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Are you a fan of small caps shares like me? Then you may want to look at these exciting small caps.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

BlueBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: BBT)

BlueBet 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.

Like current market darling Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH), it has been growing very strongly thanks to the increasing popularity of mobile sports betting. For example, over the last 12 months, BlueBet has doubled its customer numbers to ~90,000. This led to the company’s wagering turnover increasing 63% in 2020 to $266.3 million. This is forecast to grow a further 47% to $390.3 million in 2021.

Positively, management is confident that this trend can continue and believes it is well positioned to substantially grow its current ~1.2% share of the market in Australia.

In addition to this, the company is using some of the funds from its recent IPO to push into the US. In this massive market, the company plans to explore deals with casinos, sporting organisations, and media groups to run their sports books in joint ventures. Agreements in three states – Iowa, Virginia and Colorado – are well advanced.

Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO)

Another small cap to look at is this online travel booking and expense management provider. Serko offers two increasingly popular solutions. These are the Zeno Travel corporate travel tool and the Zeno Expense platform.

Zeno Travel provides AI-powered end-to-end travel itineraries, cost control and travel policy compliance to corporate customers. And Zeno Expense allows users to automate and streamline the expense administration function, identify out-of-policy expense claims, and prevent fraud.

Given its exposure to travel markets, demand for its offering has reduced during the pandemic. However, with travel markets beginning to recover, Serko is beginning to witness big improvements in its performance. It also has a game-changing deal with travel giant Booking.com that is expected to be a major boost when travel markets normalise.

The post 2 exciting small cap ASX shares you should be watching closely appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price is under pressure
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes FY21 on a high
• BlueBet (ASX:BBT) share price rockets 84% higher following IPO
• 2 highly rated small cap ASX shares to watch
• 4 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and Serko Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pointsbet Holdings Ltd and Serko 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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Cryptocurrencies garnered immense interest during the last financial year, and for good reason. They have been delivering some incredible returns over the past year. But which ones have performed best? You might be intrigued that despite its cult-like following, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) didn’t even make the cut. So, which ones did?

We have done a deep dive into five cryptocurrencies that outperformed Bitcoin in FY21, each delivering in excess of 2,500% in returns during the financial year.

That means if you had of invested $1,000 in any one of these on 30 June 2020, it would have been worth more than $26,000 a year later.

Without further ado, let’s uncover these cryptos!

These cryptos smashed Bitcoin’s returns

While Bitcoin provided its investors with a sizeable 300% during the last financial year, this pales in comparison to the returns from the following cryptocurrencies.

Theta (CRYPTO: THETA)

The first crypto on the list outpacing the returns of Bitcoin is Theta token. This cryptocurrency is the native token for Theta’s blockchain powered network purpose-built for video streaming. This token is a ‘governance’ token, which means holders of it have a say in the project’s future.

Theta’s developers are seeking to shake up the existing methods of content delivery. In doing so, Theta aims to make video streaming more efficient and provide creators with a larger cut of their revenue. The project counts Steve Chen, co-founder of Youtube and Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch as advisors.

Theta gained 2745% during the financial year, cementing its spot as the 20^th largest crypto by market capitalisation, at $8.17 billion. The token currently fetches $8.16

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)

Solana is an open-source project which provides permissionless decentralised finance solutions. This idea was first conceived in 2017 and was launched by Geneva-based company, The Solana Foundation, earlier this year.

The project was founded by former Qualcomm and Dropbox software engineer, Anatoly Yakovenko. An important and appealing factor of Solana is its proof-of-history consensus which allows for greater scalability of the protocol.

Other projects choose to build onto Solana’s technology due to its short processing time for transactions and smart contracts, in addition to low fees. According to the project’s website, Solana can process 50,000 transactions per second.

The Solana token skyrocketed 3,706% to $47.32 per SOL during FY21. That is more than 10 times the return of Bitcoin over the same period.

Theta Fuel (CRYPTO: TFUEL)

Sounds like Theta… Well, that’s because it is. Theta Fuel is the second native token involved with the Theta video streaming project. However, Theta Fuel is not a governance token. Instead, TFUEL acts as the utility or currency within the decentralised video and data delivery platform.

Currently, there are 5.23 million TFUEL tokens in circulation. This number grows over time as more TFUEL is generated as ‘staking rewards’.

The value of Theta Fuel climbed 4,510% during FY21. An incredible gain that far exceeds that of Bitcoin. The market capitalisation of this token is $2.54 billion.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)

The underdoge on the list… No one would have expected that a cryptocurrency that started as a joke would become so prevalent. Dogecoin has likely surpassed the expectations of all of its investors during the last financial year.

Several tweets by Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk, propelled the dog meme inspired cryptocurrency. Speculation of its adoption by the electric vehicle manufacture spread like wildfire. Though the heat has now died down somewhat, dogecoin still managed to deliver unbelievable returns.

During the last financial year, Dogecoin gained 5,095% — nearly 52 times in a year. The cryptocurrency is now the sixth largest in existence.

Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC)

And finally, one of the best performing cryptocurrencies during the financial year is Polygon. The project describes itself as a protocol and a framework for building and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks.

Essentially, Polygon is a second layer to Ethereum which seeks to address some of the issues for developers on the Ethereum network. Additionally, polygon states it can offer up to 65,000 transactions per second with confirmation times of less than 2 seconds.

A combination of exceptionally low fees and added functionality has resulted in more than 350 decentralised applications being built on Polygon. With more adoption of the network and its token, the Polygon price blasted 6,760% higher in FY21. That’s a performance that certainly puts Bitcoin’s 300% to shame.

The post These 5 cryptos outperformed Bitcoin in FY21, delivering more than 2500% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• This is the only reason to invest in Bitcoin
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes FY21 on a high
• How Tyler Winklevoss plans to go green with Bitcoin
• ASIC just poured cold water on an ASX Bitcoin ETF
• Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest to launch Bitcoin ETF

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Tesla. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up around 0.1% to 7,315 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

The Sydney Airport share price jumped 34% today after receiving a takeover offer.

The offer for the ASX 200 share came from a consortium of infrastructure investors, including IFM Investors, QSuper and Global Infrastructure Management.

Sydney Airport investors are being offered an indicative price of $8.25 cash per share.

The Sydney Airport boards have commenced an assessment of the proposal.

The airport business said:

The indicative proposal has been made during a global pandemic which has deeply affected the aviation industry and the Sydney Airport share price. The indicative price is below where Sydney Airport’s security price traded before the pandemic. The boards are undertaking detailed analysis of, amongst other things, whether the proposal is reflective of the underlying value of the airport given its long-term remaining concession and the expected short-term impact of the pandemic. The boards will update securityholders accordingly.

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

The Airtasker share price went up 1% today after giving a business update.

It said that FY21 gross marketplace volume (GMV) of $153.1 million has exceeded the prospectus forecast of $143.7 million as well as the upgraded guidance of $148 million to $152 million.

Airtasker saw a “strong” FY21 fourth quarter performance year on year, with GMV up 39.1% compared to the last quarter of FY20.

The company said it expects a softer start to the first quarter of FY22 because of lockdowns, but there’s no impact to full year FY22 targets due to elevated marketplace performance going into lockdowns and historically sharp marketplace recovery.

The 14-day lockdown in Melbourne, at the end of May 2021, saw a temporary decrease in marketplace activity followed by a sharp recovery. There is no impact expected to Airtasker’s full year FY22 outlook.

Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF)

The Australian Ethical share price dropped around 9% after revealing its performance fee from the fund that focuses on emerging companies.

The Emerging Companies Fund will pay a performance fee of $2.89 million after delivering a return of 51.1% after all fees, compared to the benchmark which returned 33% for the year to 30 June 2021.

Australian Ethical’s performance fee revenue less tax and constitutional grant to the Australian Ethical Foundation adds to guidance on underlying profit after tax (UPAT) announced on 26 May 2021. The FY21 UPAT is expected to be between $10.7 million to $11.2 million, a mid-point increase of 18% compared to FY20.

The post ASX 200 up, Sydney Airport soars, Airtasker rises appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares making moves on the share market today
• Here are the 5 worst performing ASX 200 tech shares from FY21
• The Centuria Capital (ASX:CNI) share price reaches new all-time high
• Why Australian Ethical, Clinuvel, Liontown Resources, & Tabcorp shares are dropping
• ASX energy shares in hotseat as OPEC+ struggles to contain crisis

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 Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment 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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On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia will meet to discuss the cash rate. Once again, the market is expecting the central bank to hold firm with rates at the record low of 0.1%.

While this may be disappointing for anyone trying to earn a passive income from savings accounts or term deposits, all is not lost.

The two ASX dividend shares listed below are both rated as buys and tipped to provide generous yields. Here’s what you need to know:

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

Analysts at Macquarie believe that this rail freight operator’s shares are in the buy zone for income investors. The broker currently has an outperform rating and $4.32 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Aurizon share price of $3.81.

Macquarie notes that Aurizon is aiming to reduce its exposure to thermal coal over the next decade, which it sees as a good move for ESG reasons. In addition to this, the broker believes the company has almost $1 billion of balance sheet capacity to drive its growth through acquisitions. It suspects that grain companies with port and logistics assets would be a good fit.

In the meantime, the broker is forecasting partially franked dividends of 27.8 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 28.6 cents per share in FY 2022. This represents very attractive yields of 7.3% and 7.5%, respectively.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Citi is a fan of this banking giant, which remains its top pick in the sector. The broker currently has a buy rating and $29.50 price target on its shares. This compares to the latest Westpac share price of $25.53.

It likes the bank partly due to its attractive valuation and bold cost base targets. In respect to the latter, Westpac is aiming to reduce its cost base to $8 billion in the coming years. This will be a sizeable reduction from $12.7 billion currently.

Citi is forecasting fully franked dividends of $1.16 per share in FY 2021 and then $1.18 per share in FY 2022. This represents yields of 4.5% and 4.6%, respectively, over the next couple of years.

The post Brokers name 2 ASX 200 dividend shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price still good value?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes FY21 on a high
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• ASX 200 up, Westpac caught in potential fraud, RPMGlobal rises
• ASX blue chips set to unleash buybacks and dividends! But which is better?

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a rather flat start to the trading week this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up just 0.08% to 7,315 points after initially opening far stronger this morning. Let’s take a look at some of the ASX 200 shares making moves today in terms of trading volume.

3 ASX 200 shares making moves today

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

A regular frequenter on this list, Pilbara shares are once again flying around the ASX today, with 16.74 million shares finding new owners today. That’s despite no official news or announcements out of the company today, and a flat share price. Although with that said, even though Pilbara shares are flat at the time of writing, they also dipped heavily in early trading, falling all the way down to $1.40 (down 3%), before recovering to the current price of $1.46 a share. It’s probably this volatility that resulted in so many Pilbara shares changing hands today. Another factor at play could be a renewed focus on lithium companies that my Fool colleague Brendon covered earlier today.

Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY)

Waste management company Cleanaway is another ASX 200 share that is seeing some large trading volumes today. A hefty 20.72 million Cleanaway shares have been traded on the ASX boards today. Once again, there are no major pieces of news or announcement from Cleanaway today (or indeed since 9 June). However, Cleanaway was another ASX share that investors didn’t seem sure what to do with today. Cleanaway shares are currently up 0.76% at $2.64. But earlier today, they climbed as high as $2.69 (up 2.3%) before falling to their current level. At this share price, Cleanaway is up 12.8% year to date in 2021 so far.

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

And the winner (by a mile) for the most traded ASX 200 share today goes to Sydney Airport. There’s an easy explanation for the whopping 48.73 million SYD shares that have swapped hands today. This morning, the company advised investors that it had received a takeover offer from a consortium of large infrastructure investors/funds. This consortium put up $8.25 per share in cash for all Sydney Airport shares. This immediately saw the Sydney Airport share price jump by 37%, and it remains up 33.5% at the time of writing to $7.76 a share.

The post Here are 3 ASX 200 shares making moves on the share market today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the 5 worst performing ASX 200 tech shares from FY21
• The Centuria Capital (ASX:CNI) share price reaches new all-time high
• ASX energy shares in hotseat as OPEC+ struggles to contain crisis
• Here are the 5 best performing ASX 200 tech shares from FY21
• Auckland Airport (ASX:AIA) share price jumps 6% on travel bubble news

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. 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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There are a handful of ASX dividend shares that have been providing consistent income and may be able to continue to do so.

The two businesses in this article have already paid a consistent dividend for decades.

Dividends aren’t guaranteed, but boards do have some discretion about what payment they’re going to send to shareholders.

Here are two to think about:

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)

Soul Patts is a large investment conglomerate. It has actually been listed since 1903, making it one of the oldest businesses on the ASX.

The business has a diversified portfolio of assets, both listed shares and unlisted businesses.

Its biggest positions are ones that it has held for many years such as TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC). But it also has plenty of other investments like Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API), Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI), Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV), Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA), Pengana International Equities Ltd (ASX: PIA) and Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX: PCG).

In recent times the ASX dividend share has launched takeover offers for the aged care operator Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG) and the listed investment company (LIC) Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT). The Regis offer was rejected, but the Milton offer may be successful.

Soul Patts also has a portfolio of stakes in non-ASX businesses such as Apex Healthcare, Round Oak Minerals, Ampcontrol, Pitt Capital and sectors like agriculture, retirement living and financial services.

It has increased its dividend every year since 2000, which is the longest record on the ASX. It has actually paid a dividend every year since listing over a century ago.

Soul Patts funds its dividend from the operating cashflow from the investment income sent to it, after paying for its expenses.

At the current Soul Patts share price, it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 2.6%.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks is another business which has a long dividend record. It hasn’t cut its dividend in the last 40 years.

It has a number of brands in the construction sector. Brickworks is the market leader in bricks with a number of brands including Austral Bricks, Bowral Bricks and Daniel Robertson. Other building product businesses in Australia include Austral Masonry, Austral Precast and Bristle Roofing.

The ASX dividend share has some businesses in North America (after acquiring them) called Glen Gery, Sioux City Brick and Lawrenceville Brick.

The business funds its dividends from two assets. It has a joint venture industrial property trust with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG).

Brickworks pointed out that industrial real estate has been particularly resilient throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. There is significant land for further development at the estates. It has 171,300 square metres of lease pre-commitments already secured. The completion of these facilities over the next two years will result in gross rent within the trust increasing by around $38 million. This represents a 40% uplift from the current level.

In addition to the pre-committed developments, a further 336,900 square metre of gross lettable area is available for development, which provides further opportunity for growth in the years ahead.

Brickworks also has a large holding of Soul Patts shares, which provides Brickworks with stable earnings and growing dividends.

Brickworks has a grossed-up dividend yield of 3.4%.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income retirement appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Soul Patts (ASX: SOL) share price hits all-time high
• ASX construction shares like Brickworks (ASX:BKW) are falling today
• These ASX dividend shares keep giving investors a pay rise
• The Brickworks (ASX:BKW) share price hits a new 52-week high
• ASX 200 down, Woolworths falls, Costa acquires more farms

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Clover Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company 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 Austco Healthcare Ltd (ASX: AHC) share price is rocketing higher today following the announcement of a contract win.

Founded in 1986, Austco is a global manufacturer of nurse call systems and clinical communications solutions for hospital and aged-care facilities.

The healthcare company’s share price spent most of the afternoon up around 8% trading at 13 cents, before surging higher in the final moments of trade. The Austco share price closed the day at 14 cents, up 12.5%.

Austco expands client base

Investors are buying up Austco shares in light of the positive update made to the ASX this morning.

According to its release, Austco advised it has been selected to supply its Tacera Nurse Call platform to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH)

Based in Singapore, the KTPH is a 795-bed general and acute care hospital. The building services more than 550,00 people living in the northern sector of Singapore.

KTPH is a part of Yishun Health, a network of medical institutions and health facilities under the National Healthcare Group. This comprises Admiralty Medical Centre, KTPH, and Yishun Community Hospital. It also includes community extensions such as Wellness Kampung.

Austco said the $3.3 million contract with Yishun Health would ensure that patients at KTPH received a high standard of personalised care.

The Tacera platform includes call points with built-in real-time locating system (RTLS) and webservices interfaces. In addition, software such as enterprise reporting and analytics and dashboards are to be included.

Austco CEO Clayton Astles commented:

We are excited to partner with the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

At Austco, we are constantly looking for ways to enhance our innovative solutions and our recent updates to the exceptional Tacera nurse call system delivers a world-class experience for healthcare facilities and every patient.

The Tacera Nurse Call platform is being planned for deployment in the first quarter of FY22, with completion by December that year.

Austco share price summary

Over the past 12 months, Austco shares have accelerated by more than 50%, and are up over 25% year-to-date. The company’s share price reached a multi-year high of 15 cents early last month.

Based on today’s price, Austco presides a market capitalisation of roughly $35 million, with approximately 284 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the Austco (ASX:AHC) share price is rocketing 12% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are 3 ASX 200 shares making moves on the share market today
• 2 ASX dividend shares that could provide steady income retirement
• These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX
• Here are the 5 worst performing ASX 200 tech shares from FY21
• Hold your nerve on this battered ASX share: expert

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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At the start of each week I like to look at ASIC’s short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.

This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn’t quite right with a company.

With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:

• Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) has become the most shorted share on the ASX after its short interest rose to 11%. Lockdowns and border closures appear to be weighing heavily on this online travel agent’s shares.
• Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has seen its short interest fall meaningfully week on week to 10.2%. Short sellers appear to have been closing positions on the belief that the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia could boost online retailers again.
• Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has seen its short interest jump to 10.1%. As with Webjet, lockdowns and border closures look set to delay this travel agent’s recovery from the pandemic.
• Inghams Group Ltd (ASX: ING) has 8.8% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. Short sellers are believed to be targeting the poultry company due to concerns over an upcoming major contract renewal with a supermarket giant.
• Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS) has 8.1% of its shares held short, which is down week on week once again. Supply chain concerns and unusual accounting methods are the reason this communications, defence, and space company is being targeted.
• Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) has seen its short interest remain at 8%. A weakening outlook for the gold price and production and regulatory issues have weighed heavily on its shares this year.
• Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) has short interest of 8%, which is up week on week again. There are concerns that Afterpay’s new pay anywhere service in the United States could disrupt Zip’s key Quadpay business.
• Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) has short interest of 7.7%, which is down week on week once again. With salmon prices tipped to rebound, short sellers appear to have been closing their positions.
• Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) has seen its short interest ease to 7.6%. As with Kogan, short sellers may have been closing positions on the belief that the recent outbreak of COVID-19 has given ecommerce companies a major lift.
• InvoCare Limited (ASX: IVC) is back in the top ten with short interest of 6.9%. There are concerns that InvoCare could be losing market share to its funeral industry rivals despite its investments and acquisitions.

The post These are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Got Sezzle (ASX:SZL) shares? What’s in store for FY22?
• Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) share price continues to climb today
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX finishes FY21 on a high
• 2 ASX tech shares that might be buys in July 2021
• 2 explosive 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 Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, Temple & Webster Group Ltd, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, Kogan.com ltd, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Flight Centre Travel Group Limited, InvoCare Limited, and Temple & Webster Group 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a spectacular year in FY2021, rising roughly 24%. ASX tech shares also had a top year and many would have handsomely contributed to this overall gain.

We looked at the best performing ASX 200 tech shares earlier today, which you should check out. But there wouldn’t be top performers without the inevitable losers too, albeit just a few. So here is a look at some of the worst faring ASX tech shares over the year that’s just passed.

FY2021’s 5 worst performing ASX 200 tech shares

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Circuit board software maker and WAAAX share Altium is our best worst performer today. It started FY21 at $32.48 a share and finished up at $36.756 last Wednesday. Yes, that puts Altium in the green for FY21, with a 13.8% gain. But, rather paradoxically, this gain also makes Altium one of the worst-performing ASX 200 tech shares on the index

Altium has been a mixed performer for a while now. The company was left in the dust by other ASX tech shares in terms of performance during the 2020 calendar year and is still ‘only’ up 4.8% in 2021 so far.

But saying that, Altium had stellar share price appreciation in both 2018 and 2019, so long-term investors can’t complain too much. The pandemic disrupted Altium’s business model far more than other tech shares and the company’s growth has suffered in response. Still, there are worse things than a 12-month gain of 13.8%.

TechnologyOne Ltd (ASX: TNE)

TechnologyOne certainly had a wild ride over the 2021 financial year. The company rose more than 26% between September and November last year, only to fall back by 20% by January. Following this dip, the shares rose again, this time by 27% by April. But those moves are not accounted for in the FY21 bookend share prices.

TechnologyOne shares started the financial year at $8.79 a share and finished up at $9.30. That’s a gain of 5.8%, again making this company one of the worst performing ASX 200 tech shares despite the positive share price movement.

Investors may have had the company’s half-year results that we saw back in May on their minds recently. These numbers showed that TechnologyOne managed to grow its revenues by 5% over the 6 months to 31 March 2021. Profits were also up, this time by 8%.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

One thing is for certain with EML. Its FY21 performance would have looked a lot different without that dramatic drop in value we saw back in May. On 19 May, EML lost more than 50% of its share price at one point after the company reported an Irish subsidiary was under investigation by Irish authorities over money laundering concerns.

The EML share price recovered somewhat after this but nowhere near enough to counter this dramatic drop. This means that EML finished the financial year at $3.47, still a good 3.9% above the $3.34 it started out at. Even so, EML is still a long way from its 52-week high of $5.89.

PushPay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Now we get to the real ASX 200 tech losers of FY2021. And PushPay is first on this list. Pushpay started FY21 at a share price of $2.06. But last Wednesday saw the company close at just $1.66 a share, putting its loss for the preceding 12 months at 19.22%.

Like TechnologyOne, Pushpay has also had a volatile year. Its 52-week range at the time of writing is $1.40-$2.25, quite the disparity. Pushpay’s big FY21 announcement was its earnings report for the 12 months ending 31 March 2021, which the company delivered back in May.

These earnings detailed Pushpay was able to grow its revenues by 40% and earnings by a very impressive 133%. Judging by the share price performance over FY21, investors didn’t seem too impressed though. Perhaps they decided the Pushpay share price was high enough anyway after phenomenal 2019 and 2020 calendar years.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

At last, we reach the worst-performing ASX 200 tech share of FY2021. And that would be human annotated dataset provider Appen. Things just did not go Appen’s way in FY21. The company started the financial year at $33.92 and finished up at a share price of $13.58. That represents a loss of 50.24%. Ouch.

A WAAAXer like Altium, Appen used to be regarded as a high-flying ASX growth share. It grew by more than 50% in calendar year 2018 and by more than 80% in 2019. However, 2020 and 2021 so far have seen these incredible share price growth rates stall somewhat. This has coincided with earnings downgrades and Appen getting the boot from the ASX 100 Index.

Investors were also displeased with the company in FY21. At the company’s May general meeting, 47.6% of voting shareholders gave the thumbs down to Appen’s remuneration report. Its CEO has also been selling some shares recently. None of these factors seemed to add up to a recipe for a higher Appen share price.

The post Here are the 5 worst performing ASX 200 tech shares from FY21 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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 Altium, Appen Ltd, EML Payments, and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Altium, Appen Ltd, EML Payments, and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. 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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One much-hyped ASX share has given little joy to investors over the last 12 months.

But The Montgomery Fund portfolio manager Joseph Kim has told holders of the healthcare stock to be patient, as the numbers still look pretty good.

Regenerative medicine maker AVITA Medical Inc (ASX: AVH) has seen its stock price plummet 40% in the past year.

“Price-agnostic index selling in October, a cash-burning business combined with a surprise capital raising in February that helped kill short-term price momentum, topped off by an uninspiring share price chart,” Kim said on the Montgomery blog.

“It was relatively easy to paint a negative picture.”

The shame of it all is that Avita shares were doing so well before the COVID-19 crash struck markets in February last year.

“COVID-19 and lockdowns in the US have stymied [its flagship product] RECELL roll-out just as it was gaining steam, as well as preventing recruitment for its various label extension plays in vitiligo, paediatric scalds and wound care.”

Retesting the investment thesis for Avita

The sinking share price had Kim’s team continually re-examining the investment worthiness of the US company.

One of the big reasons why The Montgomery Fund originally invested in Avita shares is the prospect of RECELL becoming the dominant player in the treatment of large burns in the US.

“While this remains some time away, there have been a couple of encouraging developments in June which we view as positive signposts along the journey,” said Kim.

“In June, the company received FDA approval for expanded use of RECELL for pediatric patients. Included in the approval was expanded indication for treatment of full-thickness burns exceeding 50% total body surface area.”

In the middle of last month, the company lifted its revenue forecast from a range of US$8.2 to US$8.6 million to a range of US$9.5 million to US$9.7 million.

“We understand the upgrade in guidance reflects both an increase in movement in the US – which unfortunately has led to greater burns incidents – as well normalisation of activity as the US ‘exits’ the pandemic given its advanced vaccination programs relative to other regions.”

Remaining optimistic on Avita shares

Kim said the increased sales will assist Avita address two priorities.

“We anticipate improved sales should help the company fund its various label-extension opportunities in vitiligo and soft tissue, and alleviate some concern around the company’s level of cash burn (which we note is an investment for future revenue growth).”

While not declaring a price target, Kim’s team is holding onto Avita shares with high hopes.

“We remain optimistic the company will expand its addressable markets through both label extension and geographic expansion given the extensive evidence of real-world cases in its targeted indications, while also growing its current burns business for years to come.”

Avita shares were down 2.39% on Monday, to trade at $5.32 in the afternoon.

The post Hold your nerve on this battered ASX share: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo owns shares of Avita Medical Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Avita Medical Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Avita Medical 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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