7%) and Japan (+15.3%).”

The post Why the Domino’s (ASX:DMP) share price is crashing 19% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• 3 fantastic ASX growth shares named as buys
• 3 excellent ASX growth shares to buy
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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 recommended Dominos Pizza Enterprises 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares in this article might be good considerations to think about today.

Businesses in the ASX 200 are often among the biggest and strongest in their industry.

The two investments below are ones that may be able to deliver growth over the long-term:

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Wesfarmers is a diversified business that has been operating for decades. It has some market-leading retailers including Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks and Catch. The ASX 200 share also has other operations including Target, a lithium project and various industrial businesses and investments.

The business showed how much essential consumer demand there is for its businesses including Bunnings, Officeworks and Catch. Wesfarmers was able to capitalise on the COVID-19 era demand.

Whilst people aren’t doing as many home projects or buying home office equipment, Wesfarmers is still experiencing higher demand than pre-COVID times.

It’s regularly adding to its portfolio to diversify its future profit. For example, Bunnings bought Beaumont Tiles. Wesfarmers is progress with its Mt Holland lithium project. The latest attempt by the company is to try to buy Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API). It’s in a battle with Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) for API.

Wesfarmers says that whilst it plans to invest in the API business, it would also provide the basis of a new healthcare division of Wesfarmers and a platform from which to invest and develop capabilities in the growing health, wellbeing and beauty sector.

According to Commsec, it is valued at 30x FY22’s estimated earnings with a projected grossed-up dividend yield of 4.3%.

Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG)

Fortescue is one of the largest iron ore miners in the world.

Citi is one of the brokers that currently rates Fortescue as a buy, with a price target of $18.50. That implies a potential rise of close to 30% over the next year, if the broker is right.

The Fortescue share price is now a lot lower after a sharp decline of the iron ore price. The ASX 200 share has seen a decline of around 40% over the last three months.

Fortescue continues to produce enormous amounts of iron ore. In the first quarter of FY22, Fortescue shipped 45.6mt of iron ore, which was a 3% increase compared to the same period last year.

The average revenue was US$118 per dry metric tonne, whilst the C1 cost was US$15.25 per wet metric tonne (in line with the previous quarter).

Fortescue is making a number of headlines with its Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) division.

The goal of the ASX 200 share is for FFI is to take a global leadership position in the renewable energy and green products industry. It has a vision of making green hydrogen the most globally traded seaborne commodity in the world.

One of the key developments relates to the planned construction of the global green energy manufacturing centre in Gladstone, Queensland. The first stage of development is an electrolyser factory with an initial capacity of two gigawatts. It has also signed a letter of intent with Plug Power for a joint venture with the two gigawatt electrolyser factory, with the ability to expand into fuel systems and other hydrogen-related refuelling and storage infrastructure in the future.

Fortescue Future Industries has also signed an agreement with JCB and Ryze hydrogen to become the UK’s largest supplier of green, renewable hydrogen. JCB and Ryze will purchase 10 per cent of FFI’s global green hydrogen production.

The post 2 top ASX 200 shares that might be buys today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why did the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price have such a lousy month in October?
• Why did the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price have such a great month in October?
• What were the best performing ASX real estate shares to hold in October?
• Why is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price charging higher today?
• Which ASX shares are involved with green hydrogen?

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Fortescue Metals Group Limited. 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 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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Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) shares have just managed to squeak into the green so far in November, up 0.3% since the closing bell on the final trading day of October.

That comes after a fairly poor showing last month, where Flight Centre shares fell 7%, despite many international and domestic air routes slated for reopening.

With most ASX travel shares still trading below their pre-pandemic levels, companies like Flight Centre are eager for a full reopening, especially here at home.

While most Aussie states look set to end border closures over the coming weeks, Western Australia is dragging its heels, concerned about letting COVID into its virtually virus-free space.

And that has drawn the ire of Flight Centre’s CEO, Graham Turner.

Turner threatens legal action to open WA’s borders

Western Australia may, or may not, reopen its borders for out of state travellers once full vaccination rates hit 70–80%.

The state’s roadmap to reopening has yet to be clarified by Premier Mark McGowan. McGowan aims to brief the public on that plan this week — what effect that has on Flight Centre shares remains to be seen.

Should that roadmap not indicate the state will reopen when double dose rates hit the 70–80% mark, Turner said his company will take legal action.

Speaking about that potential legal action to the West Australian (and quoted by the Daily Mail), Turner said:

The constitution states very clearly about freedom of movement and freedom of trade. That’s the basic concept.

That’s why I think we have a good chance for success on this. Not everyone in WA will [support opening borders] as some people are quite happy to stay locked up forever, but our clients are not like that…

Obviously, they want to travel interstate and overseas to see their relatives, to see their parents and grandparents.

How have Flight Centre shares been performing longer-term?

Flight Centre shares may have slipped last month, but the share price is still up an impressive 55% over the past 12 months. That compares to a gain of 22% posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) over that same time.

Flight Centre closed on Wednesday at $20.10 per share. In early trade today its share price has fallen 0.25% to $20.05.

The post Own Flight Centre shares? Here’s the company’s plan to reopen WA appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Travel is resuming but the Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) share price still lost 7% in October
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• 2 very unpopular ASX shares that’ll keep rising: expert
• Here’s why the Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price is up 26% so far in 2021
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares

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 Flight Centre Travel Group 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 Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is on the move on Thursday following the release of its annual general meeting update (AGM).

At the time of writing, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are up 2% to $6.35.

Why is the Zip share price rising?

While the event was focused largely on what has happened over the last 12 months and Zip’s plans for the future, the company also provided an update on recent trading. This appears to have gone down well with the market, giving the Zip share price a boost today.

Zip’s Managing Director and CEO, Larry Diamond, revealed that the company’s strong growth continued during October.

He commented: “October was Zip’s highest TTV month on record processing over $770m in transaction volume for the month, which was a 94% increase on October 2020, with the Company now annualising at over $9b. Off the back of the rebrand, October delivered a 24% MoM increase which provides outstanding momentum entering the seasonal peak period.”

Mr Diamond also spoke about recent partnerships that are expected to support the company’s growth. One, that is currently in the works, is with a bank in the United States.

He said: “We secured partnerships with major names including Microsoft, PayU and Adyen and are live with global merchants such as Shein in multiple geographies.”

“Zip is excited to share that we are in the process of establishing a financial partnership with Utah based WebBank to provide Zip the flexibility to drive further innovation in product and lending across the country,” he added.

Finally, the Chief Executive provided an update on how Zip is responding to regulatory pressures in the BNPL market.

Mr Diamond explained: “As flagged earlier in the presentation, in the UK, Zip will take part in Treasury’s process to map out a proportionate regulatory framework for BNPL. In the US, Zip has joined with other leading fintechs a new US industry group – the Financial Technology Association – to make the case for BNPL. Alongside this, Zip has also engaged with multiple regulators and Federal legislators to explain our business model and how we engage with US consumers.”

All in all, investors appear pleased with the update and have been bidding the Zip share price higher today in response to it.

The post Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price higher after record performance in October appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Why did the Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price have such a lousy month in October?
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Morgans tips Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price to jump 30%
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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 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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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

Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) jumped on Wednesday, climbing 3.6% by the time the market closed. The move extends the stock’s recent bullish momentum.

While there was no specific reason for the growth stock‘s gain on Wednesday, shares have been generally trending upward lately. This could be a continuation of that trend. In addition, it was an upbeat day for the overall market, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq climbing about 0.7% and 1%, respectively.

So what

Highlighting Tesla stock’s momentum recently, shares have surged 71% over the past three months and 57% in the last 30 days alone. With so much momentum, it’s not surprising to see shares trading higher again. Of course, investors shouldn’t count on this near-term momentum to continue. Any pullback after such a staggering run-up could be sharp.

Tesla’s third-quarter momentum has had many analysts recalibrating their models for the stock higher. The company has made significant progress in manufacturing, sales, and profitability — even during a challenging operating environment. Third-quarter vehicle deliveries increased 73% year over year to more than 241,000, and management said it was able to achieve an annualized production run rate of more than 1 million cars by the end of the quarter.

Now what

The downside to a soaring stock price, of course, is that expectations are increasing. This means investors expect Tesla’s impressive business momentum to persist. Looking ahead, investors will want to look for the company to continue growing deliveries and profitability.

Fortunately, management seems to think Tesla is just getting started. In its third-quarter shareholder update, the company guided for 50% annual growth in deliveries over “a multi-year horizon.” 

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

The post Why Tesla stock jumped on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Tesla stock jumped on Thursday
• Why Tesla stock revved even higher on Tuesday
• Why is the Liontown (ASX:LTR) share price roaring 5% higher today?
• Why ASX 200 tech shares are leading the charge higher today
• Why ASX lithium shares are surging higher on Tuesday

Daniel Sparks 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.

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

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The Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price is trading lower on Thursday morning.

At the time of writing, the insurance giant’s shares are down 1% to $11.23.

Why is the Suncorp share price under pressure?

The Suncorp share price has come under pressure this morning after following the lead of rival Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) by releasing an update on recent claims.

This follows the hail and wind event which occurred on 28 and 29 October, impacting South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

According to the release, as of 3 November, Suncorp had received approximately 12,000 home and motor claims. However, as the full extent of damage is still unfolding, the company expects claims to rise further.

So much so, Suncorp is forecasting the total cost from the event to be in the range of $225 million to $250 million.

Suncorp’s Group CEO, Steve Johnston, said: “Our local assessors and tradespeople are on the ground and helping affected customers.”

“One of the key elements of our Best in Class Claims strategy is a more flexible workforce, which has been successfully scaled up to support this event. Our focus on the digital customer experience is also yielding positive results with more than half of all home and motor claims from this event lodged online.”

“The Group’s supply chain is responding well and we are not currently experiencing issues due to border restrictions. We will continue to work closely with governments and the Insurance Council of Australia to ensure we can respond to customers as quickly as possible,” he added.

What about other events?

Suncorp revealed that there was a total of six declared weather events in October.

And while it is too early to accurately estimate the ultimate costs of the more recent events, Suncorp estimates that its hazard costs currently stand at $597 million to $702 million financial year to date. This is up from $382 million and $492 million just last week.

As a result, the company is forecasting full year natural hazard costs is in the range of $1.105 billion to $1.130 billion. This will exceed its FY 2022 allowance of $980 million by between $125 million to $150 million.

The post Why the Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price is dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price wobbles amid natural hazard costs update
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares for next week
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• Why this fund manager is bullish on the Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price
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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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It’s been a good 30 days for the Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price. It’s soared 19.6% since this time last month to finish yesterday’s session at $19.29.

For context, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has gained 5.3% over the last 30 days.

That means, over the month that’s been, the Megaport share price has beaten the average performance of its peers by an impressive 14.3%

So, what’s lead to the software-defined network service provider to outperform other ASX tech giants? Let’s take a look.

The month that’s been for Megaport

Megaport has only released one price sensitive announcement to the ASX in the last month, and it seemed to be a good one.

The company provided the market with an update on its September quarter on 21 October.

However, the market was seemingly disappointed. On the day Megaport released its only news of the last 30 days, the company’s share price dipped 0.7%.

Within the update, Megaport detailed a period in which its monthly reoccurring revenue increased to $8.6 million, 14% more that of the previous quarter.

The company’s quarterly revenue also came to $24.6 million, 8% greater than that of the June quarter.

Megaport’s CEO Vincent English commented on what seemed to be a successful quarter, saying:

With a record quarter of [monthly reoccurring revenue] growth and a continued increase in long-term commitments from our customers, we are seeing more substantial adoption of our platform.

Megaport share price snapshot

The gains experienced by the Megaport share price over the last month have boosted it further into the green on the ASX.

Right now, the company’s stock is trading for 35% more than it was at the start of 2021. It has also gained 33% since this time last year.

At its current share price, the company has a market capitalisation of around $3 billion.

The post Megaport (ASX:MP1) share price outperforms All Tech Index by 14% over the past month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why ASX 200 tech shares are leading the charge higher today
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Megaport (ASX:MP1) share price slides on record growth
• Why ASX 200 tech shares are struggling this week

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 MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT 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 Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price had a relatively uneventful month of October. The company’s shares continued to tread close to its 52-week high of $27.12, before plummeting on 1 November.

At Wednesday’s closing bell, the bank’s shares began to recoup some losses by edging 0.09% higher to $23.15.

How did Westpac shares fare in October?

Investors remained undecided during October as Westpac shares went through a horizontal channel. This came despite the company releasing a price-sensitive market announcement advising of notable items affecting its second-half profit.

The news appeared to barely both shareholders, with Westpac shares falling just 1.65% that day to $25.63.

For the month, the bank’s shares dipped just under 1%, which fared worse than the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). The benchmark index rose by 2% in value over the period.

However, while last month seemed quiet, the company’s release of its full-year results on November 1 had a detrimental impact on its shares.

Westpac revealed a step in the right direction with increases across key metrics. But the financial scorecard missed the mark with investors who were expecting more. This led the company’s shares to sink 7.36% to $23.78 apiece.

In addition, Australia’s oldest bank stated that it is conducting a $3.5 billion off-market share buyback.

What do the brokers say?

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 10%.

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 summary

Over the past 12 months, the Westpac share price has gained around 30% in value. It is also up by about 20% this year to date. Although, when looking over a 5-year time frame, Westpac shares are down by more than 20%.

Westpac has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 21.98 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $87.24 billion.

The post How did the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price perform in October? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• What these leading brokers are saying about the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• Westpac (ASX:WBC)’s had a shocker: This is when to buy
• Here are the 3 most heavily traded ASX 200 shares so far on Tuesday
• Why Ingenia, IAG, Vulcan, and Westpac shares are dropping

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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