Tag: Motley Fool

  • Why the Laybuy (ASX:LBY) share price is surging higher today

    Graphic illustration of buy now pay later technology overlaid on blurred photo of businessman on tablet

    The Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) share price is on the run today following its latest Q3 results update to the ASX market.

    In mid-morning trade, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider’s shares are up 4.7% to $1.34.

    What’s driving the Laybuy share price higher?

    The Laybuy share price is pushing higher after investors seem pleased with the company’s performance over the third quarter.

    For the period ending 31 December, Laybuy delivered gross merchandise value (GMV) of a record NZ$182 million. This represented an increase of 184% on the prior corresponding period and 44% over the prior quarter. On an annualised scale, GMV reached around NZ$730 million for the company.

    The milestone result was underpinned by Black Friday week and holiday sales in the December period. Laybuy highlighted its Black Friday sales week as the best week in its trading history which saw NZ$22 million of GMV. This reflects a record of 44% higher than the prior week. Holiday sales also grew to NZ$67 million for the month, a rise of 168% on the same time last year.

    The company attributed its sound performance from executing key strategic initiatives in the lead-up to the busy season. This included the launch of partner programs in the second quarter with major e-commerce platforms, as well as the ‘Tap to Pay’ feature that rolled out for in-store during the third quarter.

    Active customers hit 687,000 and onboard merchants lifted to more than 8,000, a gain of 119,000 and 1,684 for the third quarter, respectively. The increase in both sets of numbers was credited to Laybuy’s marketing strategies.

    Outlook

    Laybuy advised it will continue to focus its efforts in the New Zealand, Australia, and United Kingdom (UK) markets.

    Supported by the launch of several key projects, the company is forecasting the fourth quarter to be on par with Q3’s growth of active merchant and customers.

    In addition, Laybuy noted that COVID-19 has changed the retail landscape in the UK with online sales dominating. To drive instore sales, the BNPL provider will wait to introduce its Tap to Pay in this market when government restrictions loosen.

    Laybuy also advised it will seek to expand its United States market entry during Q4. This will be accomplished by the company enabling US customers to transact on ANZ and UK platforms that ship to the US.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes are the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they are great buys right now.

    *Returns as of June 30th

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    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.

    The post Why the Laybuy (ASX:LBY) share price is surging higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Why the Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) share price jumped 11% today

    jump in asx share price represented by man jumping in the air in celebration

    The Australian Ethical Investment Limited (ASX: AEF) share price has been among the best performers on the All Ordinaries index on Thursday.

    In morning trade the ethical fund manager’s shares are up a sizeable 11% to $6.15.

    This means the Australian Ethical share price is now up an impressive 25% since the start of 2021.

    Why is the Australian Ethical share price zooming higher?

    Investors have been fighting to get hold of the company’s shares this morning following the release of its quarterly update.

    According to the release, Australian Ethical increased its funds under management (FUM) to $5.05 billion for the quarter ended 31 December 2020. This was up 16.9% from $4.32 billion at the end of September.

    It was also the first time the company’s FUM have surpassed the $5 billion milestone.

    Management advised that this sizeable increase in FUM was driven by its exceptional investment performance and strong net inflows.

    At the end of the period, its Managed Funds FUM had increased 22.4% quarter on quarter to $1.75 billion and its Superannuation FUM had lifted 14.6% over the three months to $3.3 billion.

    This means that Australian Ethical’s total FUM have now increased by 24.6% for the financial year to date, following record net inflows during the period.

    Earnings guidance.

    Last month Australian Ethical provided guidance for the first half of FY 2021. With no update provided today, it appears as though the company is on track to achieve this.

    This will mean an underlying net profit after tax (UPAT) for the 6 months ending 31 December of between $4.6 million and $5.1 million. At the mid-point, this represents an increase of 11% on the prior corresponding period.

    The company advised that “strong growth in Funds Under Management (FUM) was partially offset by the impact of superannuation fee reductions including those implemented in the second half of FY20 and fee and threshold reductions across some managed funds in October 2020.”

    This Tiny ASX Stock Could Be the Next Afterpay

    One little-known Australian IPO has doubled in value since January, and renowned Australian Moonshot stock picker Anirban Mahanti sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting…

    Because ‘Doc’ Mahanti believes this fast-growing company has all the hallmarks of genuine Moonshot potential, forget ‘buy now pay later’, this stock could be the next hot stock on the ASX.

    Doc and his team have published a detailed report on this tiny ASX stock. Find out how you can access what could be the NEXT Afterpay today!

    Returns as of 6th October 2020

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    James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Australian Ethical Investment 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 Pointsbet (ASX:PBH) share price is up 10% this year

    gaming asx share price represented by 2 people excitedly holding smart phones

    The Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price has finally made some headway. At the time of writing, PointsBet shares are trading hands for $12.98 per share, putting them up almost 10% this year and teasing their previous record closing price of $13.28 on 2 September 2020. 

    Much of these year-to-date gains occurred yesterday, after Pointsbet announced it had entered into a multi-year partnership to be the official gaming partner of the Detroit Red Wings (hockey) and Little Caesars Arena. The strategic deal includes a brand new Pointsbet sports bar coming to Little Caesars and signage during Detroit Red Wings’ games this upcoming season.

    Pointsbet share price finally going somewhere 

    Before yesterday’s announcement, the Pointsbet share price has seemingly gone nowhere since its game-changing deal with NBCUniversal was announced last August. The deal almost doubled the Pointsbet share price in a single day from $7 to $13. 

    The partnership will push the Pointsbet brand and products in front of the largest sports audience of any US media with exclusive television and digital sports betting integrations. 

    From a cost perspective, Pointsbet has committed a total marketing spend of US$393 million in progressively increasing amounts over the 5-year media partnership, together with incentives payable to NBC for customer referrals. NBC will also take a 4.9% ownership stake in the Pointsbet company. 

    Competing US bookmakers reporting strong results 

    Elsewhere, William Hill plc reported significant growth in the US in its trading statement for the unaudited 52 weeks ended 29 December 2020. William Hill US went live in five states and launched mobile in five states, leading to 121% net revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Its sports betting apps and sports book odds are also featured in both ESPN and CBS Sports, two of America’s leading sports media brands. 

    Pointsbet’s major US competitor, DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) has also rallied strongly in 2021, with year-to-date returns sitting at 17%. 

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes are the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they are great buys right now.

    *Returns as of June 30th

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

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  • Why Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) and Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) shares are storming higher today

    Cut outs of cogs and machinery with chemical symbol for lithium

    It has been a very positive day of trade for lithium miners Galan Lithium Ltd (ASX: GLN) and Lithium Australia NL (ASX: LIT) on Thursday.

    In morning trade, the Galan Lithium share price is up 16% to 44 cents and the Lithium Australia share price is up 9.5% to 8.1 cents.

    Why are these lithium miners storming higher today?

    This morning Lithium Australia announced that it has entered into an acquisition and joint venture agreement with Galan Lithium.

    This agreement with see Galan Lithium purchase an 80% interest in the Greenbushes South Lithium Project from Lithium Australia.

    The Greenbushes South Lithium Project is located 200 km south of Perth and just 3 km south of the world-class Greenbushes Lithium Mine.

    The latter is owned and operated by Talison Lithium and is one of the world’s largest hard-rock spodumene deposits with very high grades. IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) recently bought a 25% stake in the operation to much fanfare.

    According to the release, Galan Lithium will issue Lithium Australia 1,221,000 fully paid ordinary shares in exchange for the 80% stake in the Greenbushes South Lithium Project. The two companies will then form an unincorporated joint venture, which will be solely funded by Galan Lithium until the completion of a preliminary feasibility study.

    After which, both parties will contribute on a pro-rata basis or withdraw and retain a 2% net smelter royalty.

    Management commentary.

    Galan Lithium’s Managing Director, Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega, commented: “We are delighted to acquire a significant majority stake in a highly prospective lithium project in a world-renowned lithium district and increase our existing lithium exploration ground at Greenbushes in Western Australia.”

    “We have secured an outstanding exploration opportunity in Western Australia to add to our existing portfolio of assets in Argentina that have a potential production profile. We will proceed to exploring this tenure in a methodological step-by-step manner and progress tenement applications to grant. We are pleased to joint venture with Lithium Australia NL and look forward to updating the market with our developments in due course,” he added.

    Lithium Australia’s Managing Director, Adrian Griffin, added: “The Company’s divestment of a majority interest in the Greenbushes South Lithium Project to Galan is consistent with our ongoing strategy, to advance proprietary, downstream lithium and battery technologies and to deliver an ethical and sustainable supply of energy metals for batteries through innovative minerals processing and battery recycling techniques, thus creating an energy-metals loop.”

    “Lithium Australia is pleased to partner with Galan, a dedicated explorer that will drive the Greenbushes South Lithium Project forward. This transaction means that the Company reduces its financial commitment and exploration risk yet retains significant lithium commodity exposure by way of both Galan shares and 20% Project equity,” Griffin concluded.

    This Tiny ASX Stock Could Be the Next Afterpay

    One little-known Australian IPO has doubled in value since January, and renowned Australian Moonshot stock picker Anirban Mahanti sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting…

    Because ‘Doc’ Mahanti believes this fast-growing company has all the hallmarks of genuine Moonshot potential, forget ‘buy now pay later’, this stock could be the next hot stock on the ASX.

    Doc and his team have published a detailed report on this tiny ASX stock. Find out how you can access what could be the NEXT Afterpay today!

    Returns as of 6th October 2020

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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 Why Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) and Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) shares are storming higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Are ASX 200 shares set to climb 15% higher in 2021?

    asx share price rebound represented by wooden blocks spelling rebound with coins on top

    ASX 200 shares have been up and down in the past year. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) plummeted lower in the March 2020 bear market before finishing with a near-record December quarter performance.

    According to an article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR), one market strategist is tipping up to 15 per cent gains for Aussie shares in 2021.

    Where are ASX 200 shares headed in 2021?

    Market strategist UBS is tipping the benchmark Aussie index could climb to 7,600 points, up 15.4% on current levels.

    A strong public health response to the coronavirus pandemic has laid the platform for more gains. That, alongside a rotation towards value shares, could help boost ASX 200 shares higher this year.

    JP Morgan’s Jason Steed was also bullish on equities for 2021. Mr Steed cited high levels of monetary and fiscal support, alongside vaccine deployment, are likely to support earnings.

    Key macro drivers include robust growth from China and a revised outlook for government stimulus in the US.

    UBS is tipping 15 per cent growth in forward earnings per share (EPS) to bring that back to pre-pandemic levels. MST Marquee strategist Hasan Tevfik told the AFR that 2021 was going to be more of an “earnings-driven market”. 

    Rising bond yields could mean higher discount rates and therefore lower share valuations. Credit Suisse’s Damien Boey suggested higher yields could mean fewer people rolling into equities thinking that they have no other alternative in a low-rate environment.

    Foolish takeaway

    2020 was a volatile year for ASX 200 shares with the benchmark index down 4.0% in the last 12 months. Stand out performers like Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) helped to push the index higher.

    It remains to be seen which top shares are set to propel Aussie share values higher this year. Technology and Resources shares have been hot in recent months with all eyes on market movements in January.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes are the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they are great buys right now.

    *Returns as of June 30th

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    Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T 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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  • Why the Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) share price is racing 7% higher today

    Chalk-drawn rocket shown blasting off into space

    The Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) share price has been a strong performer on Thursday.

    In morning trade the leading health imaging company’s shares are up 7% to $34.00.

    Why is the Pro Medicus share price racing higher?

    Investors have been buying the company’s shares this morning after it announced another major new contract win.

    According to the release, Pro Medicus has signed a seven-year contract with Salt Lake City based Intermountain Healthcare.

    Intermountain is the largest health system in the State of Utah and also provides medical services in the states of Idaho and Nevada. This makes it the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West region.

    The contract, which is based on a transactional licensing model and estimated to be worth $40 million over the seven years, will see the company’s Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Open Archive products implemented across all of Intermountain’s radiology and subspecialty imaging departments.

    The implementation will be fully deployed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), leveraging Visage’s native, cloud-engineered enterprise imaging technology. Planning for the rollout is to begin in the third quarter of FY 2021, with data migration commencing immediately by Visage’s engineering team. The first sites will be scheduled to go-live shortly after.

    A very important deal.

    Pro Medicus’ CEO, Dr Sam Hupert, was very pleased with the contract win.

    He commented: “This is a very important deal for us, not only because of its size and scope, it will provide us with a material footprint in Intermountain West, previously an untapped region for us.”

    “It also validates our decision to engineer Visage 7 from the ground up to be natively cloud capable, with Intermountain deploying both the Visage 7 Viewer and Visage 7 Open Archive as part of our Visage in the Cloud offering, making this one of the largest cloud-based PACS implementations in the world.”

    Dr Hupert notes that this is the fifth major contract win that the company has announced during the last six months.

    He concluded: “This is our fifth major contract win in six months. We believe this validates our belief that we have unique, market leading technology which, coupled with our expanded product portfolio and native cloud capability, has significantly increased our total addressable market in our key jurisdictions of North America, Europe and Australia.”

    This Tiny ASX Stock Could Be the Next Afterpay

    One little-known Australian IPO has doubled in value since January, and renowned Australian Moonshot stock picker Anirban Mahanti sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting…

    Because ‘Doc’ Mahanti believes this fast-growing company has all the hallmarks of genuine Moonshot potential, forget ‘buy now pay later’, this stock could be the next hot stock on the ASX.

    Doc and his team have published a detailed report on this tiny ASX stock. Find out how you can access what could be the NEXT Afterpay today!

    Returns as of 6th October 2020

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    James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of 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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  • Here’s why the Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price is charging 5% higher

    A miner holds two hands full of coal, indicating share price movement for coal and energy companies

    The Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is on the move on Thursday following the release of its quarterly update.

    At the time of writing, the coal miner’s shares are up 5% to $1.84.

    How did Whitehaven Coal perform?

    For the three months ended 31 December, Whitehaven Coal achieved managed run-of-mine (ROM) production of 5.1Mt. This was up an impressive 64% on the prior corresponding period.

    From this, total quarterly managed coal sales came in at 4.5Mt, which was in line with the same period last year. Management noted that the outage of one of Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group’s (NCIG) two ship loaders has resulted in 550kt of equity sales slipping from December 2020 into January 2021.

    Whitehaven realised an average price of US$62 per tonne for its thermal coal in the quarter. While this was 8% lower than the quarterly globalCoal Newcastle Index average, the company notes that its prices lag the average when rapid changes occur.

    Pleasingly, the globalCoal Newcastle Index coal price averaged US$67 per tonne for the quarter before finishing it above US$80 per tonne. The improved pricing environment reflects increased seaborne thermal coal demand, which is being driven largely by an Asian economic recovery accelerating post the initial impact of COVID-19.

    The company’s CEO, Paul Flynn, commented: “During the latter part of the December quarter there was a strong rebound in pricing and we are increasingly optimistic that underlying market dynamics are supportive of continued improvement in this area.”

    Looking ahead, management has tightened its guidance range for FY 2021. Whitehaven now expects FY 2021 managed coal sales (excluding purchased coal) to be 19Mt to 20Mt, up from 18.5Mt to 20Mt.

    It made the move after “seeing much more consistent and better performance across production and overburden management.”

    This Tiny ASX Stock Could Be the Next Afterpay

    One little-known Australian IPO has doubled in value since January, and renowned Australian Moonshot stock picker Anirban Mahanti sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting…

    Because ‘Doc’ Mahanti believes this fast-growing company has all the hallmarks of genuine Moonshot potential, forget ‘buy now pay later’, this stock could be the next hot stock on the ASX.

    Doc and his team have published a detailed report on this tiny ASX stock. Find out how you can access what could be the NEXT Afterpay today!

    Returns as of 6th October 2020

    More reading

    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 Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) share price is charging 5% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Why ASX energy shares are under pressure right now

    ASX energy shares have been under a lot of pressure in recent months. The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price slumped to a new 52-week low on Wednesday morning and remains down 41.1% in the last 12 months.

    And AGL is far from alone. Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) shares have slumped 40.2% lower in the past year. So, what’s putting ASX energy shares under pressure and what’s ahead for 2021?

    Why ASX energy shares are slumping lower

    The coronavirus pandemic hit energy producers hard in 2020. Key industries like manufacturing effectively shut down which caused demand for energy to plummet.

    Other key industries such as office real estate also had reduced energy needs in 2020.

    A reliance on coal-fired power stations, which are struggling to turn a profit at current electricity prices, is also impacting on profits.

    The flow on effects have been felt by shareholders with ASX energy shares falling lower in the past year.

    While AGL shares hit a 52-week low in yesterday’s trade, both AGL and Origin ended the day in the black.

    That’s despite an article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) discussing potential overinvestment in Aussie energy.

    Snowy Hydro is pushing ahead with a 750 megawatt (MW) gas power plant despite a number of large-scale projects on the horizon. 

    Origin has also confirmed a 4-hour 700 MW battery at its Eraring power station on the NSW Central Coast.

    The Federal Government is hoping further NSW dispatchable capacity will support any private sector shortfall.

    But the Grattan Institute is suggesting that the case for further investment may not stack up. Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said the case for building 1000MW of capacity has “never been substantiated”.

    Foolish takeaway

    All of this sets up an interesting period for ASX energy shares to start the year with a race to increase energy generation and storage capacity.

    This Tiny ASX Stock Could Be the Next Afterpay

    One little-known Australian IPO has doubled in value since January, and renowned Australian Moonshot stock picker Anirban Mahanti sees a potential millionaire-maker in waiting…

    Because ‘Doc’ Mahanti believes this fast-growing company has all the hallmarks of genuine Moonshot potential, forget ‘buy now pay later’, this stock could be the next hot stock on the ASX.

    Doc and his team have published a detailed report on this tiny ASX stock. Find out how you can access what could be the NEXT Afterpay today!

    Returns as of 6th October 2020

    More reading

    Motley Fool contributor Ken Hall 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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  • Here’s what this leading broker thinks about the Altium (ASX:ALU) share price

    watch broker buy

    The Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price has been out of form this week due to the release of a disappointing trading update.

    Week to date, the electronic design software company’s shares have fallen over 9%.

    What was Altium’s update?

    On Tuesday, Altium revealed that it expects to report a 3% decline in first half revenue to US$89.6 million. This soft half was driven by extreme COVID conditions in the US and Europe and challenging conditions in China for licence compliance activities.

    One positive, though, is that an improvement in trading conditions in the second quarter has led to the company retaining its FY 2021 guidance.

    This is for revenue of US$200 million to US$212 million (6% to 12% growth) and EBITDA of US$76 million to US$89 million (38% to 42% growth), less the contribution from its TASKING business which is being sold.

    Though, judging by the performance of the Altium share price since the update, it doesn’t appear as though the market is overly convinced it will achieve this guidance.

    Will Altium achieve its guidance?

    Goldman Sachs has been looking closely at Altium and has given its verdict on its FY 2021 prospects.

    Goldman commented: “To achieve the bottom end of FY21 guidance ALU would require revenue growth of +15% in 2H21E (on 2H20). While we anticipate the macro environment for ALU will improve through 2021 based on well above consensus GS macro forecasts, there remain risks to the achievement of this.”

    However, it believes weakness in China could be a stumbling block in the company achieving this guidance.

    “Given our global forecasts for a strong macro recovery through 2021, it is possible that ALU’s recent downgrade cycle may be nearing an end. However, the 1H21 decline of 15% yoy in revenues from China is a concern as it is not clear if this is a temporary issue or indicative of emerging headwinds in this geography noting it contributed 30% of Altium Designer perpetual licence sales volumes and 11% of its subscription licence sales volumes in FY20.”

    In light of this, and even though its price target of $34.30 implies a potential return of 21%, the broker has decided to retain its neutral rating.

    Goldman plans to sit tight until a more detailed disclosure is available at its half year results in February.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes are the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they are great buys right now.

    *Returns as of June 30th

    More reading

    The post Here’s what this leading broker thinks about the Altium (ASX:ALU) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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  • Here’s why the Pilbara (ASX:PLS) share price is on watch today

    Man with binoculars standing on edge of building looking into distance

    The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price will be on watch today following an update on the company’s retail entitlement offer.

    After hitting a multi-year high yesterday, it will be interesting to see if the Pilbara share price can top that performance today following the latest announcement.

    After yesterday’s closing bell, the Pilbara share price finished the day off at $1.15.

    Completion of retail entitlement offer

    According to this morning’s release, Pilbara advised that it has successfully completed its retail entitlement offer.

    Underwritten for a 1-for-7.6 pro-rata basis, roughly 125 million new shares were issued to participating retail shareholders. Offered at 36 cents per share, the rights issue raised $60.6 million for the company.

    Pilbara said that the remaining 43.2 million shares that were not taken up in the offer were allocated to sub-underwriters, AustralianSuper and RCF VII.

    In total, 168.2 million new shares will be issued and rank equally among ordinary full-paid Pilbara shares. The new lot is expected to be allocated to participating shareholders’ portfolios next Monday and will be available to trade.

    The retail entitlement offer follows the company’s institutional placement efforts to support its acquisition in Altura Lithium Operations Pty Ltd. Both proceeds raised $240.2 million to fund the takeover. Pilbara stated that it is on schedule to purchase all shares in Altura Lithium Operations and its Altura Project.

    What did management say?

    Pilbara managing director and CEO Mr Ken Brinsden welcomed the result, saying:

    We are delighted with the level of support we have received from retail shareholders and are pleased to now confirm the successful completion of the Entitlement Offer.

    … Together with the cornerstone placement announced on Monday, 14 December 2020, provides Pilbara Minerals with the funding necessary to complete the acquisition of the neighbouring Altura Project on an unencumbered basis, thereby realising the full value of synergies and benefits for Pilbara Minerals’ shareholders that arise from this unique opportunity.

    About the Pilbara share price

    The Pilbara share price has been storming higher over the past 12 months, reaching a multi-year high of $1.15 yesterday.

    Falling to as low as 13.5 cents in March when COVID-19 hit the world economy, Pilbara shares have been on a tear ever since. For those lucky investors who were brave enough to pick up some shares, you would be sitting on a gain of 751%.

    Where to invest $1,000 right now

    When investing expert Scott Phillips has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Motley Fool Share Advisor newsletter he has run for more than eight years has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    Scott just revealed what he believes are the five best ASX stocks for investors to buy right now. These stocks are trading at dirt-cheap prices and Scott thinks they are great buys right now.

    *Returns as of June 30th

    More reading

    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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