The Micro-X Ltd (ASX: MX1) share price exploded today on news of a $15 million investment.

Micro-X shares surged 37% from 13.5 cents to 18.5 cents before retreating. The company's shares finished the day up 26%.

Let's take a look at what this ASX medical tech share reported.

New strategic partnership

Micro-X has formed a strategic partnership with Varex Imaging Corporation (NASDAQ: VREX). Varex is said to be the biggest independent manufacturer of x-ray technology components in the world.

Varex will pay Micro-X US$5 million (about A$7.5 million) for a global exclusive licence to use Micro-X's NEX technology. Under the deal, Varex will be able to design, make and sell multi-beam x-ray tubes using this technology.

Further, Varex will take a 9.9% stake in Micro-X via a share placement of 50,709,000 shares at 14.7 cents per share. This investment is valued at nearly $7.5 million. In total, this would take Varex's investment in Micro-X to about $15 million.

Commenting on the news, Micro-X managing director Peter Rowland said:

This long-term investment will continue to promote Micro-X on the world stage, as a leader in innovative products and technology that is designed to make lives better.

This collaboration contributes hugely to our future growth and allows us to continue to focus on future medical and security imaging applications for our proprietary NEX Technology

Micro-X is holding an investor call at 9am on Tuesday to discuss this news.

Micro-X share price snapshot

The Micro-X share price has slid 42% in the past year, while it has fallen 33% year to date.

For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has fallen nearly 14% in a year.

Micro-X has a market capitalisation of about $78 million based on the current share price.

The post Guess which ASX medical tech share soared 37% at one point today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In light of this, I thought I would scour through a range of recent notes to see which small cap ASX shares are in favour with brokers at present.

Three that have been given buy ratings are listed below. Here's why brokers like them:

Genmin Ltd (ASX: GEN)

According to a note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have initiated coverage on this iron ore exploration company's shares with a speculative buy rating and 44 cents price target. The broker has been looking over Genmin's pipeline of projects in Gabon, Africa. It believes there is the potential to support an iron ore production hub initially of 5-10Mtpa. Overall, the broker likes the company due to it offering exposure to future high margin iron ore production and the strategic theme of the development of ex-Australian iron ore supply. The Genmin share price is fetching 19.5 cents on Thursday.

Micro-X Ltd (ASX: MX1)

A note out of Morgans reveals that its analysts have retained their speculative add rating and 58 cents price target on this x-ray technology company's shares. Morgans notes that the company has signed a number of key contracts this month. This includes with the US Department of Homeland Security and Australian Stroke Alliance. The latter is worth $8 million to the company and is for the development of lightweight stroke diagnostic imaging technology. The Micro-X share price is trading at 33 cents today.

Readytech Holdings Ltd (ASX: RDY)

Analysts at Macquarie have retained their outperform rating and lifted their price target on this mission critical software company's shares to $3.98. This follows news that the company has signed an agreement to acquire Avaxa for $2.2 million. Avaxa is a specialist enterprise student management software company. Macquarie expects it to support ReadyTech's JobReady Plus platform. The Readytech share price is trading at $3.49 today.

The post Top brokers name 3 ASX small cap shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The market looks caught in a fairly tight trading band since April as bulls and bears look to see who blinks first.

In this climate, a good way to pick ASX shares to buy is to target those with positive near-term catalysts, according to Morgans.

The broker's advise comes as the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index:^AXJO) bounces between both sides of breakeven today. The index has traded in a less than 200-point band in the past seven weeks.

Target ASX shares with near-term catalysts

Investors are torn between the strong earnings outlook for ASX shares and fears that share prices are primed for a big pullback.

As I reported last week, Morgans believes you should ignore the jitters and use any market weakness as a buying opportunity.

The broker highlighted some ASX 200 shares to buy as it expects them to release positive news in the near-term.

It expects that these good updates will propel their share prices even in the face of a broader market sell-off.

ASX small cap shares that could outperform in the near-term

But there are a number of little known ASX shares that many have overlooked that are also in this basket.

The first is the Kina Securities Ltd (ASX: KSL) share price. The small cap Papua New Guinea broker has around a 60% upside to Morgans' share price target and you may not have to wait long for the Kina Securities share price to surge towards fair value.

"We expect closure of the WBC Asia Pacific acquisition in September to be a material catalyst, forcing the market to reconsider strong earnings growth into FY22," said Morgans.

Dividend restart to light this ASX small cap

Another lesser followed ASX share is the Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Ltd (ASX: DBI) share price.

Morgans reckons there is a close to 20% upside for the coal export port operator, although ESG conscious investors may shun shares with the "C" word.

But the broker believes that any news of the company restarting its quarterly dividends could light a fire under the Dalrymple Bay share price. This could come as June.

Looking for the X-factor

Those looking for more bang for their buck may want to consider the Micro-X Ltd (ASX: MX1) share price.

The X-ray technology developer that's used for security and medical screening could see its share price surge in the coming weeks or months.

Morgans expects Micro-X to announce that it has secured European regulatory approval for its technology in the current quarter. There is a close to 80% upside for the Micro-X share price to the broker's price target.

The post Morgans picks small cap ASX shares with near-term share price catalysts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.