The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has continued its slide on Tuesday.

At the time of writing, the struggling artificial intelligence (AI) data services company's shares are down 4.5% to $2.25.

This means the Appen share price is now down almost 70% over the last 12 months.

Why is the Appen share price falling?

Investors have been hitting the sell button again on Tuesday after brokers responded negatively to the company's full-year results release from yesterday.

One of those brokers was Bell Potter, which has retained its hold rating and cut its price target by 25% to $2.25.

This is now in line with where the Appen share price trades following today's decline.

What did the broker say?

Bell Potter notes that Appen's full-year result fell short on the top line but was in line on the bottom line. While the latter was positive, this was then offset by "weak" operating cash flow and its soft guidance. In respect to its guidance, it said:

Appen did not provide any formal 2023 guidance. The company did, however, say there has been "a soft start to 2023" and 1H2023 EBITDA is expected to be materially lower than 1H2022. Appen also said it had identified annual cost savings of ~US$10m and the benefits will commence in 2H2023. The company has withdrawn its 2026 targets pending a full strategic review in May.

As a result of this, the broker is "still waiting for it to 'appen" and has downgraded its earnings estimates materially for the coming years. Though, it even appears to believe that those could be challenging to achieve. The broker adds:

We have downgraded our underlying EBITDA forecasts in 2023 and 2024 by 53% and 48% which has been driven by an 11% reduction in our revenue forecasts in each period and also lower margin assumptions. We now forecast underlying EBITDA of US$14.7m in 2023 which is an improvement on the US$11.0m in 2022 but this assumes a large earnings skew to the second half.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a tough start to the week. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is down 1.3% to 7,213.3 points.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are sinking:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is down 13% to $2.39. This morning, the struggling artificial intelligence data services provider released its full-year results and reported a sizeable decline in sales. Things were even worse on the bottom line, with Appen swinging from a US$40.6 million profit in FY 2021 to a US$22.8 million underlying loss in FY 2022. Management also revealed that it has had a soft start to FY 2023.

Downer EDI Ltd (ASX: DOW)

The Downer EDI share price is down 23% to $3.06. Investors have been selling this integrated services company's shares after it released its half-year results. Downer reported a 2.9% increase in revenue to $6.1 billion but a 20.3% decline in profit to $68.1 million. Management blamed the latter on unprecedented weather, labour shortages, and contract and project losses in its utilities segment. Downer also downgraded its full-year guidance again.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)

The Fortescue share price is down 7% to $20.85. Some of this decline is due to the iron ore miner's shares trading ex-dividend this morning. Eligible shareholders can now look forward to receiving this dividend towards the end of next month.

InvoCare Limited (ASX: IVC)

The InvoCare share price is down over 10% to $9.91. Investors have been selling this funerals company's shares after its full-year result disappointed the market. Invocare posted a 12% increase in revenue but a loss of $1.8 million. The latter was impacted by an unrealised mark-to-market revaluation of pre-paid funds under management and contract liabilities.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is having a nightmare start to the week.

At the time of writing, the embattled artificial intelligence (AI) data services company's shares are down 13% to $2.40.

This follows the release of the company's full-year results this morning.

Appen share price crashes on huge loss

• Group revenue down 13.8% to US$388.5 million
• Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) down 85.8% to US$11 million
• Underlying net loss after tax of US$22.8 million
• Non-cash impairment of US$204.3 million
• Statutory loss after tax of US$239.1 million
• No dividend
• Cash balance of US$23.4 million and no debt

What happened in FY 2022?

For the 12 months ended 31 December, Appen reported a 13.8% decline in revenue to US$388.5 million. This was driven by a 13% decline in Global Services revenue to US$299.8 million and a 13.8% reduction on New Markets revenue to US$88.4 million.

Management advised that this reflects challenging external operating and macro conditions that resulted in weaker digital advertising revenue. This led to a reduction in spending by some of Appen's customers, primarily on core global programs.

Things were much worse for the company's earnings, with its underlying EBITDA falling 85.8% to US$11 million. This was due to a combination of lower revenue, lower gross margins, increased costs, and foreign exchange losses. Excluding the latter, Appen's underlying EBITDA was down 82.8% to US$13.6 million.

On the bottom line, Appen reported an underlying loss after tax of US$22.8 million. This was down by US$63.4 million from a profit after tax of US$40.6 million in FY 2021.

Appen also made a US$204.3 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and intangibles, which brought its statutory loss after tax to a whopping US$239.1 million.

Unsurprisingly, given its abject performance, the company has elected to scrap its final dividend.

Management commentary

Appen's new CEO, Armughan Ahmad, acknowledged that the company's performance in FY 2022 was "far from satisfactory." He commented:

During my first two of months at Appen I've had the opportunity to meet our people and experience their deep sense of pride for their work. I believe that Al is the enabler, and our people are the transformers.

I'm excited about the potential for Appen and our ability to create a positive impact, however our FY22 financial performance is far from satisfactory. We have a lot of work ahead of us. My top priority is to establish greater operational rigour to accelerate innovation, drive sales and deliver profitable growth.

Outlook

Unfortunately, Appen revealed that it has experienced a "soft" start to FY 2023 despite all the current hype around AI.

One positive, though, is that management has identified $10 million of annualised cost savings. The benefits of these saving are expected to be seen from the second half of FY 2023 and in FY 2024.

It has also revealed three new product launches to build trustworthy generative AI applications, seemingly in response to the emergence of ChatGPT. These are:

• Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback tackles the risks of bias and hallucinations in large language models.
• Document Intelligence enables clients to extract key insights from their unstructured documents.
• Automated LP Labelling leverages generative Al capabilities and zero/few shots learning techniques to speed up data annotation.

In respect to Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback, Appen highlights that the rise of ChatGPT has brought attention to the potential of generative Al to revolutionise how humans and machines interact. However, it feels that one of the challenges of generative Al is producing accurate and ethically aligned results.

Appen's Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback product enables clients to generate prompt-response pairs that are engineered by Al Training Specialists and reviewed for accuracy and bias by a diverse group of Al Training Specialists.

Time will tell if Appen is too late to the party for this one, but Mr Ahmad appears optimistic. He commented:

We are excited by this next phase for Appen. We will continue to create products and services that serve the data needs of our clients. Our generative Al products we announced today are a great example, and we are just getting started. We are also developing industry vertical Al solutions and expanding our partnerships with system integrators, software vendors, and hyperscalers to deliver high-impact solutions for our clients.

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Most ASX technology shares have admittedly suffered in recent times, but it's been next-level painful to own Appen Ltd (ASX: APX).

Not even long-term buy-and-hold investors have avoided the anguish. Over the past five years, the share price for the artificial intelligence service provider has crashed almost 70%.

The COVID-19 pandemic, loss of clientele, and financial downgrades have not helped the cause.

However, there's been a ray of hope the last eight weeks, as the stock has rallied 16.2% since 20 December.

Last week alone Appen shares climbed 29% at one stage, before settling back down on Monday.

So what's going on?

No news is good news

Shaw and Partners portfolio manager James Gerrish, on a Market Matters Q&A, had a theory as to why investors are piling onto Appen.

"There is no specific news but the unveiling of ChatGPT has put AI back in the spotlight with Appen providing the data which underpins the [industry's] evolution."

ChatGPT is the generative artificial intelligence chatbot that's been grabbing headlines. The startup behind the technology is heavily backed by Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT).

The AI engine outputs results of sufficient quality that schools and universities have sought to ban it for fear of plagiarism.

According to Reuters, ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users in January, which was only two months after its public release.

The rapid popularity is unprecedented. TikTok took nine months to reach 100 million users, while Instagram had to wait 2.5 years.

Appen provides human training for artificial intelligence engines, so the hype around the industry could be having a halo effect on its share price.

A secondary impact, according to Gerrish, is that the short sellers have been forced to sell to cover their positions.

"I can certainly imagine that nobody wants to short anymore after the stock's dramatic fall from grace."

Despite the newfound popularity among investors, the professionals are far from convinced about Appen.

According to CMC Markets, two of the five analysts covering the stock rate it as a strong sell. The remaining three only consider it a hold.

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1) The bear market in US stocks is over, according to Wells Fargo.

That's the good news. The not-as-good news is that doesn't mean we're headed straight into a bull market, according to an article on MarketWatch. 

"The bear market is over, but it is not the great reflation," said Wells Fargo equity analysts, led by Christopher Harvey, in a research note Monday. "We see neither a bull nor a bear market, just a market."

Wells Fargo "envision a malaise, not a hard landing" for the economy. "However, this does not necessarily mean it is risk-on from here on out," they cautioned. "A sustained re-pricing of risk is not supported by valuations or anemic economic growth expectations."

The same could be said about the Australian stock market, especially after the ASX 200 rally to start the new year, the benchmark index up close to 6% so far in 2023.

Some of the big winners this year have been more speculative stocks, like Nuix Limited (ASX: NXL) and Appen Limited (ASX: APX). 

But yesterday they both came crashing back to earth.

The Nuix share price slumped 26% after the AFR reported corporate regulator ASIC is expected to dump Nuix when it chooses its software partner late next month, as concerns rise over the troubled tech stock's cash burn and a wave of client defections.

The Appen share price plunged 15% after it said it expects to recognise a $204 million impairment charge relating to poor performance in its new markets division, excluding China.

Call it momentum trading, bottom fishing, fear of missing out (FOMO), or just plain gambling, but speculating on turnarounds for under-performing businesses often comes with a sting in the tail. 

2) Leading global fund manager Ophir characterised January's stock market rally as a "dash for trash", where low-quality stocks rallied hard.

Writing in its January letter to investors, Ophir said some stocks rallied despite no earnings news, and simply because of sentiment that inflation may be tamed, with the US market being led higher "by some of the lowest-quality, unprofitable and highly geared businesses".

"We expect to underperform during a low-quality rally in shares. It is not something that we want to chase. Sticking to your knitting is crucial as an investor as there are constant temptations to stray into the latest flavour of the month market segment through fear of missing out (FOMO)."

Ophir remains cautious for the middle and latter parts of this year, saying…

• "Interest rate hikes in major economies will continue to eat into demand, and corporate earnings may have further to fall. The size of any drop in demand and earnings, though, is highly uncertain."
  
• "Both a soft and hard landing are plausible outcomes."
  
• "In our view, the probability of more significant earnings falls is still higher than usual."

As for Ophir's edge, in the medium to long term, earnings growth drives share prices.

"With enough time and patience, and with no key changes in our investment team and process, we remain confident we can keep picking a higher proportion of earnings 'beats' than the market, which we believe will help drive long-term outperformance of our funds."

3) It can be a long and lonely time waiting for earnings growth to be recognised by the market, especially in the smaller and less liquid ASX stocks. 

In mid-2021, I bought shares in Duratec Limited (ASX: DUR), a leading Australian contractor providing assessment, protection, remediation, and refurbishment services to a broad range of assets and infrastructure. 

Whilst the company did endure some challenges imposed by COVID-19, it steadily and methodically grew revenue and its order book, the latter giving solid visibility into future earnings growth.

Yet the Duratec share price stagnated for 15 months. Doubts crept in. Boredom set in, and the temptation to sell and recycle the funds into something else. Was I missing something?

Then, somewhat suddenly, Duratec shares sprung to life.

A strategic acquisition, forecast FY23 revenue growth of 40%, and EBITDA growth of 73%, plus a string of contract wins has seen the Duratec share price jump to 77 cents, up 100% in the past six months. 

It's a win for the maxim that earnings growth drives share prices, in the medium to long term. Trading at around 0.4 times sales and around 5.6 times EBITDA, I remain a happy holder.

4) It doesn't always work out that well for my small and micro-cap portfolio.

I'm underwater on my Good Drinks Australia (ASX: GDA) holding, with the share price of one of the country's largest independent brewers trading at close to a 52-week low.

This comes despite the company having posted first-half revenue growth of 80%, albeit EBITDA coming in flat at $6.1 million as the company continued to invest in marketing for growth. 

Giving hope for long-suffering shareholders like me is the Good Drinks Australia target of growing its earnings to $25 to $30 million by FY25. By comparison, the market capitalisation today is just $85 million. The upside potential looks attractive.

Before it gets there, however, the company itself recognises it will have to carefully navigate an environment of reduced discretionary spend across the liquor category over the next 18 months. 

In September last year, the Good Drinks Australia Board and senior management team spent $3.2 million buying shares in their own company, paying 75 cents per share. 

"This significant level of financial commitment by the Board and management team reflects a shared belief in the attractiveness of the Company's valuation at these prices," said Chairman Ian Olson. 

Today, the Good Drinks Australia share price languishes at just 66 cents. Should the company hit its FY25 EBITDA target, the GDA share price should indeed turn out to be attractive both at 66 cents and 75 cents. But it's a competitive market, and premium-priced craft beer may struggle to sell once the "mortgage cliff" hits households. 

I continue to hold my GDA shares, may add, but will mostly just wait, and hope. 

5) The market is shooting first and asking questions later with Temple & Webster (ASX: TPW). The share price of the online furniture and homewares retailer is being taken to the cleaners, currently down 26.67% to $3.63.

Revenue for the first half declined 12% to $207 million, with the company reporting a rather skinny net profit after tax of just $3.9 million. That's a lot of sales, logistics, marketing, and investments for a tiny return. Compounding things was a decline in active customers to 840,000.

For the first five weeks of the second half, Temple and Webster sales were down 7% over the prior corresponding period, although this has been blamed on strong sales a year earlier due to the omicron outbreak.

Looking ahead, Temple & Webster's CEO, Mark Coulter says…

"Longer-term, ecommerce in the Australian furniture & homewares category remains highly under-penetrated, and we have a much larger addressable market to go after in our new target verticals."

Retailing is tough. Competitive, cyclical, and with skinny margins. I'll wish them the best from the sidelines, and wait for the headwinds to turn to tailwinds. It might take some time.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price has been in a bit of a sorry state for a while now. Appen shares have dived today, for one. The All Ords tech share is currently down by a nasty 3.91% at $2.70 a share so far this Tuesday. But Appen's woes didn't start today. 

This is a company that once commanded a share price of more than $40, back in late 2020. Since that heyday, Appen has lost more than 93% of its value. Today, the company is worth just over $345 million and has lost its coveted spot in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

In fact, Appen shares have spent the past few days undergoing another precipitous drop. It was only last Friday that this ASX artificial intelligence (AI) share was above $3.30 a share, meaning Appen has lost more than 18% of its value in just a few trading days:  

Appen actually had a pretty positive start to the year. Between the start of January and 10 February, the company rose more than 26%. As we covered last week, this could have been a result of investor optimism over AI and the dramatic emergence of OpenAI's ChatGPT software.

But that all came crashing down yesterday. This saw Appen announce to the markets that it is now expecting to book a pre-tax impairment charge worth $204 million for the 2022 calendar year. According to the company, this "reflects the impairment of goodwill and certain intangibles…".

So with Appen losing some of its 2023 steam, could the shares finally be cheap enough to buy? Or is this ASX AI share a falling knife to be avoided?

Are Appen shares cheap enough for the buy zone yet?

Well, one ASX expert seems to think the situation resembles the latter scenario.

As reported in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) this week, RBC Capital Markets' Garry Sherriff has a pretty negative view. Sherriff is a managing director and lead technology analyst at RBC. Here's some of what he said on Appen following its impairment announcement:

The impairments indicate some value destruction in prior investments, so although no cash or covenant impacts, it reflects the strategy for New Markets has performed materially worse than management expected in our view.

The negative jaws spiral continued with customer headwinds exacerbated by Appen's higher spend on technology and product investment. Although revenue guide [was] reiterated, the market [is] likely sceptical given customer headwinds.

So that's definitely not an optimistic outlook for Appen. It seems unlikely that Scherriff sees Appen shares as cheap enough to buy after what the company had to say yesterday.

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Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is down 16% to $2.79. This morning, the artificial intelligence data services company revealed that it expects to report full year revenue at the high end of its guidance range but EBITDA at the low end of its range. Appen also announced a non-cash, pre-tax impairment charge of $204.3 million relating to its new markets business.

Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)

The Lendlease share price is down 7% to $7.69. Investors have been selling this engineering company's shares after its first half results disappointed. Lendlease reported a statutory loss of $141 million for the half. A key driver of this was a $200 million provision due to action by the United Kingdom government.

Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL)

The Nuix share price has crashed 29% to $1.08. This appears to have been sparked by fears that the investigative analytics and intelligence software provider could be about to lose a major customer. According to the AFR, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is planning to dump the company and use alternative software. There is also speculation that other government departments could follow suit.

Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR)

The Star share price is down a massive 20% to $1.50. Investors have been selling this casino operator's shares after it released a disappointing earnings update. Star revealed that competition in Sydney was weighing on its performance and is expected to lead to a small decline in first half revenue compared to pre-COVID levels. This is also expected to weigh on its full year earnings.

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ASX artificial intelligence (AI) stocks haven't had a great run over the past 12 months.

To say the least.

Atop some company-specific issues, AI companies came under selling pressure as global interest rates shot up from historic lows to combat fast-rising inflation.

That's because ASX AI stocks, like the three we look at below, are priced with future earnings growth in mind. And as interest rates ratchet up, so too does the present cost of investing in those future earnings.

So, after a rough 2022, could 2023 be the year these ASX AI stocks come roaring back?

Tailwinds ahead?

As well as potentially seeing their share prices gain from increasing revenue, stronger forward guidance, or technology improvements within their business models, ASX AI stocks could receive some helpful tailwinds on several fronts.

First, as mentioned, interest rates.

Should inflation in Australia and the developed world cool down, we could see the RBA and other global central banks pause their current tightening cycle and even begin to lower rates. That would offer a welcome boost to growth shares, like ASX AI stocks.

Second, we have ChatGPT and Bard.

You've probably been reading about ChatGPT, or are even making use of it.

ChatGPT is a product of OpenAI, which is largely backed by global tech powerhouse Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT). And it can write essays and text on a wide range of subjects, spurring a huge amount of media attention.

Then there's Bard, a chatbot with similar goals developed by Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG), or Google to you and me.

Like ChatGPT, Bard is designed to learn and improve its functionality without intervention from its human creators.

Both systems, backed by trillion-dollar companies, already have impressive capabilities. And as the rivalry between Google and Microsoft in this space heats up, funding and research into ramping up those capabilities is likely to soar.

That, alongside the buzz this is likely to create among investors, could well help ASX AI shares turn their fortunes around in 2023.

How have these three ASX AI stocks been performing?

Among the ASX AI stocks investors can consider is Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH). The company provides an AI-powered, online sales enablement platform.

The Bigtincan share price, as you can see below, has been on a bit of a rollercoaster over the past 12 months, a ride that's left shares down 38%.

2023 has been tracking somewhat better for the stock, with shares flat in the new year.

The next ASX AI stock in our crosshairs is AI data services company Appen Ltd (ASX: APX).

The Appen share price was a strong performer in 2023. At last close on Friday, shares were up 33% year to date.

A big part of those gains were delivered over the last four trading days of the week just past. That surge looks like it may have been driven by investor exuberance surrounding ChatGPT.

But after the company reported this morning that it expects to recognise a non-cash, pre-tax impairment charge of $204 million, investors are hitting the sell button, sending shares down 13.55% in intraday trading so far.

As you can see in the graph below, the Appen share price is down 66% over 12 months, but still remains up a healthy 15% in 2023.

Which brings us to our third ASX AI share, BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN).

BrainChip is involved in developing neuromorphic computing, a branch of AI that simulates the function of the human neuron.

And like the other two tech stocks above, the BrainChip share price, pictured below, has gotten hammered over the past 12 months, down 58%,

So far, 2023 hasn't been much kinder to shareholders, with the ASX AI share down 18% year to date.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is taking a tumble, down 9.9% in Monday morning trade.

The artificial intelligence (AI) data services company saw its shares rocket last week, gaining 28% over the past four trading days. With no price-sensitive news out last week, that surge looks to have been driven by investor exuberance surrounding OpenAI's ChatGPT.

But after Appen reported that it expects a significant non-cash impairment charge, investors are hitting the sell button today.

Why the impairment charge?

The Appen share price is under pressure after the company reviewed the value of cash generating units (CGU) and its assets. Following that review, the ASX tech stock said it expects to recognise a non-cash, pre-tax impairment charge of $204 million in its financial results for the year ended 31 December.

The company said the charge "reflects the impairment of goodwill and certain intangibles associated with the new markets (excluding China) CGU". These are comprised of the Global Product, Enterprise, Government and Quadrant business units.

Also likely pressuring the Appen share price today is the company's reduction in future revenue growth assumptions.

As the impairment is non-cash and a non-operating item, underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and underlying net profits after tax (NPAT) won't be impacted. And Appen highlighted that it found no indicators of impairment in its larger Global Services CGU.

Appen is scheduled to release its full-year results on 27 February.

The ASX tech stock said it expects to report revenue at the higher end of its guidance range of US$375 million to US$395 million. EBITDA is expected to come in at the lower end of the guidance range of US$13 million to US$18 million.

Appen share price snapshot

As you can see in the chart below, the Appen share price was enjoying a strong rebound in 2023. Even with today's big slide factored in, the ASX tech share remains up 20% year to date.

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Four ASX shares that aren't letting that stop them from climbing today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up 12% to $3.31. Investors have been buying this artificial intelligence data services company's shares despite there being no news out of the company. However, investors appear to be betting that significant investment in artificial intelligence from tech giants in response to the emergence of ChatGPT could underpin increased demand for Appen's services.

Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV)

The Endeavour share price is up 2% to $6.79. This may have been driven by a broker note out of UBS. Its analysts have taken their sell rating off the drinks company's shares and upgraded them to a neutral rating with a $6.75 price target. UBS believes regulatory risks are now adequately priced in.

Imugene Limited (ASX: IMU)

The Imugene share price is up 11% to 15 cents. This follows news that the biotech company has been granted a patent in the United States. The patent relates to the company's B-cell activating immunotherapy PD1-Vaxx. It is currently in development for the treatment non-small cell lung cancer.

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)

The Treasury Wine share price is up 2% to $14.41. A broker note out of Morgan Stanley appears to have given this wine giant's shares a boost. Its analysts highlight China's reopening and the easing of trade tensions as potential positives for Treasury Wine. In respect to the latter, Chinese officials have suggested that they could revisit at tariffs imposed on Australian wines.

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At the time of writing, the artificial intelligence (AI) data services company's shares are up 13.5% to $3.35.

This means the Appen share price is now up 29% since Monday's close.

Why is the Appen share price on fire this week?

With no news out of Appen or broker notes relating to the company, it is difficult to say for sure why its shares are on fire this week.

However, it is worth noting that the emergence of OpenAI's ChatGPT last year has been a game changer for the AI industry.

While companies have been spending billions on AI activities for years, the arrival of ChatGPT has been leaps and bounds ahead of anything that has been developed before. All in all, it appears that AI is now at an inflection point.

This has led to companies such as Google parent Alphabet and China's search engine giant Baidu scrambling into action to compete with OpenAI.

This could prove to be very good news for Appen, which has been struggling over the last few years and seen its share price head lower and lower.

How Appen could benefit

Appen provides tech companies with AI data services. It ensures that they have high quality data that companies can then use to train their machine learning models. Without high quality data, it is unlikely that their models would be able to come close to ChatGPT.

So, with Google and Baidu now believed to be upping their investments on AI activities materially, investors appear to believe that Appen could be well-positioned to benefit from increased demand for data services.

Though, it is worth remembering that this is not guaranteed. There's plenty of competition out there and some companies have taken such activities in-house.

The good news is that investors won't have to wait long until they get an update from Appen. It is scheduled to release its full year results later this month.

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The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price is having a rocking day, with the ASX 300 tech share up 10% in earlier trading to a high of $2.91.

Appen shares are now trading for $2.88, up 9.51%.

There is no price-sensitive news from the artificial intelligence data services company today.

What's pushing up this ASX 300 tech share today?

With no news from the company, we are forced to guess what's behind the ASX 300 tech share's leap.

There are a couple of obvious possibilities.

Firstly, Appen operates in the exciting artificial intelligence (AI) space and is one of the most well-known ASX AI shares.

Appen creates AI products and services for many of the world's largest tech companies. It provides and enhances data used for the development of machine learning and AI products.

Lately, the AI industry has been abuzz over the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which can create extremely high-quality content on any topic in a matter of minutes.

Many other major tech companies are rushing to create their own versions of the content generator.

Just yesterday, one of Appen's major customers, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), held a press event to show off a new AI-powered update to its Bing search engine and Edge browser.

Microsoft said, "Today, we're launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser … to deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content."

If the big tech companies are increasing their investment in AI, that is great news for Appen.

Secondly, if Appen's customers are making good money, they can afford to invest more in innovation.

That's why last week, the Appen share price got a bounce on the back of a positive earnings report from another major client, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META).

So, perhaps the ASX 300 tech share is riding on some optimism in the AI space right now.

AI certainly has a big future, with the global market expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.1% from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.

The market was valued at US$60 billion in 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Appen's other major customers include Google, Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Airbus SE (EPA: AIR), who all rely on Appen to power their AI applications.  

What's the latest news from Appen?

Appen has a new president and CEO, with Armughan Ahmad officially taking over a month ago.

Ahmad replaced Mark Brayan, who will leave the company on 28 February. Brayan was CEO for seven years. His resignation on 15 December followed a disastrous period for the company.

The Appen share price fell more than 90% from an all-time high above $40 per share in August 2020 to $2.63 on 15 December.

The Appen share price rose by 1.5% on the day the company announced Brayan's resignation. ASX investors appear pleased about getting new blood at the top of the tree.

All eyes will be on Ahmad on 27 February when Appen releases its full-year 2022 results. Ahmad and CFO Kevine Levine will host the briefing at 11am.

Ahmad has more than 25 years of global experience in the tech industry.

Before joining Appen, he was the president and managing partner of digital at KPMG Canada.

Prior to that, he was the senior vice president and general manager at Dell Technologies INC (NYSE: DELL).

Last month, Ahmad said Appen was well-positioned to help its clients build "mission critical AI applications that deliver new customer experiences".

He commented:

The pace of AI is accelerating with new innovation in generative AI like ChatGPT and DALL.E from Open AI.

As a fast-growing AI industry leader … Appen is well positioned to evolve with the changing needs of AI, and I believe we have a unique opportunity to deliver an ethical, trusted AI for good.

As the leading provider of data for AI, we have a responsibility to set the standard for excellence and integrity in the industry. We will continue to push the boundaries of AI and make a positive and sustainable impact on the world."  

The post Beaten-up ASX 300 tech share Appen is booming 10% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up 4% to $2.66. This may have been driven by optimism over the quarterly update from Meta Platforms. Given that the Facebook owner is one of Appen's largest customers, its return to form could be good news for the artificial intelligence data services company.

Janus Henderson Group PLC (ASX: JHG)

The Janus Henderson share price is up 13% to $41.60. This follows the release of the fund manager's fourth quarter update. Janus Henderson's non-GAAP earnings per share of 61 US cents was 20 US cents ahead of consensus estimates. The company's revenue also came in almost US$45 million higher than expectations at US$515.2 million.

Lithium Energy Ltd (ASX: LEL)

The Lithium Energy share price is up 7% to 89 cents. Investors have been snapping up this battery materials explorer's shares following the release of an update on the Burke Graphite Project. That update reveals that assays have confirmed the project to be one of the world's highest-grade deposits.

Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI)

The Pinnacle share price is up 11% to $10.40. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Morgans this morning. Although a touch underwhelmed with the investment management company's half year results, it believes the selloff has created a good entry point for investors. As a result, the broker has upgraded Pinnacle's shares to an add rating with a $10.75 price target.

The post Why Appen, Janus Henderson, Lithium Energy, and Pinnacle shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is down 2.5% to $2.49. This is despite there being no news out of the artificial intelligence data services company. However, it is worth noting that the shares of Snapchat owner, Snap Inc, crashed on Wall Street in after-hours trade following a poor update. In its earnings call, CEO Evan Spiegel commented that digital advertising demand hasn't improved. This could mean less demand for Appen's ad relevance services.

Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR)

The Gold Road share price is down 2% to $1.61. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Ord Minnett. Its analysts were disappointed with the gold miner's quarterly update and have downgraded its shares to an accumulate rating with a trimmed price target of $1.80.

Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)

The Healius share price is down 2% to $3.14. The catalyst for this may have been a note out of Morgans. While the broker remains positive on the healthcare company, it has removed it from its best ideas list. Morgans highlights that the "timing remains uncertain as to when volumes and revenue revert to long-term trends."

Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI)

The Pinnacle share price is down over 4% to $9.95. Investors have been selling this fund manager's shares after analysts at UBS downgraded them to a sell rating from neutral. The broker has also cut its price target on the company's shares to $8.50. UBS is expecting Pinnacle to disappoint this earnings season.

The post Why Appen, Gold Road, Healius, and Pinnacle shares are dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a rather shaky Tuesday so far this session. After opening strongly this morning, the ASX 200 has lost most of its steam and is currently up by just 0.1%. But the same can't be said of the Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price today.

Block shares are on fire this Tuesday. The US-based fintech company formerly known as Square is currently up a whopping 6.4% at $115.48 a share at the time of writing, well above the return of the broader market.

So what's going on here?

Why is the Block share price on fire?

Well, Block isn't your normal ASX share. Its ASX listing is actually a CHESS Depositary Interest (CDI), which means the ASX shares represent ownership of another, foreign-listed investment. In Block's case, it is the original shares of Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) that are listed on the US markets.

This arrangement came out of Block's decision to acquire the old ASX-listed buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer Afterpay. Afterpay used to be an ASX share (as many of us would remember). But its ASX listing was replaced by Block when the American giant bought Afterpay back in early 2022.

So this situation probably gives us the best indication of why Block shares are on a tear today. Last night (our time), Block's US-listed shares rocketed 7.22% to US$81.66. As such, Block's ASX listing was always going to have a cracking day today.

Most US tech shares had a stellar session across the Pacific last night.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares were up 7.74%, while Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP) and Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) were up 8.8% and 4.9%, respectively. It seems Block shares have just been caught up in this stampede to tech.

It's not too different on the ASX today. Some ASX tech shares had very strong mornings, although many have slumped around lunchtime. Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) shares were up around 3% at one point, as was Appen Ltd (ASX: APX). Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT) is a standout performer this Tuesday, up by almost 10% at the time of writing.

The post Why is the Block share price surging 6% on Tuesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:

Alkane Resources Limited (ASX: ALK)

The Alkane Resources share price is up 12% to 64.5 cents. This morning, the gold miner upgraded its FY 2023 guidance for the Tomingley Gold Operation. Alkane now expects production of 62,000 ounces to 70,000 ounces. This is up from its previous guidance range of 55,000 to 60,000 ounces. In addition, it has revised its cost guidance lower for the year.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up a further 3% to $2.67. This artificial intelligence data services company's shares have been given a boost from a broker note out of Jefferies this week. Its analysts believe Appen will deliver revenue of US$393 million in FY 2022, which is at the top end of its guidance range.

Warrego Energy Ltd (ASX: WGO)

The Warrego Energy share price is up 9% to 37.5 cents. This follows news that Gina Rinehart's Hancock Energy has increased its takeover offer for the energy explorer. Hancock has lifted its offer by 28.6% to 36 cents per share. With its shares trading higher than this, investors appear to be betting that a competing offer will be made.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)

The Zip share price is up 8% to 60 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider today. Though, it is worth noting that a number of BNPL shares are rising today following a strong night of trade for Wall Street listed Affirm. Investors may believe the industry was oversold in 2022.

The post Why Alkane, Appen, Warrego Energy, and Zip shares are racing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up 6.5% to $2.59. As well as a rebound in the tech sector, this artificial intelligence data services company's shares were given a boost from a broker note out of Jefferies. According to the note, the broker believes Appen will deliver revenue of US$393 million in FY 2022, which is at the top end of its guidance range. And while Jefferies only has a hold rating on Appen's shares, its price target of $3.10 is meaningfully higher than current levels.

Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB)

The Hub24 share price is up 3.5% to $27.44. This wealth management platform provider's shares were also given a boost from a note out of Jefferies. Its analysts believe HUB24 could double its market share over the next decade.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

The Northern Star share price is up 2.5% to $11.39. This follows another rise in the gold price overnight, which took the precious metal to a six-month high. This has led to the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index rising 2.2% this afternoon.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The PointsBet share price is up 6% to $1.59. In addition to benefiting from a tech rebound, an announcement yesterday could be giving PointsBet's shares a lift. On Tuesday, the sports betting company announced its launch in the state of Ohio in the United States. This marks the company's 14th online sports betting operation in the country.

The post Why Appen, Hub24, Northern Star, and PointsBet shares are racing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are rising:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is up 6.5% to $2.48. Investors have been flooding back into the tech sector on Friday after a strong night of trade on Wall Street's tech-focused NASDAQ index. This has led to the S&P/ASX All Technology Index charging an impressive 2% higher this afternoon.

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)

The Core Lithium share price is up 6% to $1.03. This follows a strong night of trade for risk assets such as lithium miners on Wall Street overnight. Investors were buying lithium shares again after risk sentiment improved following the release of jobs data in the United States. The market appears to believe that this data is supportive of less aggressive interest rate hikes.

Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: PAR)

The Paradigm share price is up 5.5% to $1.43. This could be a delayed reaction to the release of an announcement earlier this week. Paradigm revealed that the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) for the pivotal PARA_OA_002 clinical trial was conducted on 20 December. Pleasingly, the DMC review of trial progress and safety data concluded that the clinical trial should proceed without modification. PARA_OA_002 is looking at injectable pentosan polysulphate sodium in participants with knee osteoarthritis pain.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

The Sayona Mining share price is up 8% to 19.5 cents. Once again, this appears to have been driven by a rebound in the lithium industry amid improving risk sentiment. Prior to today, the Sayona Mining share price was down 22% in the space of a month.

The post Why Appen, Core Lithium, Paradigm, and Sayona Mining shares are racing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

The Appen share price is down 3.5% to $2.41. Investors have been selling Appen and many other ASX tech shares on Monday following a poor night for the Nasdaq index on Friday. Investors were selling tech shares amid global recession concerns.

Arafura Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARU)

The Arafura share price is down over 6% to 48.2 cents. This appears to have been driven by profit taking after some stellar gains in recent sessions. For example, even after today's decline, the rare earths explorer's shares are up a sizeable 24% since 8 December. They are now also up 110% since the start of the year.

Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)

The Aurizon share price is down 2.5% to $3.78. The catalyst for this is likely to have been a broker note out of Morgans this morning. According to the note, the broker has downgraded the rail freight operator's shares to a hold rating and cut the price target on them to $4.00. Morgans was a touch disappointed with the price Aurizon received for the East Coal Rail business.

Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR)

The Star share price is down 11% to $2.29. Investors have been selling this casino operator's shares amid concerns over potential reforms to the New South Wales casino tax regime. New South Wales Treasurer, The Honourable Matt Kean MP, is proposing gaming tax increases for the two casinos in New South Wales. These are anticipated to commence on 1 July 2023 and forecast to raise an additional $364 million in taxes over the next three years.

The post Why Appen, Arafura, Aurizon, and Star shares are sinking today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Tech shares are getting fried up this Friday, no way around it. Tech is one of the worst-performing ASX 200 sectors on the market today, only trailing ASX gold shares in losses.

Take the Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price. Block shares are presently down by a nasty 5.82% at $96.94 a share. Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) has slipped by 2.54% to $73.90 each, while Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) shares have lost 3% of their value to $36.46 a share. Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) has fallen by a depressing 4% to $2.52.

So why is the tech space getting singled out for some of the worst ASX 200 losses this Friday?

Why are ASX 200 tech shares getting fried up this Friday?

Well, it's not entirely clear. But it is likely that what is happening over on the US markets is to blame here. The US markets have been roiled this week by the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates by 0.5%.

Further, Fed chair Jay Powell made some hawkish comments that indicated that the Fed is far from finding an interest rate ceiling.

This decision, and accompanying comments from Powell, saw the US market tank, particularly the tech-heavy NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX).

Higher interest rates are especially damaging for tech shares since many are priced on their future growth prospects, rather than their present profitability.

In last night's trading session, the NASDAQ crashed by a horrid 3.2%. So ASX tech shares were never going to have a rip-roaring kind of day today. That's the most likely explanation as to why tech shares are having such a disappointing end to the trading week this Friday.

The post Why are ASX 200 tech shares being fried on Friday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.