Tag: Motley Fool

On Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and recorded another impressive gain. The benchmark index raced 1.5% higher to 6,762.6 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 futures pointing higher

It looks set to be another positive day of trade for the ASX 200 on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 57 points or 0.85% higher this morning. This follows another strong night of trade on Wall Street. In late trade the Dow Jones is up 1.9%, the S&P 500 is 1.7% higher, and the Nasdaq is also trading 1.7% higher. Markets appear to be moving on from the GameStop mania.

Oil prices push higher

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be on the rise today after another positive night for oil prices. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2.3% to US$54.78 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has climbed 2.1% to US$57.51 a barrel. Oil prices pushed higher after producers committed to their output caps.

Amcor results

The Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC) share price will be on watch today when it released its half year results. According to a note out of Morgans, it is expecting the packaging giant to deliver a strong result. Particularly given its strong start to the financial year, which saw the company deliver a 20% increase in earnings per share during the first quarter. Amcor’s services were recognised as an essential service during the pandemic.

Gold (and silver) price sinks

Gold miners including Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) could come under pressure today after the gold price sank lower. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 1.5% to US$1,833.20 an ounce. Elsewhere, the silver price came crashing back down to earth and dropped 9% during overnight trade after the Reddit trade fizzled out.

Carsales upgraded to buy rating

The Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price is in the buy zone according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. This morning the broker upgraded the auto listings company’s shares to a buy rating with a $22.60 price target. It commented: “Despite consensus earnings upgrades since vaccines emerged, CAR multiples have compressed to the extent it now trades at a 21% 12mf EV/EBITDA discount to AU classified peers, its greatest level in recent history.”

More reading

• Supreme Court approves Northern Star and Saracen mega merger
• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for dividends
• ASX 200 jumps 1.5%, RBA doubles QE, Afterpay soars
• These 3 ASX stocks are the latest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• How the ASX 200 moved following the RBA’s first cash rate decision of 2021

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Amcor Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com 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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With a new month here, I’m sure many readers will be considering a few changes to their portfolio in the near future.

But which shares should you buy? To help narrow things down for you, I have picked out two ASX shares that are highly rated. They are as follows:

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

Altium is an award-winning printed circuit board (PCB) design software platform provider.

Over the last few years, Altium has become a leader in this growing market. But it isn’t settling for that. It has now set its sights on dominating it.

Management is aiming to achieve this by growing its subscribers to 100,000 by 2025/26.

A key part of this plan is its cloud-based Altium 365 product, which was released in 2020. This allows designers to work collaboratively from anywhere in the world and appears to have cemented its industry leadership position.

Furthermore, as well as giving it an edge over the competition, management notes that it provides opportunities for significant total addressable market expansion in the future.

All in all, this appears to have positioned the company for strong growth over the long term once the pandemic passes.

One broker that is a fan is Credit Suisse. Its analysts have an outperform rating and $35.00 price target on the company’s shares. The Altium share price closed at $31.02 on Tuesday.

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

Another ASX share to look at is quick service restaurant operator Collins Foods.

It is one of the largest operators of KFC restaurants in Australia and has a presence in the European market as well. It also has a smaller but growing number of Taco Bell restaurants across Australia.

Late last year its released its half year results and revealed an 11.3% increase in revenue to $499.6 million and a 15.1% lift in underlying net profit after tax to $27.5 million.

The good news is that management still sees plenty of room for growth in both the Australian and European markets. This should underpin solid growth in the future if Collins Foods can continue its positive trend of same store sales growth.

Analysts at UBS expect this to be the case. They believe the company is well-placed to continue this positive form over the medium term. In light of this, UBS has a buy rating and $11.65 price target on the company’s shares. This compares favourably to the latest Collins Foods share price of $9.63.

More reading

• 2 quality SaaS ASX shares to buy in February 2021
• 5 of the best ASX shares to buy in February
• 2 ASX growth shares to buy
• These ASX 200 shares have been smashed in 2021
• 2 ASX 200 growth shares to buy

James Mickleboro owns shares of Collins Foods Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Collins Foods 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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Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) has stopped live streaming of NRL and AFL games, in a major change to its sports and entertainment strategy.

For the last 9 years, the telco had owned the mobile streaming rights to the two most popular football codes in Australia. It was used as a major lure to attract customers to the telco. 

But now that responsibility will shift to Kayo, where Telstra clients will be offered a discounted subscription.

The move also means Telstra will no longer bid for sports broadcast rights.

“While Live Pass has provided a great sporting experience over the years, we are replacing it with Kayo, which has quickly become the premium sports streaming service in Australia, and we’re excited to provide an exclusive offer for you to watch a wider range of sports on your choice of screen,” said a company spokesperson on a blog post.

The Kayo streaming service is owned and operated by pay television company Foxtel, which itself is jointly owned by Telstra and News Corporation (ASX: NWS).

Telstra shares were up 0.32% at close of trade on Tuesday afternoon. News Corporation dipped 0.4% on the ASX.

Is the new way better or worse for Telstra customers?

Telstra customers who already have NRL and AFL Live Pass access will be offered the basic Kayo plan for $5 per month, which is a $20 discount. The telco’s customers who don’t currently have footy streaming will be offered the subscription for $15 per month.

The two big changes for Telstra customers will be that:

• They’ll now be able to watch more than 50 sports through Kayo, rather than just 2 
• They can stream the sports on the television, rather than just mobile devices

The shift was somewhat inevitable, with the NRL last year blocking Telstra from bidding on digital streaming rights from 2023.

The telco is a long-time major sponsor for rugby league, with the competition officially named the NRL Telstra Premiership for many years.

Also, this month Kayo faced a major new rival in live sports streaming as Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) launched Stan Sport. That service starts this year with rugby union as its premium sport.

Telco competitor Optus also owns some sports streaming rights, with the English soccer as its jewel in the crown.

Telstra also possesses live streaming for netball and A-League soccer, but they will also be shifted to Kayo if it wins the broadcast rights.

More reading

• Why investors should look beyond the Reddit army to these ASX fundamentals
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: Reality (and GameStop) finally hits ASX
• ASX 200 ends 0.6% down, Kogan falls 8.5%, Service Stream soars 10%
• ASX 200 up 0.6%: ResMed Q2 update, Kogan sinks, NAB acquires 86 400
• Why Lynas, Mesoblast, ResMed, & Service Stream shares are pushing higher

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Telstra 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 Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price closed slightly higher this afternoon at $13.08, a 0.85% lift.

Earlier today, Northern Star announced that the Supreme Court of Western Australia approved the scheme of arrangement by which the company will acquire all of the shares of Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR).

The Saracen Mineral share price also closed relatively flat at $4.89 today on the news, up 0.58%. Saracen has a market capitalisation of $5.5 billion and 1.1 billion shares outstanding. Over the past year, the Saracen share price has gained more than 24%.

What’s next for Saracen and Northern Star?

Saracen is expected to lodge a copy of the court’s orders tomorrow, Wednesday 3 February 2021, with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Following this, Saracen’s shares will be suspended from trading on the ASX at the close of trading tomorrow.

As a result of the merger, Saracen share holders will receive a special dividend.

Northern Star has listed Friday 12 February 2021 as the official implementation date pertaining to the share acquisition. On Monday 15 February 2021, new Northern Star shares will commence trading on the ASX.

Some highlights from Northern Star’s latest quarterly

Let’s take a look at Northern Star’s recently released quarterly report to see what else the company has been up to lately besides the Saracen merger.

Northern Star reported that the fourth quarter December 2020 gold sold total came in at 252,889oz. This is at the top end of the company’s guidance of 226,000 to 254,000oz for the period. It was also 11% higher than the previous quarter.

Northern Star invested $63 million in growth capital and exploration during the period. Despite this growth expenditure, Northern Star further reported a December quarter free underlying cashflow of $93 million.

The company credits its strong production and cashflow for the cut to corporate debt that also occurred during the time period. Northern Star cut its corporate debt by $125 million to $375 million.

As of 31 December 2020, Northern Star’s cash, bullion and investments total stood at $372 million.

The Northern Star share price has dipped nearly 20% over the last six-month period.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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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There are some S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that have built reputations of being good dividend payers to their shareholders.

During the 2020 calendar year there were plenty of dividend cuts from some of the ASX 200’s biggest businesses like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).

But these two businesses kept the dividend increases coming despite the COVID-19 pandemic impacts.

Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)

Brickworks has been listed on the Aussie stock exchange for over 50 years. It started as a major brickmaker, but it’s now the biggest brick businesses in the whole of Australia.

It now also manufactures and sells various other products like paving, masonry, stone, roofing, specialised building systems, precast and cement.

The ASX 200 company is also the market leader in the north east of the US after acquiring three American brickmakers including Glen Gery. The US operations have 10 brick plants and one manufactured stone plant. Those plants are now operating at almost a 80% utilisation rate, up from 50%.

Whilst the building products are experiencing varied performance due to COVID-19, Brickworks doesn’t rely on those divisions to pay for its dividend.

The first of the two pillars for the dividend is its property division.

Brickworks has a property trust which was established in 2006 as a 50/50 joint venture with Goodman Group (ASX: GMG). Brickworks provides land at market value (that’s surplus to operations) for development. Goodman funds the infrastructure works.

After a pre-lease agreement has been signed with a prospective tenant, the facility is then constructed which is funded by debt (with serviced land as security).

At the time of the last update, at the Brickworks AGM, the property trust had total gross assets of $2.1 billion and gearing of 36%. The ASX 200 share said that it’s benefiting from structural tailwinds, driven by industry trends to online shopping.

Once two huge warehouses are completed for Amazon and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), it’s expected that the gross assets of the property trust will rise to more than $3 billion (up $900 million) and the rental profit distributions will grow by at least 25%.

The other thing that funds the Brickworks dividend is the steadily-growing dividends from Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL). Brickworks owns just under 40% of Soul Patts, which is an investment conglomerate that has been operating and paying an annual dividend for over a century.

Soul Patts is another ASX 200 dividend share, it has a diverse portfolio of shares of listed businesses like TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG), Brickworks, Milton Corporation Limited (ASX: MLT), Bki Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI), Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC).

The ASX 200 dividend share hasn’t actually reduced its dividend per share for over 40 years. At the current Brickworks share price it has a grossed-up dividend yield of 4.3%.

APA Group (ASX: APA)

This business is one of the largest ASX 200 shares, it’s focused on energy infrastructure.

APA owns a large network of 15,000km of natural gas pipelines around Australia with a presence in every mainland state and the Northern Territory. It also owns or has interests in gas storage facilities, gas-fired power stations and renewable energy generation (wind and solar farms). APA owns, or manages and operates, a portfolio of assets and delivers half the nation’s natural gas usage.

The energy giant announced recently that it would be building a new pipeline in WA that would connect with its existing pipeline to create one large grid. Once finished, the new pipeline could attract some of the local resource businesses to request a connection for cheap and consistent energy.

APA funds its annual distributions to shareholders from its various assets’ operating cashflow. More completed projects can lead to higher distributions.

The ASX 200 dividend share has increased its distributions to investors consecutively for a decade and a half.

At the current APA share price, it has a distribution yield of 5.2%.

More reading

• ASX 200 jumps 1.5%, RBA doubles QE, Afterpay soars
• These 3 ASX stocks are the latest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• How the ASX 200 moved following the RBA’s first cash rate decision of 2021
• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today
• Huon (ASX:HUO) share price sinks on profit downgrade and write-downs

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Clover Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Brickworks and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of APA Group and COLESGROUP DEF SET. 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 Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX:TAH) share price has bolted more than 10% in today’s trading session. The bullish price action follows the company’s response to recent media speculation concerning a potential buyout.  

What has the media been speculating?

A media report in The Australian earlier today revealed that Tabcorp recently received a proposal to break up the $9 billion betting company. According to the media report, the company’s Board has received a proposal  in the past 2 weeks. The article suggested that the offer involved a demerger of the company’s lottery business and takeover of Tabcorp’s wagering division.

Since late 2020, media speculations have been circling the potential interest from private equity to buy Tabcorp’s struggling wagering division. In November last year, The Australian also reported that private equity firms had approached Tabcorp. One offer was reportedly worth $9 billion.

Tabcorp initially denied early suggestions that the company had been approached.

How has Tabcorp responded?

In response to the media report published by The Australian, the company released an announcement earlier today.

In the media release, Tabcorp acknowledged that the company has received multiple offers for its underperforming wagering business.  However, the company also cautioned investors that interest from multiple parties might not lead to a transaction.

In the announcement, the company stated that: “Tabcorp confirms that it has received a number of unsolicited approaches and proposals in relation to a potential transaction involving Tabcorp’s Wagering and Media business”.

Tabcorp further explained that: “The proposals were expressed to be confidential, indicative, non-binding and subject to numerous conditions including due diligence, financing and various regulatory approvals”.

Tabcorp acknowledged that the company’s board is assessing the proposals. The company also stated that it will provide an update to the market in due course.

How has the Tabcorp share price reacted?

The Tabcorp share price closed Tuesday’s trading session more than 8.7% higher at $4.46. Shares in the lotteries and wagering giant hit an intra-day high of $4.58. Up more than 10% for the day at one stage.

Last August, Tabcorp was forced to raise $600 million in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the company’s wagering business. Since late March, the Tabcorp share price has surged more than 110% from its 52-week low.

More reading

• Supreme Court approves Northern Star and Saracen mega merger
• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for dividends
• ASX 200 jumps 1.5%, RBA doubles QE, Afterpay soars
• These 3 ASX stocks are the latest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• GameStop (NYSE:GME) dominates the US shares ASX investors have been buying

Motley Fool contributor Nikhil Gangaram 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) rose by 1.5% today to 6,763 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

RBA announcement

The Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to double its quantitative easing program to $200 billion. The central bank also decided to keep the official interest rate at just 0.1%.

Further to that, the RBA decided to say that it’s not expecting to increase interest rates until 2024 at the earliest.

This had the effect of boosting the share prices of many different industries.

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price was one of the best performers in the ASX 200, rising by almost 8%.

Property shares got a big boost. The REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) share price went up around 5%, the Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) share price grew 2.6% and the Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) share price went up 2.4%.

Volpara Health Technologies Ltd (ASX: VHT)

The Volpara share price went up 3.7% after announcing an acquisition.

Volpara is acquiring CRA Health, which is based in Boston, for US$18 million. CRA’s software is integrated with the major electronic health record (EHR) and genetics companies.

CRA receives patient information, including breast density, and returns the risk of breast cancer alongside appropriate recommendations, including whether additional imaging or genetics testing is advised and reimbursed according to established guidelines. CRA also has electronic interfaces built with all the major genetics companies.

Volpara said that CRA is profitable, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) of over US$4 million, average revenue per user (ARPU) of US$1.70 and coverage of around 6% of US breast screenings.

After this acquisition, Volpara will have ARR of around $US$17.5 million and at least one product in use in over 30% of US breast screenings. Group ARPU will increase to over US$1.40.

Credit Corp Group Limited (ASX: CCP)

The Credit Corp share price went up 8.8% today after reporting its FY21 half-year result.

The debt collector reported that its net profit after tax (NPAT) grew by 10% to $42.3 million. Credit Corp’s US purchased debt ledger (PDL) segment saw NPAT double to $8 million.

Credit Corp also reported a record half-year PDL investment which was driven by the Collection House Limited (ASX: CLH) investment.

The ASX 200 company said that there had been a strong recovery in consumer lending volume over the December quarter.

It upgraded its full year outlook to a range of $85 million to $90 million, up from the previous range of $70 million to $85 million. The company said that it has $400 million of net cash and undrawn credit lines, putting it in a strong position to invest further.

Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

The online furniture retailer announced its FY21 half-year result. The Temple & Webster share price fell 4%. 

The company’s revenue increased by 118% year on year to $161.6 million. It generated $14.8 million of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which was growth of 556%.

The business said that its active customers increased by 102% and in the trade and commercial division it saw growth 89% year on year.

In terms of cashflow and the balance sheet, it ended with a cash balance of $85.7 million (including proceeds from the $40 million placement) and it was cashflow positive.

Temple & Webster CEO Mark Coulter said: “While 2020 remained a challenge for the country, we are proud that many Australians continued to turn to Temple & Webster for their furniture and homewares needs. It is great to see our revenue growth translating into operating leverage and significant profit growth. This allows us to accelerate our investment into areas such as data, technology, private label and brand awareness to further differentiate our proposition.”

More reading

• 2 ASX 200 shares to buy for dividends
• These 3 ASX stocks are the latest “buy” ideas from top brokers
• How the ASX 200 moved following the RBA’s first cash rate decision of 2021
• ASX stock of the day: Rent.com.au (ASX:RNT) shares explode 218%
• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today

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 Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended VOLPARA FPO NZ. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended REA Group Limited and Temple & Webster Group Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The sharp and sudden market sell-off late last week is already a distant memory and those looking for opportunities may be interested in looking at the three latest ASX broker buy recommendations.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) added to yesterday’s gain by jumping 1.5% on Tuesday. It has nearly recovered all of the losses triggered by the GameStop saga.

The fact that the index bounced neatly and strongly from its support of around 6,000 points will encourage the bulls to keep the rally going.

It isn’t too late the join the party and brokers have just put forward three ASX “buy” ideas for your portfolio.

Brokers pushing this bullish bet

The first is the Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) share price. Most brokers already like the stock but the latest US survey of gaming machines is giving them more reason to be bullish.

Credit Suisse reiterated its “outperform” recommendation on the ALL share price today after the Eilers‐Fantini December quarter slot survey was released.

The survey covered around 35% of the North America slot machine market during the period.

Upside risk to this ASX broker “buy” recommendation

The broker was modelling 1,000 net additions to Aristocrat’s install base for 1HFY21, which ends in March.

“Grossing up the Survey participation to reflect the entire market, it seems ALL is running ahead of our half‐year projection,” said the broker.

“However, the Survey bias tends to be optimistic so we rather conclude the Survey supports our estimate.”

Credit Suisse’s 12-month price target on the ALL share price is $34.50 a share.

Stronger for longer

Meanwhile, industry data is also fuelling the positive sentiment towards the Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) share price.

Citigroup noted that the Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) latest sheep and lamb industry projections suggest the strong lamb prices observed in January could persist through this calendar year.

“This outlook presents further upside risk to our lamb price expectations; with the ESTLI currently ~9% above our CY21 forecast of 781c/kg cwt,” said Citi.

“We continue to see upside risk to our livestock agency earnings more generally (~27% of group FY20 gross profit) in FY21e from current conditions in both the cattle and sheep market.”

The broker repeated its “buy” rating on the ELD share price with a 12-month price target of $13 a share.

Recovery not priced into this ASX stock

Finally, Goldman Sachs restated its “buy” call on the Emeco Holdings Limited (ASX: EHL) share price ahead of its results.

The broker is expecting management to confirm that trading conditions are improving – notably continued strong conditions in its growing hard rock exposure and signs of stabilisation in coal.

“EHL shares remain -55% below pre-covid levels despite improving conditions, with the stock trading at 2.8x our FY22E EV/EBITDA,” said Goldman.

“We remain positive on EHL’s risk-reward profile from here against a healthy commodities backdrop.”

Emeco will hand in its half year earnings report card next Tuesday. Goldman’s 12-month price target on the EHL share price is $1.20 a share.

More reading

• How the ASX 200 moved following the RBA’s first cash rate decision of 2021
• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today
• Huon (ASX:HUO) share price sinks on profit downgrade and write-downs
• Why the Centuria (ASX:CIP) share price is gaining today
• These 2 ASX stocks jumped after a broker upgrade to “buy” today

Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. and Elders Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Elders Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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

CommSec is one of the largest online brokers in the country. As such, this data can be an insightful indicator of investment trends in the Aussie market.

We have already looked at the most popular ASX shares today, so here are the top 10 US shares CommSec customers were buying last week. This week’s data covers 25-29 January. 

Most traded US shares on the ASX

1. GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) – representing 8.5% of total trades with a 77%/23% buy-to-sell ratio.
2. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) – representing 5% of total trades with a 79%/21% buy-to-sell ratio.
3. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) – representing 4.8% of total trades with a 70%/30% buy-to-sell ratio.
4. BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE: BB) – representing 3% of total trades with a 78%/22% buy-to-sell ratio.
5. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) – representing 2.8% of total trades with a 71%/29% buy-to-sell ratio.
6. Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)
7. Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK)
8. Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR)
   
9. Naked Brand Group Ltd (NASDAQ: NAKD)
10. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)

What can we learn from these trades?

Well, my oh my, what an interesting set of results for last week. The first thing to note is that the long-time regents of this list in electric car and battery manufacturers Tesla and Nio have been usurped for one of the first times in months. They have been replaced with (time to get the elephant out of the room) GameStop and AMC.

GameStop, as you might already know by now, has been the talk of the investing world over the past week or so. Fuelled by a WallStreetBets-orchestrated short-squeeze, GameStop stock rocketed more than 300% last week, sparking a hurricane of investor interest. You can read more about the whole saga here, but let’s just say it was no surprise GameStop topped the list.

However, the GameStop situation has opened the floodgates to a raft of stocks that FOMO-riddled investors have also targeted.

AMC (a struggling cinema chain), BlackBerry (the struggling phone company) and Nokia (see previous company) all unexpectedly make the list this week as well, displacing old favourites like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and ARK Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK).

There is only one explanation for this – investors are drinking the WallStreetBets Kool-Aid and hoping for a repeat performance with these other ‘sunset’ companies. Despite this, investors evidently haven’t entirely lost their appetite for US blue-chip shares like Apple and Microsoft. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

More reading

• Why investors should look beyond the Reddit army to these ASX fundamentals
• Why ASX silver shares like Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) are falling today
• Can the Reddit army save the plunging Unibail (ASX:URW) share price today?
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The Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price is trading at $3.96 at the time of writing, rising over 2% higher for the day after spending the past week losing ground.

Last week, Oil Search released its fourth quarter report for the period ended 31 December 2020.

Let’s take a look at how the Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas explorer has been performing recently.

Record production and developments progressing

Oil Search reported a record annual PNG LNG production rate of 8.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) (gross).

The PNG LNG Project is a world-class liquefied natural gas development that commenced operations in 2014. Oil Search claims that the project has transformed the company into a regionally significant oil and gas producer with a long-term, low cost, high quality LNG revenue stream.

In last week’s update, Oil Search also announced the progression of parliamentary approvals for its PNG LNG project, with the PNG Parliament passing all remaining amendments to the Acts for Papua LNG fiscal stability. The PNG Government noted it was looking forward to imminent discussions with the project operator regarding project progress. 

The company also stated that its Alaska resources were upgraded by 33% following an independent certification. 

Oil Search December quarter financial highlights

Total fourth quarter revenue from LNG, gas, oil and condensate sales was $259.5 million, up 37% from the prior quarter.

As of 31 December 2020, Oil Search held liquidity of US$1.44 billion, comprising US$540.8 million in cash and US$895.6 million in undrawn credit facilities.

The company spent US$33.3 million on exploration and evaluation expenditure activities during the quarter. Expenditure on property, plant and equipment was US$4.3 million for the period.

2021 guidance for Oil Search

Oil Search advised that 2021 production is expected to be lower than 2020 because of scheduled service programmes for the PNG LNG plant. These services have been timed in with a major maintenance shutdown that occurs every four years to minimise production impact.

Investment expenditure is expected to be in line with 2020.

Over the past year, the Oil Search share price has crashed close to 45%, leaving the company with a market capitalisation of $8.2 billion on current prices.

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Motley Fool contributor Gretchen Kennedy 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.

The post Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price rises today after a week in the red appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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