Investors are reacting positively to separate announcements from both tech companies relating to developments in the United States.

Here's what's happening.

ASX tech share leaps on patent grant

The Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price was up 10.5% in late morning trade on Wednesday. The semiconductor company's shares closed yesterday at 43 cents and are currently changing hands at 46 cents apiece.

Atop the broader boost in sentiment for technology stocks around the globe delivered by exuberance for the sector by returning US President Donald Trump, the ASX tech share is attracting investor interest after reporting it was granted a key patent in the US.

The patent relates to Archer's Biochip technology and will protect the company's intellectual property (IP) rights in the US.

Archer, which is working to advance the quantum technology and medical diagnostics industries, said the patent will enable it to explore opportunities to work with medical device partners in the world's biggest economy and largest medical diagnostics market.

The patent protects the design and work done on the graphene complexes and their compositions that can be used in the Biochip.

Commenting on the grant of the US patent that's boosting the ASX tech share today, Archer executive chair Greg English said, "The Archer Biochip team has made great progress in the development and the design of the graphene biosensing technology, and this US patent protects their hard work."

English added:

The grant of the US patent is a critical milestone for the Biochip program and bolsters our expanding intellectual property portfolio and provides enhanced protection for our Biochip program aimed at detecting potassium in blood.

The US represents a key market for the sale of our Biochip in time, due to the size of the market and the rate of chronic kidney disease in the country.

ASX small-cap stock inks deal with world's biggest telco

Which brings us to the second ASX tech share rocketing higher on big US news today, Etherstack PLC (ASX: ESK).

Shares in the thinly traded, small-cap wireless technology company closed yesterday trading for 27.5 cents each. At time of writing, shares are trading for 29 cents apiece, up 5.5%.

Etherstack shares are catching tailwinds after the company reported that it has entered a new contract with AT&T Inc (NYSE: T)

The US$1.2 million contract will see Etherstack supply wireless network equipment and associated services to the world's largest telecommunications carrier. Etherstack has been collaborating on AT&T's FirstNet project.

Commenting on the contract win sending the ASX tech stock soaring today, Etherstack CEO David Deacon said:

This direct award with AT&T for one of our innovative products in a rapidly evolving public communications product area is testament to Etherstack's capability in building the best products for the world's largest telco operators and switch vendors.

The post 2 small-cap ASX tech shares rocketing on big US news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE)

The Archer Materials share price is down almost 4% to 26 cents. This morning, this semiconductor company announced that its CEO, Dr Mohammad Choucair, will be stepping down with immediate effect. Dr Choucair's exit had previously been announced, but he was expected to stay in the role until 17 January 2025. The outgoing CEO said: "The Company is in a good position, and I feel it is the right time to step down as CEO. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Board, management, and employees of Archer as well as Archer shareholders for their support over the years."

Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX: LIC)

The Lifestyle Communities share price is down 3% to $9.10. This has also been driven by a CEO exit this morning. According to the release, the retirement communities company's co-founder and managing director, James Kelly, has informed the board of his intention to retire on 31 December 2024. Kelly co-founded Lifestyle Communities over 21 years ago and has served as managing director since the company's listing on the ASX in 2007. He said: "After 21 incredible years with Lifestyle Communities, it's time for me to say goodbye and embrace a new chapter in my life."

TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG)

The TPG Telecom share price is down 1% to $5.03. Investors haven't responded positively to news that the telco giant is offloading assets. Vocus Group will acquire TPG Telecom's fibre network infrastructure assets and Enterprise, Government and Wholesale (EGW) fixed business, including Vision Network for $5,250 million. This includes a potential $250 million contingent value payment. On a pro forma basis, management estimates that the sale of the assets would have reduced its EBITDA by $429 million and EBIT by $198 million in FY 2023.

Web Travel Group Ltd (ASX: WEB)

The Web Travel Group share price is down 32% to $4.81. This follows the release of the business to business travel company's trading update this morning. Web Travel Group warned that its total transaction value (TTV) has been impacted by tough trading conditions in Europe. As a result, its first half TTV to revenue margin is expected to be 6.4%. This is short of the guidance of 7% it gave at its annual general meeting in August. It was also well short of the market's expectations.

The post Why Archer Materials, Lifestyle Communities, TPG, and Web Travel Group shares are falling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:

Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE)

The Archer Materials share price is up 10% to 50 cents. This morning, the semiconductor company revealed that its biochip gFET design for advanced sensing has been validated by its commercial foundry partner. Archer now intends to integrate more functionality on the biochip and optimise the device size and geometry to build advanced sensing regions.

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN)

The Baby Bunting share price is up 2% to $1.96. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Citi. Its analysts upgraded the baby products retailer's shares to a buy rating with a $2.20 price target. The broker believes its valuation now adequately reflects the uncertainty around consumer spending.

Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL)

The Deep Yellow share price is up 10% to $1.07. Investors have been buying Deep Yellow and other ASX uranium shares today after the price of the chemical element reached a decade high. In addition, industry research is pointing to uranium demand growing strongly over the next couple of decades.

Downer EDI Ltd (ASX: DOW)

The Downer share price is up 1% to $4.21. This morning, the integrated services provider revealed that it has been selected to deliver the Planning Phase of the Australian Defence Force's proposed Woomera Redevelopment Program in South Australia. The contract is estimated to be worth $500 million to $750 million, with revenue to be split 50:50 between Downer and joint venture partners, CPB Contractors.

The post Why Archer Materials, Baby Bunting, Deep Yellow, and Downer shares are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Aussie bourse's suffering follows a rough Friday on Wall Street. The US market was weighed down by strong employment data, likely heralding further rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) plunged 2.1% on Friday, while the S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) dumped 2.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) plummeted 3.8%.

Seemingly in response, the All Ords is down 1.39% right now, but some shares are floating above the sea of red. Indeed, some are posting gains of as much as 6%.

Keep reading to find out which stocks are outperforming and what's driving them higher.

3 ASX All Ords shares posting gains on Monday

Plenty of ASX All Ords shares are outperforming the market on Monday.

One such gainer is Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE). Stock in the tech company is currently up 6.49%, trading at 82 cents apiece.

Its surge follows news of a major advance in the company's development of its 12CQ chip. It has used complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor chip technology to detect quantum information in its 12CQ qubit material at room temperature for the first time.

Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair said the achievement "cannot be understated".

At the same time, the share price of ASX All Ords airline and Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) takeover target, Alliance Aviation Services Ltd (ASX: AQZ), is also outperforming.

It has gained 1.25% at the time of writing to trade at $3.24. The latest news of the takeover came in August when the competition watchdog expressed concerns over the proposition.

Finally, All Ords healthcare share 4DMedical Ltd (ASX: 4DX) is also in the green today, with its share price gaining 6.25% to trade at 68 cents at the time of writing.

It's been nearly six weeks since the market heard price-sensitive news from the medical technology developer. However, the stock has now lifted 17% since the end of September.

The post In a sea of red, these ASX All Ords shares are leaping higher on Monday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price was on fire today. Shares in the materials technology company closed 12.33% higher at 82 cents a share.

It comes after this ASX All Ords tech share closed at 73 cents yesterday and opened at that level this morning. Then, in early afternoon trading, Archer shares shot as high as 98 cents each, a gain of more than 34%.

So what's going on with Archer Materials? It must be something big, seeing the company gained a third of its value in little over an hour…

Well, it seems that an ASX release put out around midday is responsible for these eye-watering moves.

The announcement revealed that Archer Materials has achieved its goal of "reliably" fabricating sub-10 nanometre semiconductor chips.

Back in May, Archer announced that it had achieved fabrication of 15nm chips. This benefitted the company's shares at the time as well. But back then, Archer also flagged that it was working towards "breaking through the 10-nanometre barrier".

Well, that's what the company now appears to have achieved.

Archer Materials shares rocket on sub-10nm chip news

Here's some of what the ASX release said:

Archer has now fabricated sub-10 nm features reproducibly and reliably by developing several advanced lithographic processes on a silicon wafer in a clean-room environment. The work is a significant technical achievement and represents a technology development breakthrough for the Company…

Archer's sub-10 nm feature fabrication is in line with the current semiconductor industry best-in-class for chip feature sizes and provides the Company with a significant competitive advantage…

The extreme miniaturisation would give Archer greater flexibility, capability, and higher integration density in its lithographic processes for the design and fabrication of its technologies.

Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair had this to say on the news today:

Achieving sub-10 nanometre fabrication of electronic device components is an excellent outcome on our path to developing Archer's biochip technology, and one that demonstrates the world-class capabilities of our pioneering team.

Archer Materials now hopes to use this technological breakthrough to advance its ambitions to provide a 'biochip' that can detect "some of the world's most deadly communicable diseases".

At the closing Archer Materials share price on Tuesday, this ASX All Ords tech share has a market capitalisation of around $211 million.

The post Here's why this ASX All Ords tech share rocketed 34% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At market close, the materials technology company's shares finished 13.89% higher at 82 cents apiece.

Archer progresses biochip development

Investors drove up the Archer share price after the company announced a technical breakthrough in its biochip technology.

In its release, Archer advised it has successfully achieved 15 nanometre (nm) feature size fabrication by developing advanced lithography processes.

To put that into perspective, a human hair is around 75 microns, or 75,000 nm.

This achievement represents a significant reduction in feature size that would potentially allow for billions of sensors on Archer's biochip.

Notably, the development team has attained miniaturisation from 200 nm prior to April 2021, down to the current state of 15 nm.

The company is targeting miniaturisation for a sub-10 nm biochip fabrication which is considered cutting-edge in the semiconductor industry.

The latest development marks another milestone in Archer's pursuit of commercialising its biochip technology. The global semiconductor industry is one of the most important drivers of the global economy, used in almost all technological applications.

Best-in-class capability in nanofabrication is a global competitive advantage in the multibillion-dollar point of care medical diagnostics industry. One of the reasons why there are few companies in the world developing and commercialising biochips is because it's difficult to achieve precision engineering at the nanoscale.

Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair commented:

Archer's core business is the development of advanced semiconductor technology that is underpinned by the Company's nanofabrication capabilities.

Achieving 15 nanometre feature size is a great outcome. We have now prepared a suite of advanced lithography processes to reliably control fabrication for our device miniaturisation and scaling as we continue to advance towards breaking through the 10-nanometre barrier.

About the Archer share price

Despite today's gains, the Archer share price has fallen 26% in 2022.

The company's shares are more than 70% off their all-time high of $3.08 reached in mid-August last year.

Based on valuation grounds, Archer presides a market capitalisation of around $206 million.

The post "A great outcome": Archer Materials share price surges 14% on biochip update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Archer Materials shares are currently up 7.53% to 78.5 cents. In early afternoon trade, the company's share price soared as high as 13% to 82.5 cents. For perspective, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) has gained just 0.49% at the time of writing.

So what could be impacting the Archer Materials share price today?

Quantum computing chip patent

The Archer Materials share price is surging on news the company has been granted an Australian patent.

The patent is for the company's 12CQ quantum computing chip and gives Archer exclusive commercial rights to the invention in Australia.

The company said the patent is a "significant early-stage milestone" in the development of the chip.

Commenting on the news, Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair said:

We are excited about the grant of the 12CQ chip Australian patent. Patent protection in major markets is a central element in Archer's strategy to develop the 12CQ chip.

Obtaining Australian patent approval effectively protects the 12CQ chip technology and prevents others from copying, making, or selling our devices in Australia.

Archer said it is the only company listed on the ASX — and one of only a few global players — developing qubit processor chip technology. The technology could enable quantum processors in mobile devices.

The company now has patents for its technology in Australia, the US, China, South Korea, Japan, and 12 countries in Europe. Commenting further on the Australian patent, Choucair added:

With the focus on quantum technologies in Australia now stronger than ever, we believe that the granting of the Australian patent related to Archer's 12CQ chip will contribute to strengthening quantum computing and technology innovation in Australia.

Share price snapshot

The Archer Materials share price has climbed more than 16% in the past year but it has lost around 28% in the year to date.

In the past month, the company's shares have lost almost 10%. However, the Archer Materials share price has surged 15% in a week.

For perspective, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned nearly 2% in the past year.

Archer Materials has a a market capitalisation of about $199 million based on today's share price.

The post Archer Materials share price leaps 7% on patent news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Each of Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) has been beaten down in the last month whilst the broader tech sector has jumped into the green.

Tech names, in general, have snapped back over the last month, with the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) – a proxy for the ASX tech sector – shooting up 5% in that time.

Why don't we do a quick comparative analysis on both of these shares to get a better understanding of what's driving each name, and then we'll see what the market is saying.

Brainchip versus Archer – descriptive analysis

Whilst both companies operate in the same industry, each has fairly different addressable markets. First, let's look at a brief description of each security.

Brainchip operates as a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, it provides neural computing technology solutions. It also provides artificial neural networks, software and digital hardware solutions in both the US and Australia.

It currently trades at 93.25 cents, well off its 52-week high of $2.34, but above its yearly low of 36 and a half cents. It has a market capitalisation of around $1.6 billion, and printed revenue of $1.6 million in 2021, up from $120,000 a year prior.

Archer Materials on the other hand operates as a technology company. It develops and then commercialises advanced semiconductor devices. The application of its chips ranges from quantum computing to medical diagnostics to mineral exploration. It has a global footprint.

Archer is trading down today at 88.5 cents and that's a hefty slice off its 52-week high of $3.08 and actually closer to its 52-week low of 66.5 cents, set back in May 2021.

Archer's market capitalisation of just $217 million places it in the small cap category as well. The company hasn't secured revenue yet but recorded a net loss after tax of $2.8 million last year.

Fundamental flavour

There's plenty that can be said about each company's operating lines and the strengths and weaknesses of various product offerings. That's not for this analysis. Here we'll look at some of the numbers for a more informed and objective take. All measures are per Bloomberg data.

Ratios are a great way to bring two companies into the same line to make this comparison. We can use data obtained from the ratios to examine whether each name is performing well or not.

For instance, both companies aren't profitable right now, in the sense they've both recorded after-tax losses in the last reporting period. That has an impact on certain measures of profitability.

Even still, Brainchip's return on common equity (ROE) came in at -114% in H2 FY21, whereas Archer saw a -30% ROE.

Elsewhere, Brainchip's gross margin of 82% stands out, as Archer hasn't printed or recognised revenue from its operations just yet.

Instead, Archer recorded other comprehensive income of $1.72 million in 2021, mainly due to the sale of assets of $1.7 million to Chem X Materials Pty Ltd.

Both companies were also cash flow negative in their last half-yearly set of accounts, spending more on operations than earning in customer receipts.

Archer has a debt ratio of just 0.08% whereas its competitor here has a ratio of 8.6%. But that doesn't mean to say it has an unhealthy balance sheet – both of these figures show each company is lowly geared with little debt. That could be a good sign in a world of rising interest rates.

In fact, Brainchip has ample liquidity, as short-term obligations are covered around 7x from and 6x from cash on the balance sheet.

Also, both companies appear to have a sufficient cash runway to last over the next 2 years, as determined by a funny little metric that analysts use, called the Altman's Z-score.

The score takes various metrics from the financial statements and is used to predict a company's likelihood of going bankrupt in the next 2 years, with surprising accuracy. A score of 2.99 or more indicates this safety. Brainchip and Archer are at 94.5 and 338 respectively.

Share price performance

Archer shares have compressed down in the last 12 months and have shaved 21% in that time. From their peak, shares have lost exactly two-thirds of their value at the time of writing, and are down another 8% this past month.

Brainchip shares on the other hand have had a similar outcome albeit a little bit further down the track (see below). Except, the company has held onto gains and is now up 70% in the past year and 37% in the past month of trade.

Whilst shares have retreated heavily in 2022 after going vertical in January, they are still quite top heavy and are floating well above 3 and 5 year highs.

Both stocks have also moved largely independently of each other over the last 12 months. Even more curious is, that Brainchip has moved pretty much on its own, despite what's happened in the tech sector over this time. Let's explain.

A commonly used term in finance is a statistic known as the stock's 'beta'; simply a measure of how closely it moves in unison relative to moves in the market (or an index).

A beta of 1 means the stock is perfectly correlated. It and the index move directly in unison, whilst minus 1 moves directly inversely to the index. A score of zero has no correlation whatsoever.

In this case, we'll use the S&P/ASX All Technology Index, and what we're trying to examine is what direction each stock moves when the index spikes up or down, and by how much. Typically, tech stocks move almost in unison with the wider tech sector and are called 'high-beta' stocks for that reason.

But not Brainchip. For the last 2 years its beta is -0.156, meaning that, on average, each move in the tech index has had little to no impact on the Brainchip share price.

In comparison, Archer has moved more closely. Its beta score is 0.87 – closer to 1 – meaning it has a much higher correlation to movements in the index.

Important to note, is that correlation doesn't equal causation – these measures don't show what's causing the share price to change, rather how closely it moves compared to another benchmark.

These calculations, drawn from historical data, have implications on factors like diversification in portfolios, and also security selection – particularly at the professional level (think fund inclusion etc).

Valuation

Analysts haven't glossed over both of these companies in enough detail to provide a comprehensive discounted cash flow valuation based on future cash flow projections.

Instead, we can look at valuation multiples for an apples-to-apples here. Archer is trading at 6.9x its book value of equity (P/B) but hasn't printed sales, so P/B is what we need to focus on.

Brainchip on the other hand is trading at a P/B of 62.5x – but it has printed revenue, unlike its foe here, and warrants the premium. Although, it is trading at more than 750x sales – hardly a bargain.

Checking growth of these measures compared to each company's enterprise value (EV) growth is a method that analysts use to assess the value of early-stage players with little earnings data to go by.

Brainchip's EV has climbed 128% since 2020 and over 1,500% since 2018, compared to P/B growth of 106% and 612% in the same periods.

Meanwhile, Archer's EV has grown 51% since 2020 and 950% since 2018, with P/B expanding just 25% and 538% in those times respectively.

Compare this to the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), whose market cap has grown by 19% and 47%, whilst its P/B has grown by 9.5% and 21%.

Therefore it could be that Brainchip has created more value for its shareholders, outpacing Archer and smashing the benchmark in growing the book value of its equity. This has come alongside growth in its share price. What this means in terms of valuation – the market will decide.

Has it created more value for shareholders? I'll let you be the judge.

Foolish takeaway

Both shares are running at different paces this year, but it's interesting to know that they aren't necessarily dancing to the tune of the tech sector.

Analyst opinion on each is very light and there are a lot of assumptions baked into each company's forward revenue projections.

Nevertheless, whilst both shares have garnered serious attention over the last 12 months, there's no telling in what direction the market will move next, let alone these two individual names.

The post Compare the ASX share: An analysis of BrainChip vs Archer Materials appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The company recently integrated a graphene layer that is just one atom thick with silicon electronics. Now, the microscopic graphene electronic properties have been found to be retained post-processing and integration with silicon.

At the time of writing, the Archer Materials share price is 97 cents, 11.49% higher than its previous close.

Though, earlier today it surged 19.5% to trade at $1.04.

Let's take a closer look at the news driving the materials technology company's stock higher on Thursday.

One step closer to creating 'lab-on-a-chip'

The Archer Materials share price is in the green on news the tech company has successfully measured and confirmed the electronic transport in the integrated graphene device.

The device is part of the development of the company's biochip. The biochip is expected to see droplets of biological specimens analysed and processed using graphene-based sensors.

If all goes to plan, the biochip will allow for ultrasensitive detection and analysis of diseases.

The direct electronic measurements results announced by the company today are an important step towards building graphene-based transistors.

Such transistors are integral to the operation of Archer's biochip technology.

"Prior to this latest work, Archer had achieved the integration of graphene in silicon electronics," said Archer Materials CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair.

Archer has now successfully performed complex post-integration lithography and atom-thick materials' device processing that preserve graphene's advanced electronic properties.

The electronic transport measurements performed by the Archer team are the fundamental link with respect to using graphene in transistor technology intended for future biosensing operations in Archer's biochip devices.

Archer Materials share price snapshot

Sadly, today's gains haven't been enough to boost the Archer Materials share price back into the green on the ASX.

Right now, the company's stock is trading for 19% less than it was at the start of 2022.

Though, it's 12% higher than it was this time last year.

The post 'Fundamental link': Here's why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is surging 11% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Investors offloaded Archer shares at a trading volume almost double the company's 4-week average with more than 961,000 shares changing hands.

Today, the materials technology company released an announcement regarding its "operations and growth". The post was labelled non-price sensitive although investors didn't appear to react positively to it.

What did Archer announce?

The premise of the announcement was to provide shareholders with an update on the company's progress on its operations and growth, Archer said.

The company raised $25 million in October to execute its growth strategy which involves "domestic and international capabilities in advanced semiconductor design, fabrication, and prototyping".

Archer also noted it has proceeded to gain access to the Australian Nanofabrication Facility, UNSW Sydney node.

The facilities should help Archer transition from single device-oriented research and development towards small-batch, high-resolution fabrication of nanodevice prototyping.

As part of its biochip development, the company's researchers are preparing for "automated testing" across various other genomic facilities in Sydney.

It also recently expanded its Sydney offices to include "The Quantum Terminal". According to Archer, the terminal is a co-working space that houses organisations within quantum technology, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence technology spaces.

As well, it will be attending the AusMedtech conference in Melbourne during May 2022 and the BIO international conference in San Diego, scheduled for June 2022.

The market appears to have reacted poorly to the update with investors continuing to offload shares until the closing bell.

Aside from that, the ASX tech sector continued its weakness today, with the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) finishing down less than 1% today, taking it 24% lower year to date.

This sector weakness also appears to be plaguing Archer's share price as part of a longer-term downtrend.

Archer Materials share price snapshot

The Archer Materials share price is down more than 14% in the past 12 months and 22% this year to date.

It's fallen 16% in the past month alone.

At its current share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $219 million.

The post Why did the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price crumble 7% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, Archer Materials shares are swapping hands for $1.055 cents, up 4.97%.

Archer adds to its intellectual property portfolio

Investors are pushing Archer shares higher after digesting the company's latest win.

According to its release, Archer advised it has been approved for a European patent associated with its CQ quantum computing chip technology.

This follows numerous other patents that have been granted approval in Japan, South Korea, China and the United States. Currently, Australia and Hong Kong are in the midst of their patent application process.

Archer noted that the European approval represents a significant early-stage milestone in the development of the CQ chip. The jurisdictions in which the European patent is now effective spans across a number of countries in the continent. This includes Belgium, Switzerland & Liechtenstein, Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Ireland.

The company considers the jurisdictions as critical strategic markets to protect and potentially commercialise its IP.

European Patent protection is required for any possible future commercialisation operations. With the latest approval, Archer has access to Europe's largest economies to explore sales opportunities within each of the countries.

Quick take on Archer

Founded in 2007, Archer is a technology company developing advanced semiconductor devices. This encompasses chips that can be used in quantum computing and medical diagnostics.

Archer's flagship development, the CQ chip, is a world-first technology that could allow for quantum computing powered mobile devices.

Archer share price snapshot

It's been an interesting year for Archer shares, having moved in circles until the start of July. Over the last 12 months, the company's share price has increased by around 4% and is down 6% year-to-date.

On valuation grounds, Archer commands a market capitalisation of roughly $259.95 million, with approximately 247.56 million shares outstanding.

The post Chips ahoy! Here's why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is leaping 5% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

• The Archer Materials share price soared by 12% today
• This came after the company advised of a significant technological achievement
• Archer Materials is one of only a few companies globally developing qubit processor chip technology in the semiconductor industry

The Archer Materials Ltd (ASX: AXE) share price spiked well into the green today and finished trading 12% higher at $1.21.

Investors piled into Archer Materials following a company announcement about its mobile compatible chip technology.

Market participants crowded into Archer on a volume 340% higher than its 4-week trading average. Let's take a look.

Archer detects quantum information using mobile chip tech

The Archer Materials share price soared today after the company advised it has reached a "major technical feat" in its 12CQ quantum chip development using mobile compatible chip technology.

Archer used the mobile chip technology to detect quantum information at room temperature and in a controlled environment.

The advancement is seen as a huge win in quantum computing circles as it paves the way to implement "complex qubit control". This, Archer says, is "a fundamental requirement for quantum computing processor chips to operate".

"High electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology was used to detect and characterise the 12CQ qubit material," the company notes. HEMT devices are used widely in integrated circuits – such as in mobile phones – and are known in the semiconductor industry for low power consumption.

As a result, the company and its associates have now used a single-chip integrated electron spin resonance (ESR) detector based on HEMT technology to "detect and characterise qubit material in a controlled atmosphere at room temperature".

"Unoptimised" ESR chip devices were sensitive enough to detect the electron spin in a few picolitres of qubit material at room temperature. For reference, 1 picolitre is a trillionth of a litre.

From its observations, Archer and colleagues found the quantum states were sufficiently well preserved when operating in an on-chip environment.

Archer Materials also notes it is the only ASX listed company – and one of a few companies globally – developing qubit processor chip technology in the semiconductor industry.

Management commentary

Speaking on the update that fuelled the Archer Materials share price today, CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair said:

Archer's 12CQ chip development is unique as we have the potential to enable quantum powered mobile devices. Our technology advance provides direct proof to support this exciting possibility. HEMT technology is well established and widely used in the semiconductor industry, so its use in the development of qubit control devices is consistent with the company's strategy to make the 12CQ chip compatible with modern electronics.

Archer Materials share price snapshot

In the last 12 months, the Archer Materials share price has soared by more than 69%. It has also climbed 7.5% this year to date.

It has substantially outperformed the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in that time, as shown on the chart below.

The post Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price leaps 12% on 'major technical feat' appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the close of trading, the materials technology company's shares were swapping hands for $1.36 apiece, a gain of 32.04%.

What did Archer Materials announce?

The Archer Materials share price soared today after the company revealed it had successfully addressed a key nanotech challenge on its biochip technology.

Last month, the company developed its first biochemical reactions for detecting nucleic acid sequences. This allowed small droplets of biological samples to be processed and analysed using graphene-based sensors integrated within the biochip.

Nucleic acid markers are useful for monitoring the various states of a person's health to see if disease is present. Commonly known techniques that use this method include polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

However, the latest update surrounds the company's in-house capability of integrating a single-atom-thick graphene on a silicon wafer.

Archer Materials stated that it used an electron beam lithography system to repeatably and reproducibly fabricate the graphene devices. This represents a significant technical achievement for the company as it intends to use graphene as an ultrasensitive sensor.

An advanced material composite, graphene on the nanoscale is highly advantageous for detecting and analysing diseases. It has unique properties such as high electron mobility and chemical stability for sensing the activity of biological molecules.

What did management say?

Commenting on the news driving the Archer Materials share price, CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair said:

Archer's use of advanced lithography systems to successfully integrate graphene with silicon electronics is a significant step in the Company's biochip development.

This is the culmination of a lot of strategic planning and coordination involving talented people, world-class facilities, and technology to get to this point. It's exciting that Archer's CQ quantum chip development could also benefit from this latest achievement.

About the Archer Materials share price

The Archer Materials share price has surged around 140% in the past 12 months. However, the company's shares are 56% off their all-time high of $3.08 reached in mid-August 2021.

Based on valuation grounds, Archer presides a market capitalisation of around $305.75 million, with almost 247.57 million shares outstanding.

The post Here's why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price rocketed 32% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At market close, the Archer share price was 4.9% higher at $1.285.

Archer progresses biochip development

Investors were driving up the Archer share price today after the materials technology company announced a major breakthrough with its biochip technology.

In a release, Archer advises it has developed its first biochemical reactions for detecting nucleic acid sequences. This allows small droplets of biological samples to be processed and analysed using special sensor devices integrated within the biochip.

Nucleic acid markers are useful for monitoring a person's health and determining if a disease is present. Commonly known techniques to analyse biological samples for nucleic acids include polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The techniques developed by Archer have special significance because COVID-19 is detected through PCR testing.

Last month, the company used advanced fabrication techniques to achieve features like hair-thin microfluidic channels. To put this in perspective, these channels are less than 20 micrometres in width (about 3x thinner than human hair).

The channels enable sample processing as well as transportation into smaller built-in sensors for analysing biochemical targets.

The latest development marks another milestone in Archer's pursuit of commercialising its biochip technology.

Best-in-class capabilities in nanofabrication is a global competitive advantage in the multibillion-dollar point of care medical diagnostics industry. There are few companies developing and commercialising biochips because it's difficult to achieve precision engineering at the nano scale.

What did Archer management say?

Archer CEO Dr Mohammad Choucair commented:

This is a significant achievement, as the Company has now, with its in-house capability, developed the biochemical foundations to potentially allow for future operations and applications of Archer's biochip in the detection of various diseases.

There are few examples of lab-on-a-chip technologies that detect nucleic acids without the need for PCR. Archer's biochemical processes could potentially allow for on-chip detection of pathogens, with several practical advantages, including eliminating cold-logistics supply chain requirements and the need for PCR, if favourable.

About the Archer share price

The Archer share price has surged by 138% in the past 12 months. However, the company's shares are still more than 50% off their all-time high of $3.08 reached in mid-August.

Based on valuation grounds, Archer presides a market capitalisation of $318 million, with 247 million shares on issue.

The post Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price leaps 4% on biochip update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, Archer Materials shares are fetching $1.69 a pop, up 5.63%. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is also higher, up 0.26% to 7,733.4 points.

Archer Materials progresses its biochip development

In its release, Archer Materials advised it has been busy developing a biochip that can analyse tiny amounts of liquid or gas such as saliva, blood, and breath.

To bring the biochip to life, the company used advanced fabrication techniques to achieve features like hair-thin microfluidic channels. These channels allow sample processing as well as transportation into smaller built-in sensors for analysing biochemical targets.

Archer highlighted the microfluidic channels are less than 20 micrometres in width (about 3 times thinner than a human hair). This gives a strong notion of the complexity of developing a biochip for the future.

The latest development marks the passing of a significant checkpoint in Archer's quest to commercialise its biochip. The global semiconductor industry is one of the most important drivers of the global economy, with semiconductors used in almost all technological applications.

Best-in-class capabilities in nanofabrication is a global competitive advantage in the multibillion-dollar point of care medical diagnostics industry. One of the reasons there are few companies in the world developing and commercialising biochips is because it's difficult to achieve precision engineering at the nanoscale.

Archer Materials CEO Mohammad Choucair commented:

The Archer team has been ultra-focused on strengthening and expanding our nano- and micro-fabrication capabilities, including for the development of Archer's biochip, as this is one of the biggest challenges to potential commercialisation of lab-on-a-chip technology.

We have demonstrated miniaturisation with deliberate, precision control of nanosized components' fabrication and positioning for integrating biosensing functions on chip substrates, which Archer ultimately aims to translate into a sophisticated and unique biochip technology.

Archer Materials share price snapshot

Shareholders are likely ecstatic over the performance of the Archer Materials share price in 2021. It's gained more than 220% year-to-date, reflecting strong investor optimism in the company's progress in developing its CQ chip.

Archer Materials presides a market capitalisation of $418.2 million with 247.5 million shares on issue.

The post Why the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is charging 5% higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the materials technology company's shares are up 1.88% to $1.63.

Share Purchase Plan finishes early

According to its release, Archer advised it has successfully completed its SPP, following overwhelming support from shareholders.

A number of valid applications were received, totalling in excess of the original $5 million offer. However, management decided to increase the SPP's offer size to approximately $10 million. This will result in around 6.9 million new ordinary shares being added to the company's registry.

The issue price listed at $1.45 for each share, reflecting the same price paid by investors under the equity placement.

Archer raised $15 million in a non-underwritten placement earlier this month, with 10.3 million shares issued.

The $25 million from both the equity raising will be used on executing Archer's strategic focus. This includes:

• Progressing its world-first technology development, including its CQ chip and Biochip
• Utilising technology development infrastructure and facilities, R&D, people, and IP, to support pre-market development of the company's technologies
• Protecting intellectual property assets such as patents and international patent applications
• Establishing and strengthening new and existing commercial partnerships in Australia and abroad
• General working capital

The SPP results will be announced on 25 October, with issue and allotment following on 27 October.

Quick take on Archer

Founded in 2007, Archer is a technology company developing advanced semiconductor devices. This encompasses chips that can be used in quantum computing and medical diagnostics.

Archer's flagship development, the CQ chip, is a world-first technology that could allow for quantum computing powered mobile devices.

About the Archer share price

It's been an interesting year for Archer shares, having moved in circles until the start of July. Over the last 12 months, the company's share price has increased by more than 230% and is up 200% year-to-date.

On valuation grounds, Archer commands a market capitalisation of roughly $390 million, with approximately 239 million shares outstanding.

The post Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price climbs on increased capital raise appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In earlier trading, Archer Materials shares hit $1.66, which is 11.4% higher than yesterday's closing share price.

Here's what is driving ASX investor interest in the materials and technology company today.

What did Archer report to the market?

Archer Materials told the market it has made further progress with its CQ quantum computing chip technology.

Its proprietary qubit processor technology could allow for quantum computing-powered mobile devices — a world first.

In the latest development, Archer said it has validated the robustness of qubit coherence for the first time in an inert atmosphere (nitrogen gas) and at room temperature.

If you're wondering what qubit coherence is, the company explains, "Quantum coherence is the fundamental requirement for quantum logic operations that are the basis of any quantum computing qubit processor hardware."

Archer said that competing room-temperature qubit projects make use of high vacuum environments, like ion-traps. These, as you'd expect, aren't as simple to integrate into mobile devices.

Commenting on the progress, Archer's CEO Mohammad Choucair said:

The step-change optimisation that was achieved validates the robustness of the qubit for control measurements and operation that could be compatible with device miniaturisation and, in general, preserving qubit coherence when integrating with semiconductor devices.

Archer Materials recently raised $15 million via an institutional placement. The company says it is well-funded to progress its chip technology development.

According to the release, Archer Materials is the only ASX-listed company developing qubit processor chip technology in the semiconductor industry.

Archer Materials share price snapshot

The Archer Materials share price has been a stellar performer in 2021, up 217% year to date.

Archer Materials shares have substantially outperformed the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), which is up 10% so far in 2021.

The post Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price leaps 11% on chip update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, Archer shares are swapping hands for $1.60, down a sizeable 7.78%

Archer completes placement

One catalyst for today's fall in the Archer share price could be investor concerns over an impending share dilution.

According to its release, Archer announced it has received firm commitments for its institutional placement to raise $15 million before costs. The company highlighted that it has strong support from both domestic and offshore institutional investors.

The offer will see approximately 10.3 million new ordinary shares issued at a price of $1.45 apiece. This represents a 16.4% discount to the last closing price of $1.735 on 30 September (before going into a trading halt).

Archer Materials will use its existing placement capacity to create the new shares. Under listing rule 7.1, this allows the company to issue up to an additional 15% of its total shares without shareholder approval.

The company will primarily use the proceeds to develop its CQ quantum computing chip and lab-on-a-chip biochip technologies. In particular, Archer will allocate the funds to:

• Progressing its world-first technology development, including its CQ chip and Biochip
• Utilising technology development infrastructure and facilities, R&D, people, and IP, to support pre-market development of the company's technologies
• Protecting intellectual property assets such as patents and international patent applications
• Establishing and strengthening new and existing commercial partnerships in Australia and abroad
• General working capital

Settlement of the new shares is expected on Thursday 7 October, with allotment scheduled for the next day.

In addition, Archer will launch a non-underwritten share purchase plan (SPP) of $5 million to be offered to eligible investors. The terms will be the same as the institutional placement.

The SPP closes on 28 October, with allotment of the new shares on 4 November.

About the Archer share price

Despite today's falls, Archer shares have gained around 233% in the past 12 months. However, the company's share price is around 50% off its all-time high of $3.08 from mid-August.

Based on valuation grounds, Archer presides a market capitalisation of $395.07 million, with almost 227 million shares outstanding.

The post Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price dives on capital raising update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The technology company creates advanced semiconductor devices for quantum computing.

It requested a trading halt prior to the market opening on Friday.

The Archer share price finished yesterday's session trading at $1.73 and there it will remain until the company either releases its expected announcement or the market opens on Tuesday.

Let's take a closer look at Archer Materials and its share price's freeze.

Why is Archer frozen on Friday?

The Archer share price has been halted today ahead of the release of news of a capital raise.

While it's impossible to say exactly how much the company will be raising and what the cash will be put towards, here's what Archer has planned for financial year 2022:

Right now, the company is working on its 12CQ chip and its less developed biochip. It plans to continue developing its technology in the current financial year. It will be employing more staff to do so.

Archer has previously acknowledged that intellectual property protection and patents are crucial to its future. It will be pushing to receive more of the protections in financial year 2022.

Archer announced it has received a patent for its 12CQ chip in the United States last week. The Archer share price gained 4.4% on the back of the news.

Over financial year 2021, Archer recorded a net loss of around $6.6 million. As of June 30, the company had around $6.2 million of cash in its coffers and no corporate debt.

The last time Archer underwent a capital raise was in May 2020.

Then, the company raised around $6.4 million through a share purchase plan which saw shares in the company offered for 60 cents apiece.

The share purchase plan was significantly oversubscribed. The company accepted all applications despite only targeting a $3 million capital raise.

The funds went towards funding Archer's work programs and additional staff.

Archer share price snapshot

The Archer share price has been performing well lately.

It has gained 233% since the start of 2021. It is also 240% higher than it was this time last year.

The post Why is the Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price halted? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Shares in the high-tech materials company have tumbled more than 5% in today's session.

Let's take a closer look at why the Archer Materials share price is struggling today.   

What's weighing down the Archer Materials share price?

Archer Materials has not released any price-sensitive news that could explain today's bearish price action.

As a result, it can be assumed that multiple factors are weighing down shares in the high-tech material company.

In addition to general weakness in the broader market, investors could also be locking in profits.

The Archer Materials share price has had a solid month thus far, spurred by its recent patent grant in the US.

The company hit a commercialisation milestone last week after securing a patent in the US for its CQ quantum computing chip.

According to Archer, the patent will provide the company with protection of the related intellectual property rights in the US.

Archer regards the US as a critical strategic jurisdiction to help protect and potentially commercialise its products.

Shares in Archer Materials rocketed more than 29% on the day of the announcement.

As a result, many investors could be looking to lock in their profits.

More on the Archer Materials share price

Archer Materials operates within the semiconductor industry and has a vast pipeline of devices that are in various developmental and commercialisation stages.

In addition to a strong month, the Archer share price has also had a stellar year thus far.

Shares in the high-tech material company have soared more than 232% since the start of 2021.

The company's share price surged to a record high of $3.08 last month, following another patent update.

However, the company's share price came under pressure following media speculations regarding its patent application in Australia.

The company rejected the accusations made against its CQ quantum computer chip patent.

At the time of writing, the Archer share price is down more than 4% for the day.

Shares in the tech company were down more than 5% earlier, after hitting an intra-day low of $1.78.

The post The Archer Materials (ASX:AXE) share price is down 5% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.