Tag: Motley Fool

  • Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

    Three different hands against a blue backdrop signal thumbs up, indicating share price rise on the ASX market

    Many of Australia’s top brokers have been busy adjusting their financial models again, leading to the release of a large number of broker notes this week.

    Three ASX shares brokers have named as buys this week are listed below. Here’s why they are bullish on them:

    Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

    According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted their price target on this gaming technology company’s shares to $52.90. This follows the announcement of the proposed $5 billion acquisition of London-listed leading global online gambling software and content supplier, Playtech. Morgans notes that this will give the company immediate scale and capacity in the fast-growing online real money gaming (RMG) space. The Aristocrat share price was fetching $45.79 prior to its trading halt.

    BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

    Another note out of Morgans reveals that its analysts have upgraded this mining giant’s shares to an add rating with an improved price target of $46.05. While the broker remains cautious on the iron ore market and is forecasting further declines in the price of the steel making ingredient, it still sees a lot of value in the BHP share price. Particularly given its petroleum demerger and belief that BHP’s shares will offer a 10% dividend yield in FY 2022. The BHP share price is trading at $38.75 today.

    IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)

    Analysts at Credit Suisse have upgraded this mining company’s shares to an outperform rating and lifted their price target on them to $10.70. According to the note, the broker made the move after increasing its valuation to reflect IGO’s exposure to the tier-one lithium business at Greenbushes. It also likes the company’s low cost profile and expansion opportunities. The IGO share price is fetching $9.70 on Wednesday afternoon.

    The post Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in BHP right now?

    Before you consider BHP, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and BHP wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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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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  • Why has the Appen (ASX:APX) share price leapt 18% in a week?

    A woman plays with her artificial intelligence dog in her lounge room.

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has enjoyed a bumper session over the past week or so. Since market close last Wednesday, the ASX 200 has managed to add a very healthy 2.22%. Bt one ASX 200 share has run laps around even that esteemed performance. That would be the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price.

    Appen shares are today (at the time of writing) trading at $10.36 each. Yet, last Wednesday, this company closed at a price of $8.78. That means that, over the past trading week, the Appen share price has enjoyed an eye-watering gain of 17.99%. Additionally, Appen is now almost 25% up from this 52-week low that we saw earlier this month.

    This would no doubt be a very welcome change for shareholders of this annotated dataset provider. Even after this impressive run of good performance, Appen shares remain down a nasty 59.38% year to date in 2021. Appen is also down 71.77% over the past 12 months, and down close to 74% from its all-time high of roughly $40 a share that we saw in August 2020.

    So what’s turned the ship of sentiment around for Appen, a former WAAAX ASX growth darling?

    Why has the Appen share price exploded higher in the last week?

    Well, there hasn’t been much in the way of news or announcements out of Appen for a while now, so we can probably rule that out. Its last notable ASX notice was about the acquisition of Quadrant Global back in mid-September.

    So it’s probable that investors have decided Appen shares had just become too cheap to ignore. This thesis is supported by a few recent fundie and broker recommendations.

    Last week, my Fool colleague James covered how broker Citi retained its buy rating on Appen shares, with a 12-month share price target of $17. That implies a future potential upside of more than 60% over just the next 12 months.

    Earlier this week, my Fool colleague Tony covered Switzer Financial Group founder Peter Switzer’s view on Appen. Mr Switzer reckons Appen is “really well-positioned for the future of business, because it’s in artificial intelligence, it’s in machine learning.”

    Switzer is estimating that Appen’s performance will improve “when business gets back to normal,” and pointed to the fact that four brokers he follows (including Citi) are rating Appen with price targets well above the current share price.

    No doubt shareholders will be sharing in this optimism.

    At the current Appen share price of $10.36, this company has a market capitalisation of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 33.96 and a dividend yield of 0.97%.

    The post Why has the Appen (ASX:APX) share price leapt 18% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Appen right now?

    Before you consider Appen, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Appen wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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    Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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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  • Why has the Lithium Power (ASX:LPI) share price rocketed 50% in a week?

    a smiling woman holds an arm in the air as she holds a fully-charged battery symbol with her other hand.

    The Lithium Power International Ltd (ASX: LPI) share price is soaring around 10% in this afternoon’s session and now trades at 45 cents a piece after hitting an intraday high of 48.5 cents.

    Lithium Power shares have been on the upward trajectory for over a week now, having come off a low of 28 cents on 8 August.

    Whilst there’s no market-sensitive information out of the lithium pure-player’s corner today, it’s worthwhile investigating what’s fuelling this latest run on its share price.

    Lithium pricing fetches record highs once again

    Lithium is currently fetching US$28,359.68/tonne after breaking out in early August from previous lows of US$14,414.

    Since that time, it has zoomed ahead more than 96%, breaking away once again on 8 October and gaining a further 3% on today’s level.

    In fact, the new-age battery element is commanding its highest prices on record in October. This reflects supply constraints and the demand for stable battery materials, driving the spot price and premium on lithium futures contracts towards the ceiling.

    Further, the outlook for the lithium-ion battery market – the key catalyst in propelling lithium prices – is overwhelmingly bullish. This is likely driving Lithium Power’s share price as well.

    For instance, the lithium-ion battery market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.6% over the coming five years, reaching a total market size of US$96 billion by 2026.

    That’s more than double its current estimated size of around US$41 billion in 2021. Not surprisingly, this bodes well for the Lithium Power share price.

    Why is this relevant to the company and investors? Perhaps most relevant is the fact that Lithium Power International is a lithium pure-play, meaning it derives the entirety of its revenue from lithium sales.

    As it is an ASX resources share that produces a single commodity, it is considered a price-taker of whatever the market is offering on its product.

    As such, the company’s share price can and does fluctuate almost in unison with the spot price of lithium, as has been the case in recent weeks.

    Not to mention Lithium Power provided an update last month that confirmed a 90% increase in the mineral resource estimate at its Maricunga lithium-brine project in Chile.

    The pricing mechanism of the share market involves a culmination of past earnings history and future earnings expectations.

    If lithium pricing looks bright on the horizon then the market, being relatively efficient, will be quick to price this sentiment into the company’s shares.

    In light of this relationship, and especially given the strengths in lithium prices of late, the picture starts to form as to what’s driving the company’s share price lately.

    Investors appear to be speculating on the upward movement of lithium pricing or hedging against significant price swings in the silver-white metal. Purchasing lithium shares is a good way to get in on the action without having to buy risky derivatives contracts that involve the use of leverage and significant capital.

    Lithium Power International share price snapshot

    The Lithium Power share price has been an outsized winner this year to date, posting a return of 111% since January 1.

    This extends its gains over the last 12 months to 138.5%, which is a galaxy away from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX XJO)’s gain of around 19% in that time.

    The post Why has the Lithium Power (ASX:LPI) share price rocketed 50% in a week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Lithium Power International right now?

    Before you consider Lithium Power International, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Lithium Power International wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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    The author Zach Bristow has no positions at 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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  • Why A2 Milk, Adairs, Bapcor, and Kogan shares are racing higher

    stock market gaining

    The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and is charging notably higher. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.8% to 7,435 points.

    Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are racing higher:

    A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

    The A2 Milk share price is up 5.5% to $7.36. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Citi this morning. According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and $7.20 price target on this infant formula company’s shares. Citi was pleased with improvements in its inventory position and feels there are signs that the A2 Milk brand is more resilient in China than previously thought.

    Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

    The Adairs share price is up 3% to $4.04. This follows the release of a trading update this morning. As was widely expected due to lockdowns, Adairs reported that its sales have fallen 8.5% year on year during the first 16 weeks of FY 2022. Positively, management expects its sales to rebound now lockdowns are ending. It anticipates that pent-up demand, combined with the current online delivery delays, will encourage customers to shop in stores to secure their purchases in the lead up to Christmas.

    Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

    The Bapcor share price is up 5% to $8.08. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgans this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded this auto parts retailer’s shares to an add rating with an $8.45 price target. Morgans was pleased with its resilient performance during the first quarter.

    Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

    The Kogan share price is up over 7% to $11.73. This follows the release of the ecommerce company’s first quarter update. Kogan reported a 21.1% year on year and 23.2% quarter on quarter increase in gross sales to $330.5 million. And although its gross profit fell 1.7% year on year to $52.5 million, it increased 31.6% quarter on quarter. Also giving its shares a boost was news that its inventory position has reduced meaningfully.

    The post Why A2 Milk, Adairs, Bapcor, and Kogan shares are racing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Wondering where you should invest $1,000 right now?

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes could be the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at near dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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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 ADAIRS FPO and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO, Bapcor, and Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk. 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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  • Why is the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price struggling today?

    A lone traveller walks a suitcase through a large, empty airport terminal.

    The Sydney Airport (ASX: SYD) share price is dipping today after the company gave an update on passenger traffic for the month of September.

    Over the month just ended, the company saw a significant drop in people landing and taking off from Sydney Airport.

    In fact, September brought the lowest level of traffic faced by Sydney Airport since the beginning of the pandemic.

    While a drop in airport traffic is an obvious outcome of New South Wales’ recently ended lockdown, and today’s release from the airport is non-price sensitive, some market watchers might be shocked by the apparent impact of travel restrictions.

    At the time of writing, the Sydney Airport share price is $8.32, 0.24% lower than its previous close.

    Let’s take a closer look at the latest news from what has previously been Australia’s busiest airport.

    Sydney Airport share price slides amid traffic update

    The Sydney Airport share price is struggling today after the company announced it saw 68% fewer passengers through its gates last month as it did in September 2020.

    Only 23,000 people passed through Sydney Airport when travelling domestically last month, while 19,000 international travellers did the same.

    For comparison, those same figures came to 25,000 and 26,000 in August 2021.

    So far, since the start of 2021, only around 6.1 million passengers have travelled through Sydney Airport’s gates. That’s 38% fewer than had by this point in 2020.

    Though, the future looks to be brighter for Sydney Airport and, likely, its share price.

    New South Wales’ lockdown ended earlier this month. Perhaps more exciting for the airport’s shareholders, the state has pledged to scrap quarantine for vaccinated international arrivals from 1 November.

    Additionally, Sydney Airport is still facing a potential takeover by a consortium of infrastructure investors.

    As The Motley Fool reported on Monday, the consortium’s due diligence period has ended, but it may still put its $8.75 per share takeover offer to the airport’s shareholders.

    The post Why is the Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) share price struggling today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Sydney Airport right now?

    Before you consider Sydney Airport, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Sydney Airport wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

    More reading

    Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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

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  • What’s the latest from the current US earnings season?

    rising share price represented by a graph, red arrow and notes of American money

    The third-quarter earnings season is well underway in the United States, already with a week of results under its belt.

    Since the beginning of the US earnings season, the S&P 500 Index has pushed a further 3.6% higher on optimistic sentiment among investors. In fact, the iconic US index has rallied for five consecutive sessions — indicating the market is fairly satisfied with the calibre of earnings so far.

    Let’s recap some of the companies which have already reported, and take a look at what is coming up.

    US earnings standing in the limelight

    Last week kicked off third-quarter results with a barrage of numbers from some of the biggest financial institutions in the world. This included JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), and Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC).

    Setting a high standard, all of these US names beat both revenue and earnings expectations. Unsurprisingly, being the biggest of the companies listed above, JP Morgan posted the highest revenue for the quarter — coming in at US$30.44 billion. This was slightly above estimates of $29.8 billion, despite a dampening from the delta variant.

    The commonality among these financial players was the additional boost from reserve releases during the quarter. As a result, the banks have cautioned that earnings in the future will be on the shoulders of their core earnings. This will mean heightened importance on growing loans and increasing interest rates to deliver larger profits.

    Changing gears, this week has started with the highly anticipated third-quarter earnings from Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX). Last night the video streaming behemoth revealed it had added a further 4.4 million subscribers during the last quarter, which was 560,000 more than analysts had expected. Likewise, the company delivered expectation-beating earnings per share (EPS) of $3.19.

    Commenting on the results, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said:

    We’re in uncharted territory. We have so much content coming in Q4 like we’ve never had, so we’ll have to feel our way through and it rolls into a great next year also.

    The result follows the hugely successful show, “Squid Game”. The Korean dystopian show has amounted to 142 million member household views in the first four weeks.

    What’s coming up next?

    The rest of this week’s US earnings will include some recognisable tech brands. For instance, Telsa Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) will post its quarterly earnings tonight. This comes after the company shared its quarterly production and delivery numbers at the beginning of the month.

    Following on from that, Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP) is expected to share its quarterly results on Thursday night. Analysts are forecasting revenues around US$1.09 billion, indicating a 60% increase year on year for the social media giant.

    Finally, to put it into perspective, 82% of S&P500 companies that have reported so far have topped estimates.

    The post What’s the latest from the current US earnings season? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Wondering where you should invest $1,000 right now?

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes could be the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at near dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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    Citigroup is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Bank of America is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Netflix and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. 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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  • Why is the Worley (ASX:WOR) share price leaping 10% on Wednesday?

    a group of four engineers stand together smiling widely wearing hard hats, overalls and protective eye glasses with the setting of a refinery plant in the background.

    The Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR) share price is on the move today following yesterday’s positive announcement by the company.

    During early afternoon trade, Worley shares are up a sizeable 10.2% to $11.56 apiece.

    What did Worley update the ASX with?

    According to its update yesterday, the industrial engineering provider advised it has been awarded a services contract by multinational oil and gas company Shell.

    This will see Worley support the development of a low-carbon fuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

    Once built, the plant will be able to produce around 820,000 tonnes of low-carbon fuels every year. It is expected to be a key supplier of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel from waste products.

    Renewable diesel alone can reduce 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. This is the equivalent of taking more than one million European cars off the roads. The facility will also help increase SAF production which is critical should the aviation industry also cut carbon emissions.

    Worley prides itself on being a part of sustainable projects. Under its services contract, the company will provide detailed design and procurement services for the facility. This follows an ongoing partnership between both companies involving other projects.

    The services contract will be managed by Worley’s offices in The Hague with further support from the company’s Global Integrated Delivery team in India.

    Worley CEO Chris Ashton commented:

    We are long-standing partners of Shell and this contract award further consolidates our global relationship. We value Shell’s continued trust in us to deliver this significant project, which will help Shell meet its own target of becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

    It seems the Worley share price has also accelerated on the back of a positive broker note by Swiss investment firm UBS.

    The agency raised its price target for Worley shares by 13% to $13.20. Based on the price, this implies an upside of almost 15%.

    Worley share price summary

    It has been a rollercoaster 12 months for Worley shares, up 10% for the period but flat in 2021.

    On valuation grounds, Worley presides a market capitalisation of roughly $5.96 billion and has approximately 523 million shares on issue.

    The post Why is the Worley (ASX:WOR) share price leaping 10% on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Worley right now?

    Before you consider Worley, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Worley wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

    More reading

    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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  • Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price tumbles after being hit with class action

    share price dropping

    The Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) share price has come under pressure on Wednesday afternoon.

    At the time of writing, the payments company’s shares are down 3.5% to $3.90.

    Why is the Tyro share price dropping?

    Investors have been selling down the Tyro share price following the release of an announcement just before lunch.

    According to the release, Tyro has confirmed that proceedings have been filed in the Federal Court of Australia in relation to a representative proceeding.

    That proceeding alleges, among other things, misleading and deceptive conduct by the company. Tyro, which has yet to be served the documents, understands that these proceedings relate to the terminal connectivity incident in January.

    Remediation

    The company highlights that, as previously advised, it has established a remediation program to provide financially impacted merchants a fast and straightforward channel to seek to claim financial loss caused by the connectivity incident. This process continues to be available to any financially impacted merchant that has not as yet sought remediation.

    There are two options for impacted merchants. One is the Accelerated Path Assessment, which provides a simple remediation solution via a merchant service fee rebate over a designated period. This rebate is designed to offset the financial loss suffered.

    The other is a Case Managed Path Assessment, which provides a more tailored remediation solution. Under this option an impacted merchant provides specified claim information about their particular circumstances and loss claimed to have been suffered.

    Tyro notes that as of the date of this announcement, 92% of merchants who selected one of the above assessment options have had their claims settled. The company also continues to actively work with the remaining merchants to resolve their claims.

    Tyro advised that it intends to defend the class action and has retained law firm King & Wood Mallesons.

    The post Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price tumbles after being hit with class action appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Wondering where you should invest $1,000 right now?

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes could be the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at near dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they could be great buys right now.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

    More reading

    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 Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Tyro Payments. 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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  • Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) reports 16% revenue growth after Squid Game success

    A man sits bolt upright watching something intently on his television.

    Here in Australia, it’s sometimes hard to think of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) as anything other than something you might put on after work, or perhaps before ‘chilling’. But Netflix is a company, and one that has just reported its results for the third quarter (1 July to 30 September) of the 2020 calendar year.

    So how did this world-famous company perform?

    Netflix reports Q3 earnings

    Well, Netflix has come in with year-on-year revenue growth of 16%, rising from US$6.44 billion in Q320 to US$7.48 billion for Q3 CY2021. According to the company, this revenue growth was driven by a 9% increase in average paid streaming memberships. As well as a 7% rise in average revenue per membership (5% excluding foreign exchange impact).

    Netflix’s operating margin for the quarter was 23.5%, up from 20.4% in Q3 CY2020. Meanwhile, diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at US$3.19 per share, up substantially from the previous year’s US$1.74. However, free cash flow once again came in negative. The company reported a $106 million loss for free cash flow, down substantially from the positive $1.26 billion from Q3 CY2020.

    Turning to subscriber growth, and Netflix has surprised to the upside. The company was estimating 3.5 million new subscribers for the quarter, but ended up receiving 4.38 million. That’s up from Q3 CY2020’s 2.2 million new subscribers, but way below the 8.51 million the company managed to add in the fourth quarter of 2020. Interestingly, the Asia Pacific region was the largest contributor to new membership growth, sending 2.2 million subscriptions Netflix’s way.

    Red light, green light

    Netflix highlighted the contribution of the popular Squid Game series to last quarter’s earnings. The company stated that Squid Game has become Netflix’s “biggest show ever”, with “142 million member households [watching] the title in its first four weeks.” The show was Netflix’s most watched program in 94 countries.

    In terms of what the company is expecting in the current quarter, Netflix didn’t exactly hold back. The streaming giant is anticipating its healthy growth numbers will continue, predicting subscriber growth of 8.5 million. It also estimates its free cash flow for the full 2021 year to be “approximately breakeven” and then “positive on an annual basis in 2022 and beyond”.

    Investors seemed unsure whether to give these results the red or green light. In after-hours trading on the US markets, Netflix shares spiked. They reached a new all-time high of US$650.20 before falling to US$630.51.

    In normal trading, the company closed at US$693 a share early this morning (our time). At that Netflix share price, this company has a market capitalisation of US$282.82 billion.

    The post Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) reports 16% revenue growth after Squid Game success appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Netflix right now?

    Before you consider Netflix, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Netflix wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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    Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. 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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  • Why is the Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price climbing on Wednesday?

    co-workers wearing headphone and microphones high five in celebration of good news in an office setting.

    The Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) share price is rising today as it released its annual report for investors.

    An annual report is an opportunity for management to outline how the previous financial year went and plans for the next financial year.

    FY21 performance

    Airtasker brought investor attention to how it beat the FY21 guidance that was given in the initial public offering (IPO) prospectus, despite various impacts caused by COVID-19 restrictions in markets like Sydney and Melbourne.

    In FY21, it saw gross marketplace volume (GMV) of $153.1 million, compared to the prospectus forecast of $143.7 million. This led to revenue of $26.6 million, beating the prospectus forecast of $24.5 million.

    The company had 415,000 unique paying customers, compared to 405,000 in the prospectus forecast.

    Whilst the business is growing organically, it also looked to accelerate its international growth with the acquisition of the assets of Zaarly, a US-based local services marketplace.

    International growth and FY22 comments

    International growth could be an important factor for the Airtasker share price over time.

    Management said that the Zaarly acquisition is the cornerstone of its geographic expansion in the USA, which it expects to underpin “more significant” GMV and revenue growth in the second half of FY22. Airtasker said that the integration is progressing well.

    As of today, Airtasker has launched in three US locations – Kansas City, Dallas and Miami.

    The company also said that new growth initiatives have also seen “marked” increases in traffic through its London marketplace with “more than 200% compared to the same period last year”. This was comparing the fourth quarter of FY21 compared to the fourth quarter of FY20.

    Airtasker management said that the size of the international market represents “significant opportunities” for the company, the ASX share said it’s “well positioned” to capitalise on after the rising of capital. The UK and US alone represent a total addressable market of around $570 billion, according to Airtasker.

    The company is planning to use its cash, which included $5.5 million of operating cashflow from FY21, to replicate what it’s built in Australia to establish new marketplaces across the world.

    Management said it’s expecting to see a “strong V-shaped” recovery once restrictions ease in Australia.

    It’s going to ramp up its investing across three pillars – scaling its brand and growth marketing, iterating and expanding the Airtasker superstore product initiative, and international expansion with a focus on “igniting” city-level marketplaces across the UK and the US.

    What else may be impacting the Airtasker share price?

    In the annual report, management said that the business is “infinitely horizontal”, meaning people can get almost any task done, such as handyman jobs, domestic cleaning and business administration, as well as more complex work like architectural design, tax consultancy and legal advice. Airtasker also referred to new service industries like flat pack furniture assembly, date night planning and spider removal.

    Airtasker also noted its capital light model. Plus, it has a gross profit margin of 93%.

    The company also showed graphic where international GMV is growing faster than Australian GMV did at the same point after inception. It said that the global (excluding Australia) year four opportunity represents a June 2022 annualised run rate of between $8 million to $10 million of GMV.

    The post Why is the Airtasker (ASX:ART) share price climbing on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Airtasker right now?

    Before you consider Airtasker, you’ll want to hear this.

    Motley Fool Investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Airtasker wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for nearly a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.* And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that are better buys.

    *Returns as of August 16th 2021

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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. has recommended Airtasker Limited. 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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