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The Oz Minerals Limited (ASX: OZL) share price will be on watch this morning following the company’s update late yesterday on the transition of its underground mining services. After yesterday’s market close, the Oz Minerals share price finished the day down 0.6% to $19.98.

What did Oz Minerals announce?

The Oz Minerals share price will be in focus after the company advised it has signed an agreement for Byrnecut Australia to deliver underground mining services at the Carrapateena mine.

According to the release, Byrnecut will take over from integrated service provider Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) which originally held the mining contract.

Byrnecut, established in 1987, is an international, mechanised, underground mining contractor. The company specialises in a range of mining services such as shaft sinking, shotcreting, raise-drilling, equipment rebuilds, maintenance engineering, labour hire, and consultancy services. Recently Byrnecut had its Prominent Hill contract renewed, under which it has been running underground mining services for the last 10 years.

The reason behind the change of contractors is due to Downer’s strategic direction to divest its mining services.

Downer CEO Mr Grant Fenn commented on the exit strategy for its capital-intensive mining businesses. He said:

Downer’s exit from underground mining follows the sale of Open Cut Mining West, Downer Blasting Services, the Snowden consulting business and our share in the RTL Mining and Earthworks joint venture.

Terms of the deal

Under the new contact, Byrnecut will begin a seven-week mobilisation of personnel and equipment to the site. It is expected the company will be up and running from 4 March 2021.

The agreement will generate around $130 million in revenue per year over a 5-year term for Byrnecut.

Oz Minerals stated that all three companies will work together to ensure a smooth transition of services. This includes transferring of equipment and maintaining operational performance, as well as providing roles for the majority of Downer’s existing workforce at the site.

Oz Minerals share price snapshot

Oz Minerals is a copper-focused mining company based in South Australia. It has been listed on the ASX since 1970. The Oz Minerals share price is up over 84% when compared to this time last year. The company’s shares hit a low of $5.83 in March following COVID-19 worries, but have stormed higher ever since.

Just two weeks ago, the Oz Minerals share price reached a decade-high of $21.23, reflecting positive investor sentiment. The company has a current market capitalisation of around $6.7 billion.

More reading

• Here’s why the Downer (ASX:DOW) share price is edging higher today
• Top fund managers reveal 3 top ASX shares to buy for 2021
• Iluka (ASX:ILU) share price surged higher on a potential $1bn+ valuation uplift
• Why this fund manager tips Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) as the share to own in 2021
• 7 ASX shares to buy for 2021

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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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One sign that a business is thriving and expanding is that it hires more people.

So that sort of activity can suggest to investors that the company is worth putting some money into.

Consumer research firm IBISWorld this week identified not just individual businesses but 5 sectors that will host a significant rise in jobs in the next 5 years.

The companies within those industries will provide the new positions needed for Australia to recover from the COVID-19 recession.

	Employment growth per annum
Industry	2020-21	2021 to 2026
Salt, lithium and other mineral mining	(7.3%)	9%
Digital advertising agencies	6.9%	8.7%
Organic farming	6.6%	8.2%
Online food ordering and delivery platforms	7.3%	8.2%
Performing arts venues	7.7%	7.1%
Source: IBISWorld; Table created by author

Electric cars need batteries, and what are they made of?

Topping the list was the ‘salt, lithium and other mineral’ mining sector.

The industry will see revenue and employment fall 8.4% and 7.3% respectively for the 2021 financial year. But IBISWorld projects a roaring comeback, with 14.4% per annum revenue growth over the next 5 years.

Employment is expected to increase 9% per year over the same period, picking up 5,500 workers.

Lithium producers are already popular with many investors as a bet on electric vehicles and renewable energy.

“The manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, used in electric vehicles, renewable energy storage systems and smartphones and tablets, requires chemical-grade lithium concentrates,” said IBISWorld senior industry analyst Suzy Oo.

“And as the world’s largest lithium producer, Australia is expected to benefit from rising electric vehicle demand in the coming years.”

3 ASX lithium producers set to power the electric age

Eiger Capital portfolio manager Victor Gomes this week picked 3 particular ASX stocks ready to ride the lithium battery wave: IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC).

“[They] are all tier-one global producers with long mine lives and are at the bottom end of their respective global cost curves,” he said on Livewire.

“These 3 are not planned projects or exploration opportunities. All are existing operating and producing businesses that can quickly respond to increased demand (and higher prices).”

Gomes emphasised that it’s not just pure-electric players like Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) that’s driving battery material demand.

“Volkswagen is shifting exclusively to EVs and by 2030 will have more EV than ICE [internal combustion engine] models, Volvo is doing so sooner with >50% of models planned to be electric by 2025, Toyota expects to sell 4.5 million EV/hybrids by 2030, even GM has announced the EV Hummer.”

Battery cost has so far been the biggest stumbling block to making electric vehicles cheap enough for mass consumption. But like most technologies, manufacturing costs gradually come down.

“Tesla is now at or below the magic US$100/KWh battery cost tipping point where the cost of EVs become on par with ICE vehicles,” said Gomes.

“Hundreds of billions of dollars of OEM research and development have been shifted from ICE to EV development whilst battery technology continues to improve at 12 to 15% per annum in energy density and cost.”

Gomes’ funds had already done pretty well out of two of his lithium picks.

“PLS was the largest contributor to the Eiger Australian Small Companies Fund’s performance over the December 2020 quarter and LYC was number 2.”

More reading

• Here are the US shares ASX investors are buying
• Tesla debuts China-made Model Y SUV
• Here’s the biggest investment opportunity since the internet
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• We have lift-off: Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price hits new heights

Tony Yoo 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 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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One area of the market which has performed very strongly in recent years, and has been tipped to continue doing so in the future, is the tech sector.

In light of this, I don’t think it is surprising that tech shares are among the most popular shares on the share market.

But which ones should you buy?  To help narrow things down, I have picked out two shares in the sector that come highly rated. They are as follows:

Life360 Inc (ASX: 360)

The first tech share to look at is app maker Life360. Its mobile app is a market leading platform for families, with features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. The San Francisco-based company had more than 25 million monthly active users (MAU) at the end of September across 195 countries.

One broker that has been pleased with its development is Bell Potter. It was the broker’s top pick in the tech sector for 2021. Bell Potter notes that the company is carving out a significant global footprint with its family app at the core. The broker also believes it will benefit greatly once the pandemic passes and people are on the move again.

It commented: “The company delivered a significant membership feature launch in the middle of 2020, and the benefits of this are set to flow through over the medium-term. As a location sharing app, we see this as a COVID recovery stock, as when people start moving around again (particularly in the key US market), we anticipate the usage to increase.”

Bell Potter has a buy rating and lofty $7.70 price target on its shares.

Nuix Limited (ASX: NXL)

Nuix is a leading provider of investigative analytics and intelligence software with a vision of “finding truth in a digital world.” It helps customers across different industry verticals globally to process, normalise, index, enrich, and analyse data from different sources.

The company’s software has been used in a number of important investigations in the past. This includes the Panama Papers, the Banking Royal Commission, organised crime rings, corporate scandals, and terrorist activities.

Demand has been very strong for its services, even during the pandemic. This led to Nuix reporting a 25.9% increase in total revenue to $175.9 million in FY 2020. This revenue is largely from subscriptions, with subscription revenues now accounting for 88.7% of its total revenue.

Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating and $11.00 price target on the company’s shares.

More reading

• 4 ASX ‘winners’ destined for growth: fundie
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Leading broker names the ASX tech shares to buy in 2021
• 3 mammoth IPOs of 2020

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

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With the interest rates on term deposits and savings account at such low levels, it has become almost impossible to generate a sufficient passive income from these assets.

The good news is that there are a large number of ASX dividend shares that provide generous yields. Two dividend shares to look at are listed below:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT is a real estate investment trust that invests in social infrastructure properties. It targets ongoing capital growth by focusing on assets in strategic locations with specialist use, limited competition, low substitution risk, and high underlying land values.

Management expects this strategy to drive high tenant retention rates and income growth over the long term.

One broker that is a fan of the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT is Goldman Sachs. It has a conviction buy rating and $3.35 price target on its shares.

The broker is forecasting a 15 cents per share dividend in FY 2021. Based on the latest Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT share price, this represents a 4.8% yield.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

Things certainly are looking a lot more positive for the big four banks right now after a difficult 2020. COVID-related loan deferrals have fallen to low levels, house prices are rising, mortgage loan growth is tipped to be strong in 2021, and responsible lending rules have been relaxed.

And making the banks even more attractive for investors is APRA’s recent decision to allow unrestricted dividend payments. This is expected to lead to higher payout ratios in 2021 and generous yields from the banks.

Morgans, for example, is now forecasting a $1.24 per share fully franked dividend from Westpac in FY 2021. Based on the current Westpac share price, this represents a 5.7% yield. Morgans has an add rating and $23.50 price target on its shares.

More reading

• ASX dividends: Are miners the new bank shares?
• Broker lists the best ASX stocks to own for an up to 30% gain in 2021
• Pendal (ASX:PDL) posts $5 billion increase in FUM
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX drops despite promises of more US stimulus
• These ASX dividend shares could solve your income needs

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. 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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Despite the comeback of value shares, one fund manager is convinced structural shifts from COVID-19 will make certain growth shares ultimate winners.

Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu said on Tuesday that growth stocks might be “a little but out of favour” currently – but you can’t afford not to hold some of them.

“My view is that a portfolio will always have to have structural winners – because they will future-proof your portfolio.”

Liu explained at the GSFM briefing that corporate earnings had been decreasing in the 10 years before the pandemic.

“It’s been declining for many, many decades. So the structural winners will always command a premium.”

The threat of rising interest rates on growth stocks was over-emphasised, according to Liu.

“‘Yes, it might tick up a little bit higher. But look how low it is [historically],” she said.

“It is still at a 3-decade low… And we don’t see that interest rate escalating to anything more meaningful in the next few years.”

4 structural winners that Jun Bei Liu likes

The current environment is conducive for buying into many of those structural growth stocks, but Liu advised investors to be “tactical”.

“Pick them up on days when people feel the need to buy other themes.”

As for some examples, she picked out 4 ASX stocks as structural growth winners:

• Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
• SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK)
• Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL)
• Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL)

“We like market leaders. We like companies that have a demonstrable track record, as well as a continually growing Total Addressable Market around the world,” said Liu.

“Nuix offers enormous exposure to big data, cloud, security – quite a lot of those spaces that are normally untappable for an Australian investor. It’s very very exciting.”

Liu admitted art commercialisation platform Redbubble did benefit from the coronavirus pandemic somewhat, but still likes what she sees.

“It’s trading at a steep discount to what the global company Etsy Inc (NASDAQ: ETSY) is trading on. It has a very strong management team… and we see that going on a significant growth path.”

Afterpay invented the entire buy now, pay later sub-sector by itself, Liu told The Motley Fool last month.

“This is a sector where you actually see a lot of corporate and institutions’ interest now into that space. We take a very long-term view with this business and short term sell-off is really providing buying opportunities.”

Overall Liu this week was optimistic about the coming year.

“I think in 2021 we will see our equity market deliver at least 10% return. A big part of that will be dividends – however, we should see some of the best growth yet.”

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Afterpay and BrainChip were some of the most traded ASX shares last week
• Why Afterpay, Ansell, MyDeal, & PolyNovo shares are storming higher today
• One bullish growth signal for the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price in 2021
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy that are growing rapidly

Tony Yoo owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO, Nuix Pty Ltd, and REDBUBBLE FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Etsy. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nuix Pty Ltd and SEEK 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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While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has started 2021 in a positive fashion, its modest gain is nothing in comparison to some that have been made this year.

Three ASX shares which are on fire in 2021 are listed below. Here’s what you need to know about them:

Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN)

The BrainChip share price has raced 48% higher since the start of 2021. This gain appears to be related to announcements late in the year that caught the eye of investors. The artificial intelligence technology company revealed that NASA has placed an order for its Akida Early Access Evaluation Kit. It also announced the signing of an intellectual property license agreement with Renesas Electronics America.

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

The Pro Medicus share price is up almost 20% since the start of the year. Investors have been buying the health imaging software company’s shares this month after it announced another major new contract win. The company revealed that it has signed a seven-year contract worth $40 million with Salt Lake City based Intermountain Healthcare. The deal will see Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Open Archive products implemented across all of Intermountain’s radiology and subspecialty imaging departments. This deal represents the company’s fifth major contract win in the space of six months.

Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL)

The Vulcan share price has stormed a remarkable 250% higher since the start of 2021. Investors have been buying the lithium-focused mineral exploration company’s shares amid excitement around its Zero Carbon Lithium Project in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany. Its Pre Feasibility Study (PFS) demonstrated strong potential to develop a cutting edge, combined renewable energy and lithium hydroxide project, in the centre of Europe, with net zero carbon footprint. Management believes its resource can satisfy Europe’s needs for the electric vehicle transition, from a zero-carbon source, for many years to come.

More reading

• Afterpay and BrainChip were some of the most traded ASX shares last week
• We have lift-off: Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price hits new heights
• What does the Biden administration mean for ASX shares? 
• Why the Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) share price is up 4,000% in 12 months
• ASX 200 down 0.5%: JB Hi-Fi guidance impresses, Super Retail update, Ramsay surges

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 Pro Medicus Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Pro Medicus 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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On Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again and charged higher. The benchmark index rose 0.4% to 6,770.4 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to rise again

The ASX 200 looks set to continue its winning streak on Thursday. According to the latest SPI futures, the index is poised to open the day 27 points or 0.4% higher. This follows a very positive night of trade on Wall Street, which late on sees the Dow Jones up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 1.3%, and the Nasdaq index up 1.9%.

Tech shares on watch

It could be a good day of trade for Australian tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) after their US counterparts stormed higher overnight. One of the strongest performers was the Netflix share price which rocketed higher after reporting strong subscriber growth and buyback plans. This helped drive the tech-focused Nasdaq index to a new record high.

Oil prices edge higher

Energy producers including Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) will be on watch after oil prices edged higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.4% to US$53.19 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price has climbed 0.2% to US$56.01 a barrel. U.S. stimulus hopes gave oil prices a boost.

Gold price jumps

Gold miners such as Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) could be on the rise today after the gold price jumped higher. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is up 1.5% to US$1,867.60 an ounce. This was driven by reports that President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Treasury Department, Janet Yellen, will recommend further pandemic-related stimulus.

Megaport upgraded to buy rating

The Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price will be on watch today after being the subject of a bullish broker note. According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, it has upgraded the company’s shares to a buy rating with a $15.00 price target. It commented: “Strong demand for public cloud infrastructure, broadening of its product suite and increased confidence on its path to generating positive free cash flow sees us upgrade our recommendation to Buy.”

More reading

• ASX 200 rises 0.4%
• 3 high-yielding ASX 200 dividend shares
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Here’s why 25-bagger Latin Resources (ASX:LRS) is making news today
• Afterpay and BrainChip were some of 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 and recommends MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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If you’re looking for a few shares to add to your portfolio this week, then you could do a lot worse than the ones listed below.

Here’s why these ASX shares come highly rated right now:

Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)

The first ASX share to look at is Kogan. While this ecommerce company has been performing positively in recent years, its growth went up a level in the second half of FY 2020 after the pandemic accelerated the shift to online shopping.

This led to a material jump in customers, sales, and earnings in FY 2020 and has continued into the new financial year. During the first four months of FY 2021, Kogan’s sales were up 99.8% and its operating earnings rose a massive 268.8% over the same period last year.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity are very positive on Kogan’s prospects and appear to believe this strong form will continue. Especially given the recent acquisition of Mighty Ape for $122 million. The broker has a buy rating and $25.00 price target on its shares.

Universal Store Holdings Limited (ASX: UNI)

Another ASX share to look at is Universal Store. It is a leading fashion retailer which landed on the Australian share market late last year after raising $147.8 million at $3.80 per share. Pleasingly for its early investors, Universal Store’s shares have been very strong performers since listing and recently hit a record high.

This was driven by a trading update which revealed that it expects its underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be in a range of $30 million to $31 million for the first half. This represents growth of between 61% and 67% on the prior corresponding period. Management advised that this was underpinned by strong like for like sales growth and gross margin improvements.

Analysts at Morgans were impressed by its update and expect its strong form to continue for a little while longer. The broker is forecasting its earnings to grow at a 30% compound annual growth rate through to FY 2023. In light of this, it feels its shares are cheap at the current level and has an add rating and $6.93 price target on them.

More reading

• Kogan (ASX:KGN) pays price for illegal emails
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy that are growing rapidly
• These ASX growth shares could give your portfolio a big boost
• What’s in store for the ASX tech sector in 2021?
• 2 ASX retail shares delivering stellar growth in FY 2021

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 Kogan.com ltd. The Motley Fool Australia 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 0.4% today to 6,770 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

The BHP share price went up around 1% today in reaction to the resource company’s FY21 half-year operational update.

For the six months to December 2020, compared to December 2019, petroleum production was down 12%, copper production was down 5%, iron ore production was up 6%, metallurgical coal production was down 5%, energy coal production was down 30% and nickel production was up 31%.

BHP said that it achieved record production at its Western Australian iron ore division, with record average concentrator throughput at Escondida.

Strong underlying operational performance in copper by the ASX 200 share offset the impacts of planned maintenance and natural field declines, copper grade decline and adverse weather.

BHP reported that its major projects under development are progressing to plan. The Spence growth option achieved first production in December 2020. The Jansen stage 1 project remains on track for the final investment decision in the middle of the 2021 calendar year. South Flank is “tracking well” and is on schedule for the first production in the middle of the 2021 calendar year.

Iron ore production guidance has been increased to between 245 Mt to 255 mt as a result of the restart of Samarco in December 2020. Copper guidance has been narrowed to between 1,510 kt and 1,645 kt, which reflects the strong performance at Escondida.

Full year unit cost guidance remains unchanged for the 2021 financial year.

The FY21 half-year result is expected to include an impairment charge of between US$1.15 billion and US$1.25 billion after tax relating to New South Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC).

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The Polynovo share price went up 7.25% in response to two announcements. It was the top performing ASX 200 share. 

Polynovo has made agreements with distributors to enter both Poland and Turkey.

In Turkey it has appointed Incomed Saglik Hiz and its medical sales channel LotuS as distributor. Polynovo said this expansion in the EMEA region is a significant step in bringing NovoSorb BTM to a significant number of surgeons and patients in the region.

LotuS has been supplying medical devices to the Turkish market since 2006, with a concentration on wound and burn treatments. It has a large salesforce comprised of direct sales, dealers and sub-dealers covering the whole of the Turkish region.

Polynovo believes Turkey represents good medium-term opportunities. The managing director of Polynovo, Paul Brennan, said: “We are excited by our partnership with LotuS and our entry into Turkey. The country is an important geographical and commercial link in our EMEA strategy. We will now be able to service surgeons who work across EMEA and expand the inter-surgeon referral of the benefits of NovoSorb BTM.”

In Poland, the ASX 200 share has chosen Hortho Medical Innovations as its exclusive distributor. Hortho works closely with opinion leaders in plastic/reconstructive surgery. Hortho has a direct team servicing all of Poland and plans to add dedicated personnel to support their NovoSorb BTM sales and marketing.

Hortho specialises in distributing surgical devices and has a large network of surgeons. 

Mr Brennan said: “Poland is an exciting growth market in Europe and we see this as an important step in expanding our sales in Europe.”

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD)

The Sydney Airport share price fell over 1% after giving a passenger update.

The airport ASX 200 share said that total passengers were down 82.2% in December 2020 to 703,000. International passengers were down 97.3% to 44,000 and domestic passengers were down 71.9% to 659,000.

Sydney Airport expects that the downturn in international passenger traffic is expect to persist until government travel restrictions are eased.

More reading

• 4 ASX shares picked for returns in 2021 by brokers and fundies
• 3 high-yielding ASX 200 dividend shares
• The latest ASX stocks to be upgraded by brokers to “buy” today
• ASX 200 up 0.5%: BHP’s update, PolyNovo jumps, Ansell impresses
• Why Afterpay, Ansell, MyDeal, & PolyNovo shares are storming higher 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 POLYNOVO FPO. 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 ASX shares that have been chosen by brokers and fundies as picks to make returns in 2021.

Brokers and fund managers work full time to try to find good stocks to pick. This article is about four of them:

BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)

BHP is one of the top picks in the resources sector by James Gerrish from Market Matters. He said that the big resources ASX share is exposed to the right commodities at the right point of the cycle and looks poised to make fresh multi year highs. Market Matters has a 12-month price target on BHP of $45.

Fund manager Wilson Asset Management (WAM) said that the recent performance of the BHP share price has been driven by the iron ore price, but WAM likes BHP for its exposure to oil, nickel and copper in-particular.

WAM thinks that oil prices will be supported in the near-term by a continuing recovery in COVID-19-related demand, with travel and industrial production being two examples. BHP could benefit from higher nickel and copper demand because of the growth of electric vehicle numbers. Electric vehicle sales are expected to grow approximately 18% per annum through to 2030.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

The biggest ASX bank is the Australian bank choice of Mr Gerrish. He acknowledged that this isn’t an earth-shattering pick, but Mr Gerrish thought that the banks were buys when they were much lower during the COVID-19 pandemic and he thinks the bank share prices can continue to rise over the next six to twelve months at least.

Mr Gerrish reminded investors that banks borrow for a short period of time and lend for long periods of time, benefiting from a steepening yield curve at a time when loan growth is likely to surge. Market Matters is bullish on the banks and he thinks the CBA share price can go back to the mid-$90s.

Fund manager Rhett Kessler from Pengana Australian Equities Fund is also confident on the big banks, including CBA, due to reasons like rebounding home loan growth, a support federal budget, higher house prices, lowering loan deferrals and lower-than-expected loss provisioning.

Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)

Lendlease is a pick by Mr Gerrish in the building space. He said that it’s in the sweet spot as property values rebound strongly and governments focus on infrastructure development. He said that Market Matters has a price target of $17 on Lendlease.

One of the key projects that Lendlease is working on is the San Francisco Bay area project which is a $21 billion deal with Google to develop three of the internet giant’s major districts in the San Francisco Bay area over 10 to 15 years into mixed-use communities.

The core business has a development pipeline of $113 billion, which is up 48%.

Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP)

Bapcor is an ASX share that is well-liked by fund manager WAM.

WAM said that the ASX share has benefited from an increase in domestic travel, reduced usage of public transport and increased second hand car sales. The fund manager also said that Bapcor has a strong balance sheet and WAM believes it’s well placed to make earnings accretive acquisitions.

Bapcor said recently that in the first five months of FY21, to November 2020, revenue was up 26% and net profit after tax (NPAT) was benefiting materially from operating leverage as well as lower expenses in categories like travel, lower interest rates. Profit is also being helped by the contribution from Truckline.

For the first half of FY21, Bapcor thinks revenue growth will be at least 25% and net profit after tax growth will be at least 50%.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor. 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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