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The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price has been a pretty good investment to have for ASX investors in recent months. The telco remains up 28.07% year to date so far, and more than 32% over the past 12 months. It was only last Monday that the shares hit their 52-week high of $4.02 a share.

But the last week has not been so great for the Telstra share price.

After starting out on Monday morning at $4.02 a share (yes, the 52-week high), Telstra ended up finishing the week at a much lower share price of $3.86. That’s a weekly fall of 4.1%. That’s almost as much as what the entire annual dividend is worth at that share price (4.14%).

In contrast, we have seen the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) have a pretty positive week, putting on an additional 0.3%. So the Tesltra share price underperformed the ASX 200 by around 4.3%.

So what’s behind this seemingly sudden backwards step for the telco?

Telstra share price falls as the telco prepares to pay out

Well, we don’t have to look too far. Telstra’s fall last week was driven by what could possibly be the best reason to have one of your shares go down in value. Remember how we just went through that the last week’s drop was almost as large as the company’s dividend?

Well, the telco happened to go ex-dividend for its upcoming final dividend payment of 8 cents per share on 25 August (Wednesday). That means that investors who buy TLS shares after this date will not be entitled to receive this dividend. That’s why we saw the value of this dividend leave the Telstra share price on Wednesday morning.

This important milestone on Telstra’s 2021 calendar was the centrepiece of the company’s share price performance last week. Although it resulted in the shares dropping, it’s not one too many shareholders will be complaining about.

At the current Telstra share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $45.9 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 24.7 and a fully franked dividend yield of 4.14%.

The post It hasn’t been a great week for the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares today
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) and this dividend share have been named as buys
• Is the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price a buy today?
• 10 ASX shares we’re overweight in right now: fund
• The Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price has gained 23% in the last 6 months

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Telstra Corporation 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 Telstra Corporation 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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Considering the Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has gained a whopping 546% over the last 12 months, it’s easy to assume its best day ever would have occurred recently. But it didn’t. 

In fact, Pilbara’s best day ever on the ASX was way back in 2015.

Now, for clarity and simplicity’s sake, we won’t be looking into any gains the Pilbara Minerals share price experienced when it was trading for under 10 cents.

As long-term market watchers will know, there are a number of days on Pilbara’s chart when it started the session trading for 1 cent, and gained another cent, therefore soaring 100%. Those instances won’t be covered here.

Now we’ve got that housekeeping out of the way, let’s take a look at the lithium and tantalum producer’s best day on the ASX. 

The Pilbara Minerals share price’s best day ever

The best day ever for the Pilbara Minerals share price was June 17, 2015. That day, Pilbara’s shares started out trading for 10 cents, before rocketing to close at 14 cents. That’s a massive gain of 40% in a single session. 

Perhaps what’s most interesting about the Pilbara share price’s sudden ascension that day, is the fact it was spurred by nothing. The company hadn’t released a single piece of price-sensitive news for nearly 10 days.

However, the prior week, the company had updated the market on a research report into Pilbara Minerals. 

As time has gone on, that research report has been removed from Pilbara’s website. Though, perhaps its contents helped spur the Pilbara Minerals share price’s best day ever.

The company’s best day on the ASX in recent years was on 17 September 2020. That was the day of Pilbara’s annual general meeting, and it saw its share price gain 17.4%. 

Those interested can find the company’s 2020 annual general meeting presentation here.

Pilbara’s shares finished Friday’s session trading for $2.07 after falling 6.5%.

The post When was the best ever day on the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price chart? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These 3 ASX 200 shares were flying around the share market this Friday
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price slides 7% after selloff in lithium sector
• ASX 200 midday update: Wesfarmers’ $2.3bn capital return, Appen & Pilbara Minerals fall
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price on watch after doubling sales in FY21

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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The National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) share price has been a strong performer over the last six months.

Since this time in February, the banking giant’s shares have risen 10%.

This means the NAB share price is now up 20% since the start of the year.

Why is the NAB share price up 10% in six months?

There have been a few catalysts for the strong gain by the NAB share price over the last six months.

One of those has been its much-improved performance in FY 2021. This led to the bank reporting a strong half year result and then an equally strong third quarter update earlier this month.

In respect to the latter, for the three months ended 30 June, NAB revealed an unaudited statutory net profit of $1.65 billion and unaudited cash earnings of $1.70 billion.

Although this was modestly ahead of the average quarterly profit and cash earnings that it achieved during the first half of the financial year, it exceeded the market’s expectations.

In response to the release, Goldman Sachs revealed that NAB was trading well-ahead of its second half estimates.

It commented: “NAB has released its 3Q21 trading update, with unaudited cash earnings from continuing operations of A$1.70 bn, up 1% on the previous period average, run-rating 11% ahead of what is implied by our current 2H21E forecasts.”

What else?

Also giving the NAB share price a boost was news that it has agreed to acquire Citigroup’s Australian consumer business.

The proposed acquisition includes a home lending portfolio, unsecured lending business, retail deposits business, and private wealth management business. It will add deposits of $9 billion and lending assets of approximately $12.2 billion. The latter comprises residential mortgages of approximately $7.9 billion and unsecured lending of approximately $4.3 billion.

Goldman was also pleased with this and sees the acquisition as a good way to deploy its excess capital.

The broker explained: “We see strategic merit in the transaction, which would contribute to an improvement in the returns drag NAB has suffered vs. peers from being underweight Consumer Banking and having a Consumer Bank that relatively under-earns, given a lower exposure to unsecured lending. We calculate that the transaction would result in a c. 1.5% better EPS outcome than if the equivalent capital was bought back on-market.”

Is it too late to invest?

As you might have guessed from Goldman Sachs’ positive comments, it still sees value in the NAB share price.

Goldman recently retained its conviction buy rating and lifted its price target to $30.62. Based on the current NAB share price of $27.64, this implies potential upside of ~11% over the next 12 months before dividends. Including dividends, the potential return stretches to approximately 16%.

This could mean NAB’s share price gains are still not over in 2021.

The post The NAB (ASX:NAB) share price has gained 10% in the last 6 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• NAB (ASX:NAB) fined $18.5m for misleading customers, shares slump
• How is the NAB (ASX:NAB) share price performing against the banking sector?
• Top broker names 2 ASX dividend shares to buy
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth

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

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The sudden collapse of iron ore prices sent the Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) share price into free fall, down almost 20% in August to a 5 month low of $20.02.

Iron ore prices have rapidly deteriorated from record highs of ~US$230/t to around US$150/t after China pledged to reduce its 2021 steel output in an effort to curb carbon emissions.

Steel producers in major industrial provinces including Anhui, Gansu, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shandong, and Yunnan were told to limit their production to 2020 volumes.

Iron ore markets have managed to find some support this week on steel demand optimism.

Bloomberg reported that China’s central bank chief viewed to “stabilise the supply of credit and boost the amount of money supporting smaller businesses and the real economy, after both credit and economic growth slowed in July”.

The prospect of accommodative policies might be why the Fortescue share price has managed to find some support around 5-month lows this week.

But looking ahead, analysts think there could be more pain for iron ore prices.

A bleak outlook for iron ore

According to an article featured on Mining.com, analysts Erik Hedbord and Richard Lu at commodities consultancy CRU Group said a further drop in iron ore prices is possible.

“CRU forecasts iron ore prices to decline further towards the end of the year, as we see a more balanced market with Chinese demand likely to stabilise for the rest of the year, while seaborne supply continues to improve,”.

Alongside stabilising demand from China, shipment volumes from iron ore producers in Australia typically improve in the fourth quarter, according to CRU analysts.

Fortescue share price snapshot

The Fortescue share price has tumbled well into negative territory, down 19.5% year-to-date.

The company is expected to release its FY21 full year results on Monday, 30 August.

The post Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price tumbles in August, analysts see further declines in iron ore appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• August hasn’t been a great month for the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price
• These 3 ASX 200 shares were the most heavily traded on Monday
• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price bounces back, up 8% on Monday
• Just how dependent is Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) on China?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Miners drag ASX back to earth

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

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With interest rates likely to remain low for some time to come, the yields on the ASX dividend shares listed below could be even more attractive than normal for income investors.

Here’s what you need to know about these dividend shares that a leading broker has rated as buys:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Adairs. It is a leading retailer of homewares and home furnishings in Australia and New Zealand through both retail stores and online channels.

It has been in fine form in FY 2021 thanks to heightened sales during the pandemic. This led to the company recently reporting a 28.5% increase in sales to $499.8 million. And thanks to margin expansion, Adairs’ underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) almost doubled to $109.1 million. This allowed Adairs to increase its dividend to 23 cents per share.

And while it will be very hard for Adairs to outperform this in FY 2022, it has started the year strongly.

The team at Morgans are positive on the company. Last week the broker upgraded its shares to an add rating with a $4.20 price target. Morgans is also forecasting fully franked dividends per share of 22 cents in FY 2022 and 27 cents in FY 2023.

Based on the current Adairs share price of $3.73, this will mean yields of 5.9% and 7.2%, respectively.

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

This supermarket giant could be a dividend share to consider buying. Coles has just handed in a solid full year result for FY 2021.

For the 12 months ended 30 June, the company reported sales revenue growth of 3.1% to $38,562 million and net profit after tax growth of 7.5% to $1,005 million. The latter was a touch ahead of the market’s expectations. This allowed Coles to increase its full year dividend by 6% to a fully franked 61 cents per share.

Morgans is also feel bullish about Coles. In response to its full year results, the broker retained its add rating and lifted its price target to $19.80. It is now forecasting dividends of 61 cents per share in FY 2022 and then 62 cents per share in FY 2023.

Based on the current Coles share price of $17.89, this represents yields of 3.4% and 3.5%, respectively.

The post 2 excellent ASX dividend shares analysts rate as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why is the Coles (ASX:COL) share price down 5% this week?
• How does the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) earnings result compare to Coles (ASX:COL)?
• Coles (ASX:COL) share price slides amid $1.3 billion sustainability refinancing
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) and this dividend share have been named as buys
• Why the Coles (ASX:COL) share price has underperformed the ASX 200 in the last year

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 recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO and COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) share price has risen by around 6% over the last six months.

Could there be more on the way?

ANZ’s most recent result

For the first half of the 2021 calendar year, Australia was almost entirely COVID-19 free. The economy was recovering and ANZ was reporting a resurgence of profit.

In the first six months of ANZ’s 2021 financial year to 31 March 2021, the big four ASX bank generated $2.94 billion of statutory profit after tax, which was an increase of 45% compared to the second half of FY20. Continuing operations cash profit increased 28% to $2.99 billion.

However, underlying profit (excluding credit impairment, tax and large items) fell 4% to $4.87 billion.

ANZ noted that improving credit conditions resulted in a release of almost $500 million during the half. While the pandemic hasn’t resulted in large credit losses to date, it still has almost $4.3 billion in reserve if conditions get worse.

Management said that lower revenue in its institutional business were largely expected due to the impact of falling interest rates as well as the normalisation of its market revenue after an exceptionally strong 2020.

The recovery of the headline profit allowed the ANZ board to increase the half-year dividend from $0.35 to $0.70 per share.

The ANZ share price fell 3.5% in the week after the release of this result.

Capital management

ANZ revealed in July 2021 that it intended to buy back up to $1.5 billion of shares on market as part of its capital management plan.

The ANZ Chair Paul O’Sullivan said:

Despite the very real challenges being experienced by many of our customers, we have the financial strength to continue to support our customers, while also returning surplus capital to shareholders. After reviewing options, we consider an on-market buy-back to be the most prudent, fairest and flexible method to return capital in the current environment.

Our capital position may allow future capital returns to be considered, however we will continue to focus on balanced and prudent outcomes for all stakeholders.

Is the ANZ share price worth looking at?

Morgans says that ANZ is a buy, with a price target of $34.50. That suggests the bank could rise by more than 20% over the next 12 months if the broker is right. The broker thinks there could be more capital returns to shareholders in time.

However, Morgan Stanley only thinks that ANZ shares are a hold with a price target of $28 whilst noting that the bank’s capital position was a lot stronger. On Morgan Stanley’s numbers, ANZ is valued at 15x FY22’s estimated earnings.

The post The ANZ share price has gained 6% in the last 6 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares for income investors
• ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share buyback, what does it mean for you?
• Is the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price a buy right now?
• Here’s what has been moving the ANZ (ASX:ANZ) share price in August 2021
• What’s moving the ASX 200 Index (ASX:XJO) on Monday?

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 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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If you’re wanting to invest in the small side of the Australian share market, then the two small caps listed below could be worth a closer look.

They are growing quickly and could have very bright futures ahead of them.

Here’s why these small cap ASX shares could be worth adding to your watchlist:

BlueBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: BBT)

The first small cap ASX share to watch is BlueBet. It is a mobile-first online wagering provider. It allows users to bet on all Australian and international racing and sports through its website and app. BlueBet has been growing very strongly thanks to the increasing popularity of mobile sports betting.

This led to the company doubling its customer numbers over the last 12 months, which has underpinned strong wagering turnover growth.

The good news is that the company is only really getting started. And positively, management appears confident it is well positioned to substantially grow its current ~1.2% share of the market in Australia. It has also been making inroads into the massive US market which is just beginning to open up.

Damstra Holdings Ltd (ASX: DTC)

Another small cap ASX share to watch is Damstra. It is a growing integrated workplace management solutions provider which provides a cloud-based workplace management platform that is used by businesses globally.

Damstra’s platform allows users to track, manage, and protect their workers and assets. Demand has been growing strongly in recent years and has continued in FY 2021.

For example, last week the company released its full year results and revealed a 63% increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $34.5 million. This was driven by a 74% increase in user numbers to 737,000.

And while no guidance was given for the year ahead, management spoke positively about the future. It notes that it has multiple growth options that are being driven via tailored strategies and routes to market.

The post 2 growing small cap ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Damstra (ASX:DTC) share price slumps 5% despite revenue surge
• 3 small cap ASX shares investors should watch very closely
• The Damstra Holdings (ASX:DTC) share price is up 50% in a month!
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Accent, Bluebet, IAG, & Megaport shares are tumbling lower

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 Damstra Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Damstra Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BlueBet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price has moved mostly sideways since the beginning of the year, down 10%.

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has weighed heavily on oil prices as the world attempts to restart the economy.

Woodside deals in the energy industry, supplying oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) to its customers. The spot price of oil and LNG contracts heavily affects the company’s share price.

At one point in 2020, the spot price of oil went into negative territory, a first in the history books. However, the commodity has since somewhat recovered.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is currently fetching US$68.41 per barrel, up 1.47% for today. In addition, its more expensive brother, Brent crude, is trading for $72.11, up 1.46%.

WTI is sourced from oil fields in the United States and is lighter due to its low density and low sulphur content. Brent crude on the other hand is sourced from the North Sea between the Shetland Islands and Norway, and is popular to refine into diesel fuel and gasoline.

What would have happened to your Woodside investment in 10 years?

If you had invested $1,000 in Woodside shares in 2011, you would have bought them for around $35.48 each. This would have given you approximately 28 shares.

Looking at today’s closing price, Woodside shares are trading at $20.28. This means those 28 shares would now be worth a paltry $567.84 (28 shares x $20.28). When considering percentage terms, this implies a decline of around 43%, or a yearly average loss of 5.50%.

This is a mammoth fall, particularly considering the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has headed the other way with an average of 5.96% per annum over the last 10 years.

Are Woodside shares a buy?

Since the release of Woodside’s FY21 half-year result, a few brokers have weighed in on the company’s share price.

Swiss investment firm UBS cut its price target for Woodside shares by 5% to $24.80. Citi followed suit to also reduce its rating by 11% to $21.55. The most recent broker note came from Macquarie, which has initiated a bullish price of $27.60 for the energy producer’s shares.

Based on the current Woodside share price, Macquarie’s 12-month price target implies an upside of roughly 36%.

Over the past 12 months, Woodside shares have failed to make any significant movements, up 8%. Year-to-date, however, the company’s shares are down about 3%.

Woodside commands a market capitalisation of roughly $21.2 billion, with 963 million shares on its registry.

The post If you invested $1,000 in Woodside (ASX:WPL) shares a decade ago, here’s what it would be worth now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• It hasn’t been a great month so far for the Woodside (ASX:WPL) share price
• Energy sector leading the ASX 200 shares on Tuesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. 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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Are you interested in adding some ASX growth shares to your portfolio in September? If you are, you may want to look at the ones listed below that have recently been named as buys.

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 number of popular brands. Breville was on form again in FY 2021 and recently reported a 24.7% increase in revenue to $1,187.7 million and a 39.6% jump in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to $136.4 million. The latter was ahead of management’s upgraded EBIT guidance of $136 million.

In response to its results, UBS retained its buy rating and $35.70 price target on its shares. It appears confident its solid growth can continue for some time to come.

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

Another ASX growth share to look at is IDP Education. It is a provider of international student placement services and English language testing services. For obvious reasons, the company’s operations have been hit hard by the pandemic. However, its language testing business has been particularly resilient and appears exceptionally well-positioned for growth over the long term thanks to market share gains and acquisitions.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company’s prospects. Last week it put a buy rating and $34.00 price target on its shares. Goldman is forecasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of a 69% for its earnings over the next three years.

Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO)

A final growth share to look at is Nitro Software. It is a software company that is aiming to drive digital transformation in organisations around the world. Its key solution is the Nitro Productivity Suite, which provides integrated PDF productivity and electronic signature tools to customers. Demand has been growing rapidly in recent years and has continued in FY 2021. For example, Nitro has just released its half year results and reported a 56% increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $33.8 million.

Morgan Stanley was pleased with its half year results. In response, the broker retained overweight rating and $3.70 price target on Nitro’s shares.

The post 3 excellent ASX growth shares to buy in September appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price tipped by broker to jump 17%
• Here are the 3 heaviest trading ASX 200 shares this Thursday
• IDP Education (ASX:IEL) share price higher despite 36% FY21 profit decline
• 2 rapidly growing ASX shares rated as buys
• Nitro Software (ASX:NTO) share price flat after 1H21 results

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 Idp Education Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nitro Software 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 Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has finished the trading week with more of a fizzle than a bang.

Afterpay shares slid well into the red in the latter part of the week after the buy now, pay later (BNPL) company reported its FY21 earnings on Wednesday.

At the market close today, the Afterpay share price was trading down 1.71% at $130.16. This was just 0.5% higher than last Friday’s closing price.

The main takeaway from the company’s FY21 report included a 13% decrease in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and a statutory after-tax loss of around $160 million.

This was despite a 90% year on year growth in sales revenue and almost 80% gain in total income.

What did Afterpay’s co-CEO say?

Afterpay co-founder/CEO Nick Molnar defended the statutory loss on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, saying many non-cash items were essentially one-offs. This included the revaluation of the company’s minority interest in a UK entity.

Molnar added that it was unsurprising to see a minor slowdown in customer growth in Australia versus other markets, given the company’s maturity in the ANZ market in FY21. In contrast, Afterpay saw more than 100% customer growth in its US segment over the past 12 months.

Moreover, he said Afterpay continued to see “top-line” revenue growth as “frequency does continue to accelerate” in the Australian market, in addition to its other segments.

What about the Square Inc deal?

Regarding Square Inc’s impending acquisition of Afterpay, Molnar said the focus was to “align values and principles”, with Square starting from the same fundamentals as Afterpay.

The BNPL company’s top executive said the prospects were “really exciting”. This included the ability to “leverage millions of retailers” (Square’s sellers) and more than 70 million users on Square’s cash app, to accelerate its growth in North America and the globe.

However, Molnar added that Afterpay’s push was as much of a marketing play as it was in retail, as the company sent “over a million leads a day” to its retail partners over the last year.

According to Molnar, this differentiated the company as not just a “payments infrastructure” provider. It was also a “marketing engine” to the hard to reach Millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Afterpay share price snapshot

The Afterpay share price has had a choppy year to date, posting a gain of 10% since January 1. Despite this, Afterpay shares have climbed 43% into the green over the last 12 months.

This result has outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)’s return of around 23% over the last year.

The post Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price slips as CEO spruiks company’s new direction appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How does Afterpay (ASX:APT) earnings result compare to Zip?
• ASX 200 rises, WiseTech soars, Zip drops
• Got Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares? Here’s what to look out for in FY22
• How does the Afterpay (ASX:APT) result compare with broker expectations?
• ASX 200 midday update: WiseTech rockets, Afterpay & Zip report

The author Zach Bristow has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T 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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