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If the words initial public offering (IPO) pique your interest, the ASX-listed shares covered below might be worth a look.

These two companies made their ASX debut earlier this year. Since then, these ASX shares have outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

2 ASX shares bringing great returns

Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART)

Australia’s leading marketplace for local services went public on 23 March 2021. Prior to hitting the public market, Airtasker’s IPO was heavily oversubscribed.

Between retail and institutional investors, the company reached more than five times oversubscribed.

Airtasker managed to raise $86.3 million through the issue of 23.1 million shares prior to listing. On its debut, the Airtasker share price skyrocketed from its listing price of 65 cents a share. Enthusiasm continued to gather, pushing the price as high as $1.96 the day after listing.

Since listing, this ASX share has gone on to raise a further $20.7 million to acquire US-based Zaarly Inc and fund international expansion efforts.

If you managed to get in on the Airtasker IPO at 65 cents, you are well ahead of the benchmark index. Airtasker has delivered a return of 77.7% from its IPO listing price. This compares to the index’s 8.8% over the same period.

Pentanet Ltd (ASX: 5GG)

Situated in Western Australia, this telecommunications provider raised roughly $22 million in its IPO in a bid to expand east.

Interestingly, the company differs slightly from other ASX telcos. Pentanet has a focus on delivering cloud gaming via its expanding network. This endeavour is underscored by a partnership with Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA). Pentanet is the only Nvidia GeForce NOW cloud-gaming alliance partner in Australia.

In the third quarter, the company delivered quarter-over-quarter customer growth of 15% — coming in at 10,993 customers. However, Pentanet is still unprofitable on the bottom-line.

Incidentally, the company announced a capital raise on 18 June. The $20 million proceeds will go towards its 5G development and expanding its Nvidia GeForce NOW cloud-gaming offering.

Anyone lucky enough to have grabbed shares in this ASX IPO has enjoyed fantastic returns to date. Based on today’s closing price, the Pentanet share price has delivered a return of 204%. Clearly, this successful ASX IPO’s returns blow the ASX 200’s 11.1% return out the water.

The post 2 ASX shares with IPOs that have delivered market-beating returns appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Inflation? The tough choice facing all ASX investors right now…
• These ASX 200 shares are on the move today
• The top performing ASX 200 mining shares of 2021
• Here are the best performing ASX 200 tech shares so far in 2021
• ASX 200 up 1.3%: Soul Patts-Milton merger, IGO jumps

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 recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Shares in Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) are once again falling amid media reports about the controversial options package besieging the company. The Nuix share price closed at $2.62 today, 0.76% lower than its previous closing price.

The latest fall for Nuix’s shares has come at the same time as reports claim the company must provide evidence it didn’t backdate an options package given to former chair Tony Castagna.

Let’s take a closer look the headlines facing the embattled software company today.

Reported demands

According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), a court has ordered Nuix to produce the paper trail of the options package by the end of the month.

The court case in question is between the company and its former-executive Eddie Sheehy.

Previously, the AFR, The Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald published a joint investigation into Nuix. Part of the investigation examined Castagna’s options package.

The reports alleged there was a gap in the company’s reporting of Castagna’s 300,000-strong options package, which his company purchased for $3,000 in 2005.

According to the publications, the options were supposedly issued in 2005, yet weren’t mentioned again until 2011. They questioned whether the options were issued in 2011 and backdated to 2005. The options would have been worth $1.8 million in 2011.

The options were supposedly cashed out for $80 million in Nuix’s initial public offering (IPO).

Sheehy vs Nuix

As The Motley Fool Australia has previously reported, Sheeny is taking legal action against Nuix over options within his 2008 renumeration package.

Sheehy claims a 50 to 1 share split conducted in 2017 should have included his options.

Nuix argues Sheehy’s options didn’t fit the criteria for the share split.

Sheehy is now suing Nuix for $200 million of damages – which he believes the share split cost him.

Nuix share price snapshot

Nuix has given ASX watchers one of the most memorable performances of 2021 so far.

Since its December IPO – where its shares were trading for $8.01 – the Nuix share price has fallen 67%.

The company has market capitalisation of around $837 million, with approximately 317 million shares outstanding.

The post Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price falls amid more reports of options package appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why we avoid mining and biotech ASX shares: fund manager
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX makes it 5 out of 5
• Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price falls as ASIC is put on blast in Parliament
• Why the Nuix (ASX:NXL) share price is racing 7% higher today
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now

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 recommended Nuix Pty Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nuix Pty 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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If you’re in the process of building an income portfolio, then you might want to look at the shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares could be in the buy zone:

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN)

If you’re not averse to investing in the resources sector, then you might want to consider Mineral Resources. It is a mining and mining services company with exposure to two of the hottest commodities around – iron ore and lithium. It is thanks largely to its iron ore operations that the company has been tipped to reward shareholders handsomely with dividends over the next couple of years.

For example, analysts at Macquarie are forecasting dividends of $3.32 per share in FY 2021 and then $3.05 per share in FY 2022. Based on the latest Mineral Resources share price of $48.54, this will mean fully franked yields of 6.8% and 6.3%, respectively, over the next two financial years.

Macquarie currently has an outperform rating and $73.00 price target on the company’s shares.

Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN)

Another dividend share to look at is Suncorp. Thanks to improving trading conditions which are being underpinned by Australia’s strong economic recovery, this banking and insurance giant appears well-placed to pay attractive dividends to shareholders in the near term.

The analysts over at Citi certainly believe this will be the case. In fact, the broker suspects that things are going so well that a special dividend could be declared this year. Citi is forecasting dividends of 61 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 58 cents per share in FY 2022.

With the Suncorp share price currently fetching $11.28, this implies fully franked yields of 5.4% and 5.1%, respectively, over the next two years. Citi has a buy rating and $11.80 price target on its shares.

The post 2 high yield ASX dividend shares rated as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Did CBA (ASX:CBA) just make it harder to get a home loan?
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• Top brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price hits new 52-week high
• Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price pushes higher on claims update

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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At the present time, there are two possibilities ASX investors are facing when it comes to the future. Believing interest rates will rise in the short-to-medium future. Or believing that rates will stay ‘lower for longer’.

The periodic volatility the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), as well as the US markets, have gone through so far this year has pretty much centred around which of these two camps has the upper hand in investing sentiment. Back in March, ASX tech shares went through a very rough period of volatility. This correlated with the US government bond yield on 10-year Treasuries rising substantially – a market reaction normally attributed to increased inflation expectations.

As this 10-year yield has fallen over the following months, the ASX 200 has pushed to new record highs.

Now, both the US Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have been very clear on their future expectations when it comes to inflation and interest rates. Both have flagged that they are prepared to see inflation ‘run hot’ and consistently hit 2-3% annually before raising rates. Both have stated that they would like to see full employment as well. And both have told their respective countries not to expect any rate hikes until 2023 or 2024.

Inflation shadows the ASX

The US Fed changed the goalposts slightly last week when it came out and said that it might have to deliver two rate hikes in 2023. However, Fed chair Jerome Powell has since come out and tempered this assessment, stating that he expects recent rises in inflation to be “transitory”.

However, there are still are numbers of investors out there who think that inflation is still coming, and fast. We discussed how one fund manager is preparing for inflation just yesterday. So who do we believe? The central banks, or the inflation bears? Unfortunately for ASX investors, each side offers a wildly divergent outcome and will affect an ASX share portfolio differently.

Put simply, if rates rise, it’s likely to bring bad news for investors. Especially if the Fed and the RBA have to raise rates quickly. Since interest rates affect the returns offered by government bonds and cash investments, rising rates usually result in capital leaving the share market and going into these ‘safer’ investments. Higher rates theoretically also raise the risk of investing in companies that have a lot of debt, such as growth shares. If interest rates are at record lows, borrowing money to grow a company is very cheap. If rates rise, not so much.

Right and wrong

So if the lower for longer’ camp is right about rates, and we don’t see a rate hike until 2024, then there is a lot less risk in investing in shares in the current market. If the ‘inflation is coming/already here’ camp is right, we might be in for a choppy year or two for returns on the ASX. So it might be worth taking a look at your ASX portfolio and envisage how it might fare if either of these two narratives plays out. Remember, one camp will probably end up being right, and one wrong.

The post Inflation? The tough choice facing all ASX investors right now… appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• These ASX 200 shares are on the move today
• The top performing ASX 200 mining shares of 2021
• Here are the best performing ASX 200 tech shares so far in 2021
• ASX 200 up 1.3%: Soul Patts-Milton merger, IGO jumps
• 3 top ASX shares in sector selling at 30% discount: expert

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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The Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) share price has finished the day in the green, up 0.83% to $30.50.

Today’s upwards momentum and above-average trading volume follows news the investment company will merge with Milton Corporation Ltd (ASX: MLT).

Soul Patts and Milton merger

Two long-standing investment companies are set to merge into one. According to the release, Soul Patts and Milton has entered into a binding scheme implementation agreement which will see the bigger Soul Patts buy all the Milton shares it doesn’t own.

There are a lot of similarities between the two investment houses that make the deal complementary. Both have stood the test of time – Soul Patts operating for more 118 years, while Milton is a little more youthful at 83 years.

Furthermore, both companies have a long track record of dividend-orientated investments. Funnily enough, both companies are big shareholders of each other.

However, there are some differences that the merger will look to take advantage of. This includes Milton’s exposure to global equities, which Soul Patts is currently underweight in.

The agreement will see Soul Pattinson pay an equivalent offer value of $6 per Milton share. As expected, the Soul Patts merger has pushed the Milton share price up — it ended the day 16% higher at $5.80.

Soul Patts share buyback, in a way

The offer to Milton shareholders in a way will act as share buyback for Soul Pattinson. Currently Milton is Soul Patts’ fourth biggest shareholder with around 9.17 million shares.

If the scheme is approved, those shares worth roughly $277.5 million will flow back under the Soul Pattinson banner.

The post Soul Patts (ASX:SOL) share price climbs higher on Milton merger appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What will Soul Patts’ (ASX:SOL) portfolio look like post-Milton merger?
• Why Bank of Queensland, IGO, Milton, & Openpay are surging higher
• ASX 200 up 1.3%: Soul Patts-Milton merger, IGO jumps
• Milton share price rockets 14% after Soul Patts merger news
• 2 ASX dividend shares with very long dividend growth records

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 owns shares of and has recommended 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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Around 20% of borrowers lie on their loan applications and that should make ASX banks nervous.

A survey by credit reporting agency Experian found that borrowers are hiding the truth in order to secure loans, reported the Australian Financial Review.

While the issue of so-called “liar loans” aren’t new, these loans could become a bigger headache for lenders in a rising interest rate environment.

ASX bank shares rallying today

The news hasn’t dampened enthusiasm for ASX banking shares. Australia’s largest mortgage lender, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price, jumped 2.2% to $100.23 on Tuesday.

CBA is closely followed by the Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ) share price with a 2.1% bounce, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price with a 1.8% increase and National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) share price with a 1.2% advance.

Liar loans yet to hurt ASX banks

The Experian survey of 1,000 mortgagees noted that around 21% of liar loans relate to overestimating income, while 28% were understating living expenses.

Further, 20% of these untruths were for hiding a pregnancy and a quarter withheld information about job changes.

BNPL also in the firing line

What could also be alarming for Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) shareholders is that the survey claimed that buy now, pay later (BNPL) services were highly vulnerable to inaccurate information.

This will give BNPL opponents arguing for more industry regulation extra ammunition to attack the fledging sector.

Rising rates from record lows exacerbate liar loan risks

But perhaps ASX banks won’t be caught with their pants down. They have recently moved to tighten lending standards. This is probably due to their belief that interest rates will rise sooner rather than later, although they may have also caught wind of this potential issue.

A lift in rates at a time when borrowers have gotten comfortable with record low debt costs could deliver a shock to the system.

Throw record high house prices into the mix and you can see how liar loans can come back to bite the banks.

What may exacerbate this issue is the attitude of borrowers. Experian said that most borrowers believe that the banks are either fully or partially to blame if they can’t repay their loans!

Silver-lining

But it isn’t all bad news. Earlier studies from UBS, which was the first to flag this issue with liar loans, found that nearly 40% of mortgage applications were liar loans in 2019.

This is up from around 33% from the UBS survey in 2018. The fact that Experian “only” found 20% of borrowers lied, could be considered a big step up.

Of course, that’s taking the glass-half-full view of this risk.

The post Liar loans could return to haunt ASX bank shares as 1-in-5 borrowers lie to lenders appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• CBA (ASX: CBA) share price climbs to near all-time high record
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• These ASX 200 shares are on the move today
• A2 Milk and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• Zero ASX brokerage? Popular broker Stake is launching ASX share trading

Brendon Lau owns shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Ltd., Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

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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Its been a forwards and backwards year for the Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price.

The iron ore major staged an extraordinary ~55% run between late November 2020 and early January this year. By 8 January, Fortescue shares had hit an all-time record high of $26.40.

At its record valuation, iron ore prices were fetching roughly US$170/tonne.

Fast forward to today, iron ore prices have surged much higher, currently trading around US$210/tonne. The Fortescue share price, meanwhile, is down 9.76% year-to-date, trading at $22.38 at the market close today.

With iron ore prices standing tall, why do Fortescue shares continue to slide sideways?

Expectations that iron ore prices have peaked

The Australian Financial Review last week reported a number of factors that could drive iron ore prices lower in the short to medium term.

This included Brazil moving back to full production, a slowdown in Chinese consumption, sky high prices incentivising new projects to come online and less iron ore dependent ways to produce steel.

China clamps down on commodities

China’s commodity hungry economy is not happy with sky high prices.

Last month, China announced plans to increase domestic iron ore production in response to apparent “unreasonable restrictions” on trade with Australia.

China also wants to improve its domestic management of commodities to safeguard price stability, investigate malicious trading and crackdown on suspicious pricing behaviours.

Last Thursday, Yuan Talks reported that China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), would release state reserves of copper, aluminium and zinc in open auctions.

The government body said that it was willing to increase supply and stabilise prices by releasing more reserves in the future, based on market conditions.

Yesterday, China’s most-traded iron ore futures contracts in the Dalian Commodity Exchange tanked more than 6% after the NDRC said it would closely monitor iron ore markets to punish monopolistic agreements and check for abnormal transactions, speculation, and the spread of false information to drive up prices.

Foolish takeaway

While iron ore spot prices are holding above the US$200/tonne mark, it’s possible that factors including China’s clampdown on surging prices, and expectations that iron ore prices could go lower in the medium to long term, could be weighing down the Fortescue share price.

Fortescue shares have underperformed the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), sliding by about 9.70% year-to-date.

The post Why is the Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price sliding 10% in 2021? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why are blue-chip ASX 200 shares selling off today?
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX makes it 5 out of 5
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell next week
• Why green hydrogen is in the news again and 3 ASX shares in the sector

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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The Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) share price was on form on Tuesday and pushed higher.

The wholesales distributor’s shares rose just over 2% to $3.68. This means the Metcash share price is now up 28% since this time last year.

Why did the Metcash share price push higher?

As well as getting a lift from a broad market rebound today, the Metcash share price was boosted by a broker note out of Goldman Sachs.

According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating and $3.95 price target on its shares.

Based on the current Metcash share price, this price target implies potential upside of 7.3% over the next 12 months excluding dividends. Including them, the potential return stretches to approximately 12.5%.

What did the broker say?

Goldman Sachs appears confident that Metcash will deliver a strong full year result for FY 2021 next week.

The broker is forecasting an 8.2% increase in revenue of $14,088 million for the 12 months. Goldman expects this to be driven by a 10.3% rise in Supermarket sales, a 17% jump in Liquor sales, and a 20.5% increase in Hardware sales. However, this will be offset slightly by a 32% decline in Convenience sales following the loss of contracts.

In respect to earnings, its analysts are expecting Metcash’s underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to come in at $432.3 million, which is up 33.3% on the prior corresponding period.

Finally, on the bottom line, an underlying profit after tax of $281.5 million is being forecast by Goldman Sachs. This will be a 34% increase on FY 2020’s underlying profit after tax of $209.7 million.

Based on its expectations for FY 2021, the Metcash share price is currently trading at 13x full year earnings.

Though, it is worth noting that its earnings are forecast to soften in FY 2022 before growing again in FY 2023. This means its shares are actually trading at 15x FY 2022 earnings based on the broker’s forecasts.

Still, based on its recommendation, this appears to be a level that the broker thinks is attractive and offers a compelling risk/reward.

The post Why this broker thinks the Metcash (ASX:MTS) share price is great value appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Quarterly rebalance: Appen kicked out of ASX 100, Uniti added to ASX 200
• What I regret about my Afterpay (ASX:APT) shares: analyst

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 Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price has continued its strong rally today, nearing its all-time high.

In 2021 alone, the ASX’s largest company has moved on an upwards trajectory, gaining more than 20%. At the time of writing, CBA shares are up 2.76% to $100.77 for the day.

With no new news out of the company today, we take a brief look at CBA’s price-sensitive announcement yesterday.

What did CBA recently announce?

On Monday morning, CBA advised that it entered into an agreement to sell its Australian general insurance business to the Hollard Group.

While the total value of the deal was not disclosed, CBA stated that $625 million will be paid as an upfront consideration. It also noted that the deferred amount is based on “achieving certain business milestones”.

In addition, both companies established an exclusive 15-year strategic alliance. This sees Hollard offer home and motor insurance policies exclusively to CBA’s retail customers.

Pleasingly, CBA expects to earn an income on the distribution of home and motor insurance products.

Completion of the deal is subject to receiving approval by APRA, which is predicted to occur in mid-2022.

What do the brokers think?

After reporting its third quarter results last month, a number of brokers rated the company with varying price points.

Macquarie raised its price target for CBA shares by 5.5% to $86. JPMorgan appeared the most bullish of the brokers issuing a 12-month price of $91 for CBA shares, a 13% increase. Also following suit, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) initiated a 3.5% lift on CBA shares at $89.50.

However, global investment house, Goldman Sachs provided an update yesterday to CBA’s diversification news, saying:

The transaction is entirely consistent with CBA’s strategy of simplifying the overall group, with a focus back on Australia and New Zealand banking, but still allowing customers to access non-bank product via strategic alliances.

Given CBA’s previous disclosures, we expect this is the last of the major transactions that CBA is likely to undertake to deliver on this simplification.

We do not yet know whether the general insurance earnings will be treated as Discontinued Earnings at CBA’s upcoming FY21 result, due to be released on 11 Aug 2021.

Goldman Sachs rated CBA shares as a sell based on its 12-month price target of $80.26 in mid-May. While it may have raised its outlook by 9% from the original note, this represents a downside of around 25% on today’s price.

CBA share price summary

Over the past 12 months, CBA shares have gone from strength to strength, putting COVID-19 woes in the distance. The company’s share price has accelerated by more than 45% in that time.

On valuation grounds, CBA ranks as the most valued company in Australia, with a market capitalisation of roughly $179.2 billion.

The post CBA (ASX: CBA) share price climbs to near all-time high record appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Meme stocks most popular US shares for ASX investors
• Zero ASX brokerage? Popular broker Stake is launching ASX share trading
• CBA (ASX: CBA) tech hiring to amp-up as it nears $200 billion valuation
• ASX 200 up 1.3%: Soul Patts-Milton merger, IGO jumps
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today

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 owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group 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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Most weeks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)’s CommSec brokerage platform tells us the most popular international shares that its Australian customers were buying and selling the previous week.

CommSec is one of the most popular ASX trading platforms in the country. As such, its data can give us some useful insights into the foreign shares ASX investors are interested in right now.

My Fool colleague James Mickleboro has already covered some of the popular ASX shares from CommSec today. So here are the top 10 US shares that CommSeccers were buying and selling last week. This week’s data covers June 14-18.

Meme stocks steal show

1. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) – representing 4.4% of total trades with a 67%/33% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) – representing 3.5% of total trades with a 94%/6% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 2.7% of total trades with a 59%/41% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2% of total trades with a 51%/49% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) – representing 1.6% of total trades with a 57%/43% buy-to-sell ratio.
6. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
7. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
8. Alphabet Inc Class C (NASDAQ: GOOG)
9. Upstart Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: UPST)
10. Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: AMD)

What can we learn from these trades?

Meme stocks are evidently continuing to dominate the US shares that ASX investors are interested in.

As with last week’s list, ASX investors just can’t seem to get enough of the shares that may offer the possibility of a quick and lucrative gain. That’s what companies like AMC, GameStop and Nio have certainly become known for.

AMC continues to be the king of the hill in this respect.  Even though AMC is still more than 10% away from the all-time high we saw back on 2 June, it has also rallied more than 30% since 10 June.

Some 67% of the ASX investors trading AMC shares last week were buying, so clearly most of these investors think there might be at least another pop left in this stock.

Another, even more surprising, trend to note was GameStop. An uber-bullish 94% of ASX GameStop trades last week were buys. This meme stock rose more than 100% between 12 May and 9 June, before falling more than 33% between 9 June and today. Clearly, most ASX investors looking at GameStop think there might be more gains to squeeze out.

Turning to a newcomer in this list, we have Upstart. Upstart only debuted on the US Nasdaq Exchange back in December last year. Today, it is up 175% since its IPO. However, Upstart shares are also down 26% since 4 June, so perhaps ASX investors are doing some bargain hunting here.

Finally, it’s worth noting that in addition to meme stocks, ASX investors are still evidently being drawn in by many of the US’s big blue chip tech companies. Apple remained popular last week, as did Microsoft. We also see some renewed interest in Google parent Alphabet, as well as e-commerce giant Amazon.

The post Meme stocks most popular US shares for ASX investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• CBA (ASX: CBA) share price climbs to near all-time high record
• Zero ASX brokerage? Popular broker Stake is launching ASX share trading
• CBA (ASX: CBA) tech hiring to amp-up as it nears $200 billion valuation
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, NIO Inc., and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2022 $1,920 calls on Amazon, long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple, short January 2022 $1,940 calls on Amazon, and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, and Apple. 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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