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There are a lot of growth shares for investors to choose from on the Australian share market.

To narrow things down, I have picked out three ASX growth shares that are highly rated. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

The first ASX growth share to look at is Breville. It is the leading appliance manufacturer behind a collection of brands including Sage and the eponymous Breville brand. Over the last decade, the company has been growing at a solid rate. And FY 2021 was no exception. During the 12 months, Breville recorded a 24.7% increase in revenue to $1,187.7 million and a 42.3% jump in net profit after tax to $91 million. Positively, further solid profit growth is expected by analysts in FY 2022 thanks to strong demand, the benefits of the Baratza acquisition, and its international expansion.

Morgans is positive on FY 2022 and the company’s long term growth outlook. As a result, its analysts currently have an add rating and $34.00 price target on its shares.

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

Another ASX growth share to look at is Hipages. It is a leading Australian-based online platform and software as a service (SaaS) provider connecting consumers with trusted tradies. In FY 2021, Hipages outperformed its upgraded full year revenue guidance with a 22% year on year jump to $55.8 million. Pleasingly, it has started FY 2022 strongly. Despite lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria, Hipages continued to grow its recurring revenue during the first quarter. It reported a 14% increase in revenue over the prior corresponding period to $14.9 million. Approximately 96% of this revenue is now recurring in nature.

Goldman Sachs was impressed with last week’s update. In response, the broker retained its a buy rating and lifted its price target to $4.45.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

A final ASX growth share to look at is this growing ecommerce company. It has been benefitting greatly from the shift to online shopping over the last few years and looks well-placed to continue this trend over the long term. Especially given its strong market position, growing private label business, recent acquisitions, and rapidly increasing loyalty program members. And while Kogan is going through a difficult spot with its inventory, this appears to be more than reflected in its recent share price performance.

Credit Suisse has an outperform rating and $13.88 price target on its shares.

The post 3 fantastic ASX growth shares to buy this month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• 2 beaten-up ASX shares that could be buys in November
• Why Aussie Broadband, BlueBet, Hipages, and JB Hi-Fi shares are rising
• 3 fantastic ASX growth shares named as buys

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 Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hipages Group 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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Shares in biopharmaceutical company Antisense Therapeutics Limited (ASX: ANP) made an abrupt downturn today and finished the session 18.64% lower at 24 cents apiece.

The Antisense Therapeutics share price fell sharply after the company released a key update to the market today regarding its current and upcoming clinical programs.

Here are the details.

What did Antisense announce?

Antisense advised that it received the thumbs up from European regulators regarding the next steps to authorisation of its drug candidate ATL1102. The drug is being investigated as a potential remedial and medical breakthrough in the treatment of non-ambulant boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

As the company is currently running a Phase IIb/III trial for the compound, the news ensures the study will be completed in accordance to European standards. This earmark is an integral step of approval for getting drugs to market in the EU.

As a result of the update, Antisense also announced that it has “received firm commitments in an oversubscribed institutional placement” to raise $20 million via an issue of approximately 83.3 million new fully paid ordinary shares.

About the placement

The placement was at a value of 24 cents per share – a corresponding 16% discount from Antisense’s opening price on Monday – and represents around 12% of Antisense’s fully diluted float at the time of writing.

Shareholders will therefore be diluted by that amount once the transaction and share allotment settles on Thursday.

Antisense noted that the placement was “strongly supported by existing shareholders, with the company also welcoming a number of new institutional investors to the share register”.

Aside from this placement, the company also intends to conduct a non-underwritten 1 for 9.4 entitlement offer to raise an additional $16.8 million at the same 24 cents per share.

One caveat embedded into both placement includes 1:2 free-attaching options issued to participants in both offers.

If all options are fully exercised, this will raise a further $36.8 million to “fund the clinical program through to Phase IIb/III trial results in mid-2024 whilst also funding the open label extension study at the same point”.

What’s the money for?

All-in-all, Antisense intends to use the monies from both financing rounds to fund a series of advancements, including:

• Progression of the current Phase IIb/III DMD clinical trial
• Startup costs for an open label expansion study
• Drug manufacturing costs
• Ongoing research and development (R&D) commitments
• Working capital requirements for ongoing operations.

Antisense laid out additional details of its operations, the capital raising plans, and its ongoing clinical programmes in an investor presentation today as well.

Management commentary

Speaking on the announcement, Antisense managing director Mark Diamond said:

We are both pleased and extremely proud to have received this positive opinion… which provides us with great confidence to undertake our Phase IIb/III trial in DMD in a manner consistent with the expectations of the regulator and which if successfully completed, could bring us an approval to market ATL1102 for the treatment of DMD in Europe, the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market.

Antisense Therapeutics share price snapshot

The Antisense Therapeutics share price has been an outsized performer this last 12 months, gaining 123% in that time after rallying 88% since January 1 this year.

Both of these results are a step ahead of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s climb of around 25% in the same time.

The post Here’s why the Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) share price has plummeted 19% on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today
• Is the AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) share price a value trap?
• 3 great ASX tech shares that might be good buys
• Will Pinterest be worth more than Snap by 2025?
• Why Jefferies sees 35% upside in the HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price

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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Today, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) kicked off the new week with a green session. At the end of the trading day, the benchmark index finished 0.64% higher at 7,370.8 points.

The markets were awash with gains across all sectors except financials on Monday. Investors exhibited disappointment for the full-year result of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) posted today. Acting on this emotion, the market sold off the big four bank by nearly 7%. Meanwhile, communication services and utilities performed exceptionally well.

The question is: which shares delivered the biggest returns to investors on the ASX today? Here are the ten stocks that rose to the occasion:

Top 10 ASX shares countdown today

Looking at the top 200 listed companies, Imugene Ltd (ASX: IMU) was the biggest gainer today. Shares in the biotechnology company rose 6.06%. This move followed the announcement of a strategic collaboration with US-based Eureka Therapeutics. Find out more about Imugene here.

The next biggest gaining ASX share today was Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE). The lithium producer’s share price climbed 5.73% as the sector rallied today. Uncover the latest Orocobre details here.

Today’s top 10 biggest gains were made in these ASX shares:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Imugene Ltd (ASX: IMU)	$0.525	6.06%
Orocobre Ltd (ASX: ORE)	$9.41	5.73%
WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)	$53.98	5.68%
Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO)	$155.63	4.09%
Champion Iron Ltd (ASX: CIA)	$4.58	4.09%
Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC)	$18.02	3.98%
Codan Ltd (ASX: CDA)	$10.44	3.88%
Ausnet Services Ltd (ASX: AST)	$2.565	3.85%
Reece Ltd (ASX: REH)	$20.64	3.77%
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$18.58	3.74%

Our top 10 ASX shares today countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to ensure you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check-in at Fool.com.au after the market has closed during weekdays to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Ausnet, Charter Hall, Codan, and Imugene shares are storming higher
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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. owns shares of and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global and Xero. 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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As the AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price slips further to the downside on Monday, some investors might be wondering if it is a cheap company that will keep getting cheaper.

Now trading for $5.65 at market close, the electricity generating and retailing company has evaporated 55.55% of its share price from this time a year ago. Even worse, shares in AGL Energy have tumbled 71.41% over the past 5 years, signifying value destruction en masse.

To put the underperformance into context — $10,000 invested in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) 5 years ago would now be worth ~$14,233 before dividends. Meanwhile, the same amount invested into AGL Energy would now be worth a disappointing ~$2,859 before dividends. That means an ASX investor would have been nearly 5 times better off in the Aussie index than in AGL shares by this time.

At present, AGL could be considered ‘cheap’ based on some valuation metrics. This poses the question, is the AGL share price a value trap waiting to leave its mark on another bunch of unsuspecting value investors. Or, is the company set to stage a comeback.

Sometimes you get what you pay for

Typically, a lot of the metrics used for assessing ‘value’ are rear-facing. Whether it be a 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book ratio, debt-to-equity ratio, or net tangible assets.

These financial tools are heavily weighted towards the road already travelled, not so much the road ahead. The danger hidden within this is the potential for the road ahead to be filled with even more potholes than experienced prior.

For example, AGL Energy’s P/E ratio of ~10 at the end of June 2020 might have looked appealing. Especially when compared to the utilities industry average of nearly 20. Yet, now the AGL share price is far lower and has a negative P/E ratio due to its current unprofitability.

While there are often companies ripe for a contrarian approach, sometimes you get what you pay for. Often a company will be donning a low P/E ratio as a result of its less than appealing future outlook. In some cases, this unattractive future is exactly what plays out, pushing the share price lower.

What about the AGL Energy share price?

This brings us to the question: is the AGL Energy share price a value trap? It has appeared to be a prime example in recent years. However, to label it as a trap for future investors is not possible. Mostly because only time will reveal the answer.

Currently, the company is struggling through a loss-making period, a high debt-to-equity ratio, and a renewable shift that is putting the pinch on energy margins. The AGL Energy share price will be dependent on how the business structurally performs from here.

If profits resume and dividends are increased, then it will be shown it was a value trap no more. Whereas, if the company is unable to turn things around, the value trap could be on full display.

The post Is the AGL Energy (ASX:AGL) share price a value trap? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Own AGL shares? Here are the World Energy Markets Observatory’s future priorities
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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 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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ASX tech shares may be the place to look for faster-than-average profit growth because of the ability to grow revenue and margins at a quicker pace than typical industrial businesses due to the intangible nature of software.

Some tech businesses are expecting a lot of growth over the next decade, and have already experienced a substantial increase in size over the last five years.

Here are three ASX tech shares that are growing quickly:

VanEck Video Gaming and Esports ETF (ASX: ESPO)

This is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is based on the e-sports and video gaming industry.

It had a total of 26 positions at the end of September 2021. Some of its holdings are tech giants, some are hardware manufacturers and some are game developers. You may have heard some of the top ten holdings: Nvidia, Tencent, Advanced Micro Devices, Sea, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Netease, Electronic Arts, Bandai Namco and Take-Two Interactive Software.

The revenue of the gaming sector has been growing revenue at a double digit pace for years and it could continue to do so as non-Western regions spend on video gaming content as well as watching it.

E-sports continues to grow in popularity and is creating various earnings streams for the companies involved, including fees, advertising and so on.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

TechnologyOne is a large ASX tech share that provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

The company is currently transitioning its clients to a software-as-a-service model (SaaS). It’s seeing rapid growth, with the recent FY21 half-year update showing SaaS annual recurring revenue rising by 41% to $155.8 million. The company’s HY21 profit before tax increased by 44% to $37.3 million.

Over the long-term it’s expecting “strong” growth driven by its global SaaS software as it increases its usage with existing clients, wins new clients and expands globally.

Over the next few years, management are predicting that its SaaS and continuing business is expected to grow by approximately 15% per annum, once it has wound down its legacy licence fee business. It also sees its total ARR increasing to more than $500 million by FY26m from the current (at the time) base of $233 million.

The company is expecting that economies of scale from its global SaaS ERP software will help its profit before tax margin increase to 35%.

The ASX tech share recently expanded its business with an expected £12 million acquisition of Scientia Resources Management, a UK company that services the higher education sector.

TechnologyOne is currently rated as a buy by the broker Morgans.

Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB)

Hub24 is a fintech business that provides platforms for financial advisers and their clients with a range of investment options with managed portfolios, as well as leading transaction and reporting functionality.

The core business is growing quickly. At 30 September 2021, its funds under administration (FUA) had grown to $63.2 billion, with the platform FUA rising to $45.4 billion – that was an increase of 139% year on year and 9.5% quarter on quarter. This was helped by platform net inflows of $3 billion.

Its new business pipeline continues to grow, with 30 new license agreements signed during the first quarter of FY22.

The ASX tech share also plans to expand its business and win more clients with the acquisition of Class Ltd (ASX: CL1). Class shareholders will get 1 Hub24 share for every 11 Class shares they have, plus $0.10. It is expected that the deal will deliver increased value, efficiency and product solutions for both existing and new customers. The deal is expected to add 8% to underlying earnings per share (EPS).

Hub24 is currently rated as a buy by the broker Credit Suisse, with a price target of $36.50. Credit Suisse thinks that it can offer good cross-selling potential between the two businesses.

According to Credit Suisse, the Hub24 share price is valued at 57x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post 3 great ASX tech shares that might be good buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: Aristocrat’s $5bn acquisition, Zip falls on Q1 update
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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Class Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 Ltd and VanEck Vectors ETF Trust – VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF. 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.

Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) and Snap (NYSE: SNAP) both suffered steep declines over the past month.

Pinterest’s stock, which had been under pressure since its disappointing second-quarter report in late July, jumped to the low $60s in late October amid rumors of an acquisition by PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). However, the stock subsequently tumbled to the mid $40s after PayPal shot down those rumors.

Snap’s stock, which had steadily risen after the company offered bullish long-term guidance at its investors day in February, plunged to a five-month low in late October after it posted a disappointing third-quarter report.Over the past three months, shares of Pinterest and Snap have declined about 40% and 30%, respectively, as the S&P 500 has risen 4%. That volatility burned many investors who recently bought both stocks, but will both companies recover and generate much bigger gains over the long term?

Let’s take a closer look at Pinterest and Snap’s plans for the future and see which social media company might be more valuable by 2025.

How much are Pinterest and Snap worth today?

Pinterest is worth about $29.4 billion, or eleven times this year’s sales, as of this writing. Snap is worth $87.6 billion, or 22 times this year’s sales.

Here’s how rapidly both companies have been growing over the past two years, and what analysts are expecting for the next two years:

Revenue Growth (YOY)	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021 (Estimate)	FY 2022 (Estimate)
Pinterest	51%	48%	55%	31%
Snap	45%	46%	62%	41%

Source: Earnings reports. Yahoo Finance. YOY = Year-over-year.

Based on those growth rates, it seems odd that Snap’s price-to-sales ratio is twice as high as Pinterest’s. However, investors are still willing to pay a premium for Snap because it isn’t losing active users on a sequential basis — as Pinterest did in the second quarter.

Can Pinterest and Snap keep growing?

Pinterest’s number of monthly active users (MAUs) rose from 265 million at the end of 2018 to 454 million in the second quarter of 2021. But that marked a sequential decline from 478 million MAUs in the first quarter.

The bulls believe that slowdown, which Pinterest attributed to reopening trends, will be temporary. But the bears believe its growth peaked during the pandemic, and that its MAU growth will stall out as those tailwinds fade.

That uncertainty, along with Pinterest’s reluctance to provide multi-year growth targets, has made it difficult to assess the company’s future.

Statista Research estimates Pinterest’s MAUs in the U.S. will steadily climb from 91 million in the second quarter of 2021 to nearly 109 million by 2025. eMarketer expects 18.5% of Pinterest’s MAUs to buy products from its shoppable pins by 2025, up from 16.2% in 2021.

Pinterest’s international business has been gaining MAUs at a much faster rate than its domestic business. If Pinterest grows its overseas MAUs at twice the rate of its domestic MAUs over the next four years, it could increase its international MAUs from 363 million in the second quarter of 2021 to 510 million in 2025 — and give the platform nearly 620 million MAUs.

Snap, which ended the third quarter with 306 million daily active users (DAUs), expects to grow its annual revenue by about 50% over the next few years. It expects the expansion of its self-service ads, a rising mix of higher-value video ads, new augmented reality games and filters, and the expansion of a “social shopping” platform to drive that growth.

However, Snap also seemingly underestimated the impact of Apple‘s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS update, which allowed users to opt out of data tracking features and targeted ads. That change caused it to miss analysts’ revenue estimates last quarter, and could throttle its near-term growth.

Which company will be worth more by 2025?

Pinterest and Snap will both face significant challenges over the next four years. But if Pinterest stabilizes its MAU growth and continues to expand its social shopping ecosystem, its revenue should continue to rise.

If Snap stays ahead of Meta‘s Instagram and ByteDance‘s TikTok in the teen market, expands its AR and social shopping platforms, and adapts to Apple’s platform changes, it could also keep growing.

Therefore, both companies should continue to grow at comparable rates through 2025. If Pinterest hits analysts’ targets for 2021 and 2022, then continues to generate an average of 25% revenue growth for the following three years, it could generate $6.7 billion in revenue in 2025. If Snap follows that same path, it could generate $11.2 billion in revenue in 2025.

So even if Pinterest and Snap were trading at the same price-to-sales ratios in 2025, Snap would likely still have a much higher market cap.

Look beyond the market caps

Pinterest probably won’t be worth more than Snap by 2025, but that doesn’t make it an inferior investment. Both of these social media companies have clear strengths and weaknesses, and investors should focus on those issues instead of fretting over which company has the higher market cap. 

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

The post Will Pinterest be worth more than Snap by 2025? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Pinterest stock plunged on Monday
• Why PayPal stock popped On Monday
• Pinterest Q3 earnings: Here’s what to look for
• If Paypal buys Pinterest, what could it mean for Afterpay shares?
• Pinterest stock: Buy, sell, or hold ahead of possible buyout?

Leo Sun owns shares of Apple, Pinterest, and Snap Inc. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Apple, Meta Platforms, Inc., PayPal Holdings, and Pinterest. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $75 calls on PayPal Holdings, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Apple, Meta Platforms, Inc., PayPal Holdings, and Pinterest. 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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Shares in media and entertainment company HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1) are sliding lower today and are now trading 5.44% down at $1.825 apiece.

HT&E shareholders have endured a bumpy ride these past few months but saw relief last week when the company’s share price made a sharp turn to post a new 6-month high.

Here we unravel what’s behind the move and what leading experts are saying on the outlook for HT&E investors.

What’s up with HT&E shares lately?

After a period of losses where the HT&E share price marched towards its 52-week low, the company advised last week that its contest with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is now over.

The company confirmed it had settled a long-standing tax dispute involving $195 million in tax adjustments, interest, and penalties for a New Zealand branch.

It agreed to pay a sum of $71 million after lengthy consultation with its advisors, acknowledging it was in the best interests of shareholders.

Shares in Here, There & Everywhere popped almost 31% on the day of the announcement. The company gallantly stated that investors can now look to HT&E’s future with more certainty.

Now that it has settled its dispute, how does this fare for the HT&E share price?

One leading broker has chimed in, lending its outlook on the future for the company’s shares.

What is Jefferies saying about HT&E share price?

According to analysts at investment bank Jefferies, the settlement bodes well for HT&E shares. Jeffries agrees the outcome is a good one for the entertainment company.

It said widespread consensus had baked in the entire $195 million liability with the ATO in forecasting HT&E’s earnings, not expecting this more favourable result.

Even the broker itself had included a $90 million assumption for the tax liability in its modelling — almost $20 million more than the eventual settlement.

Furthermore, it said “many investors would not consider investing in HT&E because of its complexity and the unknown quantum/timing of this [ATO] dispute”.

As such, the broker reckons the settlement will lift the veil of uncertainty for some investors who were perhaps hesitant on HT&E shares.

This, it believes, “will now open a much larger investor universe including possible corporate interest”.

From its updated modelling, the broker raised its price target on HT&E shares by almost 9% to $2.50 per share.

At current standing, this implies an upside potential of 35% for HT&E investors to clamp their teeth into.

HT&E share price snapshot

HT&E shares have climbed 23% in the last year and are around 1% in the red this year to date. That’s well behind the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)’s return of about 25% in the past year.

Despite this, the company’s shares have rallied 12% in the past month and gained more than 21% in this past week of trading.

The post Why Jefferies sees 35% upside in the HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why HT&E, JB Hi-Fi, Reece, and ResMed shares are charging higher
• Here’s why HT&E (ASX:HT1) share price is rocketing 31% today

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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The first bank to list on the ASX in 30 years has successfully made its journey to the milestone moment today. Judo Bank, also known as Judo Capital Holdings Ltd (ASX: JDO), has cemented itself in history on Monday as the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business bank made its debut in the public markets.

Around midday, shares in the freshest bank on the ASX are fetching a $2.16 price tag, up 2.86%. Miraculously, in the space of 5 years, Judo Bank has gone from a PowerPoint presentation to a more than $2.3 billion company in its current state.

Let’s put Judo under the microscope and get a sense of where it comes from and how it is different from the big four it hopes to challenge.

Judo Bank’s path to the ASX

Since its inception in October 2016, Judo Bank has been on a mission to serve SMEs and be the most trusted SME business bank in Australia. Those ambitions have been shared among an array of key people within the company, not the least of which include co-founders Joseph Healy and David Horney, among other former National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) executives.

Judo quickly gained its full banking licence in April 2019, less than three years after setting the wheels into motion. From there, the pace of growth has been exceptional, with the bank catering to SMEs that have been unable to secure lending through the traditional providers.

In turn, the loan book of Judo has flourished, surpassing $4.15 billion of aggregate funding to the SME sector as of 30 September 2021. The business bank experienced a 97% increase in its lending book during FY21 alone. Having grown up from its bootstrapping days, the management of Judo Bank felt it was time for it to join the big leagues on the ASX.

Getting set for the ASX involved Judo raising $657 million through its initial public offering (IPO). The raising attracted interest from a range of institutional and retail investors at an offer price of $2.10 per share. Incredibly, this implied a valuation of $2.3 billion after achieving ‘unicorn’ status only 18 months earlier.

As we now know, the $657 million capital raising was successful, along with Judo Bank’s ASX debut today.

How does is it different to the big four?

Judo Bank and its management pride themselves on doing banking “as it should be”, in the words of CEO Joseph Healy. This is a little ambiguous so let’s elaborate on what that means exactly.

The big bank contender has its sights set on the SME market. A place where management believes the big banks have neglected, with cookie-cutter financing and a high barrier to credit for many businesses, unless backed by some form of real estate as security.

Instead, the newest banking kid on the block wants to take a business-first approach. Essentially, dealing directly with SME customers with dedicated relationship managers to understand the business. By doing this, Judo can offer tailored financial solutions for its customers.

Since day one, Judo Bank’s purpose has been clear, to be Australia’s most trusted SME business bank by bringing back the craft of SME relationship banking.

Judo Bank Co-founder and CEO, Joseph Healy

Finally, the newly ASX-listed Judo Bank boasts a ‘legacy-free’ business model. Instead, opting for cloud-based technology to enable its relationship-centric lending model.

The post Judo Bank (ASX:JDO) hits the ASX, here’s how it differs from the big four appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price is pushing higher on Monday. This comes after the company announced an operational update on construction works at the Rincon Lithium Project.

Argosy holds a 77.5% interest in the Rincon project, located in Salta Province, Argentina. The mine is situated within the ‘lithium triangle’ – the world’s dominant lithium production source.

During late afternoon trade, the lithium miner’s shares are up 1.72% to 29.5 cents. This means its shares have now risen more than 40% in the past month alone.

How is Argosy tracking at Rincon?

Investors are buying up Argosy shares following the company snapshot of its progress at the Rincon Lithium Project.

According to its update, Argosy stated that around 45% of the total works have now been completed to bring the Rincon Lithium Project online. The development of the modular 2,000tpa (tonnes per annum) of lithium carbonate production plant remains on schedule and on budget.

The company is aiming to achieve the first commercial production of lithium carbonate product from mid-2022.

Major construction works such as building the process plant, equipment and associated installations, and expansion of the brine system have all progressed. As such, Argosy provided a summary of the current progress:

• 99% of earthworks/land movements completed;
• 86% of site works completed (site camp/accommodation, laboratory, office, and other works);
• 73% of the brine system completed (pumping station and plant settling ponds);
• 32% of the process plant completed (plant equipment acquisition and plant warehouse);
• 33% of utilities and associated services (vapour system, communication system, and ancillary services) completed

Argosy stated that the construction phase is scheduled to be finished in April 2022. Other stages of the project, such as commissioning works, production test-works and ramp-up, are expected to follow.

What did the head of Argosy say?

Argosy managing director Jerko Zuvela touched on the update, saying:

The company’s Puna operations team continue making significant progress on construction and development works, toward commencing 2,000tpa lithium carbonate production operations at our Rincon Project. With lithium market sentiment and lithium carbonate prices maintaining strength, we are excited as we escalate works in transforming Argosy into a battery quality lithium carbonate producer and cashflow generator, and then to further progress the 10,000tpa project development expansion.

Argosy share price review

Since the beginning of the year, Argosy shares have zipped higher, recording gains of almost 270%. The company’s share price reached a 52-week high of 30.5 cents last week and could stretch further.

Argosy presides a market capitalisation of roughly $368.83 million with approximately 1.25 billion shares outstanding.

The post Argosy (ASX:AGY) share price edges higher on Rincon update 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 Advanced Human Imaging Ltd (ASX: AHI) share price is in negative territory during early afternoon trade. This comes after the company announced it has released a corporate presentation to raise money for its proposed listing on the tech-focused United States Nasdaq exchange.

At the time of writing, the human scanning technology provider’s shares are down 10.71% trading at $1.00.

ASX company eyes US entry

In today’s statement, Advanced Human Imaging advised it was gathering support for its US-based initial public offering (IPO).

The company received conditional approval from the Nasdaq to list its American depositary shares (ADS). However, it is not known yet how many shares in total will represent the number of ordinary shares already listed.

Based on a price range of US$7.00 to US$9.00, the company is looking to offer 1 ADS for every 9 ordinary Advanced Human Imaging shares. This is subject to market conditions and may change, including the size of the offer. The company is hoping to raise US$15 million from investors.

Maxim Group LLC has been appointed as the sole book-running manager, and will oversee the listing.

Advanced Human Imaging submitted an updated public filing the F-1 form to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The F-1 form is the registration required for foreign companies wanting to be listed on a United States stock exchange.

About the Advanced Human Imaging share price

The Advanced Human Imaging share price has fallen almost 20% in 2021 so far. When zooming out to the past 12 months, its shares have flatlined, down 2% for the period.

It’s a stark contrast to when the company’s shares were trading above the $2 mark during early March 2021.

Advanced Human Imaging has a market capitalisation of roughly $136.92 million, with approximately 136.92 million shares on issue.

The post Advanced Human Imaging (ASX:AHI) share price sinks on US listing update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Advanced Human Imaging, ResMed, Western Areas, and Westpac are falling

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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