In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a very disappointing note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 1.7% to 7,184.3 points.

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

APM Human Services International Ltd (ASX: APM)

The APM share price is up almost 2% to $2.22. This morning, this human services company announced a new contract in North America worth $150 million. The new contract will see APM support phase two of the Ontario Employment Services Transformation.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

The Macquarie Telecom share price is up almost 2% to $59.98. This is despite there being no news out of the telecommunication, cloud computing, cybersecurity and data centre services provider. However, it is worth noting that earlier this week, Goldman Sachs upgraded its shares to a buy rating with a $73.30 price target. It notes that the company is a "[p]ublic sector cloud & cybersecurity leader delivering robust, resilient growth."

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)

The Northern Star share price is up 2.5% to $10.64. A number of ASX gold shares are rising on Friday, which has taken the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold index 1.4% higher this afternoon. Investors may be switching to safe haven assets given the current market volatility.

Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)

The Origin Energy share price is up 2% to $8.32. With no news out of the company, this could also be down to investors looking to escape the volatility with safe haven assets. Impressively, this means that the Origin share price has defied the odds and hit a 52-week high today despite the market selloff.

The post Why APM, Macquarie Telecom, Northern Star, and Origin shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week on a high. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.95% to 7,114.3 points.

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

City Chic Collective Ltd (ASX: CCX)

The City Chic share price is down a further 11% to $1.75.  Investors have continued to sell this plus sized fashion retailer's shares following the release of a disappointing full year result yesterday. In other news, just a couple of weeks after downgrading its shares to neutral, Citi has now cut its price target by a further 15% to $2.09.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

The Macquarie Telecom share price is down 11% to $64.27. After the market close on Thursday, this telecom and data centre company released its full year results and reported a net profit of just $8.5 million. This was down 32% year over year. Management advised that this reflects the increase in depreciation and amortisation flowing from the significantly higher levels of capital expenditure since FY 2020.

Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The Polynovo share price is down 10% to $1.82. This morning the medical device company released its full year results. Although it reported a 42.8% increase in total revenue to $41.9 million, this couldn't stop it from recording a loss after tax of $1.2 million. PolyNovo has 6.7% of its shares held short. Those short sellers will no doubt be pleased with this decline.

Smartgroup Corporation Ltd (ASX: SIQ)

The Smartgroup share price is down 10% to $6.15. Investors have been selling this salary packaging company's shares after the release of its half year results. Smartgroup reported a 4% increase in revenue to $113.6 million but a 4% decline in NPATA to $32.4 million. Investors appear to have been expecting a stronger result.

The post Why City Chic, Macquarie Telecom, Polynovo, and Smartgroup shares are sinking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Global reporting season is well underway with a number of ASX 200 and US companies releasing financial results for the period to June 30 2022.

Over in the US, various names within the tech sector have posted earnings in recent weeks. Outcomes have been less than satisfactory.

Results point to a slow down in demand in the sector, with further macroeconomic headwinds looming on the horizon.

What to expect from ASX 200 tech shares

Tech giants such as Google, Meta and Apple have each posted earnings within the past few weeks. Alphabet (Google's parent), saw its advertising revenue growth of 12% year on year, down from 22% in the 12 months to March.

Meanwhile, Meta (Facebook) also saw its first ever quarterly revenue decline and expects another pullback in the next quarter.

Chief to the two company's issues have been changes Apple has made to its iOS devices. The decision gave a tidy haircut to advertising revenue for the duo.

Furthermore, chronic supply shortages of key components used in the manufacturing of equipment are also plaguing the outlook for tech shares.

The issue creates longer lead and processing times, generating longer payment cycles as well.

In Australia, tech shares haven't seen the headwinds realized by our US counterparts – not yet anyhow. In fact, the wind would probably best be served to put out the blaze the ASX 200 tech sector has been on lately.

As seen on the chart below, ASX 200 tech shares have caught a bid since June, where the sector found a bottom and has traced back above 3-month highs.

The chart also shows the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX), S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and the Nasdaq 100 US Tech Index (NAS100)'s return since August 2020. Note the striking similarity.

Hence the question then turns to what this means for the ASX tech basket.

Considering the specific challenges in the US, companies such as Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) have already shocked the market and reported weaker than expected preliminary earnings this week.

Results were underlined by a softening in digital advertising demand. It saw a steeper than expected revenue decrease and negative cash flow from operations in the report.

Shares are down 23% on the week as a result, bringing losses to 65% for the year to date.

Meanwhile, analysts see positives in names such as Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1), NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) and Macquarie Telecom Ltd (ASX: MAQ), according to RBC Capital Markets.

"The first two are developing new multi-billion dollar data centre projects in Sydney with cloud hyperscalers as anchor tenants, and are expected to benefit from continued demand for cloud data services underpinned by hyperscaler, enterprise and government customers," The Australian reported.

Analysts at Citi led by Siraj Ahmed were a little more cautious and offered that "[w]hile valuation looks much more reasonable…risks [are] skewed to the downside as we expect consensus downgrades due to a slowing demand environment."

Returns for each of these ASX tech shares over the past 12 months are observed below versus the tech index.

The post Worried about how ASX 200 tech shares might perform this earnings season? Here's what to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Investors have sold off shares of Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) in recent weeks, pushing prices 11% lower this past month of trade.

At the time of writing, the MAQ share price is also down 13% this year to date, fetching $63.37 apiece at the close on Friday.

Despite the downward pressure, market pundits still see value in the stock, sliding against the market's view on the company.

Beaten down, but not beaten

When asked about resilient stocks on his radar recently, Gary Rollo from Montgomery Investment Management was straight to the point in naming Macquarie Telecom.

The data centre player has "got major clients like the cloud hyper-scalers as clients… growing their business pretty strongly and also the Aussie government," he noted when speaking to Livewire's Buy, Hold, Sell. 

"They're basically digitalising more rapidly than the market probably expects."

Rollo added the strength of Macquarie Telecom's balance sheet and that he saw "great numbers in the second half" from the company.

In the group's latest earnings results, revenue saw a 4% uptick to $149 million whereas pre-tax earnings came in 11% higher at $40.5 million.

From this amount, operating cash flows were reported at $37.6 million, a year-on-year gain of more than $10 million. Rollo added:

[With] Macquarie Telecom, you're not going to go wrong and it's got lots of value left on the table. We think it's worth somewhere between $80 and a hundred bucks, even in a higher interest rate environment.

Macquarie Telecom bounced from a 3-month low of $56.37 on 26 May in a relief rally that extended to $64.40 per share.

Prices have levelled off but Rollo appears to be a buyer at these levels keeping a long term, fundamental framework in mind.

Despite the volatility this year, the Macquarie Telecom share price has clipped a 27% gain in the past 12 months.

The post Why 'you're not going to go wrong' with the Macquarie Telecom share price: fundie appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

As the market frets over persistent inflation and looming interest rate rises, it's important to pick ASX shares to buy that can withstand macroeconomic shocks.

One expert is thus putting companies through 2 thematic filters to work out whether they're worthy of stuffing into the Christmas stocking.

"Two themes we like right now are what we call Stable Compounders and Structural Winners," said Montgomery Investment Management chief investment officer Roger Montgomery.

"And we have two preferred stocks – one in each theme – that we think will provide solid long-term returns."

For the record, Montgomery personally believes inflation is not a huge threat to shares, as there will be counter-forces at play.

"The economy is cooling," he said on the Montgomery blog.

"While investors may be more excited about the negative influence this potentially has on consumer demand and therefore consumer prices, a less obvious impact will come from these people gaining employment. An increase in labour supply will also place downward pressure on wages."

Longer-term pre-COVID trends of decreasing unionised labour and automation will also conspire to keep a lid on inflation, added Montgomery.

Regardless, here are the 2 ASX shares Montgomery singled out as flag bearers for the 'stable compounders' and 'structural winners' themes:

Australians still need petrol stations 

Stable compounders are businesses that offer "growth with a defensive element".

"They tend to be in stable industries, are market leaders and are under-appreciated by the market."

One example that Montgomery likes at the moment is Waypoint REIT Ltd (ASX: WPR), which is the landlord for many petrol station sites around Australia.

Its tenants include Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)/Shell, 7-Eleven and Liberty.

"Waypoint properties enjoy 100 per cent occupancy, a 10.5-year weighted average lease expiry (WALE) and 3 per cent weighted average rent reviews."

The stability of its clientele provides for a very reliable income stream.

"Waypoint yields slightly more than 5%, which along with an estimated dividend per share growth equivalent to about 3%, offers a potential total shareholder return of 9%," said Montgomery.

"Management also announced a $150 million capital return buyback on 30 July 2021 which is subject to the settlement from the sale of a portfolio of properties expected to occur this half."

The icing on the cake is that Montgomery believes Waypoint is attractive as an acquisition target.

"Additionally, the potential for further revaluations exists with Waypoint's book of properties appearing to be valued 20% below the prices similar properties are being transacted for in the open market."

Waypoint shares are down 1.45% this year so far, although that's only after losing 4.6% in the past 5 business days.

Australians will need more cloud

Structural winners are those ASX shares taking advantage of a long-term societal or consumer trend that is "agnostic" to economic health.

Montgomery named cloud computing and decarbonisation as two such structural trends, while declaring his fund owns shares in Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ).

"A data centre operator, it benefits from the trend toward cloud services, which is levelling the playing field for small businesses to compete globally and digitally," he said.

"As the company expands its footprint, the market is also slowly understanding it can sell its last 10% of capacity for 10 times the price of its first 90%. And whether the economy grows or not probably matters little."

Macquarie shares have risen an impressive 49.2% over the past 12 months.

ASX shares that are structural winners have rewarded investors with growth in the past 10 years, according to Montgomery, and "may continue to do likewise over the next decade".

"We currently believe, notwithstanding the ever-present risk of a 10% to 15% setback, financial year 2022 will prove to be as lucrative as FY21."

The post 2 ASX shares for the Christmas stocking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ) share price has been a top performer in 2021, up 45% year-to-date.

Macquarie Telecom's outperformance has largely been attributed to a single-day jump in share price on 14 July, when the company announced plans to build a new data centre at the Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus. Its shares jumped 15.4% on the day of the announcement to $63.50.

The Macquarie Telecom share price continued to rally following the new data centre announcement, scoring an all-time high of $82.50 on 31 August.

From a fundamental perspective, the company has delivered sound growth with its FY21 full-year results reflecting a seventh consecutive year of EBITDA growth.

Looking ahead, the company said that it expects EBITDA to continue to grow in FY22, driven by its investments and performance in data centres, cloud services and government.

In an interview with Livewire, Investors Mutual's Simon Conn and Montgomery Investment Management's Roger Montgomery shared with investors companies that have a solid growth outlook.

Why there could be more upside to the Macquarie Telecom share price

Montgomery pitched Macquarie Telecom when asked to pick a company that is a "strong candidate for an earnings upgrade."

"We think the market doesn't appreciate how they make their money from selling their volume. They often sell a large part of their available power, if you like, at a lower price. But they can make just as much money – they can actually double their revenue and their EBITDA – from selling the last 10% of the volume at 10 times what they sold the original 90% for."

"I don't think that's widely appreciated. So we've got valuation on the stock of over $100, and its recent weakness gives, I think, us and other people an opportunity to buy," he added.

The Macquarie Telecom share price has been trading sideways since early August, around the mid $70 level.

The post Why this broker sees a 30% upside in the Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) share price has opened lower on Wednesday after the company released its FY21 full-year results.

Macquarie Telecom share price lower despite continued track record of growth

Macquarie Telecom was pleased to announce its seventh consecutive year of EBITDA growth and in line with guidance. Key highlights for FY21 include:

• Revenue increased 7.1% to $266.2 million
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 13% to $73.8 million
• Net profit after tax (NPAT) decrease 7.4% to $12.5 million
• Capital expenditure of $139.1 million (FY20: $64.1 million)

What happened to Macquarie Telecom in FY21?

The Macquarie Telecom share price has surged 40% since mid-July. This major rerate came about on 14 July, when the company announced plans to build a new data centre at Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus.

The company said that the new data centre will be called "IC3 Super West" and will be the largest data centre on the campus.

IC3 Super West will add 32MW of IT load to bring the total campus IT Load to 50MW over time. It is designed to seamlessly interconnect with its IC3 East asset.

According to today's results, the company's state significant development application is expected to shorten the planning cycle, likely to run until early 2022.

Macquarie Telecom said that construction and funding remain subject to final board approvals.

In terms of financial performance, Macquarie Telecom delivered a 7.1% increase in revenue, underpinned by strong growth in cloud services & government and data centre divisions.

The company's 7.4% decline in NPAT reflects the increase in depreciation and amortisation as a result of increased levels of capital expenditure in FY20 and FY21.

Management commentary

Macquarie Telecom chief executive David Tudehope commented on the company's strong track record of growth, saying:

The 2021 full year results delivered the seventh consecutive year of EBITDA growth underpinned by our strategy of investing in Data Centres, Cloud & Cyber Security, including the recent announcement of our new IC3 Super West development, which will provide significant customer growth opportunities in the future.

In addition, Tudehope said that the company will increase investments in cyber security to meet rising demand.

We have decided to increase our investments in Cyber Security, people and technology, to benefit from the increasing demand for business and government to uplift their security defences.

What's next for Macquarie Telecom?

Looking ahead, Macquarie Telecom expects EBITDA to continue to grow in FY22, underpinned by investments made in data centres as well as cloud services and government.

The company said it will continue to develop public cloud capability to enhance its current hybrid cloud offering.

This is in addition to "making significant investments in FY22" to realise the strong demand for cyber security in its government and cloud services business.

Macquarie Telecom share price snapshot

At the time of writing, the Macquarie Telecom share price is down 1.53%, trading at $74.85 a share. However, it's enjoyed a good run so far in 2021, increasing 43% year to date and up almost 63% over the last 12 months.

The company has a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion.

The post Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) share price lower on seventh year of EBITDA growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by around 0.3% today to 7,355 points.

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL)

The buy now, pay later industry was heavily down today.

Afterpay and Zip were the worst two performers in the ASX 200, falling by around 9.6% and 11.4% respectively.

The Sezzle share price also dropped by approximately 10.3% today as well.

There was no official news out of the big buy now, pay later operators. However, there was news reported from overseas.

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple and Goldman Sachs are planning to launch a buy now, pay later service that may challenge Affirm, Afterpay and others

Bloomberg said that the service is internally known within Apple as Apple Pay Later. Consumers will be able to use Apple Pay for any purchase in instalments over a certain amount of time.

Goldman Sachs will be the lender of the money that funds the instalment plans. The two companies have been partners on the Apple Card credit card for the last couple of years. But, according to Bloomberg, consumers won't need an Apple Card for the BNPL purchases.

The ASX 200 BNPL operators of Zip and Afterpay both have substantial growth hopes in the US.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ)

The Macquarie Telecom share price went up more than 15% today after announcing an update about a new data centre and a cybersecurity centre.

It announced that Macquarie Data Centres has today lodged a 'State Significant Development Application' to build a new data centre at the Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus.

The new data centre will be called "IC3 Super West" and will be the largest data centre on the campus, adding 32MW of IT load to bring the total campus load to 50MW over time.

Macquarie Data Centres is aiming to complete construction of the first phase of the new data centre in the second half of the 2023 calendar year. It is designed to meet the needs of the corporate, government and wholesale markets and will enhance the state's cybersecurity infrastructure and capabilities.

The Macquarie Telecom CEO David Tudehope said:

This global scale data centre campus will attract new investment into Australia from multinationals looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region. The Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus will also be the home to our new Sovereign Cyber Security Centre of Excellence which is being launched today with the support of Investment NSW.

That new cybersecurity centre is going to be a mix of "leading edge" physical and virtual infrastructure designed to monitor and manage cybersecurity events. The infrastructure and personnel will be housed in IC3 Super West.

Mr Tudehope said:

NSW's digital economic is rapidly growing, and this project will create world class infrastructure and valuable long-term jobs in the digital and cyber security sector.

It also confirmed that its FY21 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would be in between $72 million to $75 million.

Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM)

Humm announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Red Bird Ventures, a subsidiary of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) New Zealand, to bring the buy now, pay later product bundll to the New Zealand consumer finance market.

The arrangement will see Red Bird have the option to take an equity stake in bundll New Zealand.

This is the first partnership that is under Humm's strategic global agreement with Mastercard and will see bundll available to all New Zealanders and preferential benefits offered to Westpac New Zealand customers.

The Humm share price dropped 4%, though this was less of a decline than other ASX BNPL operators like Afterpay and Zip.

The post ASX 200 rises, Afterpay sinks, Macquarie Telecom soars appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) share price broke its all-time high for the fifth successive day after announcing a new data centre and reaffirming its earnings guidance for the last financial year.

At the time of writing, shares in the telco are trading at their high of $61.79 – up 12.33%.

Let's take a closer look at today's news.

Why the Macquarie Telecom share price is flying

In a statement to the ASX, Macquarie Telecom confirmed its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for FY21 will be between $72 million and $75 million. This was previously announced and is an increase of up to 15% on FY20.

Investors are clearly loving the news, judging by the jump in the Macquarie Telecom share price.

Only yesterday, Motley Fool Australia reported on Macquarie Telecom breaking its previous all-time high. Yesterday, it was growing 3x faster than Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX: TLS) – today it's growing 4.5x faster.

In other news possibly affecting the Macquarie Telecom share price, its subsidiary – Macquarie Data Centres – has lodged a State Significant Development Application to build a new data centre at the Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus. The new data centre will be called "IC3 Super West" and will be the largest data centre on the campus.

IC3 Super West will also house the "Sovereign Cyber Security Centre of Excellence" with support from Investment NSW.

In its most recent half-year results, data centres compromised 25.5% of all revenue but grew at less than half the rate of overall revenue.

CEO of Macquarie Telecom Group David Tudehope says the new centre will be good for the whole country, not just the company.

"This global-scale data centre campus will attract new investment into Australia from multinationals looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region."

Macquarie Telecom share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Macquarie Telecom share price has increased 35%. Just in the last month, shares in the company have increased by 17% and are up 15% year-to-date.

Macquarie Telecom has a market capitalisation of approximately $1.2 billion.

The post Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) rockets 12% to new all-time high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While the Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX: TLS) share price is having a year to remember, there's another ASX-listed telco that's growing at triple the rate.

At the time of writing, shares in Australia's largest telecom company are trading for $3.76 – up 0.67% today and 7.9% in the last 52 weeks.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ), however, just broke its all-time high to reach $56.50 a share today. That's up almost 3% today and an impressive 25% over the last 12 months. That's a growth rate more than 3 times better than Telstra's.

Let's take a closer look at the company.

Company profile

Macquarie Telecom Group is divided into four business segments – telecom, cloud, government, and data services.

Serving businesses and government agencies, the company provides a range of services in the tech sector it claims are "completely different from its competitors." The company says 42% of all federal government agencies choose to work with Macquarie Telecom, for example.

Why this company is outperforming the Telstra share price

Motley Fool Australia has previously reported on how Macquarie Telecom has been tipped to increase by as much as 40%. To be clear, that's on top of its already impressive gains over the past year.

Montgomery Investment Management said the company is a "structural winner" that was being underrated by most. It claims many are assuming its gains so far are because of COVID-19 lockdowns and increased demand for remote working.

The Telstra share price is also looked upong favourably by some brokers. Goldman Sachs put a 12-month target of $4.20 on the company – a 12% increase on today's price.

The sale of 49% of its towers business saw investors rushing to Telstra. The company recently hit a 12-month high of $3.79 and has since fallen back to its current levels.

The contrast between the Telstra share price and Macquarie Telecom is even starker when looking over the longer term. Over a 5-year period, Telstra shares have shrunk by 35% while Macquarie Telecom shares have exploded by 352%.

The post This ASX telco grew 3 times faster than the Telstra (ASX:TLS) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

During the 12 months from 1 July 2020 through to 30 June 2021, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) gained 25%.

Only the top 3 performing ASX telecom shares beat the All Ords returns in FY21. And 1 of those 3 companies wasn't even listed on the exchange when the financial year kicked off.

With that said, and another financial year fading in the rear-view, here are the 5 best performing telecom shares for the year gone by.

Uniti Group Ltd (ASX: UWL)

By far the best performing ASX telecom share is S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) listed Uniti, with shares up 133% in FY21.

Based in South Australia, the internet and telecommunications company is involved in the construction of communications infrastructure, including mobile towers and fibre cables.

Uniti closed the financial year at $3.30 per share. With just under 677 million shares outstanding, Uniti has a market cap of $2.24 billion.

Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB)

The second best performing ASX telecom share is Aussie Broadband, with a share price gain of 57% for the financial year just past.

Aussie Broadband is a newcomer to the ASX, having only listed on 16 October. Meaning it wasn't trading during the first three and a half months of FY21. But having posted more than double the gains of our number 3 ASX telecom share, it's earned its place in this list.

Active across Australia, the company provides national broadband (NBN) subscriptions to residential properties and businesses large and small.

Aussie Broadband closed on 30 June at $2.95 per share. With some 190 million shares outstanding, it has a market cap of $562 million.

Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA)

Coming in at number 3 is Tuas, with a financial year share price gain of 27%.

Tuas was incorporated in March 2020 as part of the TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) group of companies. Tuas listed on the ASX on 30 June 2020, 1 day before FY21 kicked off.

Tuas finished off FY21 with a share price of 65 cents per share. With roughly 464 million shares outstanding, it has a market cap of $299 million.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ)

With a share price gain of 16%, Macquarie Telecom is the fourth best performing ASX telecom share in FY21.

The company listed on the ASX on 27 September 1999 and operates through 2 segments, telecom and hosting.

Macquarie Telecom closed at $52.91 per share on 30 June, giving it a market cap of $1.14 billion. The company pays a 1.1% dividend yield, fully franked.

Telstra Corp Ltd (ASX: TLS)

Rounding off our list of best performing ASX telecom shares at number 5 is industry powerhouse Telstra, with a share price gain of 13% in FY21.

Telstra is Australia's largest and longest-running provider of telecommunications and information products and services. It's also active internationally, with a presence in 20 countries across the globe. With a market cap of $44.72 billion, it's one of the largest companies on the ASX.

Telstra finished the year at $3.76 per share. It pays an annual dividend yield of 2.8%, fully franked.

The post Here are the 5 best ASX telecom shares of the 2021 financial year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

A fund manager has singled out one small cap ASX-listed telecommunications business as capable of a 40% rise in share price to match its valuation.

Montgomery Investment Management founder Roger Montgomery told his subscribers that Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) is a structural winner.

"Structural winners might be part of a global megatrend, have long runways for growth, are disruptive and/or market share takers with a long-term total addressable market that is theirs to lose."

The Macquarie share price has dipped in recent times. It started the year above $52 but was trading at $50.75 at the market close on Monday.

Priced as yesterday's hero

Montgomery said the market seems to perceive Macquarie as a winner only during COVID-19 when demand for telco services was at a peak.

"Experience tells us the patient will be rewarded," he said.

"Our valuation estimate is currently circa $70."

If the share price rose to match Montgomery's valuation estimate, it will have grown almost 40% from current levels.

The fund manager explained that Macquarie recently separated its cloud services/government (CSG) and data centres (DC) into distinct divisions to help investors see the growth in each.

The company also has a telecom arm, which sells data, voice and mobile.

"Data centres' revenue and earnings are what we see as the crown jewels," said Montgomery. 

"The wholesale customer at [data centre] IC3 East is expected to commission its contracted capacity next financial year and billings, and therefore earnings from it will emerge the year after."

He isn't the only analyst bullish on Macquarie. Just a few weeks ago, Canaccord Genuity rated the stock as a buy while slapping on a price target of $68.

About Macquarie Telecom

Just last month, Macquarie terminated its mobile wholesale supply deal with Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) to switch to rival Optus.

Macquarie was founded in 1992 upon the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in Australia.

The company listed on the ASX in October 1999 and currently has a market capitalisation of just over $1 billion.

The post Here's an ASX telco share tipped to rise 40% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

One structural story that still has many chapters left in it is the shift to the cloud.

The good news for investors is that there are a number of ways to gain exposure to it on the Australian share market.

Four ASX shares that look well-positioned to benefit from the cloud computing megatrend are listed below. Here's what you need to know about them:

Goodman Group (ASX: GMG)

Among this integrated property company's vast portfolio of assets are data centres. So this could make Goodman an option if you're looking for exposure to the cloud. To date, the company has developed over 400,000 sqm of space and procured 585 MW of dedicated power across multiple regional platforms for a range of hyperscale and co-location data centre partners. Citi currently has a buy rating and $21.00 price target on Goodman's shares.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

Macquarie Telecom is a provider of telco and hosting services to corporate and government customers. It is the company's hosting business that is expected to be the key driver of growth for the company over the coming years. In fact, you only need to look at its half year results to see this. For the six months ended 31 December, Macquarie Telecom delivered a 15% increase in EBITDA to $36.4 million. This was driven largely by a 23% increase in hosting EBITDA to $27.3 million. Last month Canaccord Genuity put a buy rating and $68.00 price target on its shares.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Another way to gain exposure to the cloud is with Megaport. It offers scalable bandwidth for public and private cloud connections, metro ethernet, and data centre backhaul. Megaport has networking equipment in hundreds of data centres around the world, which has created a software layer that provides an easy way for users to create and manage network connections. This means that through the Megaport network, users can create and run a global network with or without the need for physical infrastructure. Goldman Sachs currently has a buy rating and $15.55 price target on its shares.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

Another company that has been benefiting greatly from the cloud computing boom is NextDC. Thanks to the ever-increasing amount of data being generated by consumers and businesses, demand for capacity in its data centres has been going through the roof. Positively, this week Goldman Sachs has been speaking to industry participants and found that demand remains very strong. In light of this, the broker has added its shares to its conviction buy list and lifted the price target on them to $15.00.

The post 4 fantastic ASX shares with exposure to the cloud computing boom appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) shares headed lower today, falling 3.35% to $46.97 by the market's close.

Just one of many companies that have taken a hit in today's ASX market slump, the Macquarie Telecom share price slide also comes on the heels of news the telecom service provider has signed a new deal with Optus.

Let's take a closer look at the company's new agreement.

Macquarie Telecom just said 'yes'

It was reported in The Australian today the company has ended its existing wholesale mobile contract with Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), in favour of Optus. 

According to report, Macquarie Telecom has signed an exclusive deal worth approximately $34 million "with Australia's second-biggest telco to deploy mobile services including 5G to its 100,000 business customers".

In addition to Optus' 5G network, Macquarie will also gain access to other cellular services. Macquarie Telecom claims it wants to "expand its mobile business and hire more staff over the next three years."

As reported by IT News, Macquarie Telecom group executive Luke Clifton said:

2020 changed the way Australians work forever.

By providing 5G connectivity along with business grade NBN, we can ensure Australian businesses can work from more places than ever before.

Optus was the clear choice in terms of superior technology, flexibility to build the right solutions, and cooperation. It is leading Australia's wholesale 5G market, offers incredibly fast 5G and continues to invest heavily in its 5G network.

The company did not disclose how long the deal would be in effect, other than to say it was "multi-year".

Aussie Broadband Ltd (ASX: ABB) also made the switch last month from the Telstra to Optus mobile network.

What does the company do?

Macquarie Telecom is a business-to-business endeavour operating through two segments, namely its telecom and hosting segments.

The telecom segment relates to the provision of voice and mobile telecommunications services and the provision of services utilising the Macquarie Telecom data network. The hosting segment is focused on providing services utilising the company's data hosting facilities. Macquarie generates the majority of its revenue from the telecom segment.

Macquarie Telecom share price snapshot

Despite today's losses, the Macquarie Telecom share price has been on an upward trajectory over the past 12 months. In the midst of the COVID-19 sell-off, Macquarie Telecom shares reached a 52-week low of $19.20.

If you had bought shares exactly one year ago, you would now be sitting on a healthy return of over 90%. However, year to date, the company's shares have fallen by nearly 10%.

Based on the current share price, Macquarie Telecom has a market capitalisation of around $1 billion.

The post Why is the Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) share price down today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd. (ASX: MAQ) share price will be on watch tomorrow after the telecommunications business released its FY21 half-year result.

This is a diversified technology business. It generates earnings from data centres, cloud, cybersecurity and telecommunications. The clients are mid to large business and government customers.

How did Macquarie Telecom do in the FY21 half-year result?

Looking at the top line, revenue increased by 9% to $143.6 million.

All business units grew revenue. Macquarie Telecom said that it achieved particularly strong growth in cloud services and government. It also revealed that the data centres business has sold 10MW of IT load to a leading corporation. The company boasted that hosting revenue has grown revenue at a compound annual growth rate of 22.3% over the last three years.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 15% to $36.4 million. Cloud services and government EBITDA grew the most, rising by 33.3% to $18 million, whilst the telecommunications EBITDA fell 3.2% to $9.1 million. Data centres EBITDA grew almost 7% to $9.3 million.

Macquarie Telecom highlighted that the EBITDA margin for the overall business has improved from 19.6% in the first half of FY18 to 25.3% in the first half of FY21.

Net profit after tax (NPAT) went up 5% to $7 million. The company generated total operating cash flows of $13.6 million during the half-year.

The telecom business continues to migrate services to the NBN in line with its plan and expects to complete this by late 2021.

Investing for growth

The company said that its data centre in Canberra (Intellicentre 5 – IC5) was completed on time and on budget. The Intellicentre 3 East (IC3 East) is on budget and will achieve practical completion in March 2021.

Capital expenditure for the first half of FY21 was $32.9 million, excluding IC3. Customer growth capex was $13.9 million, up 20%, reflective of its continued data centre sales success and product mix, according to the company.

The company said it has drawn down $93.5 million of debt to support its data centre developments in IC3 East and Intellicentre 5 South Bunker in Canberra.

Commentary from the CEO

Macquarie Telecom CEO David Tudehope said:

Macquarie's 20-year strategy of investing in world-class data centres is based on strong demand for data centre capacity as customers migrate to cloud and co-location services. The win, of the 10MW of IT load sold to a leading corporation, recognises the world class investment we have made in the Macquarie Park Data Centres Campus in Sydney's North Zone.

Macquarie Telecom share price recent performance

Over the last year the Macquarie Telecom share price has risen by 77% over the last year. However, since the start of 2021, the Macquarie Telecom share price has been largely flat so far. 

Macquarie Telecom Outlook

The company said that FY21 EBITDA is expected to be approximately $72 million to $75 million.

It also revealed that the telecom division continues to win customers from legacy data and IP carriers with its NBN and SD WAN solution.

Total capex is expected to be between $57 million to $66 million, excluding IC3. The IC3 expenditure is expected to be between $123 million to $126 million.

The post Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) share price on watch with more growth in HY21 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Because of the pandemic and the working from home initiative, you might have heard people talking about the cloud or cloud computing a lot this year.

Cloud computing is best described as the on-demand availability of computer system resources such as data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.

It's what allows you to stream endless hours of TV shows via Netflix, do your accounting at home with Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), or communicate with your colleagues via Zoom.

While the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of cloud-based products, there's still a long way to go before cloud computing growth plateaus.

Especially due to new technologies and the arrival of 5G internet. The latter is expected to create new cloud-based applications and opportunities that were impossible with previous networks.

This bodes well for companies with exposure to the cloud and could underpin strong demand for their products and services over the next decade.

Which companies will benefit on the Australian share market? Three ASX shares with exposure to cloud-computing are listed below:

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

Macquarie Telecom is a provider of telco and hosting services to corporate and government customers. It is the latter offering that is expected to be the key driver of growth for the company over the coming years. Its Hosting segment has been growing at a strong rate and appears well-positioned to continue this trend. Especially after recent capacity expansions were made in order to capture the increasing demand for data centre services in Australia.

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Megaport offers scalable bandwidth for public and private cloud connections, metro ethernet, and data centre backhaul. It has networking equipment in hundreds of data centres around the world. This has created a software layer that provides an easy way for users to create and manage network connections. For example, through the Megaport network, users can create and run a global network with or without the need for physical infrastructure. Demand has been strong for its services this year, leading to Megaport reporting a 57% increase in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) to $5.7 million in FY 2020.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)

NEXTDC is an innovative data centre company which operates a collection of world class centres in key locations across Australia. Demand for its services has been growing very strongly in recent years and particularly in 2020. This has led to the company accelerating the construction of new centres in order to meet the rising demand. In addition to this, management recently revealed that it is looking into expanding into the Asia market in the near future.

The post How to benefit from the cloud computing boom with ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In late morning trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the month on a positive note. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.7% to 6,565.3 points.

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

Collins Foods Ltd (ASX: CKF)

The Collins Foods share price is up 2.5% to $9.58. Investors have been buying the quick service restaurant operator's shares after the release of its half year results. For the six months ended 30 September, Collins Foods delivered a 11.3% increase in revenue compared to the prior corresponding period to $499.6 million. And on the bottom line, underlying net profit after tax came in 15.1% higher to $27.5 million.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The Domino's share price has jumped 10% higher to $81.54. The catalyst for this appears to be a broker note out of Goldman Sachs this morning. Its analysts have upgraded Domino's shares to a conviction buy rating with an $88.00 price target. The broker believes the company has the "potential to maintain double digit EBITDA CAGR in the medium term despite various levels of COVID impacts in each of their markets."

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

The Macquarie Telecom share price is up 2% to $49.93 following the release of its investor day update. That update reveals that management is expecting further earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) growth in FY 2021. It has provided first half EBITDA guidance of $36 million to $37 million. This will be a 13.9% to 17.1% increase on the $31.6 million it achieved in the prior corresponding period.

PolyNovo Ltd (ASX: PNV)

The PolyNovo share price has jumped 6% to $3.41. Investors have been buying the medical device company's shares after it announced that it would bring its Breast device development program in-house effective immediately. Chairman David Williams advised that "the new product development and extension opportunities in front of us dictate that we need to build our research and development team and efforts."

The post Why Collins Foods, Domino's, Macquarie Telecom, & PolyNovo shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ) share price was a particularly poor performer on Monday.

In the last minutes of trade, the data centre and telecom company's shares tumbled 6% to $49.02.

Shareholders will no doubt be hoping for a better day of trade on Tuesday, especially after the release of its investor day update this evening.

What was in the update?

As well as providing a summary on its strong performance in FY 2020, management gave investors an idea on its expectations for the year ahead.

In respect to FY 2020, Macquarie Telecom delivered an 8% increase in revenue to $266.2 million.

Things were even better for its earnings thanks to margin expansion. Macquarie Telecom reported a 25% lift in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to $65.2 million. 

This has become the norm for Macquarie Telecom in recent years due to a positive shift in its earnings mix. Over the last three years its revenue has grown by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8%, whereas EBITDA has grown by a CAGR of 16.8%.

Pleasingly, management is expecting its EBITDA to grow again in FY 2021.

Today's update reveals that it is expecting first half EBITDA in the range of $36 million to $37 million. This will be a 13.9% to 17.1% increase on the $31.6 million it achieved in the prior corresponding period.

And while management is expecting its second half EBITDA to be flat compared to the first half, due to its investment in sales and operational resources to support continued growth, this should still mean solid year on year growth.

After which, the company expects its FY 2022 results to be boosted by the construction of capacity which is under a new contract. This will occur through calendar year 2021, ready for billing to commence in the third quarter of FY 2022.

Looking further ahead, management is very positive on the future and expects the company to benefit from increasing demand for data centre capacity and the adoption of cloud cyber security.

And with the Macquarie Telecom share price up 104% year to date, it appears as though many investors agree with this view.

The post Macquarie Telecom (ASX:MAQ) share price in focus after investor day update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Investing in ASX shares can be a wonderful experience. Putting your money into assets that grow and compound your wealth over time is like watching a small seed grow into a giant oak tree, only far more enjoyable and useful (in my opinion). Most of us investors are happy to get a return of 10%, 15% or 20% a year, depending on your risk profile and/or investing strategy. But some ASX shares do far better than that.

There are (ironically) 13 lucky shares on the ASX that have returned 100% or more to their investors year to date, going off of today's share prices. That means anyone who bought or owned these shares on 2 January 2020 (the markets are closed for New Year's Day on 1 January) would have doubled up their money or better, as of right now.

Here they are, together with their year-to-date returns on current pricing:

What can we learn from these ASX shares?

It's worth noting that year-to-date gains can be misleading. Sure, it looks as though lithium miner, Pilbara, has had a great year (which it has). But even at these levels, the Pilbara share price is still down more than 40% from its 2018 highs.

Moving on, we see some consistent themes in this list. Gold miners, for instance, feature heavily. They even take out the two top spots on the table – and by a considerable margin at that. Gold itself has also had a phenomenal year. It started 2020 at around US$1,519 an ounce, but is currently trading at US$1,811 after climbing to a new all-time high of US$2,061 an ounce earlier in the year. No wonder gold miners have done ok.

We also see some big e-commerce players in Afterpay, Redbubble, Temple & Webster, and Kogan. These companies have all done unquestionably well in 2020, fuelled in part by the dramatic shift towards online shopping that the pandemic accelerated. All three of these companies reported revenue growth in the double or triple digits in FY2020. We can probably throw online betting purveyor, Pointsbet, into that mix as well.

It just goes to show that even in a year full of unprecedented challenges, some companies can make lemonade with the lemons they're given.

The post The 13 ASX shares that could have doubled your money in 2020 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The All Ordinaries index has been in fine form recently and has managed to narrow its year to date decline to just 1%.

Considering how far we fell at the height of the pandemic, this certainly is an incredible turnaround.

While the All Ords is still down slightly in 2020, the same cannot be said for some index constituents.

Two ASX shares that have more than doubled in value this year are listed below. Here's why they are on fire:

Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX: MAQ)

The Macquarie Telecom share price is up a massive 130% since the start of the year. Investors have been buying the data centre and telecom company's shares this year due to its strong performance in FY 2020 and positive outlook. This has been driven largely by increasing demand for cloud and cyber security services, particularly in the government sector.

In FY 2020, Macquarie Telecom delivered an 8% increase in revenue to $266.2 million and a 25% lift in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) to $65.2 million. Management is expecting further growth in EBITDA in FY 2021. And this guidance was prior to the recent announcement earlier this month of a major contract for the provision of approximately 10MW of capacity at its Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus.

Whispir Ltd (ASX: WSP)

The Whispir share price has been a very stronger performer in 2020. Despite trading well below its 52-week high, the communications workflow platform provider's shares are up a sizeable 108% since the start of the year. This has been driven by a surge in demand for its services during the pandemic which led to stellar growth in FY 2020.

For the 12 months ended 30 June 2020, the company delivered a 25.5% increase in revenue to $39.1 million and annualised recurring revenue (ARR) growth of 34% to $42.2 million. This was driven by increased usage from existing customers and a greater than forecast increase in net new customers.

Pleasingly, more strong growth is expected in FY 2021. Management provided guidance for ARR of $51.1 million to $55.3 million and revenue of $47.5 million to $51 million. The high end of these guidance ranges represent year on year growth of 31% and 30.4%, respectively.

The post These ASX shares have more than doubled in value in 2020 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.