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The Strategic Elements Ltd (ASX: SOR) share price has been an exceptionally strong performer on Wednesday.

At one stage today, the technology-focused investment and development company’s shares were up as much as 36% to a record high of 92 cents.

When the Strategic Elements share price hit that level, it meant it was up a remarkable 475% in the space of one month.

So, with 378.4 million shares on issue, this gave Strategic Elements a market capitalisation of ~$350 million.

Why is the Strategic Elements share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been scrambling to buy Strategic Elements shares since this time last month due largely to an announcement at the end of the year relating to its printable Nanocube Memory technology.

According to the release, testing has confirmed that the printable Nanocube Memory technology has potential as printable brain-inspired (neuromorphic) computing hardware.

Management advised that work at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has confirmed that the Nanocube Memory structure and operation allows it to combine computing and memory in one place in a way similar to how biological neurons operate.

This is potentially a big positive as experts in the memory technology field believe the future of computing will be about rethinking processor architecture from the ground up to emulate how a brain efficiently processes information.

Management notes that artificial synapses fabricated by UNSW using the Nanocube Memory technology provide a potential hardware solution that has combined data storage and processing abilities. This is key to neuromorphic computing.

On Tuesday, the company responded to a media article commenting that “the next goal in the memory tech space is to print one megabit of memory on to a piece of plastic, which Strategic expects will be completed by May.”

Strategic Elements responded by confirming that the technology is still under development, but it is aiming to develop the one megabit ultra-low power, flexible, transparent memory by May 2021.

This update appears to be what has given the Strategic Elements share price an added boost this week.

Insider share selling.

Insider selling is often regarded as a bearish indicator as few should know the intrinsic value of a company better than its directors.

So, it is worth noting that since November the company has filed countless change of director’s interest notices which reveal that insiders have been selling millions of the company’s shares over the last two and a half months.

Nevertheless, that hasn’t appeared to put a dampener on the Strategic Elements share price rise over the same period.

More reading

• Why AVZ Minerals, Immutep, Kogan, & Strategic Elements shares are pushing higher
• Why the Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) share price rocketed 39% higher today

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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It seems like Rhythm Biosciences Ltd (ASX: RHY) can do no wrong by investors at the moment. Today, the company’s shares have risen to another all-time high record following the update on the initial manufacturing of ColoSTAT.

During early morning trade, the Rhythm share price rose to an intraday high of $1.38. However, some profit taking have led its share to slightly retreat to, at the time of writing, $1.35, up 7.14%.

What’s driving the Rhythm share price to new highs?

The Rhythm share price is breaking new highs as investors are fighting to get a hold of its shares.

In its announcement, Rhythm advised that its global manufacturer, Biotem, has completed initial ColoSTAT prototype test kits. The small-scale production of ColoSTAT devices commenced in December, with delivery fulfilled ahead of schedule later that month.

Having received the first prototype units, Rhythm began testing the performance of ColoSTAT test kits with cancerous and healthy blood samples. The company noted that full testing is underway and will form Study 6, due to be completed by March 2021.

Rhythm noted that early quality assurance and performance test work is consistent with its own prototype test results.

Room for improvement

In addition to the assembly of ColoSTAT, the company stated that it has continued its efforts in advancing the technology behind the test kit. The current version, which is considered far superior than the current market standard faecal test, is undergoing improvements.

Rhythm advised it has allocated extra resources to its algorithm and software development division to enhance the existing technology on offer. As more samples arrive, it will use this to create a larger dataset to assess any performance changes made. New developments will be applied to study 7 and onward.

CEO commentary

Rhythm CEO, Mr Glenn Gilbert, hailed the milestone achievement, saying:

The objective of design transfer of the core ColoSTAT technology to our global manufacturer, Biotem, is to demonstrate that they are able to produce, in a commercial setting, the same consistent and high performing ColoSTAT test kit that Rhythm had achieved in lab.

The early view on the performance of the test kits manufactured by Biotem provides further confidence on our underlying technology that will drive the success of ColoSTAT into the future.

More reading

• Here’s why the Rhythm (ASX:RHY) share price hit an all-time high today
• Rhythm Biosciences (ASX: RHY) share price soars 1300% in 6 months
• Here’s why the Rhythm Bioscience (ASX:RHY) share price is up 15% to a record high
• Here are 3 ASX small cap shares with exciting product launches in 2021
• Why the Rhythm Biosciences (ASX:RHY) share price jumped over 600% this year

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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In early afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to make it two days in a row of solid gains. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.4% to 6,770.6 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here’s why they are dropping lower today:

Frontier Digital Ventures Ltd (ASX: FDV)

The Frontier Digital Ventures share price has sunk over 14% lower to $1.49. This decline has been driven by news that its largest shareholder is selling down its holding. According to the release, Catcha Group has sold ~45.9 million shares via an off-market block trade. This transaction reduces its shareholding from 26.5% to 13.1%. The transaction, undertaken at $1.50 per share, received strong support from institutional investors, with the introduction of multiple new domestic and international institutional shareholders.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)

The JB Hi-Fi share price is down 2.5% to $52.37. This appears to have been driven by profit taking following some strong gains this week. Investors were buying the retailer’s shares earlier this week after it revealed very strong sales and profit growth for the first half of FY 2021.

Regis Healthcare Ltd (ASX: REG)

The Regis Healthcare share price is down over 8% to $1.70. The catalyst for this was news that Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) has given up on its attempt to take over the aged care provider. The investment house withdrew its takeover approach after having bids of $1.65 per share and $1.85 per share rejected by the Regis board. They believe the offers materially undervalue the company.

Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR)

The Tyro share price has fallen 7% to $2.69. This decline may be attributable to a broker note out of Macquarie this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the payments company’s shares to an underperform rating and slashed the price target on them to $2.55. Macquarie is concerned that the recent terminal outage has done significant damage to Tyro’s reputation.

More reading

• Kogan (ASX:KGN) pays price for illegal emails
• Here’s why the Regis Healthcare (ASX:REG) share price is crashing 11% lower
• 3 top ASX dividend shares to buy for income
• ASX 200 rises 1.2%
• 2021 has its worries… even for an optimist

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 Frontier Digital Ventures Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Tyro Payments. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Frontier Digital Ventures Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There are some compelling ASX growth shares to look into right now.

Here are some of those ideas:

Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)

Audinate is an ASX growth share that owns the Dante platform, which distributes audio signals across computer networks. The company boasts about being the lead supplier of digital and audio video networking for the professional AV industry.

The sectors of corporate conferences and higher education have been recovering well for Audinate since May. However, other groups of Audinate’s customer groups are still struggling, such as live sound and large events.

In the first quarter of FY21, it generated revenue of US$5.2 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of AU$0.3 million. For the first half of FY21 it made US$11.1 million of revenue.

Audinate also revealed that it is investing money on a video development team in Cambridge. The ASX growth share thinks that video will be a key part of growing Dante and expanding its total addressable market.

EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML)

EML Payments has a number of different payment services for clients to use. EML Payments has general purpose reloadable offerings such as gaming payouts with white label gaming cards, salary packaging cards, commission payouts and rewards programs. EML Payments also offers physical gift cards, shopping centre gift cards and digital gift cards. Finally, the ASX growth share offers virtual account numbers.

In the first quarter of FY21 EML’s total revenue grew 20%, compared to the fourth quarter of FY20, to $40.6 million. EBITDA generated in the FY21 first quarter was $10 million, which was 69% higher than the fourth quarter of FY20.

Dominic Rose from Montgomery Lucent Investment Management said at the start of December that the company was bouncing back well from COVID-19 impacts. He said: “the recent encouraging vaccine news materially increases confidence in a solid earnings recovery in FY22. Market estimates are for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to rebound 40 per cent in FY22 to $74 million, still well below pre-COVID expectations of $95-100 million.

“Looking back, one positive arising from the pandemic was EML’s ability to reprice and restructure the Prepaid Financial Services (PFS) deal in late March, allowing the company to retain a strong balance sheet ($118 million net cash as at the end of June) which offers optionality for further acquisitions. Valuation remains attractive for the growth potential of the business, in our view, with the stock trading on 12x recovered EBITDA (FY23 EBITDA $93 million).”

According to Commsec, EML Payments is priced at 38x FY23’s estimated earnings.

Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)

This ASX growth share is quickly becoming an important player in the electronic donation space for the large and medium US churches.

Pushpay expects “significant operating leverage to accrue as operating revenue continues to increase, while growth in total operating expenses remains low.”

The company has continued to see its profit margins continue to rise. In the FY21 half-year result its gross profit margin went up from 65% to 68% and the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and foreign currency (EBITDAF) margin rose from 17% to 31%.

In FY21 the company is now expecting EBITDAF to be in the range of US$56 million to US$60 million. This is the latest profit upgrade from the company.

According to the Commsec, Pushpay is valued at 19x FY23’s estimated earnings.

More reading

• Got money to invest? Here are 3 ASX shares to buy
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• 2 fantastic ASX shares to buy and hold until 2031
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• These ASX shares are growing at a rapid rate in FY 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 and recommends EML Payments. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of AUDINATEGL FPO and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended AUDINATEGL FPO, EML Payments, and PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) hit a high for 2021 and ASX stocks that just got upgraded to “buy” are leading the charge.

The top 200 stock index gained 0.6% in late morning trade to 6,781 with all sectors bar Real Estate trading in the black.

But two ASX stocks that got upgraded by leading brokers are outpacing the broader market gains.

US foreclosures drive upgrade for this ASX stock

The first is the Computershare Ltd (ASX: CPU) share price. The CPU share price jumped over 2% at the time of writing to $14.69.

ASX investors are getting excited after Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) lifted its recommendation on the stock to “outperform” from “neutral”.

The broker believes the Computershare share price is under appreciated due to the upside from the group’s US mortgage servicing business.

Growth in higher margin business

“Foreclosures remain prohibited until at least 31 January 2021 which is impacting CPU’s higher margin ancillary revenues (~1/3 of ancillary revenues are foreclosure related),” said Macquarie.

“We are forecasting a gradual recovery in ancillary revenues from February 2021 to the end of FY21.”

The US government banned foreclosures to protect vulnerable households during COVID-19, but the ban is about to expire.

The broker’s 12-month price target on the CPU share price is $15.95 a share.

Market share wins prompts “buy” upgrade

Another stock that’s outrunning the ASX 200 this morning is the Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB) share price.

Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on the wealth platform to “outperform” from “neutral” following management’s better-than-expected update yesterday.

HUB reported funds under advice of $22 billion for the December quarter. This is 16% above the previous quarter and 5% better than consensus estimates.

Net capital inflow also hit a record of $1.7 billion. That’s 35% above the September quarter and well ahead of Credit Suisse’s $1.4 billion prediction.

Key growth drivers for HUB share price

“HUB is capturing significant marketshare within the platform industry,” said the broker. “We expect it to grow from 2.1% market share in FY20 to 5.6% by FY25E.”

The expected expansion of the addressable market size for HUB’s platform due to advisors moving to independent practices is one of the drivers for the upgrade.

The broker also believes these advisors will be giving greater allocation of their client’s capital to HUB.

Furthermore, there’s potential upside from large institutional deals.

The broker lifted its 12-month price target on the HUB share price to $26 from $21.50 a share.

More reading

• ASX 200 up 0.5%: BHP’s update, PolyNovo jumps, Ansell impresses
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• ASX 200 rises 1.2%
• Is Transurban (ASX:TCL) set to expand, with WestConnex in its sights?
• Top broker says you should buy these oversold ASX gold stocks now

Brendon Lau owns shares of Macquarie Group Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Hub24 Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hub24 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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At lunch on Wednesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another solid gain. The benchmark index is currently up 0.5% to 6,778.6 points.

Here’s what has been happening on the market today:

BHP second quarter update

The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is trading higher following the release of its second quarter and half year production update. BHP reported iron ore production of 62,394kt for the second quarter and 128,434kt for the first half. This represents a 3% and 6% increase, respectively, on the prior corresponding periods. It also reported a 35% improvement in the average realised price of iron ore to US$103.78 a tonne since the end of FY 2020.

PolyNovo increases its European presence

The PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) share price is shooting higher today after it announced its expansion into Poland and Turkey. According to the release, the medical device company has appointed Hortho Medical Innovations as its exclusive distributor in Poland and Saglik Hiz and its medical sales channel LotuS as its distributor in Turkey. Both distributors have a lot of experience with products and technologies that are similar to PolyNovo’s NovoSorb BTM. It is a dermal scaffold for the regeneration of the skin when lost through extensive surgery or burn.

Ansell update impresses

The Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) share price is pushing higher today after the release of a trading update. Due to increasing demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety products company is expecting to report very strong profit growth for the first half of FY 2021. According to the release, Ansell expects its sales to increase over 20% and its earnings per share to grow between 62% to 68% on the prior corresponding period. While management expects a strong second half, it has warned that it is unlikely to be as strong as the first.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Wednesday has been the PolyNovo share price with a 6.5% gain following its European expansion announcement. The worst performer has been the Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) share price with a 6% decline. This morning analysts at Morgans held firm with their hold rating but cut the price target on the company’s shares by 12% to $13.27.

More reading

• The latest ASX stocks to be upgraded by brokers to “buy” today
• Why Afterpay, Ansell, MyDeal, & PolyNovo shares are storming higher today
• Why the Ansell (ASX:ANN) share price stormed 5% higher today
• Why the PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) share price is zooming 7% higher today
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price in focus following first half update

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 POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell Ltd. and 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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In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of US markets and is pushing higher again. The benchmark index is currently up 0.6% to 6,782.2 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are storming higher:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

The Afterpay share price is up 6% to $141.80 despite there being no new out of the payments company. However, investors have been buying tech shares on Wednesday following a strong night of trade on the tech-focused Nasdaq index. So much so, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is up 1.8% at the time of writing.

Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)

The Ansell share price is up over 3% to $36.56. Investors have been buying the safety products company’s shares following the release of a trading update. According to the release, demand for its products has been strong because of COVID-19. As a result, it is expecting its first half earnings per share to grow between 62% to 68% on the prior corresponding period.

Mydeal.ComAu Pty Ltd (ASX: MYD)

The MyDeal share price has risen over 2% to $1.39 following the release of its second quarter and half year update. The ecommerce company revealed that it had a strong finish to the year, with second quarter gross sales increasing 165% on the prior corresponding period to $70.1 million. This led to MyDeal’s first half gross sales increasing 217% over the same period last year to $126.7 million. Strong customer growth and repeat use drove the solid performance.

PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price has jumped 6% to $2.63. Investors have been buying the medical device company’s shares after it announced its expansion into Poland and Turkey. The company has appointed Hortho Medical Innovations as its exclusive distributor in Poland and Saglik Hiz and its medical sales channel LotuS as its distributor in Turkey. Both distributors have a lot of experience with similar technologies.

More reading

• Here’s why the MyDeal (ASX:MYD) share price surged 7% higher today
• Why the Ansell (ASX:ANN) share price stormed 5% higher today
• Why the PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) share price is zooming 7% higher today
• One bullish growth signal for the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price in 2021
• Broker lists the best ASX stocks to own for an up to 30% gain in 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 POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell 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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Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has paid a $310,800 penalty for sending more than 42 million illegal spam emails.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on Wednesday announced that Kogan had violated the Spam Act by sending out emails that could not be easily unsubscribed.

The company forced recipients to create a Kogan account and password before the marketing emails were stopped.

“The ACMA received complaints from a number of recipients of Kogan’s email expressing their frustration and concern with Kogan’s practices,” ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.

“Businesses must comply with the unsubscribe requirements in the spam rules. This investigation makes clear that businesses can’t force customers to set a password and login to unsubscribe from receiving commercial messages.”

As well as the fine, the online retailer has agreed to a 3-year court-enforceable undertaking with the ACMA to change its systems and train its staff to not breach spam laws.

O’Loughlin said ACMA warned Kogan multiple times about breaches before starting its investigation.

“We acknowledge that Kogan fully cooperated with the ACMA in our investigation and took actions to update their unsubscribe facilities prior to its completion.”

Kogan’s response

The company put up a blog post in response to the ACMA fine, which downplayed the severity of the breach.

“If you received an email from us, to protect your security you needed to login to your Kogan.com account before unsubscribing,” the post reads.

“The additional security step we implemented is very common among leading global technology companies.”

Kogan stated that the payment of the penalty was not an acknowledgement of guilt.

“While paying this notice does not mean we accept any wrongdoing, we decided to resolve the matter in this way as a matter of expediency, to avoid the cost and uncertainty of litigation.”

Kogan’s 42 million illegal messages massively outnumbers Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR)’s 150,000 for which it was busted last month. 

In that case, the fintech didn’t even provide an unsubscribe function. Tyro escaped without a financial penalty and agreed to a 2-year court-enforceable undertaking.

Not the first dalliance with the law for Kogan

Kogan now has a history of attracting unwanted attention from authorities.

Just last month, the e-tailer was busted for making false or misleading statements about a end-of-financial-year sale.

The Federal Court found the company jacked up the prices of 621 products immediately prior to a ‘tax time’ sale. Kogan then gave out the code ‘TAXTIME’ for a supposed 10% discount.

“Consumers were not receiving a genuine 10% discount as promised, and this affected high-value products such as Apple MacBooks, cameras and Samsung Galaxy mobile handsets,” said Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims.

As a slap in the face of customers who thought they secured a bargain, the company then put the standard prices back down after the promotion.

Kogan was penalised $350,000 for that offence. At the time of writing, the Kogan share price is trading down 1,5% at $20.63

More reading

• ASX 200 rises 1.2%
• 2 top ASX tech shares to buy that are growing rapidly
• Why Bingo, Creso Pharma, Domino’s, & Tyro shares are zooming higher today
• Why the Tyro (ASX:TYR) share price is rocketing 17% higher today
• Risk vs uncertainty: why one is a lot worse

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 Kogan.com ltd and Tyro Payments. 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

There’s pressure on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) every time it steps up with its latest financials. The world’s leading premium video-streaming service has been one of the market’s best investments – a 465-bagger since it went public 19 years ago – so every report carries a lot of weight. With new subscriber targets to hit and fresh guidance to offer, it must keep on delivering if it wants to remain a Wall Street darling.

And a delivery is due: Netflix will report its results for the fourth quarter shortly after Tuesday’s market close.

Streaming along

One could argue that expectations aren’t high for Netflix heading into this report. Some publicly traded streaming platforms are hitting new highs, but Netflix stock peaked more than six months ago. It enters this holiday-shortened trading week 13% below last summer’s all-time high. 

Weighing on Netflix is the narrative that the surge in subscriber numbers that occurred in the first half of 2020 largely came from pulling forward the decisions of people who would’ve hopped on the platform later in the year.

After adding 25.9 million global streaming net subscribers through the first six months of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic made us all homebodies, the company attracted just 2.2 million more in the third quarter. Back in October, management forecast that the company would grow its active paying audience by 6 million accounts in Q4.

In short, Netflix expects to go from padding its numbers by 25.9 million in the first half to just 8.2 million in the second half. 

That’s really nothing to complain about though. Netflix should report that it topped 200 million global streaming paid memberships during the fourth quarter. The challenge at this point is keeping them close. A Business Insider article late last week – leaning on exclusive data – reported that usage among domestic subscribers dipped during the quarter.

The same tracking data showed that usage continues to climb internationally, where Netflix has been drumming up most of its subscriber growth in recent years. North America accounts for just 37% of its audience now.

The quarter should still be solid. Folks aren’t likely to be canceling Netflix while the pandemic continues to rage, especially when it seems to be home to many – if not most – of the trending shows and movies. The real question for investors is what Netflix sees in its crystal ball.

Will its latest price hike – the fifth time that it has boosted the price of its streaming service domestically in the past seven years – sting the way that its 2019 boost did? Netflix also lost rights to The Office this month, a series accounting for nearly a billion hours of streaming on the platform in 2020. Will it suffer defections from folks who subscribed because they are dedicated to revisiting the antics at the fictional Dunder-Mifflin paper company? 

The marketplace is getting crowded with tech giants and media companies hungry for a chunk of Netflix’s audience. It has usually been a mistake to bet against the streamer during earnings season, but not every report has been perfect. Management will need to ease concerns that the rapid rise of newer services is eating into its business. Once again, there’s never a dull quarter when it comes to Netflix. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

More reading

• Netflix just lost nearly 1 billion hours worth of content
• Netflix earnings: 3 trends to watch
• FAANG stocks make their case to lead the Nasdaq in 2021
• The top streaming stocks to buy in 2021

Rick Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Netflix. 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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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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The Mydeal.ComAu Pty Ltd (ASX: MYD) share price has been a positive performer on Wednesday.

In morning trade the ecommerce company’s shares were up almost 7% to $1.45.

Why is the MyDeal share price charging higher?

Investors have been buying MyDeal shares today following the release of an update on its performance during the second quarter of FY 2021.

According to the release, the company had a strong finish to the year, with second quarter gross sales increasing 165% on the prior corresponding period to $70.1 million.

This led to MyDeal’s first half gross sales increasing 217% over the same period last year to $126.7 million.

At the end of the period, the company had a strong balance sheet with cash on hand of $48.1 million.

What were the drivers of its growth?

MyDeal’s CEO, Sean Senvirtne, revealed that its grow was underpinned by strong customer growth and repeat use by existing customers.

He commented: “We are extremely pleased with the results. The strength in cash receipts during the quarter reflects the continued growth of the business, driven by an increase in active customers to a record 813,764, and transactions from returning customers representing 52.7% of total transaction (up from 49.7% in Q1).”

Mr Senvirtne also advised that the company has been executing on its growth strategy and expects the launch of mobile apps to support its growth in the second half and onwards.

“Since listing, we have been executing on our growth strategy by continuing to invest in our technology, marketing, and private label. Our mobile apps for iOS and Android remain on track for launch in H2 FY21, and we expect this to be a key driver of growth in the future. Our private label product range continues to grow and is expected to more than double in H2 FY21,” he added.

The MyDeal share price is now up 45% from its October listing price of $1.00.

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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.

The post Here’s why the MyDeal (ASX:MYD) share price surged 7% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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