This comes after the computer software applications and services company reported significant growth across its 2 product lines, Snare and eMite.

Snare is Prophecy's cybersecurity software product line. It offers security monitoring, threat detection, security information and event management, and centralised log management. eMite is a SaaS (software as a service)-based customer experience and call centre analytics platform.

What growth figures were reported?

The Prophecy share price is surging after the company reported continued operational progress across its business units.

Prophecy said its subscription-based annualised recurring revenue (ARR) is up more than $1.8 million in November to date. Its total ARR now exceeds $15.4 million.

Breaking that down, ARR from its eMite segment stands at $10.5 million, with $4.1 million in ARR from its Snare business and another $600,000 from Legacy subscription revenue.

The company cited a number of new recurring customers for eMite, such as agricultural (Farmlands), finance (BPER Banca), and health (Providence St Joseph's). It said there are more deals on the table it still expects to close in November.

To date for FY22 eMite sales growth has come in at 800% compared to the same period in FY21.

According to Prophecy:

In cloud migration, eMite is riding a significant growth trend. We expect that COVID-19 will accelerate cloud migration for the next several years as enterprise customers seek to enable working from home… We will add vendor partnerships similar to Genesys and Amazon for eMite.

As for Snare, FY22 sales growth to date is up 46% from the same period in FY22. The company said its new subscription sales model for Snare "enhances flexibility for customers and supports continued growth" in its base of ARR.

The Prophecy share price could also be getting a lift from the company's outlook for the full 2022 financial year. It stated, "eMite and Snare's strong performance is expected to continue in FY22". Prophecy forecasts approximately $13 million in sales for eMite and $20 million for Snare.

Prophecy share price snapshot

The Prophecy share price has been red hot this year. Over the past 6 months alone, its shares have surged by around 210%. For comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) gained around 4.5% in that same period.

Over the past month, Prophecy's shares are up by more than 50%.

The post Prophecy (ASX:PRO) share price rockets 32% on surging growth appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Prophecy share price is up 22.41% to 71 cents. Earlier in the day, it hit a fresh 52-week high of 74.5 cents.

A huge win for Prophecy

In today's statement to the ASX, Prophecy advised it has signed a deal with United States-based health insurance company, Humana Inc (NYSE: HUM).

Founded in 1961, Humana is one of the biggest health insurance providers in the United States market. The company is ranked 41 on the Fortune 500 list, holding a market capitalisation of more than US$50 billion.

The deal will see Prophecy provide its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, eMite, to Humana for an initial 3-year period. This is expected to generate a minimum of $1.784 million in annualised recurring revenue (ARR), totalling $5.518 million.

eMite is a real time and historical customer experience and contact call centre analytics platform. The software product helps businesses visualise their customers' pathway and understand the level of happiness during the journey.

The innovative platform aims to assist large enterprise and government customers to maximise customer service and revenue opportunity.

Last year, eMite was sold in more than 14 countries to a range of customers in the Genesys, Amazon and Avaya ecosystems.

CEO Brad Thomas commented on the news fuelling the Prophecy share price:

We are delighted to welcome Humana as a new eMite customer. Given Humana's standing as one of the strongest participants in the US healthcare market, we are excited by the opportunity to strengthen Humana's ability to provide high-quality, whole-person healthcare and support superior outcomes for patients across all of its lines of business.

A contract of this nature is material to Prophecy as it, along with other recently-signed eMite customers, boost the annualised recurring revenue (ARR) for the eMite business to more than A$10 million. This growth reflects our continuous improvement of eMite's functionality as large enterprise and government have embraced cloud services.

Prophecy share price summary

Despite today's massive gain, the Prophecy share price mostly travelled in circles over the past 12 months. However, following the latest contract win, its shares are now up around 35% for the period.

Based on the current price, Prophecy presides a market capitalisation of roughly $49.35 million, with approximately 64 million shares outstanding.

The post Prophecy (ASX:PRO) share price rockets 22% on major US health deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

It revealed that one of its software products named eMite has been certified as an 'Amazon Connect Technology Partner'. This means Amazon Connect's partners could use the eMite platform and these kind of partnerships add credibility and widen its potential network. 

eMite's software-as-a-service online platform currently runs off Amazon Web Services so the partnership is a natural extension for the businesses. 

Prophecy estimates it has a sales pipeline in excess of an annualised $4 million since launching the offering in June 2019.

While the stock is higher today it's actually down around 50% over the past three years as the company developed a habit of missing ambitious sales forecasts. As such investors might want to do some further research into this business. 

Other junior software players worth a look include Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO) or micro-cap Alcidion Ltd (ASX: ALC).

The post Why the Prophecy share price is rocketing appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The stock is up today on news that sales of its Snare software increased 67% over the first quarter of fiscal 2020 compared to the prior corresponding quarter (pcq). Sales for the quarter totalled $1.76 million versus $1.05 million in the pcq. The company flagged large sales to the likes of Gemalto, the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business (Aust) and QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) in helping drive the strong quarter.

In addition to Snare software, Prophecy also sell its eMite enterprise-facing software-as-a-service platform for customer experience, contact centre & IT operations environments. 

For the financial year ending June 30 2019, Prophecy reported a net loss of $1.45 million on sales from continuing operations of $12.1 million. 

Other junior software businesses looking to catch the attention of investors include Alcidion Group Ltd (ASX: ALX) and Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO).

The post Why the Prophecy share price is rocketing today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

According to the company's announcement: "This represents revenue growth of 13.47% against the same period last year for the combined Snare and eMite businesses and demonstrates that our strategy of organic growth by scaling through partners, optimizing sales and marketing, continued product innovation, improved customer experience and improving operational efficiency is delivering results."

As a result of the revenue growth Prophecy expects to post a small "operating profit" of $87,000 for the year and spruiked a stronger second half to the financial year as a positive sign for FY 20. 

The company has two key software products in Snare and eMite, the former a SaaS-based customer experience analytics platform, the latter a cyber security related software product. 

It also has a mixed history as a public company going from small cap darling to small cap disaster as shares tumbled from $2.50 in November 2016 to 42.5 cents today. As such it falls into the turnaround bucket. 

The post Is the Prophecy share price a turnaround story? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

According to the company this represents growth of 4% on the prior corresponding period as sales of its two core software products of Snare and eMite steadily improve.

In particular the group's CEO flagged a large enterprise sale of eMite to an Asian bank worth more than $600,000 that made a "significant contribution to revenue and profit" over the first half of FY 2018 and makes the first-half FY 2019 comparison harder.

Despite today's share price rise the stock is still down around 50% over the past year to give the company a market value around $17 million today according to Commsec. Other junior software businesses to watch on a bigger scale include Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS) and Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH).

The post Why the Prophecy share price is soaring today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Unfortunately Prophecy posted a net loss after tax of $791,000 on revenue of $10.7 million for FY 2018, with the revenue and profit up 16% and down 140% respectively on the effort delivered in FY 2017.

The revenue lift was mainly driven by an "improved result" from Prophecy's emite business, however, the widening loss was blamed on additional investment in product development and sales and marketing expenses.

As we can see the worsening losses have dragged the share price lower as the company's two core Snare and emite software products don't deliver the sales and profits that investors and Prophecy's management hoped for.

In FY 2018 emite delivered sales of $3.3 million (up 58%), while its core Snare cyber security software product grew revenue just 4% to $6.7 million.

According to Commsec the company now has a market value of around just $20 million at 30 cents per share, which suggests it could be cheap if it's able to ever deliver strong revenue growth and profits.

The post Why the Prophecy share price is down 84% in 2 years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three on the rise today are listed below. Here's why they are on the up:

The Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price has climbed 3.5% to 14.5 cents after the artificial intelligence company provided an update on its license and development agreement with Gaming Products International. According to the release, Brainchip has received positive feedback from customers after demonstrating its automated table solution in Macau. The solution, which provides the flexibility necessary to meet the evolving technology requirement for data analytics in the gaming industry, will soon go live on a casino floor for trials. While the technology is exciting, I wouldn't be a buyer of its shares on the back of this announcement. I would suggest investors wait to see if its technology is adopted by major casinos before considering an investment.

The Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) share price is up almost 6% to 55 cents after advising that it has extended the validity period of its current binding engineering, procurement, and construction contract with KSJV for its Magnolia LNG project. According to the release, the binding lump sum turnkey US$4.354 billion contract is now valid through to December 31, 2018. Management believes the Magnolia LNG project is well positioned to lead the next generation of U.S. LNG export.

The Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) share price has surged over 7.5% higher to 49 cents after the software developer provided a business update. According to the release, Prophecy's strategy of growing the business and achieving scale through partnerships is delivering results. New partners have led to Prophecy adding a number of significant brand name customers during the last quarter including Metropolitan Police in the UK, Royal Bank of Canada, VISA Europe, Boeing, Red Cross, and Raytheon. While this all sounds very promising, it is worth noting that no financial details were provided. Because of this, I would wait for its results before considering whether to invest or not.

The post Why these 3 small cap shares are on the rise today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

If you've never heard of these tech stocks it's time to put them on your watchlist.

Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO)

Prophecy International designs, develops and distributes computer software applications and services for the corporate marketplace with offices in Australia, the US and UK.

Any company in the cyber security realm is one to watch, as companies worldwide are forced to reassess and redefine their cyber-security situation on a daily basis.

Prophecy's share price is at 63c per share today, and the company has been struggling to find a foothold in the industry in the past couple of years, with performance out of its SNARE and eMite products falling short of expectations in FY17.

However, a February 8 announcement revealed preliminary first-half FY18 results are expected to show a strong improvement over the same period last year, with unaudited financials forecasting sales revenue of $5.89 million and $1.06 million EBIT – representing a 24% growth against the same period last year and a 58% increase of EBIT vs first half FY17 results.

Prophecy has been working behind the scenes to forge strong industry partnerships in the hope these connections will open up additional markets for the company in the future.

Rhipe Ltd FPO (ASX: RHP)

Subscription software provider Rhipe Ltd has enjoyed a steady upward swing in share price over the last year, opening today up 4.5% at 93c per share. That's up from 45c at the same time last year.

Rhipe works with world-leading software vendors, providing subscription for products such as Microsoft, VMware and Citrix as well as consulting and support to companies transitioning their own clients to cloud and subscription-centric business environments.

It's an interesting niche, and a specialised one, with Rhipe being recognised as ARN's Software Distributor of the Year and asserting itself as a market leader for cloud and service provider software licensing in Australia and New Zealand with recent expansion across South East Asia.

Rhipe's first half FY18 results presentation early this month reported an EBITDA of $2.8 million a profit after tax of $1.1 million and a 22% growth in group revenue since FY17.

With service providers making the transition towards cloud computing business models globally, it will be interesting to watch Rhipe's progress over the next few years in this obvious growth sector.

Senatas Corporation Limited (ASX: SEN)

Data encryption hardware developer Senetas Corporation provides technology designed to protect government and enterprise information – no doubt a growth area as our reliance on technology grows commercially and personally.

Senetas is beginning to make a name for itself in the competitive encryption hardware industry and was awarded a NATO Certification – providing the company with a strong competitive position and assurance for its customers.

The company has experienced slow, but consistent growth in the last few years, with the share price opening today up 4.35% to 12c a share – up from 0.09c at the same time last year.

On January 23 Senetas announced NPBT of $2.2 million, with further earnings growth expected in the second half – underpinned by projected sales from custom algorithm products.

Senetas will release its half-yearly report on February 26 and it will be interesting to see if results reach expected targets.

The post 3 ASX tech shares I think growth investors should be stalking appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a quick recap:

• FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.26%
• DAX (Germany): up 0.46%
• CAC 40 (France): up 0.4%
• Dow Jones (USA): down 0.03%
• NASDAQ (USA): up 0.38%

The Bellamy's Australia Ltd (ASX: BAL) share price is expected to return to normal trading conditions today, and could come under pressure after the group said its newly acquired canning facility had had a key license suspended by Chinese regulatory authorities.

The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price has been on fire recently, and was again among the market's top performers on Monday. Hence, the shares could receive more attention today.

Downer EDI Limited (ASX: DOW) announced that its ownership stake in Spotless Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPO) has increased to 64.3%.

And Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) announced the sale of its Promadis business, allowing Prophecy to increase its focus on its core products, eMite and Snare.

Before getting started on your day, be sure to check out these two articles:

1. Here's why the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd share price is soaring
2. Top broker names 3 healthcare shares to buy

The post 5 shares you need to watch on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Billing software provider Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) disappointed Mr Market on Thursday. At one point, Hansen's share price declined as much as 21.2% although they recovered much of that loss by the end of the session. Although the company managed to grow both revenue and earnings during the period – and confirmed it was still on track to meet its full-year guidance, it appears investors were disappointed with the group's slower organic growth rate of 4.5% (compared to guidance of 4% to 8%).

The Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) share price was hit for six earlier in the week, as well. Although it only released its preliminary results (it will release its audited results before the end of February), it revealed a heavy decline in sales of its SNARE product with half-year revenues for the group set to come in around $6 million. That's short of the $8 million in sales it generated in the prior corresponding period.

Meanwhile, the Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) share price was put through the oven on Wednesday, even though it increased its full-year earnings guidance. It said it expects its net profit to grow 32.5% compared to the 2016 financial year which would imply an NPAT result of $122 million, or $1.37 in earnings per share. According to Yahoo! Finance, however, that result is still short of what most analysts had been baking in at around $1.40 per share.

The post Earnings Season: These 3 companies have disappointed this week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a quick recap:

• S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) up 0.7% to 5760 points
• ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) up 0.7% to 5812 points
• AUD/USD at US 76.65 cents
• Iron Ore at US$86.62 a tonne, according to the Metal Bulletin
• Gold at US$1,230.58 an ounce
• Brent oil at US$56.51 a barrel

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) excited investors when it reported an 11.7% increase in sales at its Australian stores (excluding The Good Guys) with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from that division rising 21.5%. Comparable store sales also grew at an impressive 8.7%, sending the JBH share price 3.2% higher.

The Amcor Limited (ASX: AMC) share price lifted 4.3% on the group's own earnings results with Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) up 2.5% as well.

Other shares that enjoyed strong gains today were Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG), up 6.2%, St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM), up 0.8%, and Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX), up another 5.6%.

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) share price didn't fare so well, shedding 5%. Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) fell 2.2% as well.

Meanwhile, the Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. (ASX: DMP) share price dropped another 4.8% following reports from Fairfax Media regarding visa fraud within its franchisees.

The Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) share price was slammed as well after they reported a sharp decline in first-half revenues compared to the same period last year. The PRO share price plunged 29.3%.

Here are Monday's top stories:

1. JB Hi-Fi Limited shares rocket on explosive growth: Is the retailer a buy?
2. See you in court: Why Sirtex Medical Limited is coming out fighting
3. Down 25%: Should you buy shares of Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd. today?

The post Earnings Wrap on Monday: 10 shares you should have been watching appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This disappointing result was blamed on revenues from its flagship SNARE software system coming in lower-than-expected as Prophecy joins the fast-growing club of tech-wreck companies that have disappointed investors recently. Others to issue disappointing updates recently include Aconex Ltd (ASX: ACX), Newzulu Ltd (ASX: NWZ) and Touchcorp Ltd (ASX: TCH).

Prophecy's management team also blamed the sharp decline in revenues on weaker-than-expected sales from its eMite analytics and reporting business. In fact for eMite revenues are expected to come in less than $1 million for the half year, compared to $2.6 million for the same period last year in a shock result that is likely to be leading investors to run for the exits today.

Prophecy agreed to acquire eMite in 2015 for a price between $14.3 million to $17.8 million that represented 5.9x FY16's expected EBIT of $3 million. Given eMite is expected to post less than $1 million in revenues for H1 2017 it looks like Prophecy has been fleeced in this deal, unless it can deliver a big turnaround in eMite's performance.

For the half year the group now expects total EBITDA of just $1 million and today's steep share price falls come as no surprise. I would give this business a miss to focus on tech stocks that have heavy insider ownership and consistent track records. Alternative options could be Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) or Class Ltd (ASX: CL1) both of which continue to deliver strong operating performance and profit growth.

The post CRASH: Why the Prophecy International Holdings Limited share price cratered today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Sales jumped 47% year on year to $14.7 million, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation coming in 13% higher at a record $5.1 million.

Playing a big role in driving Prophecy's growth was its two key software products SNARE and eMite.

SNARE is cybersecurity software designed to detect system intrusion and analyse large amounts of events data. Sales of SNARE rose 27% in FY 2016, contributing $7.6 million to total company sales.

eMite is customisable dashboard software designed for the monitoring and management of IT systems and services. Prophecy acquired the eMite software in July 2015 for $4 million and this year it contributed $4 million to total company sales.

As positive as these results may sound, they were well short of expectations unfortunately. When management completed the eMite deal they advised that for the full year they expected it to result in FY 2016 total company sales of $20 million.

Only achieving sales of $14.7 million for the year is bitterly disappointing considering its previous forecasts. Whilst a portion of the drop in sales was down to timing and should appear in FY 2017, even when taking that into account sales were still much lower than first predicted.

For this reason it isn't too much of a surprise to see its share price come crashing down.

But does this make Prophecy a bargain buy now?

The cybersecurity software market is definitely a market which I feel has extremely strong growth prospects. If Prophecy can gain a foothold in the industry then it has the potential to become a much bigger company than it is today.

But let's not forget that it is also a highly competitive one too. So with its shares changing hands at 26x full year earnings despite being cut in half, I would recommend holding off investing and waiting for an update on how FY 2017 is tracking first.

In the meantime I think data encryption provider Senetas Corporation Limited (ASX: SEN) could be a better option for investors.

The post Is tech share Prophecy International Holdings Limited a bargain buy at this price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But companies can change, as can their outlook. Whether it be due to a new management team, or a changing economic environment, or perhaps a revised business strategy, here are three ASX businesses that are worthy of a second chance:

Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) has gone backwards in recent years due to its fixation on margins. It tried to maintain higher prices than its rivals such as Coles and Aldi but, as a result, customers have turned away in droves. What's more, the company's attempt to compete with the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) owned Bunnings Warehouse through its Masters Home Improvement venture proved to be a huge failure, resulting in enormous losses for the business.

However, Woolworths has had a change at the top with a new management team now trying to right the wrongs of the old. It is closing its Masters chain, which should help stem the losses, while it is also pumping money into reducing prices on the shelves. This will have a negative impact on margins and could well exacerbate any losses in the near-term, but should help the company become relevant again in the long-run.

I wouldn't buy shares of Woolworths just yet, but they are worth keeping on a long-term watchlist.

Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) is another company that was once adored by investors as the bottler of Coca-Cola products in the South Pacific region. Unfortunately, that label has worn off with investors now concerned about the strength of the Coca-Cola brand.

To begin with, consumers are increasingly turning towards rival products that cost less, including Pepsi, which gives the impression that Coca-Cola can no longer charge such a premium for its brand. Changing consumer health trends could also threaten the company's long-term potential, as could its ongoing investment in the Indonesian market which has thus far proven to be a drain on the company's resources.

In saying that, the group has cut costs throughout the business and is aiming for mid-single-digit earnings growth in the near future. The company still has a lot of work to do before I'd look at buying shares again. However, like Woolworths, I'm keeping the shares on my long-term watchlist, waiting to see whether the efficiency improvements can help make Coca-Cola Amatil great again.

Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) attracts far less attention than Woolworths and Coca-Cola Amatil due to its smaller size. To small-cap investors, however, Prophecy had become a very popular business with its shares rising as much as 469% between January 2015 and November 2016.

The company owns the SNARE security software as well as eMite business analytics software, with SNARE in particular generating huge growth for the business. While the shares hit a high of $2.53, they have since fallen to just $1.17. The latest setback was due to a downgrade to its revenue and profit guidance for the year.

Indeed, investors are right to be cautious of a business that is reporting slowing growth when it is meant to be in its prime. However, the company noted that the downgrade was a timing-related issue, which could mean the long-term picture remains intact. I'm waiting on the sidelines for now, but believe it's too early to write the business off for good just yet.

The post Why these 3 ASX shares deserve a second chance appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Prophecy International Group Limited (ASX: PRO) shares are trading 3.5% lower today at $1.12. Worse yet, the shares are down 23.3% since Wednesday last week after the company issued a trading update. Although it appears as though the issue could be short-term in nature, it seems investors are still trying to decide how much Prophecy's shares are actually worth right now.

Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) shares have retreated 2.4% to $20.86, although they still remain well and truly in the black for the year so far. Indeed, the gold price has rocketed in the early months of 2016, but did fall marginally overnight which could be weighing on Newcrest's share price.

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shares have fallen 2.6% and look set to end the week around the $18 mark, after soaring above $21 just over three weeks ago. Today's losses could be the result of Chinese iron ore futures dropping, with expectations mounting that the commodity's price will drop significantly in the second-half of 2016.

1-Page Ltd (ASX: 1PG) shares have dropped 6.3% to just 75 cents today. They did trade as high as $5.69 in September last year, but investors are growing increasingly anxious about the company's low revenues and cash flows, and how long it will take for the business to become profitable (assuming that it ever does).

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are falling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

But there are some shares bucking the trend and heading lower. Here's why these four are posting declines today:

Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has wiped out last week's gains with a 3% decline to $39.05. This could be related to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that has shown visitor numbers to normally popular destinations like Italy, Greece and Turkey have declined dramatically in the first three months of 2016. I believe this decline means the shares could now be a bargain at less than 15x estimated FY 2016 earnings.

Flight Centre has had a disappointing 2016, with a 2% decline year-to-date

Mesoblast limited (ASX: MSB) shares have dropped around 3% today to $1.95 after the company failed to respond satisfactorily to analyst questioning on Tuesday's third quarter earnings call. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, its answers have cast doubts on its deal with US biotech giant Celgene and the backing of Teva Pharmaceutical for its heart failure research program. Adding insult to injury, JP Morgan downgraded the shares also.

Mesoblast's share price is still up by around 5% so far this year.

Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) shares have continued their decline today by almost 6% to $1.12. Just under a month ago shares of the software company were trading as high as $1.75, but it has been nothing but down since it issued an earnings downgrade recently. Previously the company had forecast full year EBITDA of $8.9 million, but now expects EBITDA to come in between $5 million and $7 million.

Despite these declines Prophecy International has gained 38% in the last 12 months.

Yowie Group Ltd (ASX: YOW) shares have suffered a drop of almost 9% today to 94 cents despite there being no news released to the market. A series of positive market sensitive announcements had driven the share price up by a whopping 75% in the last few weeks, so it could be a case of profit taking today from some investors.

Yowie Group's share price is still up 55% in the last 30 days, despite today's decline.

If your portfolio took a little hit today because of one of these shares, then look no further than this tech share which I believe could provide investors with incredible gains in the future.

The post This is why these 4 ASX shares got smashed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is quite impressive considering the large declines in the energy and materials sectors which are both nursing losses of almost 3% today.

There have been four shares in particular that have acted as a drag on the market today. Here's why:

BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) shares are down over 4% to $17.62 today following a terrible night for commodity markets. This heavy fall came as a result of both iron ore and oil prices falling overnight. Of course, BHP Billiton was not alone. Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) have suffered from steep declines today as well for the same reasons.

BHP Billiton shares are now down by just under 2% in 2016.

Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL) has suffered a sharp decline of almost 7% to $7.05 today. This appears to be related to recent news that Quadrant Private Equity has sold its stake in the pet care group. Greencross had been subject to a takeover bid of $6.45 per share, with many speculating an improved offer was coming. But by selling their stake it would appear that Quadrant is not interested in a takeover now.

Despite this Greencross shares are still up 8% in the last 12 months.

Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) saw its share price drop again today, this time by over 5% to $1.18. The shares have been under a lot of selling pressure since it downgraded its 2016 full year forecast last week. The IT security company is now expecting EBITDA to come in between $5 million and $7 million, compared to its earlier forecast of $8.9 million.

Prophecy has now lost almost 39% of its market value since the turn of the year.

SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) has not had the best of days today, dropping almost 4% to $16.54. Whilst there was no news released today, the ANZ Job Advertisements data for April was released yesterday showing job advertisements down 0.8% month-on-month. Economists had been expecting a small gain. It is worth noting that Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN) jumped by almost 4% today, possibly suggesting that the job advertisements data is not related to SEEK's share price fall.

SEEK has still managed to gain over 7% so far in 2016.

The post Here's why these 4 ASX shares got thumped today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Among the top 20 largest caps, it was pretty much split evenly with half down and the other half up, with the big four banks finishing in the green.

But there was no such luck for these four companies, which saw their share prices sink…

Prophecy International Holdings Limited (ASX: PRO) saw its share price sink as low as $1.00, after downgrading its 2016 full year forecast and shares closed down 27.4% at $1.06. The IT security company said it now expected to see EBITDA between $5 and $7 million – down from its previous forecast of $8.9m – thanks to deferred sales in the third quarter. You can read our full coverage here.

Baby Bunting Group Ltd (ASX: BBN) saw its share price fall 2.4% to $2.41, despite no news from the company that sells prams, cots, car seats, nappies and other baby accessories. Some investors could perhaps be anticipating a worse-than-expected result when the company reports its full year financial results in August, despite an exceptionally strong first half result. Same store sales growth of over 9%, a 30% increase in sales, and earnings up more than 50% for the first half of 2016 was a pretty good result.

Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) saw its share price sink 9.1% to 2 cents, although as a penny share, a 1 cent move either way would be a 50% fall or rise. The iron ore miner has managed to survive low iron ore prices so far, including renegotiating its debt. But iron ore fell again overnight, and most experts agree that its more likely to fall further from here, particularly as new supply comes online. That spells trouble with a capital T for Atlas and its shareholders.

Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) saw its share price slide 4.9% to $1.365 and has now lost more than 10% in the past 5 business days. It seems the warmer weather has affected most major retailers, but Kathmandu relies on its winter clothing sales for a large chunk of its annual revenues more than most. The problem for Kathmandu is that climate change appears to be making our summers longer and hotter – something it is going to have to get used to.

The post 4 shares sinking on the ASX today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Prophecy's share price fell as much as 30.8% to $1.01 shortly after the announcement was made, reflecting a total decline of 60% since the shares peaked at $2.53 in November last year.

The company said that the trading performance for financial year 2016 would be below original guidance of $20 million in sales and $8.9 million in earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA) due to deferred sales in the third quarter.

Instead, it expects revenue to be between $15 million and $17.5 million, with EBITDA to be in the range of $5 million and $7 million.

Pleasingly, the company did note that fourth-quarter sales have already delivered an improvement compared to the third-quarter, which is important considering that the fourth quarter has traditionally been the group's strongest.

It said: "So far early FY16 Q4 sales have already bettered the Q3 start and the FY15 Q4 start, giving weight to a healthy sales position in our final quarter being achieved. Notwithstanding the slower-than-expected third quarter, year to date sales of SNARE are up 54% on last year's equivalent position."

What's more, the new revised group figures would still represent strong growth compared to the 2015 financial year. However, a downgrade of this calibre will still come as a concern for investors considering the group's early stage of growth, which would go a way towards explaining today's harsh response from the market.

The post Why the Prophecy International Holdings Limited share price crashed 30% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.