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Are you looking for some dividend shares for your portfolio? Then check out the two ASX shares listed below.

Both have been tipped as buys and look set to provide attractive dividend yields in 2021:

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is the Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT. It is the largest Australian ASX-listed real estate investment trust that invests in social infrastructure properties.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT targets ongoing capital growth by focusing on assets in strategic locations with specialist use, limited competition, low substitution risk, and high underlying land values. It expects this to drive high tenant retention rates over the long term.

Goldman Sachs is a fan of Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT and has a conviction buy rating and $3.35 price target on its shares. The broker is expecting a 15 cents per share dividend in FY 2021. Based on the latest Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT share price, this represents a 4.7% yield.

Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)

Lendlease is a global property and infrastructure company that Goldman Sachs also likes.

While it was a disappointing performer in FY 2020 and reported a loss of $310 million, its outlook has improved greatly since then. This is thanks to the divestment of its struggling engineering business and the launch of a major new strategy.

The latter is shifting its earnings mix and business model favourably and looks to have positioned it perfectly for long term growth.

Goldman Sachs is a fan of this new strategy and expects its shares to rerate to higher multiples if it executes it successfully. The broker has a buy rating and $16.65 price target on the company’s shares.

It is also forecasting a 37.7 cents per share dividend in FY 2021. Based on the current Lendlease share price, this equates to a 2.9% yield. After which, a yield of 5.3% is expected in FY 2022.

More reading

• Broker names 2 ASX 50 shares to buy
• 2 ASX dividend shares to buy for 2021
• 2 ASX dividend shares offering generous yields in 2021
• How to protect your super fund when you’re approaching retirement

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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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was back on form and stormed higher thanks to strong gains in the banking and resources sectors. The benchmark index jumped 1.6% to 6,712 points.

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

ASX 200 poised to rise.

The Australian share market looks set to push higher on Friday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is poised to open the day 11 points or 0.2% higher. This follows another very strong night of trade on Wall Street which in late trade sees the Dow Jones up 0.7%, the S&P 500 up 1.45%, and the Nasdaq up a sizeable 2.4% to a record high.

Tech shares on watch.

It could be a great day of trade for Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), and other tech shares after their US counterparts surged higher. In late trade on Wall Street, the technology-focused Nasdaq index is up a massive 2.4% and above the 13,000 points mark for the first time in its history. Investors were buying shares after Congress confirmed the election of Joe Biden as president and traders looked beyond the unrest in Washington.

Oil prices continue to rise.

It could be another positive day for energy producers such as Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) after oil prices rose again. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.4% to US$50.832 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.1% to US$54.37 a barrel. Traders have been buying oil this week following a surprise production cut by Saudi Arabia.

Iron ore rises again.

Mining giants BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) were very strong performers on Thursday and stormed to record highs. All eyes will be on their shares again on Friday after the iron ore price continued to rise. The spot iron ore price rose 1.8% to US$171.69 a tonne overnight.

Gold price recovers.

Gold miners including Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) could have a better day after the gold price recovered slightly. According to CNBC, the spot gold price has risen 0.35% to US$1,915.80 an ounce. It is still down meaningfully since this time last week.

More reading

• ASX 200 rose 1.6%
• Is the “Blue Wave” of US Democrats good or bad for ASX investors?
• Here’s why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price jumped 9% to a record high today
• We’re in a massive bubble: This is when it’ll pop
• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price storms to new high

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 Xero. 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went up by 1.6% today to 6,712 points.

There were incredible scenes in the US after the Capitol building was stormed. But eventually Congress certified Joe Biden as the next president.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Strong share price movements

The strongest performer within the ASX 200 today was Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO), its share price went higher by 8.6%. The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price rose by more than 6%.

Another of the strongest performers was Janus Henderson Group (ASX: JHG), the share price went up around 8%.

Oil producer Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) saw its share price rise 7.4% after yesterday’s oil price cut from Saudi Arabia.

The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price went up another 7.4% today after an increase yesterday.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) was another of the top performers within the ASX 200, the Lynas share price grew by 7.25%.

But there were also some heavy movements in the red as well. Tech names were sold off. At the bottom was the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price which fell 5%. The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price dropped just over 4% and the Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) share price also fell around 4%. Rounding out the worst five performers in the ASX 200, the Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) share price dropped 5% and the Silver Lake Resources Limited. (ASX: SLR) share price dropped 4.25%.

Outside of the ASX 200, there were some other strong performers. The Contact Energy Limited (ASX: CEN) share price went up 14%, the EBOS Group Ltd (ASX: EBO) share price went up 7.5% and the Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX: MEZ) share price also grew 7.5%.

Zebit Inc (ASX: ZBT) sales

Zebit announced its FY20 fourth quarter and total FY20 sales numbers.

The ASX share announced that it had delivered record FY20 net sales of US$88.1 million, which was higher than FY19.

FY20 fourth quarter net sales of US$44.8 million beat the prior corresponding period by 35.2%, or US$11.6 million.

In December 2020 net sales were US$21.3 million, which was a 55.4% increase compared to December 2019.

Zebit said that it executed 8 new business to business acquisition partnerships that accounted for 28,800 registered users in the fourth quarter of FY20. The company finished with 792,000 registered users at the end of the year.

Zebit CEO Marc Schneider said: “The strength of Zebit’s performance through the fourth quarter is a bellwether for the increasing demographic of consumers who value and repeatedly use the company’s e-commerce services. We expect strong growth in 2021 as we expand our reach in helping the increasing number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck purchase everyday products that many of us take for granted. In addition to its primary e-commerce sales channel, as physical retail stores reopen, Zebit will also enable consumers to continue to finance purchases in physical retailers through sales of electronic gift certificates on our platform that can be redeemed in brick and mortar.”

The Zebit share price went up 12.6% today.

More reading

• 3 ASX mining shares hitting 52-week highs today
• Is the “Blue Wave” of US Democrats good or bad for ASX investors?
• 3 mid cap shares hitting 1-month lows on the ASX today
• Here’s why the Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) share price jumped 9% to a record high today
• We’re in a massive bubble: This is when it’ll pop

Tristan Harrison owns shares of Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Xero. 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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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a cracking day today, with the benchmark index closing 1.59% higher.

However, these 3 resource companies had an even better time, smashing through to set new 52-week highs.

Here’s the latest for these 3 rallying resource shares.

Which mining shares are rocketing?

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price was up 7% to $1.07. This comes after the shares surged 7.49% yesterday when the lithium producer revealed its second quarter shipments to the market.

As shown in the release, spodumene concentrate shipments had reached record levels for the December quarter. Pilbara advised that this was due to the improved demand conditions and an upward trend in lithium chemicals pricing in China.

The concentrate shipped for the December quarter was 38% higher than the previous quarter.

Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)

The Lynas share price was up 7.24% for the day, hitting $4.59. Despite no recent news coming out from the company, the share continues to climb.

The rare earths supplier could be benefitting from the ongoing trade tensions with China. Coincidentally, Lynas is the only major rare earths producer outside of China, making it attractive during such political instability.

Yet, UBS downgraded Lynas to “neutral” in December. The broker suggests that the future electric vehicle demand has been built into the share price.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)

The Fortescue share price was up 3.47% to $25.92. The iron ore producer continues to benefit from the high commodity price. Today iron ore prices increased once again to $166.76 per tonne.

Supply issues for other iron ore producing competitors, paired with China’s growing demand have helped Fortescue’s share price increase 143.61% over the last 12 months alone.

In a December article from The Australian Financial Review, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources stated that it expected the price driving factors to persist for a further 6 months at minimum.

More reading

• BHP (ASX:BHP) share price storms to new high
• Here’s why the Orocobre (ASX:ORE) share price is on the move today
• The Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) share price has rocketed 20% in 2021
• 3 highest yielding ASX dividend shares
• Do ASX mining companies carry the Australian share market?

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Lynas Limited. 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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Are you looking for growth shares with the potential to beat the market in 2021? Then you might want to take a look at the ones listed below.

They have been tipped as buys and for big things in 2021. Here’s what you need to know:

Adore Beauty Group Limited (ASX: ABY)

The first growth share to look at is Adore Beauty. It is a recently listed online retailer which sells beauty and personal care products. It currently has over 590,000 Active Customers across the ANZ region on its platform and is expecting to generate revenue of $158.2 million in 2020. This will be a 76% increase on 2019’s sales.

Pleasingly, this revenue is still only scratching at the surface of an ANZ beauty and personal care products market that was worth $10.9 billion in 2019. This gives the company a long runway for growth over the next decade.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of the company and appears very positive on its future. The broker recently put an overweight rating and $8.35 price target on the company’s shares. It believes the company will benefit from the shift to online shopping, which is accelerating because of the pandemic.

Pushpay Holdings Group Ltd (ASX: PPH)

Another growth share to look at is Pushpay. It is a leading donor management and community engagement platform provider for the faith sector. 

As with Adore Beauty, it has a significant runway for growth over the next decade. In FY 2020, Pushpay delivered a 32% increase in revenue to US$129.8 million. Whereas it now has a long term aim of growing its share of the US medium to large church market to 50%. This represents a US$1 billion opportunity, which is almost eight times greater than FY 2020’s revenue.

The US$87.5 million acquisition of church management system provider Church Community Builder is expected to play a key role in the company achieving this target. This acquisition has bolstered its offering and led to the launch of ChurchStaq.

Churchstaq is the combination of its Pushpay and Church Community Builder software. It brings together digital giving, donor development, church apps, and church management software (ChMS) to deliver a fully integrated engagement platform.

Goldman Sachs sees a lot of promise in the platform and believes Pushpay is well-placed for growth. It has a conviction buy rating and ~$2.59 price target on its shares.

More reading

• The Pushpay (ASX:PPH) share price jumped 80% in 2020: Can it go higher?
• 3 great ASX tech shares to buy
• 2 outstanding ASX shares to buy and hold
• 3 exciting ASX payment shares to buy in January
• Got money to invest? Here are 3 ASX shares to buy

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 PUSHPAY FPO NZX. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended 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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Two ASX shares have done particularly well over the last 6 months, with their share prices tripling during that period.

The Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) share price rose from $1.94 in early July 2020, to its current price of $6.20 – a gain of 219%.

The Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) share price, meanwhile, did even better and quadrupled in value in that period. Its share price rose from $1.05 in July 2020, to the current share price of $4.48 – that’s a return of more than 325%.

Let’s take a look at what’s been driving their share prices up.

Redbubble

Redbubble, like many other online ASX retailers, has been one of the big beneficiaries of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 as more people changed their shopping habits to online.

As a result, the Redbubble share price has been one of 2020’s top performers on the ASX.

The boost in its share price over the last 6 months has been underpinned by the company’s acceleration in revenues in the second-half of FY20.

The company reported a surge of 132% in revenues. Meanwhile, its operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased from $6.3 million in FY19, to $15.3 million in FY20.

At its annual general meeting (AGM) in October, the company said its focus in FY20 had been on artists onboarding, intellectual property protection, and search engine optimisation (SEO) improvements.

Redbubble says that its main focus this year will be on active outreach to high-value artists, and aligning more of its brands to customers.

Chalice Mining

The strong performance in the Chalice Mining share price has been on the back of metals discoveries at its Julimar Nickel-Copper Project in Western Australia, as well as its Pyramid Hills Gold Project in Victoria. 

In November, the company updated the market of its drilling progress at Julimar, saying that deposits found mean that the mine is emerging as a “globally significant deposit of critical metals in Western Australia.”

In its Pyramid Hills gold mine, the company also revealed significant gold deposits from its drilling program. The company said it identified several higher-grade primary gold zones, and planned to extensively extend the drill program around the area.

The drilling projects are continuing at both mines.

More reading

• Why the Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price is rocketing higher today
• Can the Redbubble (ASX:RBL) share price continue its run in 2021?
• Why the Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN) share price is surging 11% higher today
• Here are the best All Ordinaries performers of 2020
• Here’s how the S&P/ASX All Technology Index fared in 2020

Motley Fool contributor Eddy Sunarto 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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A new month is here, so what better time to look to see if there are any additions you could make to your portfolio to take it to the next level.

If you’re interested in the tech sector, then you might want to take a look at the shares listed below.

Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH)

The first tech share to look at is Bigtincan. Its sales enablement software platform provides businesses with the information, content, and tools to sell more effectively. Demand for the company’s platform has been growing strongly in recent years and continued to do so during the pandemic. This led to it recording strong recurring revenue growth in FY 2020.

Pleaisngly, this strong form has continued in FY 2021. Management is expecting annualised recurring revenue (ARR) to be in the range of $49 million to $53 million this year. This represents a 37% to 48% increase year on year.

One broker that is positive on the company is Canaccord Genuity. It has been pleased with its positive start to FY 2021 and put a buy rating and $1.40 price target on its shares.

ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)

Another growing tech share to look at is ELMO. It is a cloud-based human resources and payroll software company that provides businesses with a unified platform to streamline processes such as employee administration, recruitment, and payroll.

Like Bigtincan, ELMO has been a strong performer during the pandemic and looks well-placed to continue this trend in the future. Especially given the strong demand it is experiencing for its platform and management’s penchant for making earnings accretive acquisitions.

One of those acquisitions was the recent $32 million acquisition of UK-based Breathe. This acquisition is expected to provide ELMO with market expansion and cross sell opportunities.

Morgan Stanley is a fan of ELMO and believes it is well-placed for growth. The broker has an overweight rating and $9.30 price target on its shares at present.

More reading

• 2 quality ASX growth shares to buy for 2021
• 2 growing mid cap ASX shares to buy
• 3 small cap ASX shares that could have a big 2021
• 5 exciting small cap ASX shares to watch in 2021
• 2 ASX growth shares to buy

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 BIGTINCAN FPO and Elmo Software. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BIGTINCAN FPO and Elmo Software. 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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ASX investors have embraced news that the US Democratic Party now controls both houses, but it isn’t all good news for equities.

You’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise though with the The S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) surging 1.6% to finish near its intraday peak on Thursday.

The Australian share market isn’t the only one rejoicing at the “Blue Wave”, a term coined to describe how the Democrats control all three layers of government.

US stock benchmarks also jumped last night and the futures market is pointing to further gains when their market opens later this evening.

Blue Wave reflation trade to flood markets

The party will soon install the next president, Joe Biden, while it controls both the Senate and the House. This will enable President Biden to push through just about any legislation.

Investors are excited because they expect the Democrats to launch a much larger stimulus program that’s targeted at lower income families. The market is betting on the Mother of reflation trades because the assumption is that lower income consumers will spend any government handout.

Return of inflation and higher rates

This means inflation is likely to return with the US bond market pricing in a more than 2% inflation rate on average for the next decade. This is the first time since November 2018 that inflation is tipped to jump above 2%.

Equity markets love growth, but it isn’t all good news. Once ASX investors come off their high, they will soon realise that there will be winners and losers from the Blue Wave.

This is because one consequence of large stimulus is a weaker US dollar. The US government will have to go much further into debt to fund this reflation trade.

Currency headwind for ASX stocks

A weaker greenback must lead to a stronger Australian dollar. That’s not good news for many large cap ASX stocks as they derive a significant proportion of their income in US dollars.

When they convert revenues to Australian dollars, investors here will get less bang for their buck. Some of these currency losers include the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price, Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC) share price and James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) share price – just to name a few.

Risk free rate to climb in 2021

Another potential negative is rising bond yields. The US 10-year government bond yield has jumped over 1%.

As I’ve highlighted last week, at some point, the increase in the benchmark yield will lower the valuation of equities.

No one knows exactly where this tipping point is, but I don’t think we are far from it, especially given how little bad news is priced into stocks.

One possible group of ASX winners

On the flipside, I see the Blue Wave as being a big positive for the gold price, and ASX gold miners by extension.

A falling US dollar that’s triggered by burgeoning US government debt will prompt investors to search for safe havens outside the world’s reserve currency, which is the greenback.

As much as crypto aficionados would like you to believe, Bitcoin doesn’t cut it as a substitute for institutional investors. This puts gold in prime position.

We could see the Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price outperform in 2021.

More reading

• We’re in a massive bubble: This is when it’ll pop
• These are the latest 2021 ASX “buy” ideas from top brokers
• ASX 200 up 1.55%: ANZ & Westpac surge higher, Afterpay & Xero tumble
• Are these 4 ASX medical shares set for a healthy 2021?
• Why the Oil Search (ASX:OSH) share price is surging higher today

Brendon Lau owns shares of CSL Ltd., Evolution Mining Limited, James Hardie Industries plc, and Newcrest Mining Limited. Connect with me on Twitter @brenlau.

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Amcor Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) moving higher today, up 1.59% at the time of writing, it draws interest to the shares bucking the trend.

These 3 mid-cap shares have had a rough month and are hitting 1-month lows today.

Which mid-cap shares are hitting 1-month lows today?

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)

This $4.33 billion mid-cap share is down 4.05% to $31.74 today, hitting a 1-month low.

Altium provides popular printed circuit board (PCB) design software products, including Altium Design and Altium 365. Altium’s collection of software solutions are used by many large, recognisable companies in America and Australia. 

During last year’s COVID-19 crash, Altium fell from its 52-week share price high of $42.76 to its 52-week low of $23.11, in 35 days. Consequently, Altium released business updates over the following months providing commentary on the impacts.

The company started to see signs of existing and potential customers in financial distress, leading to their own preservation of cash. This increased the difficulty for Altium to sign new deals and upsell customers. Altium responded to the market softening by offering discounted software subscriptions to retain and grow customers.

Since then, Altium announced the divestment of its embedded software development tool ‘TASKING’. The decision is to facilitate future investment in the company’s cloud platform, Altium 365. Altium will disclose the full impact of the divestment in its half-year results on 15 February.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

This $2.95 billion mid-cap share has dropped 1.33% to $23.78 today, hitting a 1-month low.

Appen collects and annotates images, text, speech, audio, and video for the use of improving artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The company utilises its AI-assisted data annotation platform in conjunction with its 1 million global contractors, to provide solutions across a range of sectors.

Appen experienced what the company described as negligible impact on the first half-year results, when announced in August 2020. However, on 10 December, Appen provided a trading update to the contrary. The company advised that the usual ramp-up experienced in Q4 was not occurring, indicating that COVID-19 had interrupted business.

Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for FY20 was revised to be between $106 million to $109 million. The company remains optimistic for the long-term performance, with spending on artificial intelligence growing at 28% annually.

PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

This $2.43 billion mid-cap share is down 3.80% to $3.54 today, hitting a 1-month low.

PolyNovo is a medical device company based in Australia that primarily focuses on the design, development, and production of its patented dermal regeneration solution, NovoSorb BTM.

However, unlike Altium and Appen, PolyNovo has been all systems go without a material impact on the business. In a trading update in April 2020, the company recorded a record sales month in the US for March. As a result, sales grew 173% for the month compared to March in the previous year.

PolyNovo highlighted a significant increase in BTM sales, reaching $19.1 million in the FY20 results. Reportedly PolyNovo successfully entered new markets, improved gross margin, and secured US$15 million of funding from the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

Most recently, PolyNovo announced it was bringing its breast device in-house to ramp up development. Chair David Williams stated, “We believe we can develop breast and a number of other devices more quickly on our own.”

For context, the PolyNovo share price has rallied 90% in the last year. Though it has since retreated from its December high, slipping by 11.5%.

More reading

• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy right now
• 3 quality SaaS ASX shares to buy
• Are these 4 ASX medical shares set for a healthy 2021?
• ASX 200 drops 1.1%
• 2 high quality ASX growth shares to buy today

Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Appen Ltd and POLYNOVO FPO. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Altium. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Appen Ltd and 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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On 7 October 2020, Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) shares closed at 47 cents. By the close of market today, the Syrah share price was trading at $1.21, up 2.5% for the day and a whopping 157% since 7 October.

According to Syrah Resources, the company’s vision is to become the world’s leading supplier of quality graphite products, specifically active anode material (AAM).

Let’s take a closer look at what the company does and how it managed to double its share price over a three-month period.

What’s been driving the Syrah share price?

The Syrah share price hit a 52-week high in December 2020 when it popped to 95 cents. This achievement followed an announcement regarding the company’s Vidalia, Louisiana AAM production facility in the United States. 

In the 1 December 2020 announcement, Syrah revealed it had completed a bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the expansion of the Vidalia site. The AAM produced at the site is an important component of lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used in electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. 

This was a significant win with respect to Syrah’s goal of becoming the first vertically-integrated producer of natural graphite AAM outside of China. With its US location, Syrah is seeking to actively participate in the electric vehicle market across the States as well as in Europe.

What’s a vertically integrated producer?

Vertical integration is a business strategy under which a company controls its own supply chain. In the case of Syrah, the graphite necessary to produce AAM is being mined via the company’s Balama graphite operation in Mozambique.

A vertical integration strategy can benefit a business in many ways. For example, it can assist a company to maintain supply chain control, achieve significant cost savings, and make general efficiency improvements along its production chain. By mining its own graphite, as opposed to sourcing it from an external supplier, Syrah seeks to uphold greater control over the raw materials necessary for AAM production at its Vidalia facility.

What’s next for Syrah Resources?

According to Syrah’s latest quarterly report, the company is on track to achieve its goal of becoming the first vertically-integrated producer of natural graphite AAM outside China. The company reported ending the quarter with a strong cash balance of US$44 million.

Syrah’s quarterly update also cited a timeline which includes the first production of AAM occurring at the Vidalia site in the first quarter of 2021. The company expects to dispatch AAM to potential customers for evaluation in the second quarter of this year. 

Over the past couple of months, Syrah Resources has been reasonably accurate with predicting the timing of important company milestones. AAM production is a big one, and investors will no doubt be watching the Syrah Resources share price to see whether the company can continue meeting its anticipated deadlines. 

More reading

• Why CSL, Lovisa, Lynas, & Syrah shares are dropping lower
• Why the Syrah (ASX:SYR) share price is sinking 10% lower today
• Why the Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) share price is in a trading halt

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

The post Why the Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) share price has more than doubled in 3 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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