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Shares in A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) are soaring today, despite no news having been released by the company. At the time of writing, the A2 Milk share price is $6.05 – 5.77% higher than its previous closing price.

The company’s share price has been on a generally upwards trend since mid-May. It’s gained 12.6% since this time last month. The gain has come despite circling news of a class action against the company.

Let’s take a closer look at what the former market darling has been up to this year.

What has A2 been up to?

The last time we heard price sensitive news from A2 Milk was on 10 May, when the company released another downgrade – sending its share price plummeting 13.1%.

The latest guidance was A2’s fourth downgrade for the 2021 financial year.

A2 Milk originally expected its revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to be up to 31% higher than its 2020 financial year results. The 2020 financial year saw the company bring in NZ$1.73 billion in revenue and report EBITDA of NZ$549.7 million.

Now, A2 expects its revenue for the 2021 financial year to be between NZ$1.2 billion and NZ$1.25 billion.

It also implied it expects its EBITDA to be between NZ$132 million and NZ$150 million. That’s around 73% to 76% less than last financial year’s EBITDA.

The only other price sensitive news we’ve heard out of A2 Milk this year was its half-year results. In the aftermath of that release, the A2 share price fell 16%.

A2 Milk share price snapshot

Despite today’s upwards movements and its general performance over the past month, 2021 on the ASX hasn’t been good to the A2 Milk share price.

Currently, it’s 47% lower than it was at the start of 2021. It has also fallen 65% since this time last year.

The company has a market capitalisation of around $4 billion, with approximately 742 million shares outstanding.

The post The A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price is up 5% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Up 13% in 2 weeks: Has the A2 Milk (ASX:A2M) share price got further to climb?

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 recommended A2 Milk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD) share price has started the week in fine form.

In afternoon trade, the sleep treatment focused medical device company’s shares are up 7.5% to a record high of $30.55.

Why is the ResMed share price shooting higher?

Investors have been scrambling to buy the company’s shares this morning following a favourable industry development.

On Monday global technology giant Philips announced that it would be voluntarily recalling 3.5 million ventilation devices for treating sleep apnoea. The majority of the affected devices within the advised five-year service life are in the first-generation DreamStation product family.

The release explains that despite a low complaint rate (0.03% in 2020), Philips determined based on testing that there are possible risks to users related to the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam component in these devices.

The risks include the PE-PUR foam potentially degrading into particles which may enter the device’s air pathway and be ingested or inhaled by the user, and the foam may off-gas certain chemicals.

Philips CEO, Frans van Houten, said: “We deeply regret any concern and inconvenience that patients using the affected devices will experience because of the proactive measures we are announcing today to ensure patient safety.”

“In consultation with the relevant regulatory agencies and in close collaboration with our customers and partners, we are working hard towards a resolution, which includes the deployment of the updated instructions for use and a comprehensive repair and replacement program for the affected devices. Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do at Philips.”

What now?

Given that repairs are expected to take several months to complete, the market appears to believe this will lead to an increase in demand for ResMed’s products, potentially allowing it to win market share from its rival.

The ResMed share price is now up 32% since this time last year.

The post Why the ResMed (ASX:RMD) share price is up 7% to a record high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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James Mickleboro does not own any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ResMed Inc. 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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Unless you’ve been living under an ASX rock over the past decade or so, you have probably noticed the rising popularity of ‘passive investing through index exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs have been around for a few decades. That’s in contrast to other, older investment vehicles such as Listed Investment Companies (LICs) and managed funds.

Index funds use computer algorithms to blindly mirror indexes like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Because they just track these indexes, these funds don’t have to hire fund managers or investment analysts. As such, they usually have far lower costs and fees than their ‘active’ counterparts.

Active where? Passive funds continue to grow

This advantage, coupled with the fact that many active fund managers struggle to outperform indexes anyway, have boosted the popularity of index ETFs dramatically over the past decade or two. But this popularity has now grown so much that index funds look like they are set to overtake actively managed funds for the first time.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, which cites data from EPFR Global, there is now US$8.4 trillion invested in index ETFs and index managed funds globally. That is close to one in every two dollars in global share portfolios (including individual share ownership). In Australia, the figure is now at 54%, up from 45% at the start of last year. Over in the United States, passive funds now account for 57% of listed equity funds.

That follows an injection of US$17 billion into these passive funds just last week. At the same time, US$15.4 billion reportedly flowed out of actively managed funds.

The report quotes Bernd Meyer, chief strategist at the private German bank Berenberg on this trend:

The trend towards passive investing continues unabated… For many investors, entering the capital market no longer means selecting attractive securities themselves or hiring an active portfolio manager to perform the selection… It means putting money into a passive index fund.

The ASX’s largest index ETF is the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), which tracks the S&P/ASX 300 (ASX: XKO). This index ETF now has a market capitalisation of $8.13 billion, up from $5.83 billion in September last year.

The post Investors are now buying more index ETFs than ASX shares 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. 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 Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is steady today amid reports the oil and gas producer’s managing director is set to tell an industry conference that investors and lenders are turning away from fossil fuels.

Despite the apparent negative sentiments of its managing director, shares in Santos have gained 13% since the start of June.

However, the Santos share price is see-sawing today. At the time of writing, it’s 0.2% lower than its previous close. Shares in the company are currently swapping hands for $7.66.

Climate worries

According to reports in The Age and The Australian, Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher will tell the annual oil and gas industry (APPEA) conference that investors and lenders have “turned off the taps” on western fossil fuel companies.

It’s reported he’ll argue the decreasing financial support may leave the Australian industry facing global competition.

The Australian quoted Gallagher’s not-yet-delivered conference speech:

Equity investors have turned off the taps… Increasing environment, social and governance pressure has restricted access to capital, with banks increasingly under pressure to not fund projects in our sector. As a result, we are seeing national oil companies stepping up with more investment because demand for oil and gas is not disappearing…

Russia, Qatar and [Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] producers know that the developed world will find it increasingly difficult to develop new oil and gas reserves. And they know that demand for oil and gas is not going to decline as fast as the world might want.

Both Santos and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) are facing increasing pressure over their plans to develop offshore oil rigs.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility criticised Santos last month. The company is currently developing the Barossa liquid natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of Darwin.  

The director of climate and environment at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Dan Gocher, said:

Institutional investors are demanding credible transition plans. Santos continues to fail on this measure.

As The Motley Fool Australia reported last week, the Conservation Council of Western Australia has also been scathing in its criticism of Woodside and BHP’s joint Scarborough project off the coast of Exmouth.

Santos share price snapshot

Despite today’s rocky performance, the Santos share price has been performing well on the ASX lately.

Currently, the Santos share price is around 19% higher than it was at the start of the year. It’s also gained around 47.4% since this time last year.

The oil and gas producer has a market capitalisation of around $15.9 billion, with approximately 2 billion shares outstanding.

The post Santos (ASX:STO) boss says investors and banks are ditching fossil fuels appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Magnum Mining and Exploration Ltd. (ASX: MGU) share price is having a day out today. This comes after the mineral mining company announced it is planning to complete a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS).

At the time of writing, Magnum shares are up 8.33% to 19.5 cents, just shy of its all-time record of 21 cents.

Magnum powers ahead

Investors are driving Mangum shares higher following the company’s significant progress for its Buena Vista iron ore project.

Situated in Nevada, United States, the Buena Vista mine is an advanced magnetite iron ore project purchased by Magnum in October 2020. The wholly-owned project has had $34 million spent on it during the past decade undertaking feasibility studies and licences for long-term production.

According to its release, Magnum advised it has signed an agreement with engineering, procurement, and construction management company, Samuel Engineering.

The deal will see Samuel Engineering complete a DFS and basic plant design for phase 2 production at Buena Vista. This includes producing high-grade iron ore wet concentrate of 68%.

Magnum is targeting the final design to be concluded by September this year, with all necessary permits already obtained.

It is expected the premium 68% iron ore concentrate could be ready for shipment as early as Q3 2022.

The DFS will look into detail at the engineering design and financial model of the iron ore concentrate wet beneficiation plant. The report will be used as a basis for investment discussions and strengthening project finance opportunities.

Previously, Samuel Engineering conducted a pre-feasibility study of the iron ore concentrate plant for Buena Vista in 2013.

Magnum share price summary

It’s been a great run for shareholders with Magnum shares accelerating more than 450% over the 12 months. The company’s share price has not looked back in 2021, up an astonishing 260% in 6 months.

At today’s prices, Magnum presides a market capitalisation of roughly $93 million and has about 478 million shares on issue.

The post Magnum (ASX:MGU) share price soars 8%, nears all-time high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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If you cast your eyes over some of the ASX’s best and worst performing shares today, you might find your eyes catching the Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT) share price. In fact, this online luxury goods seller is today the worst performing share in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), down a nasty 21.43% to $1.98 per share.

And that’s where it will stay, at least for now. Cettire released an ASX announcement at 10:41am today, which concisely informed investors that “trading in the securities of the entity will be temporarily paused pending a further announcement”.

Today’s events will be a disappointment for investors who, until today, had enjoyed some phenomenal gains with Cettire shares.

As of Wednesday last week, the company had enjoyed a year-to-date gain of 482%, and a 470% rise since its initial public offering (IPO) back in December last year. But last week, things started to go the other way for Cettire.

On 9 June, the company was riding high, having just hit a new all-time high of $2.91 per share. But by Friday afternoon, Cettire shares were down more than 12% from those highs. And today’s 21% plunge means they are down by 31% in less than a week.

So what’s happening with the Cettire share price today?

Well, unfortunately, we don’t yet know for sure. It’s not entirely clear what caused the rapid selloff in Cettire this morning (before the company put a halt to trading).

Apart from the trading halt notice, there hadn’t been any official news about the company since 11 June. And that was just an S&P DJI announcement that Cettire would be joining the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) as of 21 June. Hardly an announcement that would give investors a reason to hit the sell button, one could argue.

We might have a clue with some reporting from the Australian Financial Review (AFR) last week though. Last Friday, the AFR reported fund managers were “cashing out” of the company amid concerns over Cettire’s “long-term prospects”, sales tactics and supply chains.

What’s been said about Cettire?

The AFR reported that many goods available on Cettire’s online marketplace were actually cheaper on the brand owners’ stores themselves. Here are some of the AFR’s examples:

Zimmermann’s cassia waterfall bikini costs $275 on Cettire, down from $344, compared with $250 at Zimmermann’s online store. Zimmermann’s cassia mini dress costs $961 on Cettire but $695 on the Zimmermann site.

The report also alleged that:

Cettire has geoblocked IP addresses originating from parts of Europe including France and Italy, preventing brand owners from seeing the products and prices it offers.

One fundie told the AFR: “I don’t understand how it does business, it just has these agreements with wholesalers that no one can tell you about.”

Another stated the following about Cettire:

It does seem to operate in this cloud of mystery… The fact they had to block their IP for their website in Italy goes to show that there are these risks. For us, it got too expensive and we sold out…

However, it’s worth noting the AFR report also points out a number of fundies are still very bullish on Cettire and the company’s future.

We shall have to wait and see what Cettire has to say about its trading halt today. But perhaps some of these concerns were what was weighing on the Cettire share price last week, and possibly this morning.

The post What on earth is going on with the Cettire (ASX:CTT) share price today? 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 Cettire Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Cettire 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 Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX: MEZ) share price is edging lower today, down 2.39% to $4.90 at the time of writing.

Below we take a look at the ASX energy company’s operating update for May.

What did Meridian report?

The Meridian Energy share price is falling today despite the company reporting an uptick in electricity demand and a small increase in its hydro storage levels in New Zealand.

According to today’s release, national hydro storage for the month through to 10 June increased by 3%, from 67% to 70% from the previous month. The South Island is in better shape, with storage increasing to 75% of average, while the North Island’s average remains unchanged at 35%.

New Zealand’s largest sustainable electricity generator reported its May monthly total inflows were 111% of the historical average.

National electricity demand also increased in May 2021, up 3% from May 2020 when much of New Zealand was still under COVID lockdown.

All up, the company reported its New Zealand retail sales volumes in May increased 23.4% year-on-year. Meridian said sales ramped up across all segments, with residential up 5.7%, small medium business up 49.2%, agricultural up 1.4%, large business up 11.1% and corporate sales gaining 33.0% compared to May 2020.

Across the financial year so far, it reported a 14.1% increase in sales volumes compared to the prior corresponding period. Sales increased across all segments, with small medium businesses driving the biggest increase, up 22.2%.

In its Australian operations, Meridian Energy reported Powershop Australia electricity customer connection numbers climbed 0.3% in May. Electricity sales volumes in May increased 6.1% year-on-year. Sales volumes are up 15.7% so far this financial year compared to the same period last year.

Meridian Energy share price snapshot

Meridian Energy shares have gained 8% over the past 12 months, trailing the 28% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Year-to-date, the Meridian Energy share price remains under pressure, down 31% so far in 2021.

Meridian pays a 3.1% dividend yield, unfranked.

The post The Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) share price is slipping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Bernd Struben 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 Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) are rising today, following the company’s confirmation of reports it’s in productive talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Fortescue Metals share price is currently $23.47 – 1.08% higher than its previous close.

This morning, Fortescue Metals responded to reporting by the Australian Financial Review (AFR), stating it’s in talks to develop the $103.8 billion suite of Grand Inga Dam hydroelectric projects.

Let’s take a closer look at the news on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore giant today.

Fortescue’s African green energy focus

On Sunday 13 June, the AFR reported the iron ore miner is taking the first steps in its diversification strategy, looking to invest $100 billion in hydro energy.

The AFR reported Fortescue is expected to invest in and hold a majority stake in the Grand Inga Dam projects.

The Grand Inga Dam is the world’s largest proposed hydro energy project. It could produce up to 42,000 megawatts of electricity.

Fortescue confirmed the news to the ASX this morning.

The company stated it hasn’t made a formal agreement with the central African nation. However, the Democratic Republic of Congo government has directed bodies interested in the projects to Fortescue Future Industries.

The AFR quoted Fortescue Metals’ chair Andrew Forrest as saying:

We have a number of parties highly interested in supporting our projects and Fortescue will invest on behalf of itself and its supporters over $US100 billion developing the top hydro, solar and geothermal sites in Africa.

Fortescue will take each project through to bankable feasibility approval where there are an array of international investors and lenders willing to participate in the green energy revolution.

As reported by the AFR, Forrest said Fortescue has “firm interest… in Europe” for 100 gigawatts of renewable energy the company could generate through the hydro energy projects.

Fortescue Metals share price snapshot

The Fortescue Metals share price has failed to ignite on the ASX so far in 2021.

Currently, the Fortescue share price is up by a modest 0.17% from the start of this year. However, it has gained around 64% since this time last year.

The iron ore giant has a market capitalisation of around $73 billion, with approximately 3 billion shares outstanding.

The post The Fortescue (ASX:FMG) share price is gaining today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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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ASX uranium shares are in a sea of red on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, leading ASX uranium producers and explorers such as Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN), Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) and Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) are plunging by 13.91%, 8.11% and 7.78% respectively.

What’s driving the selloff for ASX uranium shares?

ASX uranium shares are on the slide following reports the US Government is assessing a leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant.

The plant is a joint venture between state-run China General Nuclear Power Group, which owns 70%, and French power giant Electricite de France (EDF) which owns the remaining 30%.

According to the Wall Street Journal, EDF requested an extraordinary board meeting with Chinese managers to gather more information about the buildup of gases inside one of the plant’s reactors. The French company warned of an “imminent radiological threat”.

The BBC reported a slightly different narrative, saying that EDF confirmed that the built-up gases within the plant were deliberately released. The plant’s Chinese owners refute the claims of a potential leak and say that the plant is operating safely.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that “at this stage, the agency has no indication that a radiological incident occurred”. The agency is currently in contact with its counterparts in China to assess the issue.

A hit to uranium confidence

The uranium sector has staged a bullish comeback in recent months, after hitting multi-year lows around the time of the COVID-19-induced market crash.

In the case of Paladin Energy shares, they tumbled by more than 90% from 2007 highs of around $8.50 to as low as 3.5 cents in March 2020.

The harsh selloff was driven by the significant decline in uranium prices, from 2007 peaks of ~US$135/lb to lows of about US$20/lb by 2016. This sent many producers, like Paladin Energy, into hibernation.

More recently, uranium prices have edged higher to the US$30/lb mark.

Paladin Energy believes a supply shortage in uranium is imminent, with current supply unable to meet demand. The company recently initiated a capital raising to help clear debt and restart uranium production.

The primary use case of uranium is fuel for nuclear power reactors. Paladin Energy says that nuclear is the second-largest source of global clean energy with almost zero-carbon emissions.

Despite the recent resurgence in ASX uranium shares, the potential incident at the Chinese power plant appears to be taking a toll on sentiment.

The post Why these ASX uranium shares are plunging today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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ASX data centre shares have been receiving more media attention as the growth in global cloud computing shows no signs of easing.

Cloud computing, if you’re unfamiliar, involves storing and processing data outside of your own computer hardware. The cloud, then, simply entails vast server networks located in data centres.

ASX data centre shares have benefited from multiple years of growth in cloud computing. And with the onset of the global pandemic, which drove a huge shift to working, socialising and shopping from home, that growth has only sped up.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Characteristics of Australian Business report, released earlier this month, 55% of Australian businesses are now leveraging paid cloud computing. Just 5 years ago, in 2015–2016, that figure was only 31%.

Now one of the world’s biggest companies, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), is aiming to take its Xbox game consoles to the clouds.

Gaming in the cloud

As reported by the Australian Financial Review, the prototype Xbox console, “which forms the basis of Microsoft’s ‘xCloud’ strategy, has no hand-held controllers, no Blu-ray drive, and doesn’t plug into your TV.”

The prototype, which operates on something known as a ‘blade’, runs in Microsoft’s own Azure data centres. It’s already been released in the United States and is currently being beta-tested Down Under.

According to Phil Spencer, executive vice-president in charge of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming business:

When I think about reaching the 3 billion people who play video games today, our ability to deliver AAA games to any screen that someone already owns has to be the place we will find the most customers… We might end up with more consoles in data centres than we do in people’s homes.

While Microsoft is deploying the xCloud prototypes in its Azure data centres, the trend highlights the growth potential for leading ASX data centre shares.

2 leading ASX data centre shares

There are 2 ASX data centre related shares listed on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

First up we have Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) with a market cap of $5.4 billion.

The Nextdc share price, up 1% in intraday trading, has gained 31% over the past 12 months. That compares to a 29% gain posted by the ASX 200. Year-to-date Nextdc shares have come under pressure, down 3%.

Next up is Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1), a software-defined network service provider which enables enterprise customers to connect between data centres, with a market cap of $2.5 billion.

The Megaport share price is up 1% in afternoon trade and has gained 17% over the past 12 months. Megaport shares are up 15% so far in 2021.

The post How Microsoft’s new Xbox could spur ASX data centre shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended MEGAPORT FPO and Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT 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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