Tag: Stock pick

On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form and recorded a small gain. The benchmark index rose 0.2% to 8,595.2 points.

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

ASX 200 expected to rise again

The Australian share market looks set to rise again on Thursday following a decent night on Wall Street. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 16 points or 0.2% higher this morning. In late trade in the United States, the Dow Jones is up 1%, the S&P 500 is up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq is 0.25% higher.

Oil prices push higher

ASX 200 energy shares Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) could have a good session on Thursday after oil prices pushed higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 0.55% to US$58.95 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.35% to US$62.68 a barrel. Traders were buying oil after Russia-Ukraine peace talks failed to reach a breakthrough.

Buy 4D Medical shares

Analysts at Bell Potter think that 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) shares are a buy for investors with a high risk tolerance. This morning, the broker has retained its speculative buy rating on the lung imaging technology provider’s shares with an improved price target of $2.50. It said: “We expect further wins from the 4D Medical sales team being mainly expansion of existing license arrangement to include fee for service revenues for CTVQ.”

Gold price rises

It could be a good session for ASX 200 gold shares including Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) on Thursday after the gold price pushed higher. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.35% to US$4,235.5 an ounce. This was driven by increasing US rate cut bets after the release of weak payroll data.

Buy Harvey Norman shares

Bell Potter thinks investors should be buying Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN) shares. This morning, the broker has named the retail giant as one of its high conviction picks with a buy rating and $8.30 price target. It said: “Despite the strong re-rate in the name, HVN trades at ~2.0x market capitalisation to freehold property value as Australia’s single largest owner in large format retail with a global portfolio surpassing $4.5b and collectively owning ~40% of their stores (franchised in Australia and company operated offshore). This sees our view that of the 1-year forward ~19x P/E multiple as justified considering the multiple catalysts near/mid-term.”

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 3 top consumer discretionary shares from Bell Potter
• ASX dividend shares: How to snowball your passive income
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 of the best ASX 200 shares to buy right now!
• Why 4DMedical, Dateline, Predictive Discovery, and Wildcat shares are racing higher

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

With emerging headwinds for consumer discretionary shares, analysts at Bell Potter have provided updated guidance on where to look within a choppy sector. 

Despite economists now tipping an increase for the cash rate at this month’s RBA meeting, Bell Potter still sees opportunity for a few consumer discretionary shares. 

Sector overview

In the broker’s Monthly Bell report, the analyst team said they have seen varying performance recently between discretionary categories with technology/electronics, wellness & sports and services such as cafes & recreation leading the way.

Meanwhile others such as mass apparel & lifestyle footwear and furniture & household goods are lagging.

While the pause in interest rate cuts in Australia limits catalysts for the Consumer Discretionary sector, we continue to prefer key beneficiaries from the rate cuts seen so far and category outperformers. We continue to look for retailers with differentiating customer value propositions & balance sheet strength and support names who may grow via market share expansion with more diverse customer demographics.

The report said to expect another year of growth in the promotional period around Black Friday. Beneficiaries are expected to be technology products, household appliances and gifting driven purchases. 

The 2025 projections for the Black Friday seasonal period in Australia (as per Roy Morgan and Australian Retailers Association) sees a further 4% increase in the 4-day weekend retail spend compared to a 3% increase in 2024.

The broker listed three high conviction consumer discretionary with buy recommendations. 

Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY)

Bell Potter said key drivers for business growth are its continued store-rollout targeting a network of 25+ stores, along with its private label brands and high-margin retail media arm contributing to margin expansion and thus a strong earnings trajectory. 

It views this consumer discretionary stock as well positioned to take advantage of the high performing beauty category within the Australian market.

Target price: $1.25. 

Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd (ASX: HVN)

As a leading household goods retailer in Australia and growing presence globally, Bell Potter said Harvey Norman has seen modest growth in its independent franchisee base in Australia and expanded its company operated global store print over the last 5 years. 

It sees Harvey Norman as one of the most diversified retailers in terms of both categories and regions, while benefitting from both as a quasi-retailer/landlord and channel mix via company operated stores and franchising.

Target price: $8.30. 

Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI)

The company has ~85 stores under its flagship ‘Universal Store’ brand and is expanding private label brands by growing the stand-alone format of ‘Perfect Stranger’ and ‘Thrills’ with more than 100 stores in total.

Bell Potter said at ~18x FY26e P/E (BPe), it sees Universal Store shares as trading at a discount to the ASX300 peer group. Its optimism is justified by the distinctive growth traits supporting consistent outperformance in a challenging category, longer term opportunity with three brands, organic gross margin expansion via private label product penetration (currently ~55%) and management execution.

Target price: $10.50.

The post 3 top consumer discretionary shares from Bell Potter appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• Does Macquarie rate Harvey Norman shares a buy, hold or sell?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Harvey Norman, Mirvac, Qube, and Suncorp shares are falling today
• Brokers name 3 ASX dividend stocks to buy

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Adore Beauty Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Harvey Norman. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Adore Beauty Group and Universal Store. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Brokers are always looking for buy ideas; the ever-changing share prices (and updates) give investors the opportunities to buy appealing ASX shares that are undervalued.

When a broker thinks a stock is a buy, that’s an interesting signal. When numerous analysts are excited about an ASX share, it could indicate an appealing investment opportunity.

We’re going to look at three of the most buy-rated businesses on the ASX right now.

Orica Ltd (ASX: ORI)

According to CommSec’s collation of analyst opinions, there are currently 14 buy ratings on the business.

Broker UBS describes Orica as the world’s largest supplier of commercial explosives and blasting systems, servicing both the mining and infrastructure sectors. Its customers are from numerous markets, including Australia, Asia, the Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

UBS is one of the brokers that rates Orica as a buy, with a price target of $27. That suggests a possible rise of 11% over the next year from where it is at the time of writing.

The broker noted that the ASX share’s recent FY25 result saw operating profit (EBIT) growth across all segments, reflecting improvements in the mix of products and the margin.

Pleasingly, FY26 guidance suggests EBIT growth across all segments. UBS wrote:

Orica is positively leveraged to resilient global mine production activity, and supportive AN prices given relatively balanced global supply. We expect mix and margin improvements from the uptake of premium blasting solutions and technology services, and the integration of recent acquisitions, to drive a 3yr EPS CAGR of +8% (FY25-28E). We see ongoing P/E re-rate potential…

Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)

According to CommSec’s collation of analyst opinions, there are currently 10 buy ratings on one of Australia’s largest supermarket businesses and a large player in the liquor space.

UBS is one of the brokers that rates Coles shares as a buy, with a price target of $25. That implies a possible rise of more than 12% within the next year.

The broker likes the business following the company’s FY26 first-quarter update. Coles’ total sales grew 3.9% to $10.96 billion, which is more than what UBS was expecting.

UBS highlighted in a note how Coles is outperforming rival Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), along with the benefit of automated distribution centres (ADCs) and customer fulfillment centres (CFCs):

We remain confident superior execution continues as COL leverages recent investments (eg, Witron ADCs – improved availability in NSW & QLD; Ocado CFCs – drove 28% 1Q26 online growth [WOW +13%], with all missions performing well), plus ongoing promotional effectiveness (fewer, better) & sound ranging (increasingly store-led), with these both supply chain enabled.

UBS forecasts $1.25 billion of net profit in FY26 for Coles.

QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE)

According to CommSec’s collation of analyst opinions, there are currently nine buy ratings on the business.

QBE is an insurance business with a presence in North America, Australia and the Pacific, and international.

UBS has a buy rating on the ASX share, with a price target of $24.15. That implies a possible rise of 26% over the next year, at the time of writing.

The broker noted that the 2025 third-quarter update showed FY25’s earnings and the outlook for FY26 “continue to track in-line with expectations” despite a softening in the premium rate cycle.

UBS noted:            

With FY26E COR [combined operating ratio] guidance of ~92.5%… supporting a ~16% ROE outlook, mid-single digit volume growth ambitions retained, investment yields stabilising and A$450m buyback announced (~1.5% shares), its FY26E earnings outlook remains well underpinned. At a 10x FY26E PE (0.54x ASX200, 18% disc to 5yr avg) we continue to see compelling value and retain a Buy rating.

The post Brokers rate these 3 top ASX shares as buys in December appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• How much higher can this explosive ASX stock go?
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• 5 best Australian dividend stocks to buy in December
• 3 reasons to buy QBE shares in December
• 2 top ASX dividend shares for retirees

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Woolworths Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Most investors who come to the ASX seeking passive income from dividends end up buying stocks like National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) or Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS).

Whilst there’s nothing wrong with buying blue chip stocks like NAB or Telstra, these shares are currently trading on rather low dividend yields, at least compared to what has, on average, been on offer in years gone by.

That’s why I think passive income seekers might want to consider an exchange-traded fund (ETF) instead.

The BetaShares Dividend Harvester Active ETF (ASX: HVST) is currently trading on a trailing dividend yield of 5.86%.

What’s more, this passive income stock pays out a dividend 12 times a year. Yep, HVST owners get a passive income paycheque every single month. Our 5.86% yield figure includes the 6.52 cents per share dividend distribution due in the middle of this month, for an annual 2025 total of 77.96 cents per unit.

However, whilst this ETF might suit investors looking to get a high yield, it might not be suitable for everyone. Let’s check out how the Dividend Harvester ETF manages to bring in such a sizeable yield.

How does this ASX passive income stock provide its 5.86% yield?

This ASX ETF is not your ordinary, index-hugging passive investment. Instead of holding a relatively consistent portfolio, HVST follows a ‘dividend harvesting’ strategy, as its name implies. This involves buying a passive income stock like Telstra or NAB after it announces a dividend but before it trades ex-dividend. The fund then collects the payout, and later sells the stock, using proceeds to buy its next income payer.

In this way, HVST can provide a relatively large dividend yield to its investors. However, there is a catch.

Buying and selling stocks just to collect dividends doesn’t usually leave any room for capital growth or compounding. As a result, HVST’s overall returns tend to underperform the broader market. In other words, the higher dividends don’t make up for the lost share price appreciation.

To illustrate, HVST units returned a total of 8.82% over the 12 months to 31 October 2025. In contrast,  a simple ASX index fund, the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS), has returned 12.63% over the same period.

There’s also the cost to consider. HVST’s passive income strategy doesn’t come cheap. Whilst VAS charges a management fee of 0.07% per annum, HVST will set an investor back 0.72% per annum.

As such, the Betashares Dividend Harvester Active ETF might be a good fit for those investors prioritising dividend income. But perhaps not for investors looking for the best overall returns for their portfolios.

The post This ASX passive income share offers a 5.86% yield. Here’s how! appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• A perfect passive income stock: 0.48% payout each month
• 3 ASX ETFs for strong dividend income

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Recent share market volatility has led to multiple ASX growth shares dropping significantly in value, giving investors an opportunity to pick them up for a much lower price.

Buying at a lower price doesn’t mean it’s going to recover in the next week (or month) of course, but focusing on growing businesses means we’re more likely to focus on a company that could see its share price rebound at some point.

I believe both of the companies I’m about to highlight are two of the most compelling non-tech ASX growth shares with international growth intentions.

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

Breville sells an array of small kitchen appliances and it’s best known for its coffee machines. It owns a few different brands including Breville, Sage, Lelit and Baratza. It also sells coffee beans through its Beanz business.

As the chart below shows, it’s down more than 20% since January 2025 following the developments with US tariffs, so the company has been working hard to move its manufacturing of US products away from China, with a focus on Mexican production.

The ASX growth share delivered revenue and net profit growth of more than 10% in FY25. I’m expecting attractive growth rates to continue in FY27 and onwards.

I believe there could be more adoption of coffee-at-home consumption globally in the coming years, particularly if expansion markets (for Breville) like China, the Middle East and South Korea help materially.

According to the forecast on Commsec, the business could grow earnings per share (EPS) by 13% in FY27, putting it at 28x FY27’s estimated earnings.

Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG)

GYG is a Mexican food restaurant business with more than 225 locations in Australia and more than 260 globally.

At the end of the FY26 first quarter, it had 227 Australian locations, 22 Singapore restaurants, five Japan locations and seven US restaurants. I’m expecting those numbers to rise in the medium-term.

The ASX growth share has a long-term goal of 1,000 restaurants in Australia over the next two decades, which would be more than a quadrupling over the period. Economies of scale could mean the ASX growth share achieves stronger profit margins over time, significantly boosting the bottom line.  

I think restaurant growth alone could be a stronger driver of the company’s success in the coming years. In the FY26 first quarter, it reported network sales growth of 18.6%, with mid-single digit comparable sales growth across the business.

If Asian network sales can continue growing at a strong double-digit pace over the long-term, GYG could surprise the market and become significantly larger overall.  

With the company willing to provide shareholders with both dividends and a share buyback, I think the ASX growth share looks attractive after falling more than 40% since the start of the year, as the above chart shows.

The post 2 ASX growth shares to buy now while they’re on sale appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Macquarie tips 28% upside for Breville shares
• ASX retail shares: 2 to buy and 1 to sell amid rising inflation
• Macquarie says buy this ASX 200 stock for 30%+ return
• Why Catapult, Collins Foods, Guzman Y Gomez, and Pantoro shares are falling today

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Breville Group and Guzman Y Gomez. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

If you’re a fan of dividend investing as a share market strategy, you might have heard of the term ‘snowball’ to describe the process of building up a stream of passive income from ASX dividend shares.

It refers to the obvious reputation of a snowball rolling down the hill, growing exponentially larger as it collects ever more snow. It’s an apt metaphor for how successful dividend investing can work.

The process is simple. First, an investor buys an ASX dividend share that consistently pays out income every six months (or every quarter or every month in some cases).

The investor then adds to the position when they can. But they also reinvest any dividends they receive back into buying more shares. Now that the investor has more shares to their name, the next time a dividend is paid out, they receive even more dividend income. The process is repeated, and the snowball grows ever larger. Eventually, it will be so large that it can help make our investor fabulously wealthy, and perhaps even fund an early retirement.

That’s the idea, anyway.

But today, I thought it would be worthwhile to go through how this might actually look in action.

How to get your ASX dividend snowball rolling

We’ll use a hypothetical company for this exercise, just to keep things simple. We’ll assume that our company starts at $1 per share, and pays out a 4 cents per share dividend in its first year, which we will dutifully reinvest to buy more shares.  Every year, its dividend will increase by 4%, and its share price by 5%, which is roughly in line with what the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has historically delivered.

After investing a hypothetical ‘life savings’ of $15,000 in our first year, we committed to buying an additional 3,000 shares every year. Our rising salary from our day jobs will hopefully help in this regard, given that the cost of buying 3,000 shares will go up 5% annually.

Here’s what it looks like if an investor follows this pattern for 35 years:

Passive income compounding in action

As you can see, the effects of compounding start slowly, but become more and more powerful as time goes on. To illustrate, between our first and second year, our investor only got a $172.57 passive income pay rise. But between years 34 and 35, the increase was worth almost $4,000 alone.

Another thing to note is that our investor laid down just over $285,000 in capital over this 35-year period. Yet by the end of it, they had a portfolio worth $1.76 million, spitting out more than $50,000 in passive income annually. That’s your snowball in action.

Finally, it is worth noting that this model assumes many things for the benefits of simplification, which aren’t accurate to real-life investing. For one, share prices do not go up like clockwork every year. Nor do dividend payments in most cases. One year might see a share rise 12%, only to fall by 8% the next. But for quality companies, and every ASX index fund, the long-term trajectory has always been up. As you can see above, the sooner you start investing in quality stocks or index funds, the wealthier you will be, and the more passive income you will bring in.

The post ASX dividend shares: How to snowball your passive income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• 3 of the best ASX 200 shares to buy right now!
• Perseus Mining launches superior offer for Predictive Discovery shares
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

After multiple rate cuts by the RBA in 2025, I think this could be a good time to look at high-yield ASX dividend stocks for income.

Term deposit interest rates have reduced, making the yields on offer from some businesses much more appealing.

Some businesses with higher yields can be a risk if those payouts are cut. What’s the appeal of an ‘income stock’ if the income suddenly drops significantly or disappears entirely? I think the three stocks below have large and consistent dividends.

GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG)

GQG is one of the largest fund managers on the ASX, which provides investors with four main strategies: US shares, global shares, international shares (excluding the US) and emerging market shares.

In recent times, GQG has been defensively positioned with its funds’ portfolios because of worries about AI-related valuations. It has recently been vindicated by that decision with plenty of tech/growth stocks falling back. Prior to that, GQG’s funds had a long-term track record of outperforming its benchmarks.

I think the ASX dividend stock is still significantly undervalued after rising more than 20% in less than a month. It currently has an annualised dividend yield of 12.7% based on the latest announced quarterly dividend and it’s trading at 7x its annualised distributable profit, which I think is very cheap if its funds under management (FUM) grows over the long-term.

Shaver Shop Group Ltd (ASX: SSG)

Shaver Shop sells a wide variety of male and female premium shaving items from its store network of more than 120 stores.

The company’s position in the market means that it has been able to secure a number of exclusive agreements with certain shaving brands, giving customers more of a reason to shop at the stores.

Excitingly, the high-yield ASX dividend stock is rolling out products for its own brand called Transform-U to fill gaps in Shaver Shop’s item “range of quality, performance and/or price point driven”. Transform-U is steadily adding new products to its range, which generates a higher gross profit margin.

On the dividend side of things, it increased its dividend every year since 2017, aside from FY24 when it maintained the dividend. It grew the annual dividend per share to 10.3 cents in FY25, translating into a grossed-up dividend yield of 9.9%, including franking credits.

Rivco Australia Ltd (ASX: RIV)

Rivco Australia (formerly know as Duxton Water Ltd) is a company that owns water entitlements which are leased to irrigators on short or long-term leases.

I like this high-yield ASX dividend stock as a way to indirectly invest in the Australian agricultural sector, which is an important part of the economy.

It can benefit from both the leasing income and a potential rise in the value of water entitlements over time.

Pleasingly, the business has increased its half-year payout every six months since 2017. Its latest paid dividends equate to a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.25%, including franking credits.

The post 3 high-yield ASX dividend stocks that are screaming buys right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Rivco Australia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Gqg Partners and Shaver Shop Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is a company many of us have close contact with daily. That’s because it’s the owner of some of the world’s most commonly used apps: Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. About 3.5 billion people around the globe use at least one of these daily. 

The tech giant doesn’t consider itself just a social media company, though. In recent years, it’s made major steps in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) — for example, it’s developed its own large language model, and this tool powers certain Meta products, like the company’s AI assistant.

So, owning Meta stock offers you access to a social media titan as well as a potential winner in the exciting field of AI. But should you wait to get in on this player? No — Here’s one compelling reason to buy Meta shares hand over fist right now.

A solid earnings track record

It’s important to note that Meta’s well-established social media business has helped it produce a long history of earnings growth. Advertisement across Meta’s apps drives revenue, as many sorts of businesses sign up for ads to reach us where they know they’ll find us — on these social media platforms. In the recent quarter, advertising revenue climbed about 25% to $50 billion.

In fact, Meta’s financial picture is so strong that the company is able to expand and invest in AI as well as pay shareholders a dividend.

While AI represents a considerable investment for Meta today, this effort could deliver big down the road. Meta is using AI to improve the overall advertising experience and boost the capabilities of its apps to keep users on them longer — all of this should encourage advertisers to keep coming back to Meta and even increase their ad spending. Finally, the investment in AI could lead to additional products and services that may expand revenue streams in the coming years.

Why buy now?

All of this makes Meta a fantastic stock to own well into the future. But why buy now? Right now, Meta is the cheapest of the Magnificent Seven tech stocks that have driven the S&P 500 to record highs in recent years.

Meta trades for 24x forward earnings estimates, which looks cheap relative to peers and also seems very reasonable considering the complete Meta package.

META PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts

This is particularly noteworthy today as investors worry about the formation of an AI bubble, as valuations of many AI stocks have exploded higher. Meta, trading at these levels, looks much less vulnerable than players that are trading at lofty valuations.

This, along with Meta’s strengths in social media and AI ambitions, makes it a stock to buy hand over fist right now.

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

The post 1 compelling reason to buy Meta hand over fist right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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

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Adria Cimino has positions in Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

In a recent report from Bell Potter, the broker shed light on the exciting ASX small-cap stock, Waratah Minerals Ltd (ASX: WTM). 

It has already surged almost 200% in 2025, and completed a $30 million capital raise back in August. 

The company is a NSW based, gold-copper exploration and development company. 

Its flagship project is its 100%-owned Spur goldcopper project, an advanced stage, pre-resource exploration project set in the East Lachlan region of New South Wales and located ~33km southwest of Orange. 

Why is it gaining momentum?

According to Bell Potter, Waratah Minerals’ flagship Spur project is showing early indications of delivering scale and grade.

Its strategy has been clear from the outset – targeting the margins of a fertile East Lachlan intrusive complex in search of
epithermal gold and porphyry goldcopper mineralisation.

Recent drilling has returned multiple zones of visible gold, fuelling the company’s growth and confidence in the Spur Project

According to Bell Potter, this exploration success shows clear potential for large scale mineralisation. These characteristics are supportive of rapid resource growth and low discovery costs.

The broker also believes the company is led by a management team and board that has a strong track record of value accretive discovery, resource development and divestment.

Nina Hendy, contributing columnist at Bell Potter, said its recent capital raise has drawn investor attention. There has been strong demand coming from existing and new Australian and North American institutional investors. 

This has bolstered the shareholder base and lifted shareholder value in a very short space of time. 

Recent drilling has returned multiple zones of visible gold, fuelling the company’s growth and confidence in the Spur Project. The company has multiple drill rigs on site, with exploration results expected to continue in the coming weeks and months.

How high could it rise?

In a report from Bell Potter in November, the broker said this ASX small-cap is well-funded. It also has a tight capital structure. 

The company (as at October 9) held $34m cash and no debt. Bell Potter believes this is sufficient for over two years of exploration at the current rate of expenditure. 

The team at Bell Potter initiated coverage in this ASX small-cap with a speculative buy recommendation. It also placed a price target of $0.95 on this ASX small-cap stock.

Waratah Minerals shares closed yesterday at $0.515 each. 

From this share price, the target from Bell Potter indicates more than 80% upside.

Elsewhere, TradingView also has a 12 month target price of $0.95.

Online brokerage platform Selfwealth lists the ASX small-cap stock as undervalued by 81%. 

The post Broker tips big upside for this ASX small-cap mining stock appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. 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 Scott Phillips.

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

Michael Burry is not your typical hedge fund manager. He did not go to business school, nor did he complete a traditional analyst program at an investment bank. Rather, Burry’s background is in medicine — completing an MD at Vanderbilt University and previously working as a neurology assistant at Stanford.

Burry eventually took to the capital markets and started his own investment firm. He is primarily known for being one of the few investors who predicted the subprime mortgage crisis back in 2008.

Fast forward to today, and Burry has a new short — artificial intelligence (AI). According to his fund’s latest 13F filing, Burry bought put options on semiconductor powerhouse and AI king Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) last quarter.

Let’s delve into Burry’s beef with Nvidia and assess whether the acclaimed investor has just uncovered a bombshell revelation.

Why is Michael Burry shorting Nvidia?

Over the last three years, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have repeatedly notched new highs. Much of these gains can be attributed to an overwhelmingly bullish AI trade — with valuations among big tech soaring in lockstep with the broader market.

When it comes to Nvidia, however, Burry’s concerns revolve less around valuation and more around accounting — specifically, a concept known as depreciation.

Let’s say a company spends $1 billion on AI hardware, including GPUs, server racks, and networking equipment. If management expects the useful life of these assets to last five years, then the actual expense will be recognized ratably — depreciated — over that timeline. This means that on a company’s income statement, investors will see a depreciation charge for $200 million as opposed to the full $1 billion that was outlaid.

Nvidia is innovating at a record pace — releasing new GPU architectures approximately every 18 months. However, hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Oracle, and Meta Platforms — each of which are major Nvidia customers — are depreciating their AI infrastructure over a timeline that exceeds the actual useful life of these assets.

Burry is contesting that big tech is under-accounting their expense profiles and artificially inflating earnings. Nvidia is Burry’s primary target in the investigation, given the company’s efforts to quickly release new chips, which shorten the product life cycles of existing GPU architectures and render them obsolete after a couple of years at most.

In Burry’s eyes, Nvidia is giving way to a coordinated accounting fraud exercise among leading AI developers. 

Burry’s accounting concerns are legitimate, but is big tech really committing fraud?

Burry is correct in that big tech is depreciating its AI infrastructure over a longer horizon than these products actually last. However, labeling these practices as fraudulent is a bit hyperbolic.

First, public companies report their financial statements in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). While Burry’s claim that GAAP profits are overstated checks out, it’s important for investors to understand that metrics like earnings per share (EPS) do not fully reflect a company’s profitability.

Moreover, GAAP figures can be misleading as they are susceptible to noncash charges, such as depreciation.

Sometimes, it can be more helpful to analyze non-GAAP (adjusted) figures, such as free cash flow, to get an idea of a company’s ability to generate and sustain excess cash.

Moreover, many of the hyperscalers are audited by the Big Four accounting firms: PwC, EY, Deloitte, and KPMG. If tech companies were truly engaging in fraudulent accounting, a Big Four auditor would not sign off on the documentation that goes to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

What’s next for Nvidia?

While I do think Burry has raised an interesting point, I do not see the accounting issue as a red flag.

Burry is subtly implying that big tech’s capital expenditures (capex) may not pay off in the long run. Should this prediction come to fruition, then he’s forecasting profit growth to decelerate, which could lead to a collapse in the AI trade.

In reality, big tech is already recognizing a return on its AI infrastructure investments. Among hyperscalers, revenue is consistently accelerating, gross margins are widening, and free cash flow is accumulating.

Against this backdrop, I think Burry is being a bit pedantic and pessimistic about the broader AI opportunity. As a long-term investor, I am far less concerned about profits next quarter than I am about a company’s profile decades from now — once AI has evolved into a more mature concept.

For these reasons, I am not worried about Nvidia’s growth prospects. The company’s backlog for new chips remains robust, and with new use cases emerging, I see Nvidia remaining an influential force in the AI realm for years to come.

As an investor in Nvidia, I remain optimistic about the company’s ability to generate strong revenue and profits well into the future and view the semiconductor leader as a core buy-and-hold position in my portfolio.

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

The post Michael Burry just sent a warning to artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. Should Nvidia investors be worried? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

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

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• NVIDIA stock: You won’t believe how much $10,000 invested 3 years ago is worth today
• What are the 5 top artificial intelligence (AI) stocks to buy right now?

Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.