It has been named as a buy by analysts at Bell Potter and tipped to rise strongly from where it currently trades.

Which small cap ASX share is a buy?

The small cap that Bell Potter is bullish on is Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA).

It is a technology company that develops advanced air traffic control simulation and training systems and state-of-the-art air traffic management solutions. Its customers include international air navigation service providers (ANSPs), military, defence and security organisations, universities, and airport authorities.

At the last count, more than 21% of the world's airspace was managed with Adacel's Aurora ATM software.

Bell Potter notes that Adacel has announced that it has retained the FAA contract for Tower Simulation System (TSS) Support following a re-evaluation by the FAA of the proposals by Adacel and the unsuccessful tenderer (who previously held the contract).

This means that the small cap ASX share will continue to deliver under the contract terms which began on 1 December 2023. This contract is valued at US$59 million over five years and includes both the maintenance and support of the TSS hardware as well as a full-scale technical refresh for all major components.

In addition, it highlights that management has reaffirmed its earnings guidance for FY 2025. It is guiding to EBITDA of US$4 million to US$5 million, which is consistent with the broker's estimate of US$4.3 million.

Big returns

In light of the above, the broker has reaffirmed its buy rating on the small cap ASX share with an improved price target of 70 cents (from 65 cents).

Based on its current share price of 50.5 cents, this implies potential upside of almost 40% for investors over the next 12 months.

Commenting on its buy rating, the broker said:

On the back of the affirmation of the FAA contract we have increased the multiple we apply in the EV/EBITDA valuation from 7.5x to 8.0x and reduced the WACC we apply in the DCF from 10.5% to 10.1%. The result is an 8% increase in our PT to $0.70 which is >15% premium to the share price so we maintain our BUY recommendation. Potential catalysts include an update at the AGM in November and, as mentioned, some clarity around the timing of the refresh work. The 1HFY25 result in February is also a potential catalyst given the weak 1HFY24 result – so cycling a weak comp – and the increased confidence this result should provide in the full year guidance.

The post Broker says this small cap ASX share can rise ~40% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the air traffic management software company's shares were up as much as 39% to a 52- week high of $1.43.

Adacel share price rockets after doubling its profits

• Revenue increased 1.1% to $40.2 million
• Gross margin expanded by almost 5 percentage points to 40.1%
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 117.6% to $9.8 million.
• Net profit after tax jumped 101.7% to $7.3 million
• Final unfranked dividend per share doubled to 3.25 cents, bringing full year dividend to 6 cents per share (up 140% year on year)
• FY 2022 guidance: Profit before tax growth of up to 5.2%

What happened in FY 2021 for Adacel?

As you might have guessed from the Adacel share price reaction, FY 2021 was a significant improvement on a difficult prior period. This was thanks to a strong performance from its Systems segment, which offset a slightly weaker performance by its larger Services segment.

During FY 2021, revenues in its Systems segment increased by 25.9% from $9.7 million to $12.3 million. This was driven by a higher number of systems implemented, including the delivery of additional Air Traffic Control Common Simulators (ACS) units to the US Army.

The Services segment, which comprises all recurring revenue, including software maintenance and all aspects of system support, field services, and on-site technical services, saw its revenue fall from $30 million to $28 million. This was driven largely by foreign exchange headwinds. But thanks to improvements in its margins, the impact on its earnings wasn't as great.

What did management say?

Adacel's CEO Daniel Verret said: "This was a remarkable year in many regards. Unprecedented unknowns due to COVID-19, major business adjustments to sustain productivity while working remotely, quick development of creative solutions to support our commitments, successful delivery of significant projects, and a remarkably strong business output by the company."

"We are pleased to report on our strong financial performance for FY2021 and delivered improved financial performance across all major financial indicators," he added.

What's next for Adacel?

In FY 2022, the company intends to begin reporting in US dollars. Management believes this will provide a more relevant representation of the company's financial position in comparison to its peers.

With that in mind, the company is guiding to profit before tax of US$5.7 million to US$6 million in FY 2022. This represents growth of 0% to 5.2% on FY 2021's profit before tax of US$5.7 million.

Adacel's Chairman, Michael McConnell, commented: "In late FY 2019, we outlined our strategy to focus on the Company's core businesses and customers supported by the implementation of a set of management disciplines and metrics to drive operational efficiency and accountability."

"Today, we reported continued execution against those basic principles and improvement in financial performance."

"Having solidified Adacel's operational, product, and financial foundation, this year we will invest in our sales capabilities to drive future growth. Moreover, we will continue to drive shareholder returns through our balanced capital management strategy, including dividends, share buybacks, and potential M&A activity," he added.

Adacel share price continues to outperform

Following today's gain, the Adacel share price is now up a whopping 150% over the last 12 months. This compares very favourably to a strong 25% gain by the All Ordinaries over the same period.

The post Why the Adacel (ASX:ADA) share price is rocketing 39% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

One is the topic du jour, inflation. The negative influence of rising inflation and interest rates on growth stocks has been well-documented.

The other is the ever-increasing influence of technology in our lives. While COVID-19 may have given tech adoption a boost, the trend was already well underway and will continue for years, decades and centuries to come.

The trouble is, many ASX tech shares represent forward-looking businesses that favour low-interest rates.

So how does an investor reconcile these two opposing drivers?

Bell Potter industrials analyst Chris Savage said the post-COVID environment does threaten to entrench the rotation out of growth into value stocks.

"We therefore believe it is now more of a stock picker's market and are particularly focused on those technology stocks where we believe there is either relative or absolute value," he said in a memo to clients.

"We continue to be positive on the technology sector in Australia… we believe there are a number of good quality stocks in the sector with reasonable to strong growth outlooks."

These are the 3 ASX tech shares Bell Potter nominated that could thrive in the post-COVID world.

Adacel could exceed already-upgraded forecasts

Melbourne company Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA) makes air traffic control systems.

Its shares sat at 97 cents before the market opened on Thursday.

Savage said the company has already upgraded its financial year guidance.

"It now forecasts profit before tax between $7.0 and $7.3 million – and we believe it will at least achieve the guidance if not exceed it."

The business is sitting on "several million dollars" of cash, he added, and restarted a stock buyback at the start of the year.

"The company has already paid an interim dividend of 2.75c this year and we expect another reasonable dividend at year end," said Savage.

"The stock looks value on an FY22 PE ratio of around 13x."

Bell Potter rates Adacel as a buy, with a price target of $1.25.

Teenagers are breaking out

It's summer in the northern hemisphere and the US is transitioning to post-vaccination life.

This bodes well for Life360 Inc (ASX: 360), according to Savage, which makes an app that tracks teenagers' movements.

"The company is likely to be a major beneficiary of the widespread rollout of COVID vaccines – particularly in its home market of the USA," he said.

"This was evident in the Appendix 4C release in late April and we expect this trend to continue over the remainder of the year and into next."

Life360 shares traded for $6.99 before market open on Thursday. It's already risen more than 80% this year.

"The stock is not cheap on an EV/revenue multiple of circa 5x in 2022 but… looks reasonable value relative to global comps."

Bell Potter advises the tech share as a buy, with a price target of $7.

Nitro has 'reasonable chance' of upgrade

Shares for document productivity software provider Nitro Software Ltd (ASX: NTO) has only risen 0.94% this year so far.

But this belies the business' health, said Savage.

"The company has had a strong start to the calendar year with annual recurring revenue at 31 March 2021 up 66% compared to 31 March 2020 and the CEO saying there is 'accelerating sales momentum' in the business."

Savage's team believes there's "a reasonable chance" Nitro will upgrade its financial year 2021 guidance around August when the first half results are announced.

"Our forecasts already reflect this," he said.

"The stock is not cheap on an EV/revenue multiple of circa 7x in 2022 but looks reasonable value relative to global comps."

Bell Potter rated the stock as a buy, with a price target of $3.75. Nitro shares were $3.22 before the market opened Thursday.

The post 3 ASX tech shares for the post-COVID world appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the flight simulator company's shares are up 3.40% to an intraday high of 91 cents.

What did Adacel Technologies announce?

Investors are snapping up Adacel shares after the company provided a positive update.

In today's statement, Adacel announced that it has been awarded a contract from the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA).

The deal, valued more than US$3.6 million, will see Adacel replace the current air traffic management system in Seychelles. The modernisation program will involve installing the company's Aurora Air Traffic Management system over a 24-month period.

Adacel stated that the Aurora system "integrates oceanic, approach, and tower control capabilities and allows for optimal, fuel efficient routing". It is expected that once the system is online, service delivery will improve through advanced air traffic control management solutions.

Adacel CEO, Daniel Verret commented:

We are thrilled to welcome SCAA as our newest customer. Our team looks forward to delivering on our commitments to modernize SCAA's Air Traffic Management system and implementing higher airspace efficiency.

In line with our plan to modernize our various infrastructures, SCAA is excited to see its air traffic management system advancing to the next level despite the delay incurred from the Covid-19 pandemic. Our team is looking forward to embark on this crucial journey with a prestigious company like Adacel. SCAA is confident that Adacel will deliver on its promise for safe, reliable and efficient products and services.

Adacel share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, Adacel shares have risen by more than 120%, but have fallen 7% year-to-date. The company's share price reached a 52-week high of $1.10 following the release of its half-year results.

On today's price, Adacel has a market capitalisation of around $69 million, with almost 76 million shares on issue.

The post Why the Adacel Technologies (ASX:ADA) share price is climbing today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

The a2 Milk share price is up 4% to $11.38. Investors have been buying the infant formula company's shares after they were sold off earlier this month following a guidance downgrade. It appears as though they believe the selling was overdone and the headwinds it is facing in the daigou channel are only temporary.

Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA)

The Adacel share price has jumped 8% to 96 cents. This morning the air traffic management systems provider announced its intention to conduct an on-market share buy-back during the period from 11 January 2021 to 10 January 2022. According to the release, the company will acquire up to approximately 7.6 million or up to 10% of its shares on issue.

Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK)

The Dusk share price is up a sizeable 12% to $2.02. Investors have been buying the home fragrance product retailer's shares after it provided a positive trading update. Management expects sales for the first half of FY 2021 to be in the range of $90 million to $90.5 million. That compares to $58.7 million in the first half of FY 2020. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) is estimated to be between $26 million and $27 million. This is up materially on FY 2020's first half EBIT of $9.7 million.

Nuheara Ltd (ASX: NUH)

The Nuheara share price has rocketed 13.5% higher to 5 cents. The catalyst for this was a big announcement by the smart and affordable hearing solutions provider. Nuheara has signed an agreement to manufacture HP-branded products for American multinational information technology company HP Inc (NYSE: HPQ). According to the release, the hardware product purchase agreement has a contracted initial term of three years with automatic renewals for successive one-year periods.

The post Why a2 Milk, Adacel, Dusk, & Nuheara shares are charging higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

It is welcome news for the technology company, which has been hard hit this year, with shares falling from $0.61 in January to a low of $0.30 cents on 23 March. The Adacel Technologies share price sits at $0.52 at the time of writing.

What did Adacel Technologies announce?

This morning, Adacel Technologies advised the market it has updated its profit before tax guidance to $4.8 million following strong operational execution. This represents a 20% increase on the guidance that was released to the market in mid-April.

Despite the continuing impact of COVID-19, the company reported that it was able to expedite a number of key infrastructure installations for existing customers in Australia and the US. Furthermore, Adacel was able to complete 2 traffic management projects in Fiji and Portugal.

Adacel also updated its cash balance to approximately $5 million – an increase of around 150% on its forecasts in April. This increased cash balance was attributed to the early completion of the upgrades in the US and Australia, ongoing operating efficacies, and improved cash management.

In the announcement, CEO Daniel Verret expressed his pleasure at the "progress despite the challenges our teams faced with COVID-19." He was also encouraged looking forward into FY2021, and anticipates "continued improvement in our financial performance," assuming "modest and steady recovery from the COVID-19 disruption."

What does Adacel Technologies do?

Adacel Technologies is a global software technology company headquartered in Melbourne and is involved with the design and application of air traffic management and simulation. According to the company, more than 21% of the world's airspace is controlled using its air traffic management technology.

In late June, Adacel received a US$2.8 million order from the US Army for its air traffic control common simulator (ACS) program, demonstrating the ongoing partnership that started in 2013. These simulators will be installed in multiple military locations around the world.

Adacel supports customers worldwide from North and South America, to Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The company has been working with military, defence and security customers, airport authorities and universities for over 30 years.

About the Adacel Technologies share price

Adacel shares have returned more than 23% since this time last year, however are down by 14.75%, year to date. The Adacel Technologies share price is up by 19.54% in today's trade to $0.52 at the time of writing.

The post Adacel Technologies share price soars 19% on updated profit guidance appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

For calendar year 2019 Speedcast now expects underlying EBTIDA to come in between US$140 million to US$150 million, compared to prior guidance between $160 million to $171 million. 

The company also flagged that it expects EBITDA for the first half of calendar year 2019 to come in between $60 million to $64 million, which means it's relying on a much stronger second half to even meet its downgraded guidance. 

The reliance on a stronger second half and investor disappointment over yet another downgrade means the shares have plunged from as high as $3.64 on Monday to just $1.72 this morning. Ouch.

These kind of precipitous falls show what can happen when investors lose trust in a management team and its ability to hit forecasts. Others to have issued downgrades recently include Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) and Adacel Technologies Ltd (ASX: ADA). 

The post Timber! The Speedcast share price is now down 50% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The company also warned it expects first half 2019 adjusted EBITDA to hit between US$60 million to US$64 million, which means it will need to deliver a far stronger second half to the year to even meet its downgraded guidance. 

The company blamed the result on "evolving market conditions" and more "recent commercial developments". Specifically it blamed delays in NBN revenues, weak market conditions in enterprise and emerging markets (EEM), and "technical difficulties causing further delays in the ramp up of the Carnival contract".

Speedcast joins a group of tech oriented companies in the naughty corner after delivering earnings downgrades this week, with others including dark fibre business Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) and software business Adacel Technologies Ltd (ASX: ADA).

The post Speedcast shares sunk by profit downgrade appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This might leave investors asking what on earth has caused such a large swing in the bottom line over just one financial year. 

The company blamed three "primary factors" for the disastrous result. Firstly, it experienced cost blowouts when installing its new "Approach and Tower" control systems in Fiji, Guadeloupe and NavPortugal. However, its confident these will be resolved by FY20 and that it can even sell the software to more clients over FY20.

Second, it admitted its sales forecasts for the second half of FY19 were too optimistic, or just plain wrong. It claims that it has now taken a 'more prudent' approach to forecasts which is notable given it's now "forecasting" a profit before tax between $4.1 million to $4.6 million in FY20.

It reports its confident in the FY20 forecast in part because its cost control will be much better over the year ahead, with poor cost control in FY19 identified as the third factor behind the poor year.

Adacel shares are down 63% over the past year and could fall further today.

The post Adacel warns it could swing to a full year loss up to $1.9 million appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

According to conventional thinking if a company launches a share buyback it's generally because it feels the stock is undervalued relative to its outlook, as otherwise it would be a poor use of company capital to buy overvalued or roughly fairly valued shares.

Especially if you're a fast-growing software business such as Pro Medicus in a race for global market share that in theory could cost a lot in marketing and sales expenses to win new clients, but still produce a strong return on investment.

As such share buybacks are generally considered as good options for companies flush with cash (after asset sales or a commodity price boom like BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), or for mature companies with little use for piles of excess cash.

However, Pro Medicus is unusual as a junior software business in that it both pays a dividend and launches share buybacks which would be a sacrilegious act for for growth-focused software rivals like Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) or WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).

Today, Pro Medicus gave a regulatory filing indicating that it might buy back up to 10% of its shares on issue over the next 12 months, which seems unlikely given it has a market cap of $1.5 billion. Therefore 10% of shares on issue would be $150 million and way beyond Pro Medicus's free cash flow firepower to complete.

Even if it only buys back a couple of million dollars worth of shares this would be a mistake if the shares are overvalued, as it could lift the dividend as an alternative if it felt it didn't need the cash.

Recently we saw management at junior software rival Adacel Technologies Ltd (ASX: ADA) complete a share buyback program before the share price bombed on the back of some poor operating updates that management should have forseen better than anyone.

No wonder investor confidence is shaken in Adacel.

Given Pro Medicus is reportedly led by a smart CEO it seems bullish that the company is even contemplating buying back shares as the free cash flow could be saved for a rainy day, dividends lifted, or marketing investment cranked higher.

However, perhaps the company is so confident of good times ahead it's clever to buy the shares back now before they rise later on more good news. After all the stock is up 18x in 5 years and it's not for me to criticise a management team that has delivered such stupendous performance.

Foolish takeaway

I still only have a very small position in Pro Medicus unfortunately, but it does look to tick the boxes as a growth investment prospect. However, whether the shares offer any value at $15 is up for debate and I'll sit on the fence with a hold.

The post Up 18x in 5 years & the Pro Medicus CEO is bullish enough to launch a share buyback appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

A double departure is an unusual development for a listed company and given no explanation was provided over the news it's not surprising investors have taken a sell first, ask questions later approach.

Adacel has endured a tough 18 months or so on the back of rising competition and some reportedly lost contracts with it now forecasting fiscal 2019 profit to be 35% to 45% below fiscal 2018, when using accounting methods prior to the adoption of AASB15.

The company is still profitable, pays a dividend, and has a net cash position of $3.14 million as at December 31 2019, therefore it still looks in a reasonable position for investors prepared to do further research into its beaten-down valuation.

The post Why the Adacel share price cratered today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

USAF contract 

Adacel announced to the market last week that it had been awarded a contract by the USAF to continue providing services to support the USAF's ATC Tower Simulator System program. The company has delivered over 100 simulators since the original contract was won in 2002.

With the program now in a sustainment phase, the terms of the new contract state that Adacel will retain responsibility for the maintenance, support, and modernisation of the Tower Simulator System units at USAF installations all over the world.

The terms of the contract also specify a base year period performance with a further four option years, which would see program support continue to the end of November 2023 if the option years are exercised by the USAF.

Adacel has estimated that the value of the contract is $32 million on the condition of the options being exercised over the 5-year term.

Foolish takeaway 

Adacel develops simulation and control systems for military and commercial use in the global aerospace systems market. Whilst last week's announcement was good news for the company, the stock is still down 62% over the last 12 months following the loss of a significant contract and a profit downgrade.

In November, Adacel announced to the market that it expects profit before tax for the first-half of FY19 to be around 65%-70% lower than the prior corresponding period. Profit before tax for the full-year is forecast to be between 25%-35% lower than FY18.

The fall in first-half earnings was attributed to the previously announced loss of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Tower Simulation Support Contract and related issues. Furthermore, additional investments in research and development, sales and marketing and adverse foreign exchange movements has resulted in a lower full-year forecast.

Adacel has commenced legal proceedings for breach of contract and infringement of intellectual property rights against Adsync Technologies, who won the FAA Tower Simulation Support contract. The company is pursuing all available legal options, including the recovery of appropriate financial damages and costs. As a consequence, Adacel has removed all FAA Tower Simulation System revenue contribution from FY19 guidance until the issue is resolved.

In light of the uncertainty from this matter surrounding the stock, investors may want to consider other small cap technology stocks such as Citadel Group Ltd (ASX: CGL) and ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO).

The post Why the Adacel Technologies share price has climbed 30% in 2019 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is because insider buying is often regarded as a bullish indicator as few people know a company and its true value better than its own directors.

Three shares which have reported meaningful insider buying this week are listed below:

Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA)

According to two change of director's interest notices, independent non-executive director Michael McConnell has been busy buying the shares of this air traffic management systems provider this week. Mr McConnell picked up a total of 187,842 shares through on-market trades for a total consideration of approximately $163,000 or 86.8 cents per share. The director appears to believe that Adacel's shares have fallen into the bargain bin after a sharp decline last week. Its shares crashed lower after management advised that first half profit before tax is expected to be 65% to 70% lower than the prior corresponding period. Adacel's shares do look cheap now, but I'm not a fan due to its inconsistent performance.

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

Two change of director's interest notices reveal that non-executive directors Dean Howell and Lawrence Myers have picked up shares through on-market trades. Myers snapped up 20,000 shares for a total consideration of $236,000 and Howell bought 7,500 shares for a total consideration of $92,667. These directors may be confident that Breville's new product launches are going to drive solid sales growth over the coming 12 months. I'm a big fan of Breville, but unlike these directors I'd prefer to buy its shares at a cheaper price.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

According to a change of director's interest notice, the embattled corporate travel specialist's CEO, Jamie Pherous, has made another significant purchase of shares. Last week Mr Pherous took advantage of the selloff to pick up $2.4 million worth of the company's shares. This has been followed up with another on-market trade this week which saw the CEO buy a further 70,000 shares for approximately $1.56 million. While I think that its shares do look great value right now, I intend to hold out until the short seller attack drama blows over.

The post Insiders have been buying these ASX shares. Should you? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, last Friday we saw with the 42% share price fall of Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA) in a single day, how small cap tech shares can plunge violently. In fact, Adacel's share price is now down 65% over just the course of 2018.

As such as an investor it tends to pay to focus on established market leaders that have proven long-term track records, alongside the scale and re-investment power to stay ahead of the competition.

The ASX's three leading internet-focused online classifieds companies also have network effects where they're so dominant in attracting the most buyers and sellers for their products it's hard for competitors to break their market hold.

For example, if you want to buy or sell a car you're going to visit the website that has the most cars for sale,.

Carsales.com Ltd (ASX: CAR) is a leading internet stock that benefits from this network effect as if you want to try to get the best price for your used car in Australia you have no choice but to pay for an advert on the site that has the most buyers. Carsales shares fell quite heavily with the market over September and October, which gives investors the opportunity to pick up shares at a discount to recent times. For long-term investors Carsales is also building equivalent businesses in the large South Korean and Brazilian markets. There's a lot to like about this stock.

SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) is the jobs board business that has grown its share price around 42% over the past five years with its annual dividend also up around 150% over the period. SEEK is facing competition from LinkedIn, but it operates mainly in the white-collar space, whereas SEEK is also focused on the blue-collar trades and hospitality space for example.

SEEK is also the majority owner of rapidly growing Chinese jobs website Zhaopin.com. One day it could be far bigger than SEEK Australia. The SEEK group still has a lot of potential and founder-led management team.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) as the operator of realestate.com.au has been the best performing internet classifieds stock over the past 5 years in being up 86% plus dividends. It probably has the strongest competitive position of all with less competition from the likes of Facebook (Carsales) or LinkedIn and has the track record to prove it.

Even when homes are taking longer to sell in today's weakening market, REA Group can profit by selling more products like 'depth listings' that lift a property's prominence on the website. It looks a true all-weather growth stock and may be the pick of the three today.

The post How you can profit from these 3 ASX internet leaders appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The three shares listed below have fallen heavily this month. Is this a buying opportunity?

The Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA) share price has crashed 43% lower since the start of this month. The majority of this decline came on Friday following the release of a trading update out of the developer of operational air traffic management systems and training solutions. That update revealed that Adacel expects first half profit before tax to be 65% to 70% lower than the prior corresponding period. While it does expect a stronger second half, full year profit before tax is still forecast to fall 25% to 35%. The loss of a major contract and additional investments have been blamed for the poor performance. While its shares look reasonable value now, its inconsistent performance over the last few years means it's not a share for me.

The Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) share price has lost 24% of its value this month after being targeted by a short seller. Although the corporate travel specialist has fought back with two comprehensive rebuttals, investors appear concerned that this isn't the end of the attack. When the dust settles I think that Corporate Travel Management could be a great option for investors. But for now, I'm going to sit this one out and see how it unfolds over the coming weeks.

The Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price has tumbled 11.5% lower in November. Investors have been hitting the sell button in a hurry after the pizza chain operator provided an update at its annual general meeting. At the meeting Domino's revealed that its same store sales were 2.3% higher during the first 17 weeks of FY 2019. This indicates a slowdown in same store sales growth since the trading update given with its full year results. In addition to this, new store openings were lower than expected. But overall, I think the selloff has been a bit of an overreaction and believe it is still a great long-term investment option.

The post Is it time to buy these beaten down ASX shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a short recap of the Australian market:

• S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) lower 0.11% to 5,921.80
• ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) lower 0.08% to 6,011.00
• AUD/USD at US 72 cents
• Gold at US$1,224.20 an ounce
• Brent Oil at US$70.78 a barrel

The best-performing ASX 200 share today was G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM), the childcare provider went up 11.3%.

Shares of Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC) fell 18.3% due to a negative update regarding its Australian engineering and services business.

The share price of Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) fell 8.4% after VGI made its reply in the ongoing short attack.

Shares of Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) fell 6.6% today, ending the turbulent week on a low despite the promising update it gave earlier in the week.

The share price of Adacel Technologies Ltd (ASX: ADA) fell a huge 41.7% after downgrading profit expectations.

Shares of property portal business REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) rose a further 2.7% today after reporting solid revenue growth in its first quarter.

Pharmacy business Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG) went up 4.9% today, making it the second best performer in the ASX 200.

Finally, it was negative day for lithium business Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) – it fell 7.2%.

Here are some of today's top stories:

• Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX:WOW) sells Petrol business for $1.725 billion
• Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) just upgraded this high-flying ASX 200 tech stock
• 3 high quality growth shares I want in my portfolio

The post ALL ORDINARIES finishes lower Friday: 8 shares you missed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, some popular shares are tumbling lower for differing reasons today, so let's take a look at what might be causing investors to hit the sell button.

The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has dropped 4.3% to $2.66 this morning as investors continue to react to the discount online retailer's October 29 warning that its gross profit margin was falling because foreign website competitors were now able to sell in Australia without paying government services tax. This has hurt the discounter's competitive position, while the falling Aussie dollar has also been a negative for the importer.

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price is down 1.5% to $46.27 this morning despite the travel agent with a large global footprint reporting no specific news to the market. Flight Centre shares are now down nearly 33% since it hit a high around $70 per share in August 2018. The shares have fallen in line with markets and because the group's FY 2019 forecast for profit before tax between $140 million to $150 million for the six months ending December 31 2018 is weaker than analysts hoped for.

The Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) share price is down again today on the back of news that analysts have downgraded their forecasts for the business. Domino's recently updated the market that same-store sales had grown 2.9% for the first 17 trading weeks of FY 2019. This result is no disaster, but probably not good enough for analysts used to higher rates of growth and given the company's still rich valuation. In fact same-store sales growth appears to be slowing, which means this stock could remain under selling pressure.

The Adacel Technologies Ltd (ASX: ADA) share price is today's biggest loser being down 40% to 93 cents after the aviation software business reported that it now expects profit before tax for the six-month period ending December 30 2018 to be down a huge 65%-70% on the prior corresponding period. The company expects profit for the full year to be some 25%-30% lower than the prior year.

The post Why Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd is among 4 shares tumbling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Previously Adacel had only given investors vague guidance as to what expect operationally in FY 2019, but nothing as to specific financial guidance.

The news has sent the Adacel share price 40% lower to a multi-year low of just 90 cents and the software business has now lost more than two thirds of its value over just the past year. The only dim light at the end of the tunnel for Adacel shareholders is that it revealed it expects full year profit to be just 25%-30% lower on the result in posted in 2018.

The big downgrade was mainly blamed on the previously flagged losing of a significant FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Tower Simulation Support contract that will take a chunk out of revenues and profits.

The group also flagged that it's pursuing a 'legal action" for breach of contract and infringement of intellectual property rights against the company named Adsync Technologies Inc that took the contract off it.

In an unusual twist Adacel's management even reported that they had "protested the decision" to switch contract provider, but that "the protest was denied".

Due to the problems around the lost contact, Adacel also reported it had excluded any other revenue from the "FAA Tower Simulation System" for its guidance for FY 2019.

Adacel also blamed the downgrade on other issues including increased investment in sales, research, marketing, and adverse FX movements.

As such there are two near-term issues for Adacel investors to closely monitor; the outcome of any legal proceedings against Adsync Technologies and the potential status of its other relationships with the FAA.

The latter is a key issue as investors may be dumping the stock today out of fear there is more bad news down the line over this important relationship. Furthermore, Adacel's decision to update its guidance to "remove all FAA Tower Simulation System revenue from its FY 2019 forecasts" is a little ominous.

The post Timber! Why the Adacel Ltd share price collapsed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

These three stocks are speculative picks worth keeping on the watch list.

Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)

It seemed like it was all over for uranium production and exploration company Paladin Energy last year when the company entered administration due to issues with a Electricite de France long-term supply agreement.

The company has emerged from its period of difficulty with less debt on its balance sheet, but its FY18 results did show uranium oxide sales slipped 24%. However, Paladin Chairman, Rick Crabb, thinks the expected revival of uranium prices will be the company's turn to shine.

There will no doubt be struggles to overcome in the post-administration period and Paladin will have to exercise plenty of discipline, but uranium prices are almost certainly on the up – so the opportunity is there if the company can leverage off it.

Investors should keep an eye on how Paladin fares when it restarts production at its Langer Heinrich project.

Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA)

Adacel is a unique small cap involved in the development of operational air traffic management systems and training solutions.

Its share price has suffered lately and its FY18 NPAT slide of almost 10% didn't help, despite a revenue uptick of 25%.

Investor confidence has dampened over the last year after Adacel lost part of its contract with the American Federal Aviation Administration, although there were contract wins in the emerging markets of Algeria, Morocco, Sri Lanka and China.

With its shares hovering around 52-week low levels  investors may be interested, but investors should do their due diligence on Adacel's key contracts to get a better idea of its growth potential.

The company also plans to win customers with new products with a strong pipeline of opportunities, particularly in its training systems.

Pengana Capital Group Ltd (ASX: PCG)

Investment management company Pengana is an under-the-radar small cap, but its international equities strategies are positioned for growth and FY19 could be a good one for the stock.

Pengana delivered an underlying NPAT of $12.4 million for FY18, which was weaker than expected, but its overall fundamentals were buoyed by 12.5% FUM growth and Moelis Australia has a price target of $3.62 on the stock, which is sitting steady at the time of writing at $3.40.

Pengana has managed the successful integration of the Hunter Hall platform and the upgrades that will come online as a by product of this merger should work to align Pengana's strategies with its growth plans.

Pengana's current investment exposure looks fairly attractive and if it can continue its FUM growth as expected things could look brighter in FY19.

The post 3 growing small caps for your watch list appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Will the market be able to build on this on Wednesday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX futures pointing lower.

According to the latest SPI futures, the Australian share market is poised to open lower on Wednesday. At present futures are pointing to a 0.2% or 14 points decline at the open. This is despite positive gains being made on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones rose 0.45%, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq increased 0.6%.

Oil prices surge higher.

Energy shares Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) could be on the rise today after oil prices surged higher overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price rose 3.5% to US$69.91 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price climbed 2.7% to US$79.44 a barrel. Oil prices surged higher as the U.S. east coast braced for a major hurricane.

Myer results.

This morning struggling department store operator Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) is scheduled to release its full year results. In the third quarter Myer reported total year to date sales of $2,355 million, down 3.4% on the prior corresponding period. I'm expecting something similar for the full year.

Shares going ex-dividend.

It is a big day for dividends on Wednesday with a multitude of shares going ex-dividend. These include the likes of Adacel Technologies Limited (ASX: ADA), footwear retailer Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1), Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB), horticulture company Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC), Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT), job listings giant SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK), and healthcare company Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL).

Bega to raise $250 million.

Late yesterday Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) announced the completion of a non-underwritten institutional share placement to raise approximately $200 million. A further $50 million is expected to be raised with a share purchase plan. Bega is raising the funds at $7.20 per share, which is a 5% discount to the last close price. The funds will be used to reduce its debt.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX on Wednesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.