Four ASX shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are dropping:

Incannex Healthcare Ltd (ASX: IHL)

The Incannex share price is down 8% to 11 cents. This morning, this cannabis-focused pharmaceutical company announced plans to leave the ASX and join the NASDAQ. Shareholders will be asked to vote on the move later this year. Though, it seems that some aren't sticking around to see how the move pans out.

Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)

The Magellan share price has continued its slide and is down a further 3.5% to $8.32. Investors have been selling this fund manager's shares since the release of a disappointing funds under management (FUM) update. In addition, this morning, analysts at Macquarie downgraded the company's shares to an underperform rating and cut the price target on them to $7.25.

Nexted Group Ltd (ASX: NXD)

The Nexted share price is down 13.5% to $1.25. Investors have been hitting the sell button today after the education services company released an update on its performance in FY 2023. Nexted is expecting to grow its revenue by 118% to 120% and EBITDA by 392% to 406%. Despite how strong this is, some investors appear to have been expecting even stronger growth.

Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA)

The Strandline Resources share price is down 8% to 25.2 cents. This is despite Strandline announcing its seventh shipment of heavy mineral concentrate. However, taking some of the shine off the news was management advising that mining throughput and production have been constrained at times due to commissioning-related issues. This includes equipment failures and plant availability.

The post Why Incannex, Magellan, Nexted, and Strandline shares are dropping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Two such small-cap ASX shares that brokers are very positive on and rate as buys are listed below. Here's what you need to know about them:

Cosol Ltd (ASX: COS)

COSOL could be a small-cap ASX share to buy according to analysts at Bell Potter.

It specialises in digital IT solutions, with a focus on enterprise asset management software platforms and data management. Its solutions optimise operations in asset-intensive industries, including natural resources, energy and water utilities, defence and public infrastructure.

Bell Potter believes there's a lot to like about COSOL. It explains:

The information presented highlights the compelling value proposition of COSOL in the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Industry, with strong financial growth, a diverse client base, strategic partnerships, and actively supports its clients' sustainability goals , COSOL demonstrates its ability to deliver innovative solutions and drive industry-wide transformation. The company's ownership alignment, international expansion, and scalable business model positions it well as a leader in the market. As the EAM software market continues to grow, COSOL's suite of digital technology solutions and forward-thinking approach position it well for future success.

The broker initiated coverage on COSOL earlier this week with a buy rating and a $1 price target. This is 43% higher than where its shares currently trade.

Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA)

Morgans is a fan of this small-cap ASX mining share. The broker feels it offers investors a rare investment proposition that shouldn't be missed. Its analysts explain:

STA is a heavy mineral sands explorer and developer, with projects in Australia and Tanzania. We continue to note that STA is a rare investment proposition. It enjoys: 1) 100% ownership of a world-scale/ strategic asset in a tier 1 jurisdiction; 2) lenient debt terms; 3) visibility on upcoming cashflow/ de-risking; 4) proven, backable management; 5) a reputable board; and 6) clear M&A appeal while trading at a material discount.

Morgans has a 70 cents price target on the company's shares. This is more than double where its shares currently trade.

The post Brokers tip huge returns for these exciting small cap ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Commodities across the board have seen their prices plunge. Iron ore is down, lithium is down, oil is down.

And accordingly, the stock prices for the companies that mine those minerals have plummeted.

So does this mean that we're now at a great time to buy these resources shares for cheap? Or are they a trap, with further falls to come?

Morgans senior analyst Adrian Prendergast had some ideas this week.

Why are resources down at the moment?

Firstly, let's take a look at why commodity prices are so depressed at the moment.

In the Western world, the answer is obvious. Steep interest rate rises over the past year have strangled economies, so the demand has simply cooled.

The surprise, for the Morgans team, is that China's much-anticipated post-COVID rejuvenation hasn't quite happened.

"The current selloff follows a late 2022 surge in share prices across the resources sector, driven by what we saw at the time as over optimism towards the prospects of a China recovery," Prendergast said on the Morgans blog.

"Not that we are China bears, we just do not like paying upfront for a demand recovery without being able to see it."

The Morgans team remains "cautious" on the prospects of a Chinese economic revival.

"But equally we believe this is priced into resource equities, leaving us confident that we see value in the sector but preferring safety over upside potential."

In fact, after Prendergast made his comments, the Chinese Communist Party surprisingly cut a bunch of different policy rates on Tuesday. Bloomberg reported that this could be a precursor to reducing the main lending rate on Thursday.

Which mining stocks have the brightest long-term prospects?

As a "contrarian call", Prendergast is bullish on iron ore.

"While China's property market is a critical demand driver for steel, and still depressed, we see enough demand from peaking infrastructure activity and other base load consumption to see demand near balance against supply."

Copper is also a mineral that has a strong future, he added.

"While the short term might remain volatile, we remain robustly bullish on copper's long-term fundamentals — declining average grades mined and limited new supply, against a backdrop of rising copper intensity that is likely to be supercharged by the electrification mega trend."

And, believe it or not, coal is the third commodity that's "in solid long-term shape".

"The recent selloff across thermal and met coal prices has been sharp, and in the case of thermal coal we see some further short-term downside to prices," said Prendergast.

"This remains a stark contrast to long-term fundamentals for the coals, where ESG pressures and other sector headwinds [have] seen supply increasingly constrained."

So which are the specific ASX mining shares the Morgans team loves at the moment?

"Amongst large caps our top preferences include BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) (most preferred), Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO)," he said.

"While in small caps some of our key picks include Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR), Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC), Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA) and Panoramic Resources Ltd (ASX: PAN)."

The Morgans team expects that shareholder returns would remain a priority for the larger players.

"Driven by earnings or cash flow, these dividends could be volatile, but we expect them to remain comfortably above the market."

The post Are ASX mining shares cheap now or are they value traps? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Two that Morgans rates highly and has on its best ideas list this month are named below. Here's what you need to know about them:

Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA)

The first small cap ASX share that has been named as a buy is Strandline Resources.

This mineral sands developer is a new addition to the best ideas list, with Morgans appearing to be very excited by this "rare investment proposition." It explains:

STA is a heavy mineral sands explorer and developer, with projects in Australia and Tanzania. We continue to note that STA is a rare investment proposition. It enjoys: 1) 100% ownership of a world-scale/ strategic asset in a tier 1 jurisdiction; 2) lenient debt terms; 3) visibility on upcoming cashflow/ de-risking; 4) proven, backable management; 5) a reputable board; and 6) clear M&A appeal while trading at a material discount.

Morgans has a 75 cents price target on the company's shares. This compares very favourably to the latest Strandline Resources share price of 34 cents.

Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI)

Another small cap ASX share the broker is bullish on is Universal Store. This youth fashion retailer makes the list again this month thanks to its very positive outlook in a tough retail environment. The broker highlights its strong brands, expansion opportunities, and target demographic as reasons to buy. It said:

Universal Store (UNI) is one of the largest and fastest growing fashion retailers in Australia. Through a national network of over 100 stores and a successful online platform, UNI curates a diverse range of men's and women's fashion, shoes and accessories from local and international brands as well as its own private labels. UNI's stores trade under the Universal Store, Perfect Stranger and THRILLS banners. UNI has opportunities to grow steadily through the rollout of bricks and mortar stores, increased digital penetration and expansion of wholesale channels. We expect some volatility in near-term earnings as consumer demand for highly discretionary categories like apparel ebbs and flows, but we see any share price weakness as an opportunity to buy into a high quality retailer with strong medium to long-term prospects.

Morgans has an add rating and $6.85 price target on the company's shares. This compares to the current Universal Store share price of $4.40.

The post Morgans names 2 of the best small cap ASX shares to buy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

That's because the stock is now selling for cheap, allowing for a lower entry point, yet there is sufficient potential in the business to provide positive returns in the long run.

That's a pretty good position to be in for an investor willing to buy in right now.

This week we saw two examples in Glenmore Asset Management portfolio manager Robert Gregory's memo to clients.

Court case not 'a material negative'

The fund watched in horror as the share price for Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA) plummeted 18.5% in December.

Gregory explained that this was due to some legal troubles that the resources company is facing.

"Late in the month, Strandline disclosed a contractor [TMM Group, a subsidiary of ASX-listed Macmahon Holdings Ltd (ASX: MAH)] had initiated legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of Western Australia."

The contractor is accusing Strandline of owing it $13.5 million.

"In the ASX release, Strandline said it will defend the matter vigorously and bring its own counterclaims against TMM."

There is no panic about the stock price fall, as far as Gregory is concerned.

"Given the size of the claim, we do not see it as a material negative at this point," he said.

"In more positive news, Strandline announced its flagship project, Coburn (WA), made its first shipment of heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) of value of ~$7 million, during the month."

Despite the terrible month, the Strandline share price is still 13.64% higher than a year ago.

Lithium down, but business still going strong

Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) faced no such legal issues but still saw the stock price tumble 11.7% in December.

Gregory noted that, following a year of lithium prices doubling, the commodity cooled off 10% last month.

"Whilst Mineral Resources is not a pure-play lithium company, it does have material exposure to the commodity, so it was not surprising the decline had an impact on MIN's short term stock price."

There are no alarm bells going off for Gregory about Mineral Resources' decline either.

In fact, he reckons if it weren't for the iron ore price, the stock could have plunged even further.

"Mineral Resources' other key commodity exposure, iron ore, fared better, rising +14.1% in the month."

Some positive news also came out of December, in the form of an acquisition.

"Mineral Resources announced a scrip-based takeover offer for WA-based gas company Norwest Energy NL (ASX: NWE)." 

Gregory noted the former already owns about 20% of the latter's shares, but access to easier funding as a part of Min Resources would allow considerable advantages for Norwest.

"The logic of moving to 100% ownership being it would allow Norwest's high quality gas assets to be developed more easily and faster."

The post 2 December losers ready to turn it around in 2023: expert appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing the 500 ASX shares that make up the All Ordinaries are down a combined 0.5%, with many sliding following the release of the RBA's Monetary Policy meeting minutes earlier today.

But some companies are bucking that trend, with these three ASX All Ordinaries shares charging higher.

3 ASX All Ordinaries shares leaping higher today

First up we have Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA).

The ASX resource explorer is primarily focused on mineral sands, with projects in Australia and Tanzania. There's no fresh news out from the company, but that's not stopping investors from bidding up the price.

Strandline closed yesterday trading at 32 cents per share and is currently trading for 35 cents per share, up 9.5%. At the current price that gives Strandline Resources a market cap of $428 million.

Our second ASX All Ordinaries share galloping higher today on no new price-sensitive news is Qualitas Limited (ASX: QAL), a recent newcomer to the ASX, listing on 16 December 2021.

Shares in the alternative real estate investment manager closed at $1.62 yesterday and are currently trading for $1.78, up 9.9%. That boosts the company's market cap to $523 million.

Also charging higher…

Also charging higher is clinical-stage biotechnology company Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB).

The ASX All Ordinaries share was up 14% in early morning trade, but has given some of that back. At the time of writing, shares are trading for 93 cents, up 8.2%, giving the company a market cap of $596 million.

Unlike the other two big gainers, Mesoblast did release fresh news this morning, citing clinical progress with its rexlemestrocel-L product candidate.

As my Fool colleague, James Mickleboro reported:

Rexlemestrocel-L delivered an improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 12 months after a single intervention in the 565-patient randomised controlled trial in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II/III chronic heart failure (CHF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

The post 3 ASX All Ordinaries shares leaping 10% or more today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four ASX shares that are not letting that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO)

The Core Lithium share price is up 6% to $1.27. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium developer today. However, a number of emerging lithium players are rising today. Investors appear to believe they have been oversold during recent market volatility.

Perenti Global Ltd (ASX: PRN)

The Perenti Global share price is up 15% to 79.8 cents. Investors have been buying this engineering company's shares after it announced a major contract win. According to the release, Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) has awarded Perenti a contract for all the underground development and production works for its Cowal Underground project. This contract is estimated to be worth $520 million.

Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA)

The Strandline Resources share price is up 6% to 36 cents. This morning the minerals sands company revealed that construction of its 100%-owned Coburn mineral sands project in Western Australia is now 75% complete. This means the company remains on track for its first production of heavy mineral concentrate later this year.

Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL)

The Yancoal share price is up 3% to $5.60. Investors have been buying this coal miner's shares after an independent expert concluded that a low-ball takeover offer was not in the best interests of shareholders. Yankuang Energy Group – Yancoal's parent company and controlling shareholder – was hoping to snag the company at a discount of $5.07 per share.

The post Why Core Lithium, Perenti, Strandline, and Yancoal shares are pushing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, shares in the diversified resources company are up 3.32%, trading for $2.02. To compare, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 0.4% higher.

Today's price lift comes as the company announces new contracts today with mining companies Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA).

Fortescue contract

In today's announcement, NRW Holdings advised it has been awarded a $27.2 million contract for the design and construction of a primary crushing plant (PCP) at Fortescue's Cloudbreak iron ore mine in Western Australia.

This is the third time NRW has done business with Fortescue, after delivering the Hopper 9 crushing plant the Cloudbreak mine, and the Solomon Hub conveyor and crushing plant, which will be delivered concurrently with this project.

With Fortescue Metals the seventh-largest company listed on the ASX by market capitalisation and iron ore prices rising to record levels, this could be good news for the NRW share price.

NRW CEO Jules Pemberton said:

I'm delighted that our Minerals Energy and Technology team of RCR Mining Technologies, DIAB and Primero are able to collaborate once again on another project for Fortescue and continue to innovate through smarter engineering solutions.

Strandline contract

In another ASX release, NRW says it has been awarded a $135 million contract with Strandline Resources for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the Coburn Minerals Sands project.

As Motley Fool reported earlier, the project consists of two components – a wet concentrate plant (WCP) and a minerals separation plant (MSP). According to the statement, the two plants will be used to treat minerals before they undergo a separation process to produce "chloride ilmenite, rutile, zircon and zircon concentrate."

NRW says the project should be completed by Q4 of calendar 2022.

NRW share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the NRW share price has increased 20.2%. However, just in the last 3 months, the company's value has actually fallen 29.4%.

NRW Holdings has a market capitalisation of $892.2 million.

The post NRW (ASX:NWH) share price rises on Fortescue deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the diversified service provider's shares are swapping hands for $2.00, up 2.30%

What did NRW announce?

Investors are pushing NRW shares higher after digesting the company's update.

According to this morning's release, NRW advised its wholly-owned subsidiary, Primero Group Limited, has won a new contract for Strandline Resources Ltd (ASX: STA).

Founded in 1999, Strandline Resources is an exploration and development company focused on mineral sands and other base metals. The group operates in Western Australia and across the eastern part of Tanzania.

The award is for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the Coburn Mineral Sands Project, located in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

Under the agreement, Primero will build a Wet Concrete Plant (WCP) and the Mineral Separation Plant (MSP). It will use the facilities to treat heavy mineral concentrate, followed by a dry separation process. Once complete, Strandline Resources will have final products such as chloride ilmenite, rutile, zircon and zircon concentrate.

NRW expects the project to be completed sometime in Q4 2022, with construction works peaking that year. The company estimates around 180 site personnel will be employed to deliver the contract on time.

Management commentary

Primero CEO Cameron Henry welcomed the new deal, saying:

We are pleased to convert another early contractor involvement (ECI) engagement and preferred contractor status to full contract award and associated delivery.

The Strandline project is another step forward for the Minerals division within Primero and our new owners NRW Holdings, that underpins our growing pipeline of works through 2022/23.

NRW CEO Jules Pemberton went on to add:

The award of this EPC contract with Strandline demonstrates the diversity and quality of the Primero Minerals business, which is strengthening its reputation as a preferred contractor of choice in minerals processing.

Our Minerals, Energy and Technology (METS) division is growing strongly with the addition of Primero into the group and is looking forward to further success in a strong market for services.

NRW share price summary

Over the last 12 months, the NRW share price has gained close to 20%. However, year-to-date performance is down 30%. The company's shares reached a 52-week high of $3.19 at the start of this year before treading lower.

NRW has a market capitalisation of around $915 million, with 456 million shares on issue.

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

The mineral sand producer's share price opened 9.5% higher than yesterday's close after announcing it secured the final binding offtake contract for its flagship project.

At the time of writing, Strandline shares are up more than 11.9% – selling for 24 cents apiece.

What did Strandline Resources announce?

In today's announcement to the ASX, Strandline Resources reported it has signed an agreement to sell all rutile produced at its Coburn project.

The agreement is with chemical company Venator Materials – a developer of titanium dioxide pigments.

The deal has secured approximately 17% to 20% of the project's revenue over the next 5 years.  

With this final agreement, Strandline Resources has secured more than 90% of the project's future revenue under binding sales contracts.

Prior agreements have secured buyers for most of Coburn's other mineral outputs including, ilmenite, zircon concentrate and premium finished zircon.

The company plans to reserve the remaining 9% of minerals produced at Coburn for shorter-term spot market contracts.

Today's announcement follows Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility's (NAIF) investment decision to provide the company with a 15-year $150 million loan facility to help fund the development of the Coburn project.

The NAIF loan accounts for the major share of funding needed, leaving Strandline Resources to finalise the remaining $110 million of capital requirements.

Commentary from management

Strandline managing director Luke Graham said the agreement is a testament to the quality of Coburn's mineral sands products: 

With over 90 per cent of the project's revenue now underwritten by binding sales contracts with major customers and a significant portion of the development funding secured via the NAIF loan, Strandline is on track to become Australia's next world-scale mineral sands producer.

Strandline share price snapshot

The Strandline share price has risen by 17% year to date, and by 135% over the past 12 months.

Aside from the Coburn project, the company has four projects in East Africa in various stages of development.

The post Why the Strandline Resources (ASX:STA) share price is up 11% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.