Alexium gave further clarity on its "BioCool product – sales update", that was announced after the company placed its shares in a trading halt on Thursday.

As of 12pm today, Alexium shares have recommenced trading, and have slipped 18% into the red to 7.9 cents. Here we discuss the reasons behind the trading halt and today's share price action.

Let's find out what this announcement from the specialty chemicals producer means for investors.

BioCool products clarification

Recall that Alexium rebranded its flagship materials product as BioCool last year. On 12 August, in a sales update, Alexium advised that sales traction and market adoption of BioCool had gained considerable steam.

In the update, Alexium said BioCool now accounts for almost 50% of total sales in its mattresses segment.

Moreover, the company believes BioCool products will capture revenue embedded into adjacent textile markets, such as foam bedding, moving forward.

As a result of the sales update, Alexium shares were placed in a trading halt on Thursday, while the company sought to provide "clarification" on its BioCool products. At this time the Alexium share price was 9.7 cents.

Alexium offered the clarification in the release that was put to market just before lunch today.

In it, Alexium stated that sales of BioCool "began in earnest" in April this year, and "already accounted for around 48% of (its) revenue streams from the mattress market segment by July 2021".

The mattress market segment "contributed US$5.3 million" to the company's FY21 revenue, in both foam and textile.

However, in Alexium's "conversion of customers to BioCool products", the company "does not have insight into the exact end-use" for its customers. This is even though the "sales are to new and established businesses".

From what it seems, this serves as the clarity Alexium sought to provide investors. However, the market hasn't welcomed the news well, pushing the Alexium share price into the red in afternoon trade.

What did the company have to say?

Touching on the BioCool products themselves, Alexium stated:

More than a year of research and product development went into this technology, and is strong evidence of our strategies in action. In the Quarterly Report, the company announced that the introduction of its BioCool products had seen strong market adoption with an expected upward sales trend into the first half of FY22.

Expanding on the growth vision of BioCool, the company added:

This rapid adoption by our customers of this new BioCool product demonstrates the significance of ecoconscious products to the US bedding market. Consumer demand for these goods is on the rise, and the company's commercialisation strategy for BioCool has positioned us to maximise the value of the opportunity.

Alexium share price snapshot

Investors have reacted unfavourably to the company's announcement today, driving Alexium shares into the red as they recommenced trading from midday.

The Alexium share price has posted a year-to-date gain of 67%, and a 12-month climb of 33%.

These results have outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s return of around 25% over the past year.

In the last month alone, Alexium shares have climbed 94% into the green.

The post What's going on with the Alexium (ASX:AJX) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, Alexium shares are up 34.72% to 9.7 cents. However, they are currently in a pause in trading, pending a further announcement.

The company is a producer of advanced cooling and fire-resistant textiles. It focuses on consumer market segments such as bedding, clothing and sporting goods.

What did Alexium announce?

Last year, Alexium rebranded its proprietary biobased and biodegradable phase change materials (PCM) as BioCool.

According to today's announcement, BioCool has made strong progress in adoption and sales.

Alexium said BioCool product sales have risen to 48% of the company's total product sales for mattresses, including textile and foam applications.

Alexium Vice President Chris Crawford said of the progress: "Market reception to our BioCool product line has been very positive, and we are encouraged by the rapid adoption from our current customers."

The positive sales update has seen strong buying activity and a rise in the Alexium share price. It has rallied from a 7.7 cents open to 9.7 cents at the time of writing.

What's next for Alexium?

Alexium is targeting a number of initiatives to drive revenue growth this year.

The company said initial sales have been focused on the textiles market and migrating existing bedding textile customers to BioCool products.

The company believes the "demonstrable all-round superior characteristics" of BioCool products will make it an attractive proposition for other textile applications including foam bedding applications.

About the Alexium share price

Alexium has a market capitalisation of just $46 million.

The micro cap logged some significant gains in the past month, lifting 30% on 23 July from 4.9 cents to 6.4 cents.

Alexium shares are surging on Thursday, on the back of approximately 16.35 million shares changing hands by lunchtime.

This compares to the company's 10-day average volume of approximately 5.52 million.

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At the close of trading, Alexium shares were swapping hands for 6.5 cents, up 4.8%, after surging 9% higher to 6.8 cents for much of the afternoon.

How did Alexium perform for Q4 FY21?

Investors are driving up the Alexium share price following a significantly strong performance from the company.

For the 3 months ending 30 June 2021, Alexium reported sales of US$2.2 million and cash receipts of US$1.6 million. While cash receipts remained in line with the prior reporting period, sales numbers experienced a substantial uptick. The sales result was attributed to new product lines that included the Total Mattress Cooling System (TMCS) and BioCool products.

The TMCS achieved its first sales and commercial launch during the quarter. The coupling of textile and foam products for a mattress design has seen growth in the United States bedding market. Alexium anticipates that further significant growth will follow into other TMCS designs. Full-scale production is projected to be reached sometime in the first half of FY22.

In addition, Alexium rebranded its Phonon technology to Eclipsys during the reporting period. The pending patent technology is seen as a breakthrough in thermal management for textile and foam-based consumer products.

The company said the product application is stated to continually pull heat away from the user, cooling them up to 200% more than competing products. This is particularly important as when a projectile is fired into the body armour, it causes significant thermal stress on the wearer.

Currently, the technology is being developed for the body armour market and is in late-stage evaluation, scheduled for H1 FY22.

Lastly, the company completed a successful production scale of its FR NyCo technology through a rolled goods application. A flame retardant nylon/cotton fabric is being sought after as Alexium works towards optimising the chemistry integration. It believes the garment slated for military use will be available for testing in the coming months.

Management commentary

Alexium CEO Bob Brookins commented:

For the Alexium team, we are at the most exciting time that I have seen since I joined the company. While there are a number of factors contributing to this sense of excitement, I believe the greatest driver here is the commercial success we are having across our product platforms.

The Alexium share price has gained around 20% over the past 12 months, and is up 17% year-to-date.

The post Here's why the Alexium (ASX:AJX) share price surged 9% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Development agreement

Alexium has signed a mutually exclusive development agreement that covers "the provision of Alexium's flame retardant chemistry to Pine Belt Processing for the treatment and supply of nylon/cotton fabrics for military applications".

The terms of the agreement stipulate the provision of samples, pricing, testing and the timetable for delivery of Alexium treated uniforms by Pine Belt to the United States military for a "wear trial". Alexium is working with Pine Belt to satisfy their production requirements in order to prepare uniforms for evaluation by the military.

Alexium has granted Pine Belt exclusivity regarding its proprietary flame retardant treatment of nylon/cotton garments for military use. Furthermore, after completing the development agreement both parties have agreed to enter into a supply agreement for the final commercialized process and treatment.

Foolish takeaway

Alexium is a specialty chemicals innovator that focuses on high-performance, environmentally friendly, nonhazardous flame retardants and phase change materials. The company's patented products are suitable for both textile and non-textile markets.

For the half-year ended 31 December 2018, Alexium reported a 77% decline in revenue from ordinary activities to US$1.5 million. The decrease was attributed to the elimination of low margin and unprofitable product lines in order to concentrate on core growth in the phase change material and flame retardant markets which the company believes its product differentiation has been established.

The total addressable market for flame retardants and phase change materials is $US9.0 billion and US$1.0 billion respectively.

The sharp decline in revenue resulted in Alexium's net loss blowing out 102% to $US3.2 million for the period. The company has around US$6 million in cash at the end of December and currently has a market capitalization of $52 million. Whilst Alexium certainly does hold a lot of promise, it is a stock that is only suitable for high-risk investors at this stage.

Other stocks in the small-cap space worth monitoring include Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH) and LiveTiles Ltd (ASX: LVT).

The post Why the Alexium share price is up 25% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three shares at the small end of the market that have started the week strongly are listed below. Here's why they are on a high today:

The Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) share price has jumped 9% to 12 cents after the speciality chemicals company released an investor presentation. Although the presentation didn't include a trading update, it reminded investors of the sizeable market opportunities that the company has. For example, Alexium's flame retardant (FR) Alexiflam products have a $100 million opportunity in the FR workwear and uniforms market and a $100 million opportunity in the FR treatment for fleece market. Whether the company can successfully penetrate these markets, only time will tell.

The Antipa Minerals Ltd (ASX: AZY) share price has stormed 16% higher to 2.9 cents despite there being no news out of the gold and base metal exploration company. Investors have been taking a look at Antipa Minerals recently due to an increase in activities being conducted by various miners in the Paterson Province in Western Australia. According to management, one such company that is believed to have taken a keen interest in the area is mining giant Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO). Antipa has a large landholding of in excess of 5,500km2 in the Province.

The Food Revolution Group Ltd (ASX: FOD) share price has surged 12.5% higher to 13.5 cents after the food processing company announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec). According to the release, the MOU will see the two companies negotiate a distribution agreement whereby Sinopec will sell Food Revolution's Australian canola oil products produced across its network of more than 35,000 petrol and convenience outlets in China. While I think this sounds like a promising agreement, I'm not a fan of MOUs as they are not binding and there's no guarantee this will ever lead to a fully-fledged distribution agreement. As a result, I would suggest investors disregard it until it is set in stone.

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

Four shares which haven't been able to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they have started the week in the red:

The Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) share price is down 2.5% to 37 cents. This morning the chemical development company's shares resumed trading after announcing an oversubscribed institutional placement that raised $12 million at 35 cents per share. This was a 7.9% discount to last Wednesday's closing price.

The Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) share price has sunk 6% lower to $16.74 after announcing a takeover offer for energy company AWE Limited (ASX: AWE). The all scrip offer is worth the equivalent of 80 cents per share to AWE shareholders. It seems as though Mineral Resources' shareholders don't see value in the proposal.

The Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG) share price has plunged 21% to $3.48 after a series of negative articles by Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ) spooked investors. Management believes that the company's situation is not accurately reflected in the Fairfax Media's coverage.

The Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) share price has fallen 2% to $15.89. Although there was no news out of the wine company today, it was named by Citi as a share to sell last week. The broker has a $10.90 price target on its shares, over 31% lower than the current share price.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares started the week in the red appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The issue price represents a 7.9% discount to last Wednesday's closing price of 38 cents before the company went into a trading halt.

The placement was oversubscribed by institutional investors and is intended to strengthen the company's balance sheet ahead of a projected increase in production capacity and new product trial requirements in the military and bedding sectors to satisfy rising demand following the recent banning of organohalogen fire retardants in consumer products.

The company will also use the new funds to expand its product development team to support new and existing market opportunities and invest in high sensitivity analysis equipment, product testing, and intellectual property protection.

Alexium shareholders will also be given the opportunity to participate in this capital raising via a share purchase plan at the same price as the institutional placement raising an additional $3 million.

Outlook

Management also provided an update that its revised margin focus strategy is improving with gross margins projected to be between 27%-28% for the December quarter. The company has also won 4 new bedding customers, a new home textiles customer and has been selected as a suppler on a new line of mattresses for 2018 with an existing customer.

Alexium is at the forefront of global flame retardant technology. The company is a small cap stock with a market capitalisation of approximately $110 million that designs and produces chemical solutions for textiles serving the defence industry and consumer markets globally.

In FY17, the company impressively grew revenue by 595% to $24 million but still lost $12.1 million. With the company's focus on improving margins, optimising its customer mix, increasing market share in current markets and expansions into new markets it should see an improvement financially.

Alexium has a lot of potential with its technologies attempting to address a market opportunity of over US$3 billion, and is a stock investors should keep an eye on.

The post Why shares of Alexium International Group Ltd are down today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This investment idea is based on gaining exposure to rising defence spending by governments around the world at a time of increasing threat from terrorism and geopolitical tensions, which includes the militarisation of China that is sparking an arms race in the region.

Don't forget the pressure placed by US president Donald Trump to force NATO partners to spend more on defence too.

The Australian government is also feeling the heat. It has committed to lifting its defence budget to 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from around 1.5%. This would put the Australian government's defence spending on track to hit $42 billion by FY21 – a 54% increase from FY16.

The biggest problem to riding this global investment thematic is stock selection. The ASX has a pretty shallow pool of stocks that are directly related to defence. The most obvious candidate is Austal and news that it has secured another contract worth up to $779 million to build the Independence Class Littoral Combat Ship for the US navy is a case in point.

The stock barely moved from its previous day's close of $1.80 as the good news appears to be priced in with the stock already trading close to a one-and-a-half year high and on a FY18 forecast P/E of 16.2 times.

Another stock that has some defence-exposure is Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX), which produces flame retardant spray on chemicals for fabrics. It can be used in military uniforms but the company is also pursuing other opportunities such as bedding.

The third stock idea is weapon and space defence technology company Electro Optic Systems Hldg Ltd (ASX: EOS). The company recently confirmed it has won a $170 million contract to supply weapon systems to Orbital ATK – a NASDAQ-listed aerospace and defence technology company.

While the stock has nearly doubled in value over the past year and is trading at $3.14, it probably still has room to climb given its market cap of $191 million and the size of its addressable market.

The last stock is Xtek Ltd (ASX: XTE) and is the stock I am most excited about (and yes I own shares in Xtek). It is currently in a trading halt as it undertakes a capital raising after a strong run up in its share price recently. But it still has a market cap of around $16 million, and that's pretty modest given that it is the primary contractor in the $100 million LAND 129 Phase 4 program for the supply of drones to the Australian army.

Xtek has also been given a grant by the US government to test its XTclave technology to create lighter and more effective helmets and bullet proof plates. While the commercial opportunity from this is still some time off, it represents a very material potential for this tiny Australian company.

Looking for other great investment ideas? Check out what the experts at The Motley Fool have uncovered below!

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With the specialty chemicals company's shares up 7% to 62.5 cents today, they have now gained over 21% just this week.

Why have they surged higher?

On Thursday Alexium International announced strong demand from the mattress industry for its Alexicool product.

Alexicool is a phase change material that makes fabrics that ordinarily retain heat, feel cool to the touch.

According to the release, sales into the mattress industry continue to trend upwards. So far this month sales have exceeded those of May and will be the company's eighth consecutive record month of sales.

Shipments of Alexicool chemistry for June are expected to exceed 90,000kg. An eight-fold increase over monthly shipments in January.

This growth looks set to continue with the first shipment of Alexicool to the world's largest producer of mattress fabrics due next month.

The post The Alexium International Group Ltd share price is up 21% this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares which have made notably strong gains today are listed below. Here's why they are higher:

The Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) share price has climbed almost 9% to 56 cents after the specialty chemicals company announced extremely strong demand from the mattress industry for its Alexicool product. I think Alexium is a very interesting company and one to watch. You can learn more about it through this article.

The MG Unit Trust (ASX: MGC) share price is up 3% to 62.5 cents. This morning Murray Goulburn increased its Southern Milk Region opening price and 2017/18 Farmgate Milk Price range. The company has revised the opening price to $5.20 per kilo of milk solids in order to assist in maintaining competitiveness and support the supplier base.

The Oliver's Real Food Ltd (ASX: OLI) share price is up 8% to 26 cents. The organic fast food company hit the ASX boards yesterday with a listing price of 20 cents and has now gained 30%. At one stage today its shares reached as high as 36 cents. If the company lives up to its prospectus forecasts, I feel it could prove to be a good investment.

The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has climbed 4% to $2.90. The majority of Australia's gold miners have edged higher today following a slight rise in the gold price. At present the spot gold price is fetching US$1,252 an ounce, up almost 1% from yesterday's low.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares have posted solid gains today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here are some key stats:

• $160 million market capitalisation
• ~A$16m in revenues (last 9 months)
• Burning $5m cash per quarter but expected to hit break-even in current quarter
• $6.4m cash at bank at 31 March 2017
• Proprietary patents for flame-retardant equipment plus solutions for moisture wicking, antimicrobial, water repellent solutions, and more

Management states they now earn $2 million in recurring revenues each month from existing customers, which suggests the company is priced at about 7x annual sales. The total target market across Alexium's products is estimated in multiple billions and includes most textiles (bedding fabric, sportswear, uniforms, etc) and a variety of other surfaces.

With a low-cost method of application and the recent strong growth in sales, the company has been able to achieve benefits of scale and appears close to a tipping point where it can become cash flow positive and start doing profitable business. Sales are reportedly growing via both winning new customers and increasing sales to current customers.

The company is an interesting prospect but my chief concern is over its cash flows. Depending on sales growth, the company really only has enough cash to continue operating for the current quarter, and it's had to borrow ~$7 million at 15% per annum to pay for working capital requirements.

While this could be a positive, in that debt can be paid down and is not dilutive like a capital raising, any sort of unforeseen issue could see Alexium having to raise capital anyway. As a result I'll remain on the sideline for the time being.

The post Alexium International Group Ltd: A promising small-cap? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Although the market as a whole is finding gains hard to come by, five shares in particular aren't. Here's why their respective share prices have rocketed today:

Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) shares are up 9% to 66.5 cents after the company signed an agreement with New York-based Pegasus Home Fashions worth an initial US$10 million. Alexium will supply Pegasus with its Alexicool chemistry for the bedding pillows market across the USA. Up to 6,500 U.S. retailers are expected to stock the new Pegasus Cool-Touch pillows.

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB) shares have continued to rocket higher, this time by a staggering 63% to 22 cents. The shares of this infant formula and baby food manufacturer have now more than doubled since listing on the ASX at 10 cents yesterday. I like the look of Bubs, but at the current price there is now an awful lot of growth baked into it. Definitely one to keep a close eye on.

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) shares have climbed over 3% to $7.07 despite there being no news out of the telco company. At just 16x estimated FY 2017's earnings TPG Telecom looks to be a bargain buy in my eyes, so I'm not at all surprised to see investors grab hold of its shares. The same can be said for Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) which has also seen its share price edge higher today.

SmartTrans Holdings Limited (ASX: SMA) shares have surged 33% to 1.6 cents after the software company announced a formal agreement with Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed digital marketing agency Shanghai Dodoca. Later this month the two companies will launch a Chinese e-commerce platform on WeChat for Australian products. Dodoca will build and market the platform and SmartTrans will handle the billing and payments.

The post Why these 5 ASX shares have rocketed higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

For example the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) index ranks the top 200 companies by size. The companies included in the top 200 must also be highly liquid and tradable.

In my opinion, watching which companies are added to the S&P/ASX 300 (Index: ^AXKO) (ASX: XKO) is a good pastime. That's because it can include the smaller, emerging, companies listed on the ASX that you may not always notice.

Also, many of the largest fund managers (think superannuation funds, multinational asset managers, etc.) are prohibited from investing in companies smaller than those included in the S&P/ASX 300 for obvious reasons.

Therefore, when companies are added to the index, they can be bought by more money managers and index funds – making a stronger market for the company's shares.

10 companies added to the S&P/ASX 300

Here are 10 companies added to the S&P/ASX 300:

Data sourced from Google Finance.

Foolish takeaway

If you were looking for 10 potential growth shares to add to your research list, these companies could be what you need. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the these companies are technology-related or have embraced technology as a big part of their business. Perhaps it's a sign of things to come?

The post 10 S&P/ASX 300 growth shares with big potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

It just goes to show that investors can still make a motza on the market, if they know where to look and hold onto their stocks for at least a year – no matter what the market does to the share prices.

Here are the five companies…

Ziptel Ltd (ASX: ZIP) share price has rocketed up 594% to $1.10. The company has developed a communications app that allows users on slow mobile networks (2G) to use video calls, send pictures, multi-media messages using only a small amount of data. Earlier this month, Ziptel surpassed 1 million installs and more than 800,000 active monthly users. And that was only Android users. An Apple iOS version ios due to be released on September 14, 2015. Revenues are growing and average revenue per user (ARPU) is also expected to increase.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has soared 548% to $0.17. The miner is an emerging Tantalite producer, with a number of projects located in Western Australia's Pilbara region – more well known for its iron ore deposits. Pilbara Minerals recently received approval to commence construction and commissioning of its Tabba Tabba project and is expected to ship first product in September 2015. The company has a 5-year offtake agreement with Global Advanced Metals for tantalite, which is turned into tantalum. Tantalum is a highly corrosion resistant metal, mostly used in capacitors in mobile phones and other electronic equipment but also in medical implants and bone repair. It's a very rare product, fifteen times rarer than gold and currently fetches prices of around US$170 per kilogram, or US$170,000 per tonne. No wonder the shares have soared.

Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) share price climbed 540% to $0.86. The company has developed a flame retardant treatment for synthetic fibres. The company has signed a number of contract with the US Defence sector as well as a major US bedding customer. Those aren't the only industries that could benefit from the product: automotive, home furnishings and furniture sectors, as well as outdoors for items such as tents and coverings. Revenues are still small – $415,000 – but rocketed up 59% in the 2015 financial year.

St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price gained 360% to $0.57. The gold miner was at the bottom of a pit a year ago, with concerns over its Gold Ridge mine in the Solomon islands. The mine was finally sold to the Solomon Islands government for a nominal sum, relieving St Barbara of expensive repair work to the tailings storage facility. Operations at the mine were suspended in April 2014 after torrential rainfall. Add in record annual production from the company's Gwalia and Simberi mines at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,007 per ounce in financial year 2015, and St Barbara has truly turned the tables on lady luck.

Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL) share price put on 342% to reach $5.99. The baby formula producer is capitalising on strong demand for its products from China. Since China's baby formula scandal in 2008 when six infants died and 54,000 babies were hospitalised, Chinese consumers have been searching for high-quality baby and infant formula. In Australia, the product quality has seen the company grab 19% of the market share. Bellamy's has capitalised on that and has been reporting stonking revenue (up 156%) and profit growth (up 617%). That looks unlikely to stop anytime soon.

The post 5 ASX stocks that have gained more than 300% in the past year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Capitol Health Ltd (ASX: CAJ) has climbed 8% to 78 cents after reporting an underlying full year net profit before tax of $16.2 million on revenues of $111.2 million for financial year 2015. The tax-adjusted net profit was just $3.9 million, but investors are clearly looking to a future of more strong organic and acquisitive growth. The business is a diagnostic imaging medical centre operator and aggregator and appears to be in something of a growth sweet spot given the tailwinds of an ageing population and ever-increasing healthcare spends.

Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) is a chemicals development company based in Perth that has climbed 7% to 84 cents today and 72% in 2015. The company now has a market value around $235 million and supplies fire retardant chemicals for use on fabrics and other textiles. Common industries supplied include upholstery, workwear, bedding, transportation and military equipment. The share price rise has coincided with a strong year of revenue and new client wins with potential for more on the horizon.

Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL) has jumped 14.4% in afternoon trade to close the day at $6.84. The stock got sold off recently on the back of a profit warning and market sentiment shifting against businesses that have aggregating business models. The stock also had some short interest around it and those holding short positions may have been forced to abandon them today in order to prevent further losses given that the share price now looks to have some positive momentum.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG) has jumped 4% in afternoon trade after the business more than doubled its net profit to $174.3 million on revenues of $284.9 million. That's a healthy profit margin for a fund manager and on around 18x trailing earnings per share this well run business continues to look attractive value for long-term investors.

The post Why these 4 ASX stocks are soaring today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But it wasn't all great news for every stock. These five took a pummelling…

GI Dynamics Inc (ASX: GID) was smashed down 68.9% to 4.2 cents. The medical device manufacturer looks on increasingly dangerous ground, after reporting it would prematurely terminate one of its clinical trials and in a second blow, revenues had more than halved in the last quarter. You can read our full coverage here.

Unilife Corporation (ASX: UNS) sank 25.4% to 44 cents – after rising 33.3% yesterday. The biotech stock released its quarterly report today and it seems clear that the company was going to run out of money next quarter. That was until they signed a deal with two investors, Lincoln Park Capital and Cantor Fitzgerald, which could bring in up to US$70 million over time but dilute existing shareholders.

Australian Dairy Farms Group (ASX: AHF) fell 10.5% to 17 cents. The company announced that it was acquiring an additional farm in the South Western dairy region of Victoria today, but declined to release financial details until next week. The company expects to see strong positive operating cashflow in the next two quarters, but perhaps shareholders were expecting this quarter to be positive as well.

Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) fell 8.9% to 20.5 cents, but shares rose strongly yesterday. Management announced that executive pay would be slashed to further cut costs, which the market liked, but it may be too little too late. Paladin has been operating with too high costs for many years, destroying shareholder value and needs more than executive pay cuts to make it investment grade.

Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) fell 8% to 69 cents. The company also released its quarterly report today, which included upbeat commentary from management. Somehow, investors weren't happy though, perhaps expecting more than the company delivered. Alexium holds a number of patents to develop flame retardant treatments for synthetic fabrics which looks very promising – one reason why the company's shares have soared 655% in the past 12 months.

The post 5 stocks sinking on the ASX today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Every stock in the S&P/ASX 20 fell into the red, led by Santos Limited (ASX: STO) and AMP Limited (ASX: AMP), down 2.6% and 2.4% respectively.

Still, that wasn't as bad as these four…

Medical Developments International Ltd (ASX: MVP) ("MDI") fell 5.2% to $2.17, although the company's shares are up by more than 80% in the past six months. We covered MDI in more detail here, and I nominated it as one of 9 juicy health care stocks to add to your portfolio earlier this month. Sales of the company's products are soaring and a pullback could be a perfect opportunity to add to your portfolio.

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: CUV) dropped 4.4% to $3.25. Clinuvel is developing drugs that focus on treatment of severe skin disorders. The company's Scenesse received European Medicines Agency approval in December year, and distribution to 31 countries is expected to start throughout this year. Clinuvel shares are up 108% over the past year.

Alexium International Group Limited (ASX: AJX) dipped 4.3% to 66.5 cents. The company is developing flame retardant treatments for synthetic fabrics amongst other technology. Last week the company reported to shareholders that it expects to begin its US listing process by the end of this month and announced the signing of another commercial contract. Still, with the shares up 313% in the past six months, a little volatility is to be expected.

Last but not least, rare earths producer Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) fell 3.9% to 4.9 cents. The company posted a loss of $103.5 million in its half-yearly report today, despite revenues jumping more than four-fold. The problem is that production costs are way higher than current rare earths prices (as we highlighted again in September 2014), and as such Lynas is unlikely to be able to meet it debt repayments in March 2016.

The post 4 ASX stocks hammered down today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Still, a number of companies rocketed up on the market today. Here's our view of four of them…

Pharmaxis Ltd (ASX: PXS) jumped 25% to 12.5 cents, despite no news from the company. The biotech is developing drugs for the treatment of lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis and announced in December 2014 that it had entered a deal to commercialise Bronchitol in the US. That is pending approval, following a phase 3 clinical trial of the drug. Shares have more than doubled since that announcement.

App developer Ziptel Ltd (ASX: ZIP) climbed 13.3% to 51 cents, after the company announced today that it was seeing an "explosion of global traffic to its ZipT website". More than 1.3 million unique visitors went to the site in the past week alone, and more than 50,000 founding members have subscribed to the new service. 76 different countries were driving that traffic. Ziptel is expected to launch its ZipT comprehensive website on January 26.

Vitamins and supplements provider Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) gained 11.6% to $38.50, after reporting strong growth. The company says group sales for the first half ending December 31 were $206 million, up 22% compared to the previous period. Blackmores expects it to drive net profit growth of around 50% compared to last year's first half net profit, with results announced to the market on February 26.

Alexium International Group Ltd (ASX: AJX) also gained 11.6% to 72 cents, after the company announced its first significant commercial sector account. Alexium produces environmentally friendly, fire retardant chemicals, which can be used to treat clothing and various other fabrics. The company's first account is expected to generate recurring monthly revenues starting this quarter, and resulting in annual revenues of between US$1 and US$5 million. This may be one company to watch given the additional potential of its US military involvement.

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