The Aumake International Ltd (ASX: AU8) share price is zooming higher today after the company announced it now offers leading Chinese-owned buy now, pay later (BNPL) services via its in-store and online channels.

AuMake is a specialist retailer that caters for Asian tourists and daigou personal shoppers in Australia and New Zealand. The company has a multichannel distribution network, selling Australian and New Zealand products online via owned and third-party channels, and through brick and mortar stores.

The company operates 15 stores under the AuMake and Broadway brands, located along the east coast of Australia and in New Zealand. These stores primarily cater to organised tour groups. The types of products on offer include skincare, health supplements, wool, honey and clothing.

Before we dig into the announcement, it's important to note that AuMake sits at the very small end of the ASX with a current market capitalisation of around $21 million. At the time of writing, the AuMake share price is sitting 10.34% higher for the day at 6.4 cents after rallying as much as 27.59% in early morning trade.

What did AuMake announce?

This morning, AuMake revealed that it now supports BNPL services for its in-store customers and 40,000-strong online database.

Accordingly, AuMake's customers will be able to use Alipay's "Huabei" feature and Tencent's "Fenfu" feature to make purchases.

Alipay is one of the most popular online payment solutions in China and is part-owned by Chinese multinational giant Alibaba.

Huabei allows purchases made via the Alipay wallet to be paid using credit facilitates, including interest-free or daily incurring interest loans. According to AuMake's announcement, Huabei has more than 190 million users, with 93% of them being under the age of 35.

Meanwhile, rival conglomerate Tencent is reportedly in the final stages of developing its Fenfu BNPL credit feature. Fenfu will offer similar credit facilities to Huabei that can be used by its 1.1 billion customer base.

Tencent recently made headlines in the ASX BNPL space after news broke that it had acquired a 5% stake in market darling Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT).

AuMake believes the adoption of these BNPL payment methods will assist the company to penetrate a younger Asian customer demographic. The retailer concluded today's announcement by stating it will continue to assess initiatives that provide a contemporary shopping experience for its customers.

According to Market Index, the 4-week average turnover of AuMake shares currently sits at only $26,821. So if you'd rather invest in larger and more liquid companies, the top ASX shares in the free report below might be more up your alley.

The post Why the AuMake share price surged 28% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Is the A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price a buy today?

I think 2020 is going to be a very interesting year for A2 Milk. The fact that the share price has been as high as $17 and as low as $11.30 over the past year shows that investors haven't been sure what to make of the infant formula company.

The company is now aiming for a higher earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin in FY20 than it was under the initial guidance by the former CEO.

I think A2 Milk has a great long-term future. The fact that it's growing in two of the world's largest economies (the USA and China) with so many other countries that it can grow into is exciting.

At its annual general meeting (AGM) A2 Milk said it expects its US sales to be approximately $27 million, which would be a growth rate of 110%.

A2 Milk also said it expected 84% growth of China label infant nutrition sales to $135 million and 54% growth of cross border e-commerce infant nutrition sales to $155 million.

However, I have some coronavirus-related China concerns about A2 Milk's FY20 result. We've already heard from several ASX businesses that the coronavirus is affecting their operations in China or earnings are being affected because of China. I'm referring to shares like Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL), Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) and Aumake International Ltd (ASX: AU8).

I'm not really concerned for the long-term about A2 Milk's China growth though, it's growing market share there and these types of infections usually disappear after a few months. 

Foolish takeaway

A2 Milk is currently trading at 29x FY21's estimated earnings. I think it's good value for a long-term buy, but I'd want to wait to buy at least until A2 Milk provides some comments about China during this reporting season, there could be some short-term disappointment.

The post Is the A2 Milk share price a buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Australian share market may be having a soft start to the week, but that hasn't stopped some small cap shares from pushing higher today.

Three small cap shares on the rise on Monday are listed below:

The AuMake International Ltd (ASX: AU8) share price has climbed 5.5% higher to 28.5 cents after the daigou company announced an exclusive sales agreement with Anhui Tiantong Renhe Culture Communication to distribute both AuMake owned brand and exclusive products via its network of TV shopping channels within China. According to the release, AuMake will initially work with JiaJia Shopping, which has a viewership of approximately 385 million people and forecast sales of 1.5 billion RMB in FY 2018.

The Cynata Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CYP) share price has pushed over 2% higher to $1.38. This morning the stem cell and regenerative medicine company announced that it has participated in a pre-development meeting with the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). This meeting was held to discuss the regulatory approval path for Cynata's proprietary Cymerus mesenchymal stem cell products in Japan. The meeting and further engagement with the PMDA will facilitate planning for a clinical development program in Japan. I think Cynata is one to watch closely this financial year after a very promising FY 2018.

The iSignthis Ltd (ASX: ISX) share price has risen 6% to 18 cents after announcing that it has contracted a major merchant in the MCC 6211 category (equities/brokers/market makers/FX/CFD) in Australia. According to the release, the new merchant has a gross processed turnover volume of over AU$200 million and was most recently a National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) customer. The merchant is expected to come onstream and contribute to revenues within 6 weeks. This could be a big positive for the global leader in AML RegTech and transactional banking.

The post These 3 small cap shares are on the rise on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) may be having another day in the red, but that hasn't stopped a number of small cap shares from surging higher.

Three small caps that caught my eye with strong gains today are listed below. Here's why they are on the rise:

The AuMake International Ltd (ASX: AU8) share price has zoomed 12.5% higher to 22.5 cents after the daigou company released its latest quarterly results. For the three months ended June 30, the company generated sales of $7 million and gross profit of approximately $1.1 million. This was a 37% and 31% increase on the prior quarter. Investors appear pleased with this growth and the fact that costs have been reduced. In respect to the latter, management believes it will achieve total operational cost breakeven during the 2019 financial year. At the end of the quarter the company finished with cash at bank of $10.7 million and $3.6 million in inventory. I think it is a little soon to invest in AuMake, but it could be one for the watchlist.

The Empired Ltd (ASX: EPD) share price has pushed almost 3.5% higher to 56 cents following the release of its preliminary full-year results. The IT Services provider reported revenue of $174 million and underlying EBITDA of $17 million, which is a year-on-year increase of 4% and 10%. Pleasingly, management expects FY 2019 to be even stronger thanks to a good level of contracted work. It has provided guidance of double-digit revenue, EBITDA, NPAT, and EPS growth for FY 2019.

The Swift Networks Group Ltd (ASX: SW1) share price has raced 13% higher to 39 cents after announcing its preliminary full-year results. The telecommunications and content solutions provider expects to report FY 2018 revenue of $22.3 million, representing annual growth of 31%. Pleasingly, this has led to EBITDA of $2.7 million in FY 2018, up 170% on the prior year. Swift Networks finished the year with a cash balance of $3.2 million, up 43% year-on-year, and has repaid its $3 million debt facility with Bankwest.

The post 3 small cap shares on the rise today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The market may be sinking lower today, but not all shares have started in the red.

Three small cap shares that have stood out with strong gains today are listed below. Here's why they are on the rise:

The AuMake International Ltd (ASX: AU8) share price has climbed 4% to 26 cents. This morning the daigou company announced the execution of a binding term sheet to acquire the relevant leases, staff, trademark, member databases, and all associated property associated with the operation of Kiwi Buy. The company will pay $300,000 in ordinary AuMake shares at an issue price of $0.25. It will also reimburse up to $500,000 of inventory subject to stock-take. This seems like a bit of a bargain buy considering preliminary financial due diligence indicates sales of $18 million over the last 12 months through Kiwi Buy's five store retail network in Sydney. All stores are profitable post labour and occupancy expenses.

The De Grey Mining Limited (ASX: DEG) share price has jumped almost 8.5% to 19.5 cents after the gold explorer provided an update on its drilling at the Mt Berghaus operation. According to the release, shallow drilling no deeper than 60 metres has uncovered high-grade gold zones, many which include "bonanza" high grade rates. Management believes that these results augur well for the next resource estimate update. While I'm not a fan of gold miners at present due to rising rates, any investors looking for an up and coming gold miner might want to take a closer look at De Grey Mining.

The iSelect Ltd (ASX: ISU) share price has zoomed 10% higher to 60.5 cents despite there being no news out of the product comparison company. But with its shares down over 72% since this time last year, I suspect some bargain hunters are swooping in today. Which would not be surprising because prior to today its shares were trading below the price target placed on its shares by Credit Suisse earlier this month. The broker reduced its target price to 58 cents from $1.95 after iSelect downgraded its earnings to such a degree the broker labelled it a contender for downgrade of the year. While its shares do look cheap, I would hold off an investment until there are signs of improvement in its performance.

The post These small cap shares have started the week on a high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While ASX titans BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) may take the headlines for their strong gains today, a number of shares at the small-end of the market are pushing even higher.

Three small cap shares that are on fire on Wednesday are listed below. Here's what you need to know:

The Aumake International Ltd (ASX: AU8) share price is up over 8% to 26.5 cents in late morning trade. This morning the daigou company announced a strategic partnership with Chemsave which will increase AuMake's distribution and brand reach through a network of 150-member pharmacies across Australia's east coast. The partnership will initially focus on the distribution of AuMake branded products. These include its Health Essence health supplements and Medigum Honey, with further branded products to follow. While this is a positive move, I think the share price move has been a little overdone.

The Birimian Ltd (ASX: BGS) share price climbed over 8% to 46.5 cents in early trade before fading slightly. At the time of writing the junior lithium miner's shares are up 3.5% to 44.5 cents. This morning Birimian announced that it has had further success with drilling at its Goulamina Lithium Project in southern Mali. This includes the identification of yet another new pegmatite that was not known prior to commencement of the recent drilling program. Management has advised that the results of the resource extension and definition drilling have significantly exceeded expectations. Birimian could be one to watch in the future.

The Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) share price has stormed 5.5% higher to 77.5 cents despite there being no news out of the infant formula and baby food company. But with its shares down around 12% since this time last month prior to today, it appears that some investors believe its shares have fallen to an attractive level. Last month Morgans rated Bubs as a hold and slapped a price target of 75 cents on its shares. While I think Bubs does have a lot of potential, I'm waiting for a meaningful uptick in sales before making a move.

The post These 3 small cap shares are storming higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.