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The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has had a disappointing last couple of weeks, dragged down 9% with the broader ASX market slump in early March.

This comes despite the company posting an impressive set of numbers from its half-year results in February.

Below, we take a closer look at CSL’s most recent update and how brokers view the global biotech’s shares.

How did CSL perform for the first-half?

In its results, CSL reported that COVID-19 had temporarily impacted CSL Behring’s performance during the first half of 2021 while boosting its Seqirus business. Despite the difference, both segments saw an increase in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 24% and 112%, respectively.

This led to a surge of net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1,810 million, a jump of 44% over the prior corresponding period.

The company stated that global demand for its therapies remained strong, particularly with significant growth in seasonal influenza vaccines. The latter is due to the COVID-19 pandemic driving high rates of people getting protected from the flu.

What were the challenges?

While the results themselves were positive, CSL revealed that it continued to face some challenges.

The company advised that plasma collections remained an issue as restrictions on passenger movements affected blood donations through its collection centres.

In the United States, CSL has moved to reach out to donors through targeted marketing initiatives. This includes turning to social media influencers to encourage giving blood, as well as increased monetary incentives.

Collection volumes at the end of last year stood at 80% when compared against December 2019.

In addition, CSL had to re-prioritise some R&D projects, such as halting its efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine with the University of Queensland.

It found that during its Phase 1 trial, patients who were undertaking the vaccine candidate were registering as false positives on HIV tests. In light of this, the company decided not to proceed with further phase 2/3 trials.

Broker update

After reporting its first-half results, several brokers rated the company with varying price points.

The Swiss investment firm UBS cut its price target for CSL by 2.7% to $330.00. Morgan Stanley followed suit to also reduce their rating by 2.5% to $276.00, then upgraded in March to an add rating with a $301.10 price target.

According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have upgraded the biotech giant’s shares to a buy rating with a $310.00 price target

The most recent broker note came from Macquarie last week, which has initiated a price of $288.00 for the biotech.

At the time of writing, the CSL share price is sitting at $261.81, up 2.33% for today. 

CSL share price review

Over the past 12 months, the CSL share price has lost around 6%, mostly from its year-to-date performance.

The company’s shares moved sideways for much of the period before plummeting on its latest results release. It’s worth noting that its shares today are priced the same as when they were back in November 2019.

More reading

• 3 beaten down ASX shares that could be great value
• Share market on watch over AstraZeneca vaccine fears
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• 10 of the best ASX shares to buy in March

Aaron Teboneras owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. 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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A panel of experts has revealed an immediate way an ASX company can improve returns for its shareholders.

Speaking at a webinar on Tuesday, Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC) chief people officer Colleen Harris, Australian Council of Superannuation Investors chief Louise Davidson, and Chief Executive Women president Sam Mostyn called for ASX businesses to improve the gender balance in executive and board positions.

The discussion cited a study that showed a 10 percentage-point increase in female representation in top tier management positions boosted the market capitalisation of the company by 6.6%.

“S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) companies can lead the way and achieve better results for all their stakeholders by ensuring their leadership teams are balanced,” said Mostyn.

“More diverse teams lead to stronger financial performance and safer company cultures. Risk is reduced and outcomes improved – a 40:40 vision of gender equality is a corporate responsibility right now.”

Only 10 CEOs in the ASX 200 are female

The discussion was hosted by the 40:40 initiative, which launched last year to drive Australian companies to a minimum of 40% of each gender on executive and board roles by 2030.

The panel heard that only 10 out of 200 companies in the ASX 200 have a female chief executive. And only 1 out of the 25 appointed last year was female.

Panel moderator and HESTA chief Debby Blakey said the low CEO rate was unsurprising considering only 25% of ASX 200 leadership positions were held by women.

“Those companies not looking closely enough at 50% of the population when identifying top talent risk missing out not only on the best people but also the long-term performance edge a more diverse and inclusive culture provides.”

There was good news in that the number of female board members on the ASX 200 has increased from 11 to 24 from 2015 to now.

“We’re very encouraged to see the number of women directors continuing to increase. But it’s disappointing that the number of female chairs and CEOs continues to languish,” said Davidson.

“Women’s progression to executive leadership positions and CEO roles still has a long way to go, and it will take sustained effort for this to change.”

‘Time for waiting is over’

Ramsay Health’s board has 3 female directors out of 8, which falls short of the 40% campaign. But Harris pointed out the company’s record at the middle levels of its workforce.

“In Australia, 59% of our hospital and facility CEOs are women and 60% of our regional executives are women,” she said.

“By supporting the 40:40 Vision initiative, we hope to encourage other ASX200 companies to achieve gender equality.”

Blakey acknowledged executive talent management is a complex exercise, but felt the 40:40 campaign gave organisations enough wriggle room to meet the target.

“We want to see real, genuine change – not just additional layers of needless reporting and governance resulting in a tick-the-box exercise,” she said.

“The time for waiting is over because we can’t wait decades to see equal numbers of men and women in senior leadership.”

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps, Pointsbet reveals acquisition, Metcash drops
• The RBA expects cheap money to remain. What does that mean for stocks?
• ASX 200 will end this year on a record high
• Why the Coles (ASX:COL) share price is still down 15% in 2021
• These 2 ASX shares are the newest “buy” ideas from top brokers

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

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 0.8% today, rising to 6,827 points.

The tech sector went through a bit of a recovery rally today. The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price rose 3.1% and the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price grew 4%.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The Pointsbet share price rose strongly today after announcing an acquisition.

It’s acquiring Banach Technology, which is a Dublin-based provider of proprietary risk management platforms and quantitative driven trading models that support complex pre-game and in-play betting products across numerous sports, including the four major American sports and international soccer.

Pointsbet is going to spend US$43 million to buy the business on a cash and debt free basis. This price will be split between 55% cash and 45% in 1.75 million shares.

The Banach team were described by Pointsbet as deeply experienced, particularly in leading pre-game and in-play sports wagering markets, having previously established the ‘quants’ division of Paddy Power Plc, which is now Flutter Entertainment Plc.

Pointsbet’s managing director Sam Swanell said:

We are delighted with the acquisition of Banach and that its well credentialled team have agreed to join Pointsbet. As legalisation to approve US sport betting accelerates across the US, it has become clear that the in-play opportunity will be very significant and those with the best depth and breadth of product will win.

Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS)

The Metcash share price fell after giving investors a trading update and increasing its dividend guidance.

Metcash gave a detailed presentation about the different segments of its business including food, liquor and hardware.

In the trading update it said that in the first four months of the second half of FY21, it is seeing strong sales momentum continuing in all of its pillars from a shift in consumer behaviour, improved competitiveness of its retail businesses, stronger customer loyalty and a strong Christmas and New Year period of trading.

However, Metcash reminded investors that in March 2021 and April 2021 it will be cycling against the spike in sales for food and hardware in FY20.

Supermarket sales are up 14.4% against the prior corresponding period, with food sales up 4.1% (or up 14.1% excluding the 7-Eleven impact).

Hardware sales increased 31.6% in the first four months of the second half of FY21. It was a 19.2% increase excluding Total Tools.

Liquor sales increased 19.6% year on year.

In terms of its dividend, Metcash said that strong financial performance and cashflows support raising the target dividend payout ratio to 70% of underlying net profit after tax (NPAT).

Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV)

The Clover share price jumped today more than 9% after reporting its FY21 half-year result.

Net sales revenue decreased 21.7% to $29.4 million, whilst net profit after tax declined by 45.8% to $2.5 million.

Adjusted for foreign exchange impacts, net sales revenue was $30.3 million. Excluding Melody Dairy start-up and IP legal defence costs, there was an underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) of $3.3 million.

Clover said that it has retained and grown its customer base, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted customer demand. Many of the new product programs under development have been placed on hold due to customers’ staff around the world working from home.

Some customers have experienced reduced demand as the China market undergoes changes in supply channels due to COVID-19 restrictions and the daigou channel reduction, whilst minimal international travel by Chinese tourists and students has slowed the grey market importing of many products including infant formula. The local Chinese market has become more competitive with local manufacturers competing on price and aggressive channel strategies.

The board decided to declared an interim dividend of 0.5 cents per share.

More reading

• Sneaky way ASX company can boost share price by 7%
• The RBA expects cheap money to remain. What does that mean for stocks?
• ASX 200 will end this year on a record high
• Flight Centre and Zip were some of the most traded ASX shares last week
• Why the Coles (ASX:COL) share price is still down 15% in 2021

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 Clover Limited and Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. 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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Although the Australian share market is trading within sight of its 52-week high, not all shares are performing as positively.

Three ASX shares that are trading notably lower than their highs are listed below. Here’s why they could be great value now:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The first ASX share to look at is Appen. It is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). This is a vital part of the development process of building AI models, as without quality data a model won’t reach its full potential. Given the growing importance of AI for businesses and governments, Appen looks well positioned for growth over the long term. And with the Appen share price down 58% from its high, now could be an opportune time to make a patient investment. Ord Minnett appears to believe this is the case. It has just upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $24.75 price target.

CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)

Another ASX share to consider is CSL. The shares of this leading biotechnology company are down 21% from their 52-week high. This has been driven by concerns over plasma collection headwinds because of COVID-19. However, with this headwind only temporary and not structural, the company looks well-placed to bounce back strongly after the pandemic passes. Especially given its in-demand therapies and vaccines and its lucrative R&D pipeline. Analysts at Citi are positive on CSL. Last week they upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $310 price target.

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

A final ASX share to look at is this leading ecommerce company. The Kogan share price has fallen heavily this year and is now down 45% from its high. This appears to have been driven by valuation concerns and uncertainty regarding how long its elevated sales growth will be maintained. Analysts at Credit Suisse remain positive on its future and believe its shares are good value. at current levels The broker has recently put an outperform rating and $20.85 price target on Kogan’s shares.

More reading

• Why ASX e-commerce shares could keep running higher in 2021
• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• Share market on watch over AstraZeneca vaccine fears
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Calm restored to the ASX 200
• 2 amazing ASX tech shares to buy right now

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 CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Kogan.com 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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No, you’re not in an alternate universe, but living in a simulation sounds closer to the truth with every Elon Musk tweet. After pinching yourself, we can confirm the above statement is official.

A filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday (SEC) by Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) enacted the title amendments.

New name, same position

We all know someone guilty of exaggerating their position title to a certain extent. Technoking though – that has to take the cake. Well, it doesn’t end there – Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Zach Kirkhorn now has the title ‘Master of Coin’.

Despite the new and weird titles, Elon Musk and Zach Kirkhorn will maintain their mundane positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

You might be thinking, “Well what’s the point then?”. Currently, the purpose behind the title change is unknown. Frankly, there may not be a reason other than for the sake of a meme.

However, some have drawn conclusions that Elon’s Technoking title is derived from his enjoyment of techno music. In regard to Zach’s title, it might have something to do with Tesla’s purchase of US$1.5 billion Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) in January. Potentially the recent milestone of Bitcoin hitting new all-time highs evoked the action.

Busy times for Technoking Elon Musk

Changing titles is only the beginning for Elon Musk over the past month. As technology shares lost favour and Tesla shares plunged 35%, Musk fell out of the number one spot on the rich list.

Although, this certainly didn’t slow down operations within SpaceX. During the past month, SpaceX has continued to complete three successful Falcon 9 launches and a landing of Starship (SN10), which proceeded to explode 8 minutes later.

Yet somehow the busy futuristic thinker had time to put together a non-fungible-token (NFT). It seems Technoking Musk is looking to sell it for the right price. Any takers?

I’m selling this song about NFTs as an NFT pic.twitter.com/B4EZLlesPx

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 15, 2021

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

More reading

• ASX investors still can’t get enough of GameStop (NYSE:GME) shares
• Could this be the pin to pop the Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) bubble?
• Here’s why the Altech (ASX:ATC) share price is rocketing 11%
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) hits another record high. What’s going on?
• Tesla shareholder sues Elon Musk over losses

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

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Most weeks, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) CommSec brokering platform tells us the ASX and international shares (almost always just US shares) that are the most popular with its Australian customers.

CommSec is among the most popular share trading platforms in the country. As such, the data it gives us can be a useful snapshot into the mind of the average Aussie investor.

Today, we have already looked at the most popular ASX shares last week. So here are the top 10 United States shares CommSec customers were buying last week. This week’s data covers 8-12 March. 

GameStop shares among most traded US shares on the ASX

1. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 7.6% of total trades with an 81%/19% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) – representing 5.4% of total trades with a 51%/49% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2.8% of total trades with an 83%/17% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) – representing 2.6% of total trades with a 76%/24% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR) – representing 1.8% of total trades with an 84%/16% buy-to-sell ratio
6. Roblox Corp (NYSE: RBLX)
7. ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK)
8. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC)
9. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE: TSM)
   
10. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

What can we learn from these trades?

Well, GameStop certainly knows how to excite Aussie investors, that’s for sure. GameStop was on last week’s list, at the number four spot with a buy/sell ratio of 68%/32% to be precise. So it’s interesting to see a convergence of buyers and sellers.

Since 5 March (the end of last week’s covered period), the GameStop share price is up another 59% on current pricing, but has also lost around 17% of its value since 10 March. It seems that is enough to get half of its Aussie investors to move to take their profits off of the table.

Outside GameStop, electric vehicle and battery manufacturers Tesla and Nio remain as popular as ever. Both companies have been recovering somewhat after being hard-hit in the US tech selloff of the past month or so.

It’s also interesting to see that data company Palantir remains popular with Aussies, even though the company is still down around 30% from where it was on 9 February.

Some new faces this week are Roblox and Taiwan Semiconductor. Taiwan Semiconductor is a massive high-flying chip manufacturer that has recently come off the boil. It was down close to 20% from it’s February peak at one point, so clearly some Aussies are seeing a bargain here.

Roblox is a new gaming company that has only just IPOed in the past week on the US markets. Clearly, Aussies have been excited to get aboard this train.

At the time of writing, Roblox stock remains around 3.8% above the level it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at, so it’s been a winner so far.

More reading

• Elon Musk reviews title and decides ‘Technoking of Tesla’ is more fitting
• Is the cashed up Reddit army forming for a new charge?
• We’ll get 7.8% yield from ASX this year, says investment pro
• Here’s why the Altech (ASX:ATC) share price is rocketing 11%
• Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) hits another record high. What’s going on?

Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Apple, Microsoft, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of NIO Inc. and Palantir Technologies Inc and recommends the following options: short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple and long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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The RPMGlobal Holdings Ltd (ASX: RUL) share price is up this afternoon, after the company announced it exceeded the revenue stated in its half year investor presentation. At the time of writing, the RPMGlobal share price was up 8% to $1.31.

RPMGlobal is a developer and provisioner of software for the mining industry. It also provides advisory services and professional development to industry members.

Let’s look at what was announced this afternoon.

Revenue update

RPMGlobal updated its total contracted value (TCV) and annual recurring revenue (ARR) derived from software subscriptions sold during the 2021 financial year.

The update included an extra $11.5 million of revenue that was not revealed in the company’s half-year investor presentation, released in February 2021.

In February, the company advised that its current software subscription TVC was $14.5 million, whereas today the company confirmed it is actually $23.4 million. 

Further, RPMGlobal advised the company’s ARR from software subscriptions was $15.8 million, when in actuality it was $18.4 million — a difference of $2.6 million.

Additionally, RPMGlobal stated it has not included another $4.1 million of contracted subscription revenue in the provided figures, as those subscriptions are able to be terminated anytime without a fee.

The company also noted it has closed $800,000 worth of perpetual software licenses since December 2020. A perpetual software licence is an agreement that allows a user access to a software indefinitely with a single payment.

More about RPMGlobal

RPMGlobal states that its software is the industry’s only integrated mining operational platform built on industry standards.

The company has offices all over the globe, including in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Mackay, Wollongong, and Maitland.

RPMGlobal share price snapshot

At the time of writing, the RPMGlobal share price has risen by 8.26% this afternoon. It is currently sitting at $1.31 after opening at $1.21 this morning.

The RPMGlobal share price is up by 58% over the last 12 months. The company’s share price has broken even, year-to-date, with a 1.9% return.

RPMGlobal has a market capitalisation of around $277 million, with approximately 229 million shares outstanding.

More reading

• Software and bikes: 3 ASX shares ready to explode

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. owns shares of RPMGlobal Holdings. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended RPMGlobal Holdings. 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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Since the beginning of 2021, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has increased 160.7 points or 2.4%. Today, the index is up 1.06% on yesterday’s close. Part of the reason for the booming share market is the flow of cheap money, driven by the RBA.

The central bank has been looking for ways to steer the Australian economy away from another recession. Additionally, it is also aiming towards longer-term growth. In normal times, it would have a relatively light touch – leaving the proverbial ship on autopilot and all making small adjustments when necessary.

However, we’ve been in unchartered waters for over a year now – overwhelmed by the tidal wave that is COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, economic indicators were not strong.

Philip Lowe and the RBA Board concur. Minutes from the March meeting can summarise the mood on the Australian economy as optimistic. While signs of recovery from COVID abound, the RBA still sees many economic icebergs on our voyage.

Let’s take a closer look at the minutes and what they might mean for your investments.

Quantitative Easing to continue

Last month, the board declared it would continue quantitative easing (QE) after April 2021. The initial $100 billion was reserved for the purchasing of government bonds and was due to be exhausted then. Another $100 billion has been allocated and “the Bank is prepared to do more [QE] if that is necessary.”

The central bank believes its policies. In addition to government programs like JobKeeper and HomeBuilder. Both of these programs have contributed to a more robust Australian economy than expected under the circumstances. In 2020, GDP fell by 1.1%.

The ending of JobKeeper at the end of this month was touched on in the meeting. In the view of the board, the cessation of the wage subsidy program will NOT result in a sustained increase in unemployment. It does believe many, including the self-employed, will see a fall in income. The bank based this assessment on the recovering job market. Additionally, it factored in future indicators, “such as job advertisements and vacancies.”

Inflation, wage growth, well below target. Stock market to continue surge

The RBA also affirmed in its forecast that it did not see the official cash rate rising above 0.1% until at least 2024. The board cited weak wages growth and below-target inflation (2-3% is the RBA’s preferred inflation rate) for the forecast. It believes there is still room for more employment in the labour market. Furthermore, until such time as employment materially increases, wages will not grow. The central bank does not believe inflation will materially pick up until wage growth strengthens.

It did note, however, that the consumer price index (CPI) would see a bounce of 3%. This is predicted to come as life returns to normal post-coronavirus. In saying that, the RBA believes inflation will remain below the 2% target over “both 2021 and 2022.”

In these discussions, the RBA is well aware of the effect low-interest rates is having on both financial and housing markets. Quoting from the minutes:

[Board members] acknowledged the risks inherent in investors searching for yield in a low interest rate environment, including risks linked to higher leverage and asset prices, particularly in the housing market. Members noted that lending standards remained sound and that it was important that they remain so in an environment of rising housing prices and low interest rates.

The Board concluded that there were greater benefits for financial stability from a stronger economy, while acknowledging the importance of closely monitoring risks in asset markets.

In other words, the benefits of low-interest rates outweigh the risks of an inflated stock and housing market.

All signs bode well for stock-market investors in the short-term. One beneficiary of a hot property market would be real estate investment trust shares.

The minutes also indicated the RBA were very unlikely to move to a negative cash rate (i.e., an official interest rate below 0%).

Rising bond yields and the stock market

In the meeting, the bank also discussed rising bond yields. The share market has fluctuated widely with rising bond yields and evolving market inflation expectations. While it noted market expectations on inflation and its effect on the bond market, it still believes the case for stronger inflation is weak.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index is the most susceptible to rising bond yields. This is because as bond yields rise, investors sell riskier assets (like tech shares) and buy safer ones (like bonds). If bond prices fall because market expected inflation never materialises, as the RBA believes, bond-yields are likely to fall. If bond-yields did fall, it would not be unwise to assume that would reflect positively on technology shares.

More reading

• ASX 200 will end this year on a record high
• Why the Coles (ASX:COL) share price is still down 15% in 2021
• These 2 ASX shares are the newest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• We’ll get 7.8% yield from ASX this year, says investment pro

Motley Fool contributor Marc Sidarous 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 MyDeal.com.au Ltd (ASX: MYD) share price was out of form again on Tuesday despite a rebound in the tech sector.

The ecommerce company’s shares fell 2.5% to end the day at 93 cents. This compares to a gain of almost 2.5% by the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX).

This latest decline means the MyDeal share price is now down 22% since this time last month. It also means that the company’s shares are now trading 7% below its October IPO price of $1.00.

Why is the MyDeal share price under pressure?

The recent weakness in the MyDeal share price appears to have been driven by weakness in the tech sector due to rising bond yields.

This has offset a solid half year update in February which saw the ecommerce company deliver very strong sales and customer growth.

For the six months ended 31 December, MyDeal reported a 217% increase in gross sales to $126.7 million and a 248% jump in revenue to $21.2 million.

This strong growth was driven by a 205% increase in active customers to 813,764 and further improvements in repeat use. Approximately 53% of second quarter transactions came from returning customers. This was an increase from 38.5% a year earlier.

Is this a buying opportunity?

One person that appears to believe the MyDeal share price is good value is the company’s Chair, Paul Greenberg.

Earlier this month, Mr Greenberg picked up 100,000 MyDeal shares at $1.08 to $1.11 per share. This lifted the Chair’s holding to a total of just under 1.7 million shares.

A leading broker that would approve of this purchase is Morgans. In response to the company’s half year results last month, the broker retained its add rating and $1.70 price target.

Based on the current MyDeal share price, this price target implies potential upside of almost 83% over the next 12 months.

Morgans was pleased with its performance, strong start to the second half, and its plans to invest in marketing to drive further growth in private label sales.

More reading

• 2 small cap ASX shares to watch closely in 2021
• One person earned $250,000 on Airtasker last year. Now it’s listing
• 2 buy-rated small cap ASX shares with strong growth potential
• Why the MyDeal (ASX:MYD) share price is tumbling lower today
• 2 rapidly growing small cap ASX shares to buy

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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) will hit an all-time record high this year, according to one prominent economist.

Like most share markets, the ASX had a nice recovery from the COVID-19 lows in March last year. 

But the past month has seen a bond-driven hiccup, with the ASX 200 dropping almost 1.7% and the S&P ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) getting whacked a painful 14%.

AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver told investors to ride out the bump, because this year is looking good.

“Shares remain at risk of further volatility from rising bond yields,” he said.

“But looking through the inevitable short-term noise, the combination of improving global growth helped by more stimulus, vaccines and still low interest rates augurs well for growth assets generally in 2021.”

Oliver is so optimistic that he predicted the ASX would end up where it had never gone before.

“Expect the ASX 200 to end 2021 at a record high of around 7200.”

The current all-time high is 7199.79 seen in February last year, just before the market plunged.

Rotation to recovery value sectors will continue

Oliver might think growth stocks will come back in vogue, but the market’s change in taste for certain sectors will continue.

“We are likely to see a continuing shift in performance away from investments that benefitted from the pandemic and lockdowns — like technology and health care stocks and bonds — to investments that will benefit from recovery, like resources, industrials, tourism stocks and financials.”

The shift to the more traditional sectors will mean dividends will rise.

On Monday, Plato Investment Management predicted the ASX 200 would return 4.8% gross yield this year, which wasn’t far off the 4.5% that Oliver forecast.

“Australian shares are likely to be relative outperformers helped by better virus control enabling a stronger recovery in the near term, stronger stimulus, [and] sectors like resources, industrials and financials benefitting from the rebound in growth.”

Internationally, the US markets were the darling of investors in 2020, but expect that to shift to other regions this year.

“Global shares are expected to return around 8% this year but expect a rotation away from growth-heavy US shares to more cyclical markets in Europe, Japan and emerging countries,” said Oliver.

More reading

• Why the Coles (ASX:COL) share price is still down 15% in 2021
• These 2 ASX shares are the newest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• ASX 200 up 0.8%: Metcash update, tech shares rebound, PointsBet acquisition
• We’ll get 7.8% yield from ASX this year, says investment pro
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo 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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