In afternoon trade the local market is on course to finish the week on a positive note. At the time of writing the benchmark ASX 200 is up 0.3%.
Three shares at the small end of the market outperforming today are listed below. Here's why they have surged higher:
The Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: BOT) share price is up over 5% to 8.1 cents after the cannabis-focused dermatology company advised that it has received a $4.6 million research and development tax incentive refund. In addition to this, investors may be reacting positively to a broker note out of Bell Potter yesterday. According to the note, the broker has initiated coverage on Botanix with a speculative buy rating and 15 cents price target. The broker believes that the company's chronic acne and atopic dermatitis treatments could be attractive "for potential partners due to the very large market size and chronic nature of both indications."
The DigitalX Ltd (ASX: DCC) share price has returned to trade and climbed 10% to 6.6 cents. At one stage the blockchain company's shares were up as much as 26.5% following the release of an announcement this morning. According to the release, the company has entered into a joint venture with US blockchain investment bank AmerX to enter the Security Token Offerings market. The release explains that the new entity, DX Americas, is being incorporated "to engage in the provision of advisory services, including for tokenomics, smart contract development, marketing, public relations and issuer readiness to companies in the technology and blockchain industries." I'd suggest investors refrain from investing on this development and wait to see if it is more than a fad.
The Netcomm Wireless Ltd (ASX: NTC) share price has climbed 4% to 75 cents despite there being no news out of the broadband equipment company. I suspect that investors were pleased to see that its performance has not deteriorated since its last update when it warned of flat underlying EBITDA in FY 2019. This flat performance is the result of a lower gross margin which reflects a change in sales mix and higher component costs. Management reaffirmed this guidance at its AGM this week.
