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In a world where share markets increasingly ignore traditional financial metrics to figure out the worth of companies, brand value has never been more important.

But even a quality as ethereal as brand value can be measured.

Each year, United States consultancy, Interbrand, publishes a list of the top 100 brands in the world.

Clare Capital analyst, Robin Basra, said the rankings are calculated as a combination of three attributes – financial forecasts, the role of the brand and the strength of consumer preference for the brand.

And the world has dramatically shifted to technology over the past 10 years.

“A decade ago, Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Google (Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG)) and General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) represented the most valuable brands in the world,” said Basra.

“In 2020, Google and Microsoft retain their positions, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has replaced IBM as the most valuable technology brand, and the others have fallen lower down the order – signalling changing dynamics and consumer preferences.”

Another nod to the way the globe is shifting is that a non-American company, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX: 005930), snuck in at fifth place.

Valuable brands outperform rest of share market

This brand value thing matters on the stock market. 

In a year when most publicly listed companies were hammered by COVID-19, the share prices of the five most valuable brands were up 54% on average.

Even when generalised out to the 100 most valuable brands, their collective share price has outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) by more than double.

Top 5 brands	2010 rank	Age (years)	2020 brand value (USD)	Brand value multiple 2010 to 2020	Revenue multiple 2010 to 2020	Share price change in last 12 months
1. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)	17	43	$323 billion	6.1x	7.1x	80% up
2. Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)	36	26	$201 billion	8x	4.6x	78% up
3. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)	3	45	$166 billion	9.5x	10.8x	47% up
4. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL)	4	22	$165 billion	6.6x	6.4x	37% up
5. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX: 005930)	19	82	$62 billion	4.7x	1.5x	27% up
Source: Clare Capital. Table created by author

Most valuable brands by sector

The brand leaders for each sector have also shown healthy share price growth. 

The exception is Toyota Motor Corp (TYO: 7203), which perhaps isn’t surprising considering the economic downturn.

Sector	Most valuable brand	Age (years)	2020 brand value (USD)	Share price change in last 12 months
Technology	1. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)	43	$323 billion	80% up
Beverage	6. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO)	134	$57 billion	2% up
Motoring	7. Toyota Motor Corp (TYO: 7203)	87	$52 billion	4% down
Apparel	15. Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE)	56	$34 billion	41% up
Luxury	17. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (EPA: MC)	97	$32 billion	26% up
Source: Clare Capital. Table created by author

More reading

• Better buy: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) or every Dow Jones stock?
• Here are the shares Magellan has been buying recently
• What has Warren Buffett been up to lately?
• Why the Dubber Corp (ASX:DUB) share price is surging today
• Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s ‘Teslaquila’ tequila sells out in hours

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Tony Yoo owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nike and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, and long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, and Nike. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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In early afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another again. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.4% to 6,511.9 points.

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

Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU)

The Douugh share price has jumped 5% to 37 cents. This follows the release of an announcement this morning which reveals that the neobank has officially launched its app in the US following a successful 18-month trial. The company’s app uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to tailor individual financial solutions to a user’s personal income and spending data. It aims to help users spend wisely, save more, and accumulate wealth over time.

Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR)

The Mirvac share price is up over 4% to $2.75. Investors have been buying the property company’s shares after it was upgraded by analysts at Macquarie. The broker has upgraded Mirvac to an outperform rating with a $2.91 price target. It made the move on the belief that Mirvac will benefit from a recovery in the residential market.

Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH)

The Oil Search share price has surged 6% higher to $3.95. The catalyst for this appears to have been another rise in oil prices overnight following Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine update. It isn’t just Oil Search that is charging higher, a number of other energy shares are recording sizeable gains today. So much so, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy index is up almost 3.5% at the time of writing.

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)

The Westpac share price is up 3% to $19.16. As well as getting a boost from the aforementioned COVID-19 vaccine news, Australia’s oldest bank was given a lift from a positive broker note. According to a note out of Morgan Stanley, its analysts have upgraded Westpac’s shares to an overweight rating with an improved price target of $20.40. It notes that the housing market is improving and is happy with its provisioning.

More reading

• Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price on the move again. Here’s why
• ASX 200 up 0.35%: Moderna vaccine success, Afterpay update, Westpac upgraded
• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) picks best ASX stocks to buy for 2021 post-COVID recovery
• Aussie companies blast ‘knee-jerk’ COVID-19 border closures
• 3 shares that have strongly outperformed their sectors this month

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Stock exchange ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) has confirmed that Monday’s outage was a system error and “not a cyber event or hacking related”.

The ASX advised the Australian Signals Directorate it did not believe the freeze, which shut down ASX share trading for most of Monday, was the result of a cyber security incident.

Nevertheless, the ASX will be required to report and provide full details of the incident to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).  ASIC has described the trading shutdown as a “significant concern and had a significant impact on market participants and investors”, and says that it will investigate if any breaches were made. 

The ASX share price is slightly down by 1.01% today to $81.58.

What happened on Monday?

The outage started within 24 minutes of Monday’s market opening, when the system was frozen at 10.24am Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

The ASX attributed the system freeze to a new trading platform supplied by Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ). The platform, which has been implemented and tested since January, was “refreshed” on Saturday and scheduled to go live at 2.25am (AEST) that Monday morning.

After investigating, the ASX said the glitch appeared to have been caused by combination orders. It said that the system crashed when market participants submitted combination orders, which are normally used by institutions and professional investors to trade securities in a single order. When these orders were submitted, the software caused inaccurate market data to be recorded on bid and offer prices. The ASX response was to put the market in “enquire status”, which meant all orders were instantly frozen.

ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens apologised for the all-day disruption, saying:

The outage falls short of the high standards we set ourselves and the standards others expect of us. Notwithstanding the extensive testing and rehearsals, and the involvement of our technology provider Nasdaq, ASX accepts responsibility.

ASX disruptions in the past

This is not the first time the ASX has encountered a major disruption of this scale. Only last month, ASX’s new website suffered a glitch at launch, and did not show company announcements.

In a 2016, a hardware failure in the main database used to operate the ASX market triggered a number of events that meant the ASX market did not open at 10am. The market was also closed early that day, and opened as usual the next day.

Two IPOs that were impacted by the glitch

Among those unable to access the ASX’s services on Monday were two companies due to list on the ASX after months of preparation and the successful completion of initial public offerings (IPOs). Native Mineral Resources (ASX: NMR) and Universal Store Holdings (ASX: UNI) said that their debut listings were disrupted, but both remained optimistic that the incident would not hamper the performance of their share prices going forward. 

More reading

• ASIC to investigate if ASX is fit to hold market licence
• ASX trading halt to remain in place for the rest of the day
• Update: Trading on ASX remains in ‘enquire’ state after market data error
• ASX trading has been frozen this morning in IT glitch
• $278m fashion retailer debuts on ASX today

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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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At lunch on Tuesday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is back trading as normal and continuing its ascent. The benchmark index is currently up 0.35% to 6,508.3 points.

Here’s what is happening on the market today:

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine gives ASX 200 a boost.

News that there is another potentially effective COVID-19 vaccine has given the Australian share market a boost on Tuesday. Overnight Moderna reported that its COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19 during its phase three trials. This was even better than Pfizer’s vaccine which was shown to be more than 90% effective against COVID-19. Both vaccines are using mRNA technology. This is a new approach to vaccines that uses genetic material to provoke an immune response.

Afterpay annual general meeting.

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price is trading lower on the day of its annual general meeting. At the event, the company confirmed that Nick Molnar would take on the role of co-CEO with Anthony Eisen. Management also provided a brief update on current trading. Mr Eisen commented: “October was another record month for underlying sales globally and we are performing ahead of this in November. The growth of new customers is accelerating since the end of Q1 in both the US and UK as the pipeline of new merchants go live on our platform.”

Bank shares charge higher

The big four banks are all trading notably higher on Tuesday. The best performer in the group has been the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price with a 2.5% gain. As well as getting a boost from the vaccine news, Australia’s oldest bank was the subject of a positive broker note today. Analysts at Morgan Stanley have upgraded the bank’s shares to an overweight rating with a $20.40 price target.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers.

The best performer on the ASX 200 for a second day in a row is the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDI (ASX: URW) share price with a 15% gain. This means the global shopping centre operator’s shares are now up 26% since the start of the week. The worst performer has been the Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL) share price with a 6% decline. This is despite there being no news out of the investment platform provider.

More reading

• Here’s how the ASX 200 compares to other global indices
• Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price lower despite leadership and AGM update
• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) picks best ASX stocks to buy for 2021 post-COVID recovery
• Aussie companies blast ‘knee-jerk’ COVID-19 border closures
• ASX 200 on watch after study shows Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective

James Mickleboro owns shares of Westpac Banking. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Netwealth. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Walking hand in hand with almost every country with a stock exchange is an accompanying index. An index is how investors can rank companies on stock exchanges according to their size. Indices are very useful for gauging the overall performance of the share market, as opposed to the individual shares that they consist of. In recent years, this has gained a new level of importance given the rise of index exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that have become one of the most popular avenues for investing in shares.

So in Australia, our stock exchange is typically represented by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which holds 200 of the largest companies listed on the ASX. The ASX 200 ranks these 200 shares by market capitalisation, so the largest companies have the most weight in the index. That’s why an ASX 200 index fund like the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) will (at the time of writing) have 7.82% of its funds in CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), but only 0.06% of the fund in Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) shares.

So how does the ASX 200 compare to other countries’ indices? The ASX is often criticised for being ‘heavy’ in bank and mining shares, so let’s see how it stacks up.

ASX 200 in the spotlight

The top 10 shares in the ASX 200 are as follows:

1. CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) with a 7.82% weighting
2. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) with a 7.22% weighting
3. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) with a 5.99% weighting
4. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) with a 3.91% weighting
5. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) with a 3.7% weighting
6. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ) with a 3.26% weighting
7. Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) with a 3.09% weighting
8. Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) with a 2.7% weighting
9. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) with a 2.67% weighting
10. Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) with a 2.35% weighting

So straight off the bat, we can see that ASX bank shares make up a huge proportion of the ASX 200, with 5 out of the top 10 being banks. Mining companies, not so much. BHP is there at number 3, but it’s the only ASX resources share in this list. It’s worth noting though, that there are 4 ASX resources shares in the following 10 stocks in the ASX 200.

So how does this list compare with other exchanges around the world?

Over to the USA

Well, here’s a list of the top 10 companies in the United States S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX), the most popular index covering American shares.

1. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)
2. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
3. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)
4. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB)
5. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL)
6. Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B)
7. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
8. Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE: PG)
9. Visa Inc (NYSE: V)
10. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM)

Only one bank, and no miners! Very different, as you can see. In the US, it’s big tech that dominates, rather than banks or miners (although Berkshire owns a large number of banking stocks). The first 5 stocks on this list are all massive tech companies.

Oh, Canada!

Let’s now have a look at Canada and the top 10 stocks on the S&P/TSX 60 Index (TSI: TX60), the index covering the top 60 companies on Canada’s TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange):

1. Royal Bank of Canada (TSE: RY)
2. Shopify Inc (TSE: SHOP)
3. Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE: TD)
4. Canadian National Railway (TSE: CNR)
5. Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE: BNS)
6. Enbridge Inc (TSE: ENB)
7. Brookfield Asset Management Inc (TSE: BAM.A)(TSE: BAM.B)
8. Barrick Gold Corp (TSE: ABX)
9. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (TSE: CP)
10. Bank of Montreal (TSE: BMO)

Now that looks more like the ASX. Four banks and one miner! Interestingly, e-commerce wunderkind, Shopify, is also present, as well as two railway companies, which don’t have nearly the same presence on our own ASX.

London calling

Finally, let’s have a look at the top 10 stocks in the FTSE 100 Index (FTSE: UKX), the index that tracks the largest 100 companies on the United Kingdom’s London Stock Exchange:

1. AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN)
2. HSBC Holdings plc (LON: HSBA)
3. GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON: GSK)
4. Diageo plc (LON: DGE)
5. British American Tobacco plc (LON: BATS)
6. Unilever plc (LON: ULVR)
7. Rio Tinto plc (LON: RIO)
8. Royal Dutch Shell plc (LON: RDSA)(LON: RDSB)
9. BP plc (LON: BP)
10. Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (LON: RB)

Another interesting grab bag. AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline are pharma giants, with the former now famous for its coronavirus vaccine candidate, incidentally. HSBC is a bank, whereas Diageo and British American Tobacco are ‘sin stocks’ (something we don’t really see on the ASX). Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser are consumer staples giants, whereas Rio Tinto (yes, the very same), BP and Royal Dutch Shell are all mining/oil companies.

Foolish takeaway

From this analysis, we can see that the ASX 200 has far more in common with both the TSX 60 and the FTSE 100 that the American S&P 500 today. However, saying that, all four exchanges are unique in their own way, and compliment and contrast to the ASX 200 as such.

More reading

• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) picks best ASX stocks to buy for 2021 post-COVID recovery
• ASX 200 on watch after study shows Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• ASIC to investigate if ASX is fit to hold market licence
• How the pandemic is making some investors super-rich

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, National Australia Bank Limited, Procter & Gamble, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), Facebook, Microsoft, and Visa. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. recommends Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Holdings, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2021 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), long January 2021 $85 calls on Microsoft, short January 2021 $115 calls on Microsoft, short January 2022 $1940 calls on Amazon, long January 2022 $1920 calls on Amazon, and short December 2020 $210 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Macquarie Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Transurban Group, Wesfarmers Limited, and Woolworths Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Facebook. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) share price is in a trading halt today after the real estate investment trust (REIT) announced a $171 million cold storage portfolio acquisition.

The latest addition to Centuria’s logistics portfolio follows a series of major acquisitions this year. They include the $417 million Telstra Data Centre in Victoria in August and the $167 million Visy Glass manufacturing facility in New Zealand in October.

With the new acquisition, Centuria’s industrial portfolio now stands at 59 assets worth $2.3 billion. The company says the occupancy rate is 96.8% with a 9.7-year weighted average lease expiry (WALE).

What does Centuria do?

Centuria Industrial REIT is Australia’s largest domestic pure play industrial REIT. Centuria’s portfolio of quality industrial assets are located across Australia’s major cities. The company’s hands-on, active management style provides investors with regular dividend payments and the potential for capital growth.

Centuria Industrial REIT is part of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

About the acquisition

In this morning’s ASX announcement, Centuria reported it has acquired 3 cold storage assets worth $171 million, providing an average initial yield of 5.62%. The facilities – located in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland – are 100% occupied.

Centuria also revealed a $125 million fully underwritten institutional placement to partly fund the purchase.

Commenting on the acquisition, Centuria fund manager Jesse Curtis said:

The cold storage portfolio acquisition leverages a key growth focus for CIP to acquire assets supporting non-discretionary, food and pharmaceutical distribution and refrigerated logistics industries. These industries are experiencing strong tailwinds underpinned by a rapid increase in online food sales creating favourable supply and demand dynamics.

The three assets are strategically located within core industrial markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, with excellent connectivity to distribution networks. They provide secure income streams supported by high-quality tenant customers.

Centuria funds management head Ross Lees added:

Throughout the 2020 calendar year, there has been a considerable consumer shift towards non-discretionary online retailing due to the impact of COVID-19. Adding to this is the unmet demand for cold storage facilities from the grocery and pharmaceutical sectors. These metrics have underpinned Centuria’s rapid portfolio expansion within the industrial and logistics sector.

Within the past 12 months, Centuria’s funds have acquired approximately $1.1 billion in industrial assets. It has been a resilient sector and one we believe will continue growing in the near future.

The Centuria share price is down 5% year-to-date and up 39% since the 24 March lows. It was priced at $3.15 prior to the trading halt.

More reading

• Is the Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) share price the best REIT of 2020?
• Centuria Capital (ASX:CNI) delivering on FY21 strategy

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX: PLL) share price has been a very strong performer on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, the lithium-focused mineral exploration company’s shares are up a sizeable 13.5% to 42 cents.

Why is the Piedmont Lithium share price zooming higher?

Investors have been buying the company’s shares after it provided an update on its drilling campaign at the Piedmont Lithium Project in the United States.

According to the release, the company has expanded its current drilling campaign by an additional 25,000 meters. This will see three additional rigs arriving in the field in the coming weeks.

Management notes that the expanded drill program is designed to complete infill drilling on the core property with the objective of upgrading its mineral resource classification category for select areas. This will mean these areas move from inferred category to the measured and indicated categories.

What’s next?

Piedmont intends to publish its mineral resource estimate update for the core property in the second quarter of 2021. After which, it is aiming to complete a definitive feasibility study (DFS) in mid-2021.

The company’s President and CEO, Keith D. Phillips, is optimistic that the company is sitting atop an asset that will benefit greatly from the electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

He said: “We are excited to be aggressively expanding our drill program with five drill rigs soon to be in the field. Our dual objectives are to upgrade the current Inferred Resources within the Core Property to support our upcoming DFS, while also growing the overall scale of our mineral resource tonnage.”

“The Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt is one of the world’s most prolific lithium belts and we are hopeful that we will ultimately delineate North America’s largest spodumene resource, ideally located in North Carolina to power North America’s clean energy storage and EV revolution,” he concluded.

More reading

• Here’s why the Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) share price is dropping lower 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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL) share price is pushing higher on Tuesday morning.

At the time of writing, the growing telecom company’s shares are up 2% to $1.61.

Why is the Uniti share price pushing higher?

Investors have been buying the company’s shares after it announced a new acquisition.

According to the release, Uniti has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the issued capital of specialist broadband Retail Service Provider (RSP), Harbour ISP.

Harbour is a fast-growing RSP, specialising in the delivery of retail broadband services to greenfield housing estates and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) developments.

At present, the ISP has more than 30,000 broadband customers nationwide. Uniti notes it also has a reputation for delivering high quality customer service, evidenced by its strong customer retention levels and sustained growth in customer numbers.

Harbour is a current RSP on the Opticomm Ltd (ASX: OPC) and Uniti owned fibre networks and is a reseller of NBN.

What will this cost Uniti?

The two parties have agreed a purchase consideration of $9.25 million and 1 million Uniti options with an exercise price of $1.54.

Management is forecasting an earnings contribution, including synergies, of $3 million+ in FY 2022, which represents a purchase multiple of ~3x EBITDA.

It feels it is a highly strategic and accretive acquisition, enabling greater penetration and revenue expansion on Uniti-owned fibre networks, including those added via the recent OptiComm acquisition.

Uniti’s CEO and Managing Director, Michael Simmons, commented: “We are delighted to have acquired Harbour ISP. Functional separation now enables us to actively promote retail broadband offerings on our owned networks and Harbour ISP, with its proven pedigree in the greenfield broadband market, is an outstanding platform for us to build specific capability as well as scale in our CBE business unit.”

“With the now confirmed addition of OptiComm to the Uniti Group, our network of private fibre premises (connected, under construction or contracted to be connected) exceeds 400,000 connections. Given this large and growing footprint, the strategic value of acquiring Harbour as a specialist greenfield RSP is significant and timely. We look forward to our CBE business, inclusive of Harbour ISP, continuing to profitably expand as further penetration and growth in average revenue per user on our owned fibre networks is delivered,” he added.

More reading

• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Why Dicker Data, South32, Tyro, and Uniti shares are pushing 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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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SRG Global Ltd (ASX: SRG) shares have lifted this morning, after the company announced 3 new separate contracts worth $55 million. The engineering company says the contracts relate to bridge, dam, and tank project with various government bodies. At the time of writing, the SRG Global share price is trading up 4.7% at 33.5 cents.

What are the new projects?

SRG Global has secured 3 projects, to be executed concurrently:

1. Specialist balanced cantilever bridge contract variation with Transport for NSW as part of the New England Highway upgrade at Bolivia Hill, NSW

2. Specialist design and construct contract with Water Corporation for a 20ML water tank in Karratha, WA

3. Specialist dam remedial works at Paradise Dam, QLD for Sunwater and CPB Contractors

Commenting on the news: SRG Global managing director David Macgeorge said:

These contract awards highlight our diverse capability using specialist construction methods in our core markets of dams, bridges and tanks. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Transport for NSW, Water Corporation, Sunwater and CPB Contractors and building on our strong track record in these markets.

Today’s project announcements follow another major contract that SRG Global won back in July. At the time, the company said that it had secured an 8-year contract for the the provision of inspection and specialist maintenance services on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

What is SRG Global?

SRG Global is an engineering company that provides asset services, mining services and construction operating across the entire asset lifecycle. It has a global portfolio of work, including The Emirates Tower in Dubai.

How has the SRG Global share price performed in 2020?

The SRG Global share price started the year at 40 cents. It dropped dramatically to 18 cents in March before recovering to today’s level of 33.5 cents. The company commands a market cap of $143 million.

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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. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) shares are on the move today following the launch of the company’s financial wellness app in the United States. In early morning trade, the Douugh share price rocketed as high as 40.5 cents before pulling back to 37 cents at the time of writing. This represents a 5.7% gain for the day so far. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 0.35% to 6710.4 points.

Launch into world’s largest market

The Douugh share price is surging higher this morning after the company announced the official launch of its app into the US following a successful 18-month trial.

Targeting millennials and gen-Z consumers, Douugh revealed it will be utilising Google’s ad bidding platform. In addition, the company will focus on developing distribution channels to create awareness and harness new customers. This will be created through word of mouth and expanded marketing programs across online and social media platforms.

The app uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to tailor individual financial solutions to a user’s personal income and spending data. The objective is to help users spend wisely, save more and accumulate wealth over time.

With the launch, Douugh introduced an industry-first ‘Bills Jar’ feature with a linked virtual card. This assists users to track and cover their fixed and recurring outgoing expenses.

Commenting on the offering, Douugh founder and CEO, Mr Andy Taylor said:

Through our beta phase, we found that one of our customers’ biggest pain was keeping track of their fixed and recurring bills, especially subscriptions. Bills Jar flags upcoming bills, allowing customers to sweep in funds and use the dedicated virtual card to become the principal card on file to pay recurring bills, outside of the main Douugh checking account.

It’s a key foundational component, along with our integrated Savings Jars, Rainy Day Jar and Spending Targets, which allow our users to better manage their money and stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. A task that will become automated and self-learning over time with the introduction of Autopilot.

Another highlight of the Dough app is the ability for customers to connect it to their existing bank, investment accounts and credit cards. It essentially provides the end-user with a snapshot of their financial position.

As the launch takes place, Douugh will look to roll-out its Autopilot and Investment Jars in the coming months. This will be prior to the introduction of a monthly subscription fee.

What else did management say?

Furthermore, Mr Taylor went on to talk about how Douugh is aiming to make tailwinds in the industry. He added:

We want to build a global brand and platform business, and the U.S is the place we need to start to allow us to build the scale needed to execute on our long-term business plan. We are trying to do to banking what Tesla is doing to the automotive industry.

We see open banking and autonomous AI technology to be the next frontier in fintech, and the biggest disruption to happen to such a stale industry vertical that has only really experienced linear improvement to date.

About the Douugh share price

Douugh raised $6 million when it listed on the ASX in October, through a reverse takeover of ZipTel Ltd. Since then, the Douugh share price has been on an incredible run, jumping from 4.8 cents last month to its current price of 37 cents. This represents a gain of over 670% for shareholders in just over 6 weeks.

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• Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is up almost 1000% since its IPO
• Douugh and Afterpay were among the most traded shares on the ASX last week

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Aaron Teboneras 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 Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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