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If you’re looking to boost your income with some dividend shares, then you might want to consider the ones listed below.

Here’s why analysts have given them buy ratings:

Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Super Retail. It is the retail conglomerate behind popular brands BCF, Macpac, Rebel, and Super Cheap Auto.

Super Retail has been a big winner from the redirection in consumer spending during the pandemic due to no international travel. And with international travel off the cards for some time to come, it appears well-placed to continue to benefit from higher than normal demand across its brands.

This was evident in its recent trading update, which revealed that its growth has accelerated since the end of the first half. Super Retail reported like-for-like sales up 28% over the first 44 weeks of FY 2021. Positively, management also revealed that its gross margin had remained steady since the end of the half.

Goldman Sachs sees a lot of value in its shares and is expecting a generous dividend in FY 2021. It has a buy rating and $15.00 price target and is forecasting an 84 cents per share fully franked dividend. Based on the current Super Retail share price of $12.04, this represents a 7% yield.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is Transurban. It is one of the world’s leading toll road operators.

While the pandemic has impacted traffic volumes, particularly on roads connecting to airports, there has been a notable improvement over recent months. This is likely to continue improving as vaccines rollout and people become more mobile again.

Ord Minnett appears to believe this will be the case and expects its distribution to rebound strongly in FY 2022. It is forecasting dividends of 37 cents per share in FY 2021 and then 58 cents per share in FY 2022. Based on the latest Transurban share price of $14.00, this will mean forward yields of 2.6% and 4.15%, respectively.

The broker has a buy rating and $16.00 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares for income investors
• Top brokers name 3 ASX dividend shares to buy today
• Top broker tips Super Retail (ASX:SUL) share price to smash the market
• ASX 200 rises, Flight Centre drops, Super Retail grows
• Is the Transurban (ASX:TCL) share price a buy for dividends?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Super Retail Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Transurban Group. 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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Looking for growth shares to buy? Then you might want to consider adding the two listed below to your portfolio.

Here’s why they have been tipped as growth shares to buy:

PointsBet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

PointsBet could be worth a closer look. This sports betting company has operations in the ANZ and US markets that are growing at a rapid rate.

For example, during the third quarter, the company reported a 236% increase in turnover to $905.2 million. This was driven by a 137% jump in Australian turnover to $423.2 million and a 431% increase in US turnover to $482 million.

Also growing strongly was its net win metric, which lifted 246% to $64.9 million for the quarter. This was the result of a 147% increase in Australian net win to $38.2 million and a 716% jump in US net win to $26.7 million.

Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company. Last week its analysts put a buy rating and $17.20 price target on its shares. It believes the company has an enormous opportunity in the rapidly growth US market.

Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)

Xero is another ASX growth share that Goldman Sachs is positive on.

It has been growing at a very strong rate over the last few years. This has been driven by the shift online, its international expansion, and the evolution of its platform into a complete small business solution.

The good news is that Goldman Sachs feels the company can continue this positive form for a long time to come. Its analysts note that Xero is well-placed to deliver multi-decade strong growth thanks to its geographic expansion and the monetisation of its app ecosystem.

In light of this, Goldman is very bullish on the investment opportunity here. As such, it has put a buy rating and $153.00 price target on its shares.

Though, it is worth noting that Xero is due to release its full year results next week. Here’s what Goldman expects the company to report.

More reading

• What to expect from the Xero (ASX:XRO) full year result
• ASX tech shares are in a world of pain. There might be more to come…
• 3 reasons why Xero (ASX:XRO) is such a high-quality ASX share
• One MASSIVE thing about Tesla and Afterpay that people forget
• PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price slumps despite US iGaming launch

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

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There are some ASX shares that could be worth looking at if you have some money to invest.

Some businesses have been falling recently and this may open up some interesting opportunities.

These two ASX shares may be able to generate good returns over the coming years:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Adairs is a large omnichannel retailer of home furnishings in Australia and New Zealand. It has a national footprint with a number of different store formats.

It sells a variety of things including bedlinen, bedding, towels, homewares, soft furnishings, children’s furnishings as well as occasional and bedroom furniture. Adairs said with vertically integrated product design, development, sourcing, distribution, and retail operations, over 90% of Adairs’ range is sold under its own private brands. The ASX share says this is essential to Adairs’ differentiated product offer and customer value proposition.

The company has been focused on managing its gross profit margin, with the Adairs gross margin increasing by 690 basis points to 67.8% in the first half of FY21. This was achieved through a mix of a sourcing and retail pricing initiatives combined with a strong focus on reduced depth and length of promotional activity. The number of storewide promotional events was reduced by 29 days during the half.

Margin improvements helped Adairs generate as much earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the FY21 first half as the entire FY20. Adairs underlying EBIT jumped 166% to $60.2 million and net profit grew 233.4% to $43.9 million.

The company continues to construct its national distribution centre in Melbourne, it’s on track for the first quarter of FY22, which should deliver annual savings of $3.5 million per annum once operational.

Adairs also has a very generous dividend. The board declared an interim dividend of 13 cents. Morgans thinks Adairs will pay a dividend of $0.31 per share in FY21, which would be a grossed-up dividend yield of 10.2%.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Since 8 April 2021, the Pushpay share price has fallen by 16.3%. That gives investors the opportunity to buy shares at a cheaper price.

What is Pushpay? It’s an ASX share that provides a donor management system, including donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, and a church management system to the faith sector. Its main clients are large and medium US churches.

The company is due to hand in its FY21 result next week. Pushpay is expecting to report quite a lot of growth.

In the FY21 half-year result it revealed that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) increased by 177% to US$26.7 million. Operating cashflow grew 203% to US$27 million.

The tech business has increased its EBITDAF guidance a number of times during FY21. Pushpay is now expecting its EBITDAF to come in somewhere between US$56 million to US$60 million. This guidance increase occurred after stronger-than-expected donation processing volume as well as continuing operating leverage growth.

According to Ord Minnett, the Pushpay share price is priced at 25x FY22’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• 2 compelling ASX shares to buy in May 2021
• 3 ASX shares to buy in May 2021
• 3 reasons why the Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price is a great buy
• Is there still upside to the JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price?
• Why retailers are stepping up as top performing ASX shares this week

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS FPO and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some very attractive looking ASX shares to look at right now in May 2021.

Businesses that are delivering good earnings growth have the potential to also produce good shareholder returns

These two ASX shares could be good considerations to think about:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

Adairs is one of the leading homewares retailers in the country. It operates both the Adairs and online-only Mocka businesses. It sells products through both a national store network and online.

COVID-19 accelerated Adairs’ online penetration and growth rate with long-term benefits as new customers acquired during COVID return and more customers shop in both channels. It said that 15% of sales in the fourth quarter of FY20 were to existing customers shopping online for the first time and 30% of sales during the store closure period were to new customers.

The ASX share’s membership program called Linen Lovers drove store sales when they re-opened and there’s still more than 60% of members that have not shopped with Adairs online yet.

Linen Lovers is a loyalty program that over 900,000 people pay for. They pay a $20 membership fee for a 2-year period. They get a $20 voucher (on a purchase worth at least $50), 10% off full price items and 5% off sale items, exclusive offers and bi-annual shopping events, as well as free online delivery and extended return terms.

The average transaction value for a Linen Lover member is 1.5 times higher than a non-member.

The ASX share has seen a big step up in the profit margin and net profit during this difficult COVID period. The FY21 first half saw group sales rise 34.8%, with Adairs online sales rising 95.2% to $90.2 million, representing 37.1% of group sales.

The gross profit margin increased by 500 basis points. This helped underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jump 166% to $60.2 million. The statutory net profit soared 233.4% to $43.9 million.

Growth appears to continue to be strong in the second half. In the first seven weeks of the second half of FY21, total sales were up 25%.

Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

This is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) ASX share which is focused on both a geographic region and an industry.

It gives investors exposure to the 50 largest Asian technology companies, excluding Japan. This comes at an annual management fee cost of 0.67%.

The Asian region offers good growth for technology businesses. Due to its younger, tech-savvy population, Asia is surpassing the West in terms of technological adoption and the sector is anticipated to remain a growth sector, according to BetaShares.

There are some very recognisable Asian giants in this portfolio of 50 names. Those include: Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Tencent, Meituan, Alibaba and JD.com.

There are only four places that have a weighting of more than 5% in the ETF: China (just over 50%), Taiwan (around 24%), South Korea (around 20%) and India (close to 6%).

The big Asian businesses have done very well over the last few years. Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF has delivered an average net return per annum of 30.5% per annum since inception in September 2018.

More reading

• 2 outstanding ETFs for ASX investors to buy
• 2 quality ETFs for ASX investors in May
• Is there still upside to the JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) share price?
• Why retailers are stepping up as top performing ASX shares this week
• 3 ASX retail shares at record highs

Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended ADAIRS 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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If you’re looking for an easy way to invest in international shares for diversification, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be the answer.

But which ETFs should you look at? Here are two popular ETFs that have generated strong returns for investors:

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

This ETF gives investors with exposure to 50 of the largest technology and ecommerce companies that have their main area of business in Asia (excluding Japan).

This means you’ll be buying a piece of tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, Samsung, and Tencent Holdings, as well as lesser known but equally impressive tech companies such as Meituan Dianping and Pinduoduo.

Meituan Dianping is China’s third-largest e-commerce company. Its apps connect consumers with local businesses for food deliveries, hotel bookings, movie tickets, and many other services. Meituan recently raised US$10 billion from investors in order to advance research on developing autonomous delivery vehicles. This includes drone and self-driving car deliveries.

Whereas Pinduoduo is an e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of products from daily groceries to home appliances. The Pinduoduo platform connects distributors with consumers directly through an interactive shopping experience, allowing shoppers to team up to buy items at lower prices. In March, the company revealed that it had 788 million annual active customers, overtaking Alibaba.

The BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF has generated a return of 60.85% over the last 12 months.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

Another ETF to consider is the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF. This fund aims to track the performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index.

The NASDAQ-100 comprises 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the world-famous NASDAQ market. BetaShares notes that this includes many companies that are at the forefront of the new economy.

Among its top holdings are Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, PayPal, and Tesla.

Over the last 12 months, the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has generated a return of 30.8%.

More reading

• This ASX tech ETF might be in the buy zone today. Here’s why
• a2 Milk and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week
• 3 high quality ETFs for ASX investors in May
• 2 quality ETFs for ASX investors in May
• Province Resources and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some exciting ASX shares that have been rated as buys by multiple brokers, suggesting that they could be strong contenders for your attention.

If several brokers think a business is a buy then it may mean an opportunity is staring the market in the face. Or perhaps all of the brokers are wrong at the same time.

Here are two ASX shares that are highly rated:

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

Baby Bunting is the leading baby and infant product retailer in Australia. It has a national store network, with approximately 60 shops around Australia. It has plans to grow to over 100 stores in Australia over time.

But that’s not the only focus of the business. Baby Bunting is investing in its digital capabilities to satisfy the post-COVID e-commerce demand. Whilst website site visits increased by 39% during the FY21 first half period, the conversion rate improved 66 basis points and total online sales rose 95.9%.

Baby Bunting is currently rated as a buy by at least five brokers, including Morgan Stanley which has a price target on the ASX share of $6.30.

The company is seeing profit rise faster than sales growth, which is positive for shareholder returns. FY21 half-year sales rose 16.6% and pro forma net profit increased 43.5% to $10.8 million. That was thanks to operating leverage with various parts of the business, including the gross profit margin growing by 41 basis points.

Baby Bunting has increased its growth prospects with plans for New Zealand expansion. The first store is expected to open in FY22 as part of a network of at least 10 stores.

FY21 second half growth is expected to be solid, with comparable store growth for the first six weeks at the second half of 18.5%

According to Morgan Stanley, the Baby Bunting share price is valued at 27x FY22’s estimated earnings.

Australian Finance Group Ltd (ASX: AFG)

Australian Finance Group is one of the biggest mortgage brokers in the country. The company has around 3,000 affiliated mortgage brokers. It’s currently rated as a buy by at least three brokers including Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) with a price target of $3.06.

It is benefiting from the strong market conditions for real estate. It said in its FY21 half-year result that it experienced year on year growth of residential settlements in each month, with strong growth in each state. The residential trail book increased by 5% to $160 billion. HY21 residential settlements went up 24% to $20.9 billion.

The ASX share revealed its profit rose quickly during the first half, with statutory net profit going up 36% to $25 million and underlying cash profit rising 41% to $24.9 million. Earnings per share (EPS) went up 9% to 9.2 cents.

The growth has continued into the second half of FY21 with January 2021 residential volume rising 28% to $4.8 billion.

AFG management said that it has a strong balance sheet, no debt, a solid pipeline of lodgements and good cashflow.

It paid an interim dividend of 5.9 cents per share. Macquarie thinks it’s going to pay a full year dividend of 12.3 cents, translating to a grossed-up dividend yield of 6.4%.

More reading

• Why the IntelliHR (ASX:IHR) share price is soaring 16% today
• Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) share price: all-time highs and potential teething issues
• 3 ASX retail shares at record highs
• 2 great ASX dividend shares rated as buys by brokers
• 2 quality ASX shares rated as top buys by brokers

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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 Australia has recommended Baby Bunting. 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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For much of 2021 so far, there has been raging debates over the future emergence and potential impact of inflation. With unprecedented governmental intervention and stimulus across all major economies of the world last year in response to the pandemic, attention has now shifted to the aftermath of these policies. And fair enough too. Every economics out there would probably agree that “uncharted territory’ is the aptest description of the current state of the global economy. After all, as we covered a few months ago, more than one in every five US dollars in existence today was created in 2020. That sort of occurrence is truly hard to wrap your head around. And it does accentuate the question of future inflation even further.

So what does the great Warren Buffett think of all this? At 90 years of age, he is someone that has unquestionably ‘been around the block’. As such, many investors like to turn to him in times of uncertainty and worry for some sage advice.

Buffett on inflation

Well, Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) held its much-anticipated annual meeting last weekend. And Buffett himself did answer a question on inflation. Here’s some of what he said in response:

We’re seeing very substantial inflation. It’s very interesting. We’re raising prices. People are raising prices to us, and it’s being accepted. Take home building…. The costs are just up, up, up. Steel costs, just every day they’re going up.. So it’s an economy really, it’s red hot. And we weren’t expecting it.

Buffett is fairly unequivocal here, he certainly does see inflation. Interestingly, he points out that it appears to be a function of a ‘red hot’ economy, as opposed to a stagflation event (inflation with no growth).

So case closed, right? We should all start preparing for high inflation? Well, if you look at Buffett’s comments in addition to what Berkshire’s vice-chair (and Buffett’s eventual successor) Greb Abel had to say, the waters get muddied a bit. Here’s some of what Mr Abel said of inflation:

When we look at steel prices, timber prices, any petroleum input, fundamentally there’s pressure on those raw materials… There’s a scarcity of product right now of certain raw materials. It’s impacting price and the ability to deliver the end product….And it may be some of that’s contributed or arisen from the storm we previously discussed in Texas. When you take down that many petrochemical plants in one state that the rest of the country is very dependent upon it, we’re seeing it flow through

But is money printing at fault?

So reading between the lines here, the two gentlemen are talking about inflation primarily in the commodities space. Of course, commodities form a foundation for the rest of the economy. But perhaps it’s not all of the ‘printed money’ that’s causing this commodity inflation. Perhaps it’s just commodity supply chain whiplash that has come from the massive disruptive shock of the pandemic. Remember, many resources companies had to adapt to commodity prices like oil dropping off a cliff in a very short space of time. That is bound to cause some issues when economic demand resumes at a rapid pace. And we still haven’t seen too much evidence from the US Federal Reserve (or the Reserve Bank of Australia) that inflation is rising rapidly.

That would make sense alongside the effects of the Texas storm that Mr Able mentioned. Perhaps these supply chain kinks get ironed out over the next year or two, and the commodity pricing boom gets tempered with the natural operation of supply and demand. Maybe we go back to growth with no inflation.

Perhaps. Either way, we are still all in uncharted territory.

More reading

• These were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week
• 2 blue chip ASX dividend shares given buy ratings
• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• ASX 200 rises, Macquarie falls, Magellan declines
• Do brokers think the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is in the buy zone?

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 recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and recommends the following options: short January 2023 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short June 2021 $240 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and long January 2023 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form last week and recorded a solid gain. The benchmark index rose 55 points or 0.8% to end the week at 7,080.8 points.

While a number of shares climbed higher with the market, some climbed more than most. Here’s why these were the best performers on the ASX 200 last week:

Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG)

The Resolute share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a gain of 10.3%. This appears to have been driven by a solid rise in the gold price and the release of a broker note out of Macquarie at the very end of the previous week. In respect to the latter, the broker upgraded Resolute’s shares to an outperform rating with a 60 cents price target. The Resolute share price ended the week at 54 cents.

Iluka Resources Limited (ASX: ILU)

The Iluka share price wasn’t far behind with a gain of 10% over the five days. Investors have been buying this mineral sands company’s shares since the release of its quarterly update late last month. In fact, the Iluka share price is now up 15% since its release. That update revealed strong sales growth during the first quarter. Iluka reported a 48.4% increase in sales over the prior corresponding period to $344.5 million.

Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX: SLR)

The Silver Lake share price was a positive performer and rose 8.6% last week. This appears to have been driven by the aforementioned rise in the gold price over the period. It wasn’t just Resolute and Silver Lake that were rising. The S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index rose a solid 3.5% over the five days.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

The QBE share price was on form and charged 7.8% higher over the period. Investors were buying the insurance giant’s shares following its annual general meeting. At the event, the company revealed a number of positive metrics that went down well with analysts. This led to Citi retaining its buy rating and lifting its price target to $12.00. The QBE share price ended the week at $10.63.

More reading

• These were the worst performing ASX 200 shares last week
• ASX 200 rises, Macquarie falls, Magellan declines
• The RBA just told us what’s going to happen with interest rates
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) and 2 other dividend shares with yields over 6% today
• ASX tech shares are in a world of pain. There might be more to come…

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

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Are you building an income portfolio? If you are, you might want to take a look at these highly rated ASX dividend shares.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd (ASX: ANZ)

The ANZ share price has been a very strong performer in 2021. This has been driven by a significant improvement in its performance.

For example, last week the bank released its half year results and revealed a statutory profit after tax of $2,943 million. This was a 45% increase on the second half of FY 2020.

The good news is that it doesn’t appear to be too late to invest for both capital returns and dividends.

According to a note out of Morgans from last week, its analysts have retained their add rating and lifted their price target on its shares to $33.50.

The broker is also forecasting fully franked dividends of $1.45 and $1.63 per share over the next two years. Based on the current ANZ share price of $27.75, this will mean yields of 5.2% and 5.9%, respectively.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)

Another ASX dividend share to consider is Wesfarmers. This leading conglomerate has been growing at a solid rate for many years and has been tipped to continue doing so over the next decade.

This is thanks to the quality and growth potential of its portfolio of leading retail brands. These include the likes of Bunnings, Catch, and Kmart. In addition, supporting its growth will be its industrial businesses and its investments in the lithium space.

Another big positive not to be overlooked is the company’s balance sheet. This provides Wesfarmers with significant firepower for potential earnings accretive acquisitions.

Last month Goldman Sachs retained its buy rating and $59.70 price target on the company’s shares.

The broker also reaffirmed its expectation for fully franked dividends of $1.83 per share and $1.94 per share in FY 2021 and FY 2022. Based on the current Wesfarmers share price of $54.26, this will mean yields of 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively.

More reading

• Do brokers think the Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price is in the buy zone?
• Telstra (ASX:TLS) and 2 other dividend shares with yields over 6% today
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy now
• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) share price on watch after posting $3bn profit and 86% dividend increase
• Blue chip ASX 200 shares breaking out into 52-week highs

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Wesfarmers 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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Thanks to solid gains by the banks and miners, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) recorded a solid gain last week. The benchmark index rose 55 points or 0.8% to end the period at 7,080.8 points.

Unfortunately, not all shares were able to climb higher with the market. Here’s why these were the worst performers on the ASX 200 last week:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price was the worst performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 21.5% decline. Investors were selling off the artificial intelligence (AI) data services company’s shares following the release of a presentation which provided colour on industry conditions. While management spoke positively about its position in the industry, it also revealed that its customers are changing the ways in which they develop projects. This has resulted in changing data volumes on a handful of large projects, impacting Appen’s revenue. The failure of management to comment on its guidance for FY 2021 also hit investor sentiment.

Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)

The Nearmap share price wasn’t far behind with a disappointing 19.3% decline last week. This decline is all the more worse when you consider that the aerial imagery technology and location data company’s shares were up 14% on Wednesday following a strong trading update. The reason Nearmap’s shares gave back those gains and then fell further was news that it has been hit with legal proceedings. Rival Eagle View alleges patent infringement in relation to its roof estimation technology. While Nearmap has denied any infringement and will defend the complaint, it hasn’t stopped some shareholders from exiting.

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The Afterpay share price was a very poor performer last week and dropped 18.9% over the five days. Weakness on Wall Street’s tech-focused Nasdaq index appears to have spooked investors. Particularly in the buy now pay later sector. The shares of rival US-based Affirm lost a quarter of their value between Friday 30 April and Thursday 7 May, dropping to a record low in the process.

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

The Altium share price was out of form and dropped 15% last week. This decline appears to have been driven by the aforementioned weakness in the tech sector. In addition to this, a number of shares that trade on high PE ratios came under pressure last week. Altium’s shares were trading at 60x estimated FY 2021 earnings at the end of the week.

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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd and Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nearmap 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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