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The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is sliding today, down 6% in afternoon trading.

At the current price of $7.74 per share, Zip Co has a market cap of $4.4 billion.

So why are shares of the popular buy now, pay later company sinking today?

We have 3 suspicions.

Why is the Zip share price falling today?

First off, Zip enjoyed a stellar run in June, right through last Wednesday’s close.

From the opening bell on 1 June through to the closing bell on 23 June, Zip soared 23% to $8.60 per share. That leads me to suspect there could be some profit taking going on.

With today’s intraday losses taken into account, Zip’s shares are now down 10% since Wednesday’s close. Though year-to-date the BNPL company remains up 38%.

Whether that remains the case is up in the air. As my Foolish colleague, Tristan Harrison, pointed out last week, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) rates Zip as a sell, with a target price for the shares of $5.70. UBS also believes the Zip share price will head lower, with a target price of $5.60.

Another possible reason for the selloff could be resurgent lockdown fears. With Australia facing the dire prospect of more long-term lockdowns to stamp down the coronavirus, Zip’s BNPL services may face a drop in demand.

Finally, the market was made aware of a big positive for BNPL powerhouse Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) on Friday, and hence a likely negative for Zip. Afterpay’s new pay anywhere offering has been adopted by a host of major US retailers.

According to another Foolish colleague, James Mickleboro, broker “Citi believes that Afterpay’s new offering will increase customer engagement in the US market and put pressure on Zip’s US-based QuadPay business.”

Whatever the reasons, investors are certainly putting pressure on Zip’s share price today.

The post The Zip (ASX:Z1P) share price is down 6%…profit taking, competition or lockdown fears? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO and ZIPCOLTD 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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The Firefinch Ltd (ASX: FFX) share price has come out of a trading halt today as one of the worst performers on the ASX. This comes after the gold producer and lithium developer provided an update to its capital raising efforts.

At the time of writing, Firefinch shares are down a sizeable 8.89% to 41 cents.

What’s sending Firefinch shares lower?

One catalyst for the huge falls in the Firefinch share price today may be investor fears over an impending share dilution.

According to its release, Firefinch has successfully raised $47 million (before costs) by a way of placement. The company received strong support from both existing and new shareholders, including a number of high-quality Australian and global institutions.

The offer will see roughly 117 million new ordinary shares, at a price of 40 cents each, allocated to participating investors. This represents an 11.1% discount on the issued capital prior to when the company announced the placement (45 cents).

Firefinch will seek to use the proceeds from the capital raise together with its anticipated debt facility for various initiatives. This includes accelerating production growth at the Morila Gold Mine to 200,000 ounces by 2024. The company will also allocate funds to continuing exploration and resource development drilling at the Morila Super Pit.

In addition, Firefinch will proceed with the demerger of the Goulamina Lithium Project into a separate ASX-listed company.

Firefinch managing director, Michael Anderson commented:

…This equity funding, combined with the expected debt funding during the September quarter of 2021, will enable us to deliver on our strategic vision of becoming a West African gold producer of scale, as well as progress our Goulamina demerger plans.

About the Firefinch share price

Over the past year, Firefinch shares have surged almost 300%, with year-to-date sitting at gains of 120%. The company’s share price reached a multi-year high of 57 cents in the middle of this month, before heading lower.

Based on today’s price, Firefinch has a market capitalisation of around $321 million, with about 785 million shares on issue.

The post Firefinch (ASX: FFX) share price sinks on capital raising efforts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price is halted today
• Firefinch (ASX:FFX) share price soars 11% on lithium joint venture

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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There is one event that could see ASX shares plunge, and we’re closer than ever to it occurring, warned one expert.

Betashares chief economist David Bassanese said that last week’s preliminary May retail sales figures were “weaker than expected”, with Victoria’s recent lockdown a contributor.

But the big development was further north.

“The other major news, of course, was the rising COVID case count in Sydney and the eventual announcement of a 2-week lock down of the metropolitan area — including yours truly!” he said in a memo to clients.

“Perhaps it’s no surprise Australian equities lagged last week.”

On Monday morning, NSW had recorded 18 further cases of coronavirus community transmissions in 24 hours. The state has seen 121 cases in total over the past week.

Until 11:59pm 9 July, Sydney residents are forbidden from leaving the metropolitan area. They are also required to stay home unless they head out for one of just 4 essential reasons.

This week is huge

Bassanese was wary of whether the virus could be suppressed in Sydney and how much the fast-moving Delta variant could spread into other states.

“A broadening in lockdowns to other states and/or an escalating Sydney case count — suggesting a longer than 2-week lockdown — will be increasingly hard for the currently buoyant Australian share market to ignore.”

Rising, or even a steady level of, coronavirus cases in Sydney could force the NSW Government to extend the current lockdown.

And that’s the one event that could bring ASX shares to their knees, according to Bassanese.

“Australia’s low vaccination rollout makes the economy increasingly vulnerable given the new highly contagious COVID delta-variant sweeping the world,” he said.

“Extended lockdowns could severely knock economic growth in the short-term and see the local share market materially lag its global peers.”

Bassanese has recent history on his side.

Last year, as federal and state governments first introduced restrictions in March, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) plunged more than 32% in just one month.

Similar to that time, the big four Australian banks have already pledged to assist customers distressed from the current NSW lockdown.

The measures include waiving fees or deferring loan repayments.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) chief Matt Comyn said last week that his thoughts were with NSW customers.

“We know this lockdown will have an impact on the Sydney-based business community and we’ve been speaking to our customers to understand if they need assistance.

“We would encourage anyone who banks with us and [is] facing difficulties to get in touch with us.”

The post Warning: One thing could plunge ASX shares into crisis appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s why the Freelancer (ASX:FLN) share price is surging 7% today
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• Temple & Webster share price surges with other ASX COVID winners
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: Metcash results, Costa returns, travel shares sink
• 3 ASX shares ready to go off this year: experts

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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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Shares in Nusantara Resources Ltd (ASX: NUS) are soaring today on news the miner is likely to be acquired by Indika Energy. At the time of writing, the Nusantara share price is trading at 34 cents – 11.48% higher than its previous closing price.

Nusantara announced today it has entered a scheme of arrangement for its major shareholder to purchase all Nusantara shares that it doesn’t already own for 35 cents apiece.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the Australia-based gold and minerals explorer.

Acquisition proposal

Indika’s offer of 35 cents per share is a 19% premium on the 5-day volume-weighted average price of Nusantara’s shares and values the company at around $80 million.

The two companies are currently joint venture partners in the Indonesian-based Awak Mas gold project. Nusantara holds 75% of the project while Indika holds 25%.

Nusantara announced news of Awak Mas’ front end engineering and design (FEED) process today. According to Nusantara, the FEED is nearly complete and will form the basis of the mine’s definitive feasibility study (DFS). Nusantara plans to update the market on Awak Mas’ DFS next month.

The company’s independent board committee said the acquisition would help the company avoid potentially higher than expected costs of Awak Mas, continued COVID-19 disruptions, and the challenges junior ASX mining companies faced when trying to finance projects in foreign jurisdictions.

Nusantara’s independent board committee has recommended that the company’s shareholders vote in favour of the acquisition. However, their advice depends on an independent expert report finding the acquisition is in Nusantara shareholders’ best interest. Additionally, their advice depends upon Nusantara receiving no better offer.

Nusantara’s second and third-largest shareholders, whose combined holdings make up 26.7% of the company, have indicated they intend to vote in favour of the acquisition.

Indika’s proposal will face a vote by Nusantara’s shareholders in September.

Nusantara share price snapshot

Today’s gains have seen the Nusantara share price make it out of the red on the ASX.

Currently, shares in Nusantara have gained 17% year to date. However, they’ve just broken even with their share price 12 months ago.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $69 million, with approximately 229 million shares outstanding.

The post Here’s why the Nusantara (ASX:NUS) share price is up 11% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Here’s why the Freelancer (ASX:FLN) share price is surging 7% today
• COVID-19 lockdown hits oOh!Media (ASX:OML) share price
• Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price surges 7% despite litigation outcome
• Why the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is pushing higher today
• WAM’s WAR on the ASX! Wilson’s new LIC hits the share market

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 Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN) share price is performing strongly today. At the time of writing, shares in the crowdsourcing marketplace are swapping hands for $1.20, up 7.1%.

Below we run through the company’s latest announcement regarding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Awarded NASA task order

Investors are buying up shares in the freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace platform after the company announced it had secured a NASA contract.

According to the release, the contract is for a US$510,000 task order for the United States Bureau of Reclamation project. This seeks to optimise and speed up an equation solver for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. In simpler terms, computer-generated simulations.

Freelancer’s platform will be used to crowdsource solutions to the Sedimentation and River Hydraulics challenge. The goal is for a freelancer to devise a stable and fast equation for CFD models that can run on a multi-core personal computer.

Chief Executive Matt Barrie commented on the contract win:

To date, NASA has sourced over 13,000 product designs from more than 6,000 product designers. We’re excited to help Reclamation and NASA improve the speed of Sedimentation and River Hydraulics Model using the world’s largest online talent in what will be the new largest challenge yet by an order of magnitude.

Furthermore, the prize money allotted to the successful freelancer is US$300,000. This will be split across two stages, paying US$150,000 each. The first stage will consist of the development and demonstration of a new equation solver.

Subsequently, stage 2 will involve running an existing Reclamation model in parallel with the new solver.

Not its first space rodeo

NASA’s crowdsourcing approach is not a new phenomenon. The first round of crowdsourcing contracts rolled out back in 2015. Fast forward to late 2020, the space agency launched its second crack with NASA Open Innovation Services 2.

Notably, Freelancer has had its fair share of NASA contracts in the past. Peering over at the company’s website, you can see a range of gadgets and gizmos developed by people on the platform.

In this case, the latest contract is not yet live on the Freelancer platform. The company states it will be launched via a microsite at a date to be announced.

Freelancer share price snapshot

The Freelancer share price has performed exceptionally well year-to-date (YTD). Since the beginning of 2021, the company’s shares have rallied an impressive 144%. Comparatively, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned 9.2% over the same timeframe.

Lastly, the company’s market capitalisation is now $505 million based on the current Freelancer share price.

The post Here’s why the Freelancer (ASX:FLN) share price is surging 7% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Freelancer 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 oOh!Media Ltd (ASX: OML) share price is struggling today. At the time of writing, shares in the outdoor advertising company are trading more than 6% lower for the day. Shares in oOh!Media were down nearly 7% earlier, after hitting an intra-day low of $1.70.

Why is the oOh!Media share price dropping?

Since oOh!Media has not released any price-sensitive news, there are a few catalysts that could be causing the company’s share price to drop.

Given that the company specialises in ‘out of home’ advertising, COVID-19 lockdowns could explain the dropping share price. ‘Out of home’ advertising refers to marketing in trains stations, aeroplanes, shopping centres and accounts for approximately 75% of Group revenue.

oOh!Media operates in Australia and New Zealand, boasting an extensive network of more than 37,000 digital and static advertising locations. These locations include road, rail, airports, retail centres, universities and office buildings. With people staying home during the lockdown period, the subsector could be a potential casualty.

How has Ooh Media performed?

Earlier this year, oOh!Media revealed the devastation that the pandemic had caused in its financial results for 2020.  

For the year ending 31 December, the outdoor advertising company highlighted a 34% decline in revenue of $426.5 million. In addition, oOh!Media reported a net loss after tax excluding acquisition-related amortisation of $8 million. Underlying EBITDA also declined by 55% to $63.2 million, reflecting the decline in the company’s revenue.

The company also provided a snapshot of its performance in 2021 at its recent annual general meeting. For the first quarter FY21, oOh!Media saw total revenue in Australia decline by 22% compared to the prior corresponding quarter. This decline compares to an overall 24% decline in the broader Out of Home sector as measured by the Outdoor Media Association.

In New Zealand, first quarter FY21 revenue declined by 6% compared to an overall 8% decline for the Out of Home sector.

Snapshot of the oOh!Media share price

The tough trading environment was reflected in the oOh!Media share price which hit a 52-week low of 70.5 cents last year.

Following a strong recovery, shares in the out of home advertising company have remained flat in 2021. Despite the recovery, the oOh!Media share price is currently trading modestly lower from its 52-week high of $1.95.

The post COVID-19 lockdown hits oOh!Media (ASX:OML) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price surges 7% despite litigation outcome
• Why the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is pushing higher today
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• Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) shares are the most traded on the ASX 200 today
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended oOh!Media 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 Redbubble (ASX: RBL) share price has jumped 7.87% today to reach $3.70 at the time of writing.

Today’s gains come are a short-term reversal out of the red for Redbubble’s share price. Year-to-date, the company’s shares have dropped by 37.82%, whereas the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has posted a return of 11%.

However, over the past month, the Redbubble share price has gained 8.19% in 1 month, giving Redbubble a current market capitalisation of around $1 billion.

Share price gains amidst litigation outcome

Redbubble operates an online print-on-demand marketplace where artists can sell their own art and designs on a range of products.

On 24 June 2021, the company provided a litigation update in the case involving its US subsidiary Redbubble inc, originally commenced by US fashion retailer Brandy Melville.

The release outlined the company had received a verdict relating to alleged intellectual property infringement. The jury’s verdict included a reward of US$520,000.

In the statement, the company noted that:

Redbubble also notes that, in US court proceedings, this is but one step in the overall litigation and a number of possible steps remain before the claim is finally concluded. Redbubble believes that certain critical findings were not supported by the evidence offered at trial and will be asking the court for relief from the verdict on that basis. Redbubble remains confident in its position and will continue to vigorously pursue its defence of the claims.

Investors continue to reward Redbubble stock despite the litigation outcome. On Wednesday 24 June, Redbubble’s shares were trading at $3.27, and since this event, have gained 13.15%.

Redbubble share price snapshot

Over the past 6 months, Redbubble shares have lost 37.82% (at the time of writing). The company’s 52-week price range is $1.86–$7.35, a 295% difference.

Shares made a quick run from $2 and change in June 2020 to the all-time-high of $7.35 in January 2021. However, since this time, the share price has retraced 49.66% back down to today’s level of $3.70 at time of writing.

Redbubble shares also currently have an earnings per share of 12.8 cents, and trade at a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 26.81.

The post Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price surges 7% despite litigation outcome appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Is the Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price a buy in June 2021?
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• Why Redbubble (ASX:RBL) is a bargain buy now: analyst

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 Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) share price is in the rise this afternoon, trading up 2.79% at $37.81.

This follows its successful Endeavour Group Limited (ASX: EDV) demerger, in which Woolworths shareholders will receive one Endeavour share for every Woolworths share they own.

With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) trading down 0.06% today, let’s take a look at what’s helping the Woolworths share price outperform the market.

Lockdowns are back

New COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions are sweeping across the country, with Greater Sydney entering a two-week lockdown until 9 July, and various border closures between states.

With social mobility coming to a grinding halt across many states, this could once again influence higher in-home consumption of supermarket staples.

Previously, in Woolworths’ FY20 full year results, the company cited:

In H2, total sales growth of 10.4% on a normalised basis was driven by COVID pantry-loading and higher in-home consumption through lockdown and community movement restrictions.

While Sydney’s lockdown is only for two weeks (for now), it could still have a notable impact on supermarket sales.

Take Victoria’s experience, for example.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported a 1.5% increase in Australian food retailing turnover in May 2021, seasonally adjusted.

The jump in food retailing was led by Victoria, which reported a 4.0% increase after the state entered a COVID-related lockdown in late May. Within food retailing, the ABS noted a particularly strong supermarkets turnover.

COVID-19 winners running today

The Woolworths share price joins today’s resurgence of ASX COVID-19 winners.

Notably, ASX e-commerce shares including Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW), Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) and Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) have rallied 10.33%, 6.23% and 8.02% respectively, possibly influenced by recent lockdown announcements.

The post Why the Woolworths (ASX:WOW) share price is pushing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Atomo, Metcash, Temple & Webster, & Woolworths are pushing higher
• Temple & Webster share price surges with other ASX COVID winners
• ASX 200 down 0.1%: Metcash results, Costa returns, travel shares sink
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Share market breaks 5 week winning streak
• These were the worst-performing ASX 200 shares last week

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. owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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It’s WAR on the ASX. Wilson Asset Management’s (WAM) latest Listed Investment Company (LIC) has just debuted on the ASX share market today. WAM Strategic Value Ltd (ASX: WAR) makes its ASX entrance today after months of marketing and signing up new investors for the eventual IPO (initial public offering).

Since May, investors have been able to apply for shares in WAM Strategic Value for a placement price of $1.25 a share. Well today, those shares are trading on the market. So how is the old IPO going for WAM?

Well, not too badly, but perhaps nothing to write home about. WAR shares hit the ASX this morning and opened for $1.26 a share, 1 cent or 0.8% above its placement price. And that’s where the share price is hovering at, at the time of writing. So, this price gives WAM Strategic Value a market capitalisation of $226.8 million. That comes from WAM telling investors there will be 180 million WAR shares on the ASX upon its float.

What is WAM Strategic Value?

The latest in WAM’s LIC stable, WAM Strategic Value is headed up by WAM founder Geoff Wilson himself. In the company’s ASX WAR prospectus, he tells investors that WAM Strategic Value will focus on “identifying and investing in $1 of assets for 80 cents”. The LIC will do this by “[taking] advantage of market mispricing opportunities, including securities trading at discounts to assets or net tangible assets (NTA), corporate transactions and dividend yield arbitrages with franking credit benefits”.

Here’s some more of what Wilson told investors in its prospectus:

Our experience and expertise in managing closed-end vehicles provides us with a unique methodology to identify and benefit from LIC and LIT market mispricing opportunities and engage proactively with boards, management teams, investors and other stakeholders. This primary focus will be complemented by other market mispricing opportunities arising within the corporate sector. Such as takeovers or capital raisings, where we are able to utilise our position as an institutional investor responsible for more than $4 billion of shareholder capital.

ASX hears the drums of WAR

So put simply, WAM Strategic Value is primarily going to be in the business of buying other LIC and Listed Investment Trust (LIT) assets for less than they are actually worth. So what kind of leads do we have on this new LIC? It has presumably invested in a fair bit so far with its $200 million-plus backing, after all.

Well, WAM has yet to give us an official update. But we can gather some valuable information from other sources. The Magellan High Conviction Trust (ASX: MHH) seemed to be an early target. As my Fool colleague Mitchell Lawler flagged at the time, Magellan’s High Conviction Trust may have had some interest from WAM Strategic Value. Its units were trading at a 12.2% discount to their underlying NTA value back then. The High Conviction Trust unit price has since rallied to somewhat close this NTA gap.

But some additional ASX releases that came out alongside the IPO today give us a broader picture. According to these ASX releases, WAR shares might represent ownership in LICs and LITs including NAOS Small Cap Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX: NSC) and Pengana International Equities Ltd (ASX: PIA). As well as Templeton Global Growth Fund Ltd (ASX: TGG) and Westoz Investment Company Limited (ASX: WIC).

We’ll have to wait for WAM’s first investment updates to find out more about this new LIC. But the picture is now a lot clearer on ASX’s new WAR LIC.

The post WAM’s WAR on the ASX! Wilson’s new LIC hits the share market appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Is WAM going ham on Magellan High Conviction Trust (ASX:MHH)?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Magellan High Conviction Trust and WAMGLOBAL FPO. 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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Shares in Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) are, once again, the most traded among all those in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today. However, it’s not good news for the lithium miner’s shares.

The Pilbara Minerals share price is currently trading at $1.44 – 3.03% lower than Friday’s close.

At the time of writing, over 12.3 million Pilbara shares have been traded today. That’s approximately $17.7 million worth.

And all that has happened despite Pilbara Minerals releasing no news to the ASX today.

As The Motley Fool reported earlier today, demand for lithium is increasing alongside demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy – 2 sectors that rely on lithium-ion technology. But that doesn’t seem to be helping Pilbara shares today.

And it’s not only lithium shares investors are fleeing from today. Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) shares are being traded at an impressive rate – with almost 10.7 million having changing hands so far today. The Qantas share price is falling by almost 4% as COVID-19 flares plague Australia once more.

Let’s take a look at the last time the market heard from Pilbara Minerals.

The latest news

On Friday, Pilbara Minerals announced the company’s board had voted in favour of restarting lithium production at the Ngungaju plant.

Operations at the plant are expected to begin once more in the final quarter of 2021.

The plant will likely produce between 180,000 and 200,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of lithium by the middle of 2022.

According to Pilbara Minerals, that will result in a significant increase in its Pilgangoora project’s production, which is set to increase from 560,000 dmt to 580,000 dmt.

The company expects the restart to cost around $39 million.

Pilbara Minerals also announced it anticipates a record spodumene shipment for the June quarter. The shipment’s expected to be around 96,000 dtm.

Despite the seemingly good news, the Pilbara Minerals share price also fell on Friday to close 3.26% lower than its previous session.

Pilbara Minerals share price snapshot

2021 has been a good year so far for the Pilbara Minerals share price, which has gained around 65% year to date.

It has also gained a whopping 492% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $4.15 billion, with approximately 2.9 billion shares outstanding.

The post Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) shares are the most traded on the ASX 200 today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 2 high performing ASX lithium shares tipped by top fund manager
• Here are some of the most actively traded ASX 200 shares today
• The Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price is up 12% in a week
• Why New Hope, Nuix, Pilbara Minerals, & Woolworths shares are dropping
• Here are 3 of the most heavily traded ASX 200 shares today

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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