What did Vista Group report?

• Total revenue rose 12% year on year to $86.3 million
• Recurring Revenue up 14% to $80.1 million
• SaaS Revenue surged 38% to $43.5 million
• Annualised Recurring Revenue (ARR) up 17% to $170.1 million
• EBITDA increased by 24% to $12.4 million, with margin expanding to 13.8%
• 2026 revenue guidance upgraded to $179–184 million (was $176–182 million)

What else do investors need to know?

Vista Group expanded its Contracted Enterprise Market Share from 46% to 48%, regaining 312 sites from Cinemex and winning new agreements with Cinépolis Mexico, Cineworld UK, and Cineplexx Europe. These wins helped expand the operational pipeline to more than 1,000 sites and de-risk the company's near-term cloud migration goals.

Momentum in Vista's cloud and payments offerings continued, with 44% of sites contracted to the Vista Cloud Platform and Vista Payments now generating over $2 million in annual recurring revenue. Sector tailwinds, including a strengthening box office up 15% year on year, provide further industry support.

What did Vista Group management say?

CEO Stuart Dickinson said:

It's a very exciting time for the business. Momentum in Vista Cloud continues to build, and the investments we have made to expand our delivery capacity mean we are now converting our cloud pipeline at pace.

We've also now had our embedded payments solution, Vista Payments, live for long enough to see clear benefits for both the company and our clients, reinforcing the value of our platform strategy. At the same time, we continue to focus on AI as a key driver, strengthening the mission-critical role our platform plays in our clients' operations and workflows.

Combined with a positive box office environment and a strong upcoming film slate, this gives us confidence in both the outlook for the industry and Vista Group's continued growth.

What's next for Vista Group?

Vista Group is maintaining its strategic focus on scaling cloud adoption, leveraging its growing global market share and robust recurring revenue. Management reaffirmed upgraded revenue guidance for FY26 and expects EBITDA margin to remain in the 18–20% range.

Free cash flow is forecast to be neutral in the second half, supporting continued investment discipline. With a full pipeline of key client transitions and industry fundamentals trending up, Vista Group appears well positioned for ongoing growth.

Vista Group share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Vista Group shares have declined 36%, trailing the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), which has risen 2% over the same period.

View Original Announcement

The post Vista lifts guidance as cloud and market share growth accelerates appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose roughly 0.7%. 

Let's see what was behind the massive jump and what experts are anticipating moving forward. 

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

Vista Group engages in the sale, support, and associated development of software for the film industry.

Yesterday, its share price shot almost 13% higher on the back of a key announcement.

Vista Group announced that Cinemex has signed a five-year agreement to move its Mexico cinema operations back onto Vista's software platform. 

The rollout will begin during 2026 and follows the successful transition of Cinemex's US cinemas to Vista's systems in 2025. Cinemex is the second-largest cinema operator in Mexico, with more than 2,800 screens across 289 locations.

Speaking on the deal, Vista Group CEO, Stuart Dickinson, said: 

We are delighted to welcome Cinemex back to Vista Group and to empower their team with our market leading solutions, including Vista Cloud's Digital Empowerment capability.

Following the 13% share price rise, investors may be wondering if there is any more upside for these ASX shares. 

Recent estimates from brokers indicate there is. 

Shaw and Partners recently placed a price target of $3.70 on Vista Group shares. 

That indicates a further 72% upside. 

Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB)

Austal shares soared nearly 8% higher yesterday, rebounding after a tough start to 2026. 

It is an Australian-based shipbuilder that specialises in the design, construction, and support of defence and commercial vessels globally.

It seems investors have woken up to the value in the company after it tumbled more than 30% year to date despite strong contract momentum. 

This ASX defence stock appears to be well positioned to benefit from rising global defence spending, and appears to have plenty more upside. 

It closed yesterday at $4.25 per share, significantly below its yearly high of over $8 per share. 

Broker targets have been placed around $6.94 for this ASX defence stock, indicating a further upside of 63%. 

Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)

Megaport shares gained nearly 9% yesterday. It seems investors and brokers have been looking at the software-defined network (SDN) service provider with renewed optimism. 

Catalysts for the rise could be the major contract wins from the company's newly acquired Latitude.sh business. 

Following yesterday's gain, Megaport shares closed at $14.98. 

Unfortunately, it appears much of the upside is now priced in for these ASX shares. 

Ord Minnett recently placed a price target of $14.50 on the company, while Morgans has a price target of $15.50. 

The post These ASX shares shot higher this week – can they keep rising? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did the company announce?

At the time of writing, Vista Group shares are up 8% after investors responded positively to news that Cinépolis will transition its huge Mexican cinema circuit onto Vista Cloud's Operational Excellence platform.

Cinépolis is the largest cinema exhibitor in Mexico, with a circuit that includes more than 500 cinema sites and over 4,100 screens, making it one of Vista's most significant customer wins announced in recent years.

The agreement runs for six years and includes all Vista Cloud capabilities, and the transition is expected to take place over the course of this year.

Why are investors excited by the deal?

Investors appear excited because the deal represents more than just another contract win.

Vista has been heavily pushing into cloud-based software solutions as part of a broader transition toward recurring, more predictable revenue streams. In the software sector, cloud agreements are often viewed favourably by the market because they tend to have higher margins, and they can improve customer retention and long-term scalability.

This latest deal also builds on an existing relationship between the two companies.

Vista previously worked with Cinépolis to migrate its Spanish cinema circuit, Cine Yelmo, onto Vista Cloud across 2024 and 2025.

What did management say?

Management said the success of that rollout helped secure this much larger deployment in Mexico.

Vista Group CEO Stuart Dickinson described Cinépolis as "a giant in the cinema market globally" and said the agreement demonstrates the "market fit" of Vista's Operational Excellence capability for major exhibitors.

While the global cinema industry continues to face questions around post-pandemic attendance trends and the rise of streaming, Vista's investment case is increasingly centred on becoming a mission-critical enterprise software provider to cinema operators around the world.

Today's sharp share price reaction suggests investors believe this latest agreement could become an important milestone in that strategy.

The post Here's why Vista Group shares are charging 8% higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Out of this, the broking firm has issued a number of research notes on promising companies, two of which I'll look at today.

Let's jump right in.

Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX: GTK)

Shareholders in Gentrack might well be frustrated, given the company's share price has plunged from levels higher than $12 over the past year to now be changing hands for $3.36.

But the Shaw and Partners team believes the shares can more than double from these levels, with a price target on Gentrack of $8 per share.

The team said Gentrack presented at TechRise, and there was also a follow-up on their recent trading update, where the company said they expected revenue for the full year to come in at $229 to $238 million, which was "lower than our previous guidance".

The Shaw and Partners team said:

The group call stepped through movements in non-recurring revenue and highlighted why current FY26 guidance carries more limited risk, alongside what underpins management's confidence in medium-term targets. In our view, the recent circa-40% sell-off increasingly implies a structural slowdown that management commentary and pipeline visibility do not support.

Gentrack is currently valued at $387.9 million.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

This company released a trading update to coincide with its TechRise presentation, with revenue expected to come in at $176 to $182 million, with an EBITDA margin of 18% to 20%.

The company specialises in the software that cinemas use to manage all their processes, and claims a 46% global market share, excluding Russia, China, and India.

Vista said it was currently generating cash flow of about $19 million per year, but was targeting $75 million by the end of 2030.

The Shaw and Partners research note on Vista said the main message was that "Vista is increasingly an execution story rather than a demand story, with customers signed and onboarding now the key focus''.

The analyst team added:

FY26 guidance of 10–13% revenue growth and 18–20% margins was reiterated, with management stating the business is 'definitely well on track'. Domestic US box office assumptions (~US$9.7bn) were described as tracking ahead, while foreign exchange was 'slightly in our favour'. Management repeatedly stressed this is now 'absolutely an execution story' with customers already signed and migrations underway.

Shaw and Partners has a price target of $3.70 on Vista Group shares compared with $1.75 currently.

The company is valued at $423.5 million.

The post Which 2 ASX tech companies could more than double according to Shaw and Partners? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Audinate Group Ltd (ASX: AD8)

The Audinate share price is down 36% to $8.54. Investors have been selling this audiovisual solutions provider's shares following the release of its preliminary full year results. Although Audinate delivered strong earnings growth in FY 2024, its guidance for the new financial year was bitterly disappointing. Due to a number of headwinds, management expects its revenue and earnings to be lower in FY 2025. A return to growth is targeted for the following year.

Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)

The Pro Medicus share price is down 5.5% to $123.55. This is despite there being no news of the health imaging technology company. However, given its strong gains over the last 12 months, it's likely that some investors are taking profit amid the market volatility. Especially given its premium, but arguably justified, valuation. Pro Medicus shares remain up 74% since this time last year.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

The Vista Group share price is down 3% to $2.12. This follows the release of the film industry-focused technology solutions company's half year results. This is despite Vista reporting a significant operating improvement over the prior corresponding period. Annual recurring revenue increased 9% to NZ$129.4 million and EBITDA more than doubled to NZ$7.2 million. It seems that the market was expecting an even stronger half.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS)

The Woodside share price is down 5% to $25.18. Investors have been hitting the sell button in response to news that Woodside is making its second major acquisition in as many weeks. The energy giant has entered into an agreement to acquire OCI Clean Ammonia and its lower carbon ammonia project in Texas for an all-cash consideration of approximately US$2.35 billion (A$3.6 billion). The project is located on the US Gulf Coast and has a phase 1 design capacity of 1.1 Mtpa. The market appears concerned that these acquisitions could put pressure on its dividends in the near term.

The post Why Audinate, Pro Medicus, Vista, and Woodside shares are falling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Today's share price increase follows a substantial block trade led by Jarden Securities. Let's take a closer look at how events unfolded.

What happened to this ASX tech stock today?

Shares in the ASX tech stock rocketed today, driven by a $92.2 million block trade led by Jarden, which amounts to around 23% of the company's market capitalisation.

The substantial transaction was executed at $2.10 per share, representing a 14% premium to the last closing price of $1.84. Vista shares are swapping hands at $1.98 at the time of writing.

Software and technology private equity firm Potentia Capital was behind the trade, according to The Australian Financial Review. It acquired just under 20% of Vista Group's shares, sparking speculation about the company's future.

The reporting also noted that fund managers Spheria Asset Management and Wilson Asset Management sold their stock to Potentia.

"Another fund sold into the trade just before market open, taking Potentia to the maximum permissible 19.9% pre-bid stake", it said.

Vista Group's surge

This ASX tech stock, known for its innovative software solutions in the global film industry, has garnered attention with today's sharp increase. Vista provides software and technology solutions to various players in the film industry, including distributors, moviegoers, and others.

In 2023, it produced revenues of $143 million, up 6% year over year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 25% higher at $13.3 million.

Last year, my colleague James noted that investors were bidding up the ASX tech stock after "it announced the commencement of an organisational transformation".

In that report, management said it aimed to make the company's free cash flow positive by the end of 2024 – a year earlier than previously expected.

Vista Group share price

In the past 12 months, the Vista Group share price has climbed 52% into the green, bouncing off 52-week lows in November last year.

As with any investment, understanding Vista Group's business model and market position is crucial. This involves a deep dive into all the moving parts, from financials to valuation.

While today's surge is impressive, the software sector can and does experience fluctuations. Potentia, Wilson, and Spheria differ in their views on the company. Investors interested in this ASX tech stock should conduct thorough research or seek professional advice.

The post Guess which little-known ASX tech stock has soared 18% as a private investor strikes appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)

The Block share price is up almost 5% to $102.71. This follows a strong night of trade for the payments company's shares on Wall Street on Wednesday. Some investors may believe that Block's shares have been unfairly left behind during the recent tech rally. Its ASX-listed shares are now up only 4% over the last 12 months.

Delta Lithium Ltd (ASX: DLI)

The Delta Lithium share price is up 7% to 91.5 cents. This is despite there being no news out of the lithium explorer. However, it is worth noting that its shares have been racing higher recently thanks to strong drilling results from the Yinnetharra Lithium Project within the Gascoyne Lithium Province of Western Australia.

Redox Pty Ltd (ASX: RDX)

The Redox share price is up 2.5% to $2.38. Some investors may believe this chemicals company's shares are good value after tumbling following their listing earlier this week. Redox raised ~$400 million at $1.55 per new share. This gave the company a $1.3 billion valuation at listing.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

The Vista share price is up 18% to $1.71. Investors have been buying this film industry software solutions provider's shares after it announced the commencement of an organisational transformation. This is expected to support its vision and strategy, drive greater client alignment, and deliver improved financial performance. In respect to the latter, the re-profiling of its capital expenditure aims to make Vista free cash flow positive during Q4 of 2024. This is a year earlier than previous guidance.

The post Why Block, Delta Lithium, Redox, and Vista shares are rising today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Despite a rebound this month, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) is still about 10% off its February high.

The trouble is that most high-flying tech companies are considered future-potential growth shares. The market is currently fearing a rise in inflation from the post-COVID economic recovery.

A rise in inflation can lead to higher interest rates, which are poison to stocks relying on the power of future earnings.

But despite this climate, there are still pockets of tech that Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager Tobias Yao has faith in.

"We still have a little bit of tech exposure, but our ideas are now concentrated on companies with reasonable PE multiples," he told a Wilson video.

"And these companies aren't COVID beneficiaries."

Yao looks after the portfolios of listed investment vehicles WAM Capital Limited (ASX: WAM), WAM Research Limited (ASX: WAX), WAM Microcap Ltd (ASX: WMI) and WAM Active Limited (ASX: WAA).

He named 5 stocks that fit the "reasonable" price-to-earnings criteria that these Wilson funds still hold:

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

The company best known for its poker machines is these days earning significant revenue out of more modern channels.

"Actually over 50% of its business now is now online digital gaming," said Yao.

Aristocrat stocks were down 0.18% to trade at $40.84 on Friday afternoon. It started the year at $31.39.

Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR)

Yao was positive on the Australian online marketplace last month acquiring the US business Trader Interactive.

"We really like the recent acquisition, but also we like the transition [of] the transaction model going forward," he said.

"We think that's going to permanently lift the revenue growth profile over the medium term."

Carsales stocks were trading at $19.38 on Friday afternoon, which is down 2.66% on the year.

Codan Limited (ASX: CDA)

Wilson funds have "a large holding" in Codan, according to Yao.

"[It's] one of the global leaders in metals detection and communications hardware."

The company this month announced a deal to sell-off its resources technology provider brand Minetec to Caterpillar Holdings Australia.

Unfortunately, the market wasn't a big fan of the $14 million transaction, sending the shares down from its 52-week high reached in late May.

Codan stocks were going for $18.54 on Friday afternoon, which was down 1.38%.

Atomos Ltd (ASX: AMS) and Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

In the small cap space, Yao revealed these were the two technology companies that survived his PE ratio cull.

"Atomos is an innovative monitor recorder business and Vista Group… is the leader in software solutions for cinemas."

Atomos shares are up 1.55% this year, while Vista has risen a whopping 35.7%.

"So there are definitely still pockets of opportunities, but it's fair to say we've become a lot more selective in where we deploy our capital."

The post Carsales (ASX:CAR) and 4 other ASX tech shares still worth holding: analyst appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What is Spheria Emerging Companies?

This is a listed investment company (LIC) that is managed by Spheria Asset Management.

It tries to look at the smaller end of the market for opportunities to beat the market.

Spheria Emerging Companies has been successful with that goal. Over the last year the LIC's net portfolio performance has been a return of 29.8%, outperforming the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Accumulation Index's return of 17.2%. Since inception in November 2017, the net return has been 9.1% per annum – superior to the benchmark return of 7.4% per annum.

The LIC owns a number of interesting ASX shares in its portfolio such as Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU), HT&E Ltd (ASX: HT1), Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL), Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS), Adbri Ltd (ASX: ABC) and Class Ltd (ASX: CL1).

These are manager's latest thoughts on some ASX shares it thinks are opportunities:

Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM)

Seven West was the largest contributor to the Spheria Emerging Companies portfolio in February. Spheria said this was thanks to reporting a result that was well ahead of market expectations as television advertising returned to growth during the fourth quarter of the 2020 calendar year. Costs were better that expected and the balance sheet was improved.

A deal about news with Google will also add to revenue and profit. Spheria believes that stronger viewer numbers should help increase revenue and potential news about the divestment of studios and/or towers may also help.

Despite the strong share price movement recently, Spheria said that the Seven West valuation is on a cheaper valuation multiple compared to its nearest listed peer.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

Corporate Travel was another strong performer last month. Spheria pointed to the "respectable" result, low cash burn and increasing market share as reasons to be positive. The acquisition of the US business Travel & Transport was also a factor.

The LIC believes that Corporate Travel Management is positioned to return to good profitability once the western world emerges from travel restrictions due to COVID-19. The ASX share still has many months of liquidity at the current cash burn rate.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)

Vista was another holding that returned over 20% during the month.

Spheria explained that Vista dominates the market for software in the global cinema exhibition, distribution and production markets.

Vista has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the amount of cinemas that have been closed over the past year. However, the ASX share has been able to keep the cash burn to a low level, according to the fund manager. It still has 20 months of liquidity left at the current burn rate, which should improve as vaccines are rolled out in markets like North America, Europe and the UK.

The thinking behind the LIC's choice of Vista is that it believes it's well placed to return to strong levels of profitability as the pandemic wanes. At around 2.5x historical revenue, Spheria believes the business is undervalued if it can return to prior levels of earnings.

The post 3 ASX shares this top fund managers thinks are buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This is in no small part due to the ongoing easing of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. Australia's success so far in containing the disease is enabling the economy to slowly return to 'normal', which is obviously great news for ASX companies.

So with the coronavirus still looking to be the major market mover in 2020, it makes sense to position your portfolio accordingly. That's what the fund managers at Spheria Asset Management are looking at anyway. Spheria runs a micro-cap fund that returned more than 15% in April – so I reckon we should at least have a look at what they're doing.

Spheria's top 4 ASX picks

In its April update, Spheria named 4 ASX picks for a COVID-19 recovery.

First off, we have G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM). Spheria notes that childcare providers like G8 have benefitted enormously from the government offering free childcare over the last few months. Although this support is scheduled to end soon, it's still likely to have residual benefits for G8. The fundies also note that due to the successful capital raising G8 recently undertook, the company has fortified its balance sheet for the rest of the year.

Next, we have Ardent Leisure Group Ltd (ASX: ALG). Ardent runs a portfolio of theme parks including Dream World and WhiteWater World. Obviously, this company struggled immensely with the coronavirus outbreak with its parks forced to shut down. But Spheria thinks there is a lucrative potential recovery to be harnessed here, once restrictions are lifted and business can start to return to normal.

Village Roadshow Ltd (ASX: VRL) is next cab off the rank here. This company is another theme park operator, which owns Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild. Clearly, Spheria is making another bet on the easing restrictions, with Village Roadshow likely to benefit from the same potential tailwinds as Ardent Leisure. The fund notes that any increase in domestic tourism as a result of bans on international travel will likely benefit these 2 theme park operators as well.

Finally, we have Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL). Vista provides exhibition software to cinemas – another industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus restrictions. As people start returning to movie theatres around the country, Vista Group is an obvious beneficiary. Spheria is going for a value play on this one, noting it is priced well below its software-based peers when compared to its revenues (even if they don't return to pre-COVID levels).

Foolish takeaway

Although we should never take fund managers' picks as investment advice, it's always interesting and illuminative to check out what 'the professionals' are buying!

The post Leading fund manager names 4 ASX stocks set to benefit from a faster re-opening of the Australian economy appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Vista Group is a New Zealand company that provides software and technology solutions across the global film industry sectors of distribution, exhibition, and consumer.

The company's founding business is Vista Cinema which provides cinema management software in the exhibition sector. The group also has a number of other businesses, such as Movio, Veezi and Maacs, each providing technology solutions to clients in the global film industry. This includes cinema management solutions, film distribution software, intelligence solutions, box office reporting platforms, and campaign management software. 

COVID-19 trading update

This morning, Vista provided an update on the impacts of COVID-19 on its business, along with the steps it is taking to address these impacts.

To begin with, Vista acknowledged that the pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the global film industry, including its customers.

Cinemas in most countries remain closed, while those that are open generally don't have new content to show moviegoers due to studios having delayed the release of new films.

Nonetheless, Vista has continued to support customers during the lockdown and in preparation for potential reopening, it has undertaken a number of initiatives. This includes releasing a 'cinema re-opening kit' to really strong demand and working with cinemas in the US to re-configure mobile apps to enable the purchasing of snacks through kerb-site pick up.

The company noted that both Vista Cinema and Movio have been successful in winning new businesses during the pandemic period – mostly in Europe.

Balance sheet initiatives and further measures

As announced back in March, Vista Group has responded to the challenging environment by implementing a series of measures to strengthen its balance sheet. This includes cancelling its FY19 final dividend, company-wide pay cuts and reduced hours, and ending engagement with all non-essential contracting measures.

On top of this, the company also completed a NZ$65 million capital raise at an issue price of $1 per share.

In addition to these initiatives, the company announced this morning that it has undertaken a review of its business to determine the extent to which additional cost reduction measures are required.

As a result of this review, the company has begun consultation with its staff regarding a proposed new structure for the core Vista Group companies – Vista Group, Vista Cinema, and Movio. This would mean a new organisation structure worldwide – one with fewer employees.

If the restructure proceeds in its current form, the company expects to achieve annualised cost savings of between NZ$12 million and NZ$15 million.

Commenting on trading conditions, CEO Kimbal Riley said:

"We are operating in a situation where we do not know when our customers (80%+ of Vista Group customers are cinemas) will be able to reopen in a meaningful way. This has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on their businesses – and therefore ours."

And as for the restructure, Mr Riley commented:

"We have therefore taken the decision to implement a restructure of all our core businesses (Vista Group, Vista Cinema, and Movio) in all our offices. Whilst this will have a significant impact on a number of people, we will ensure everyone is treated with the utmost respect and given appropriate support".

The Vista Group share price rallied 23.36% yesterday despite no news out of the company, closing at $1.88. This takes Vista's year-to-date loss to around 40%.

The post Vista Group share price on watch after flagging organisational restructure appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Today we heard from the Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the restrictions are likely to stay in place for another four weeks at least. We also learned that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 5.2%, but that measure was taken before most of the pain in the second half of March.

Here are some of the highlights on the ASX today:

ASX 200 capital raising

Auto parts business Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) was another company to announce a capital raising today to ensure its balance sheet remains strong during this period. It's looking to raise $210 million at a share price of just $4.40.

Outside of the ASX 200, film industry software business Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) announced today that it is raising NZ$65 million at a share price of NZ$1.05 per share. The film industry is one of the most affected during this pandemic because of the restrictions on gatherings.

Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) traffic crashes

Transurban released its March 2020 quarter traffic data update to the market today.

As expected, there was a noticeable decline in average daily traffic in March 2020. The last week of March and first week of April saw Transurban traffic fall by 48% and 47% respectively.

The Transurban share price fell by over 4% in response today.

Casino updates

Both Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) and Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) gave updates today.

Crown said it was making a payment to employees and that it had applied for the government's jobkeeper payment. It did say that it expects its monthly underlying operating cash costs to reduce by $20 million to $30 million whilst it remains shut.

Crown also announced that it had secured around $1 billion of new funding and that Crown Sydney's completion remains on track.

Meanwhile, Star announced it had secured another $200 million of debt funding from its existing lenders. Star indicated that it has enough liquidity to get through a six-month shutdown. It has also secured a debt waiver for its debt covenants at 30 June 2020.

Returns as of 7/4/2020

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Bapcor, Crown Resorts Limited, and Transurban Group. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of Vista Group Intl. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post ASX 200 drops again, closes 0.9% lower appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The US share market is pointing to a strong opening, so we may see a strong Tuesday performance for US stocks too.

Some of the highlights from today:

Various COVID-19 updates

Previous guidance by companies is going out of the window as the coronavirus causes havoc to earnings expectations, dividends and operations.

The share price of Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) dropped 16%.

The share price of Gentrack Group Ltd (ASX: GTK) fell 11.9%.

The share price of Estia Health Ltd (ASX: EHE) fell 7.8%.

The share price of Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) fell 1.7%.

The share price of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) dropped 0.1%.

The share price of Auckland International Airport Limited (ASX: AIA) declined 1%.

And these weren't even some of the worst falls today.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) cuts international flights 

One big update today came from Australia's main airline. Qantas said that it would reduce its international capacity by around 90% until at least the end of May 2020, up from a 23% reduction.

Total group domestic capacity will be cut by around 60% until at least the end of May 2020. 150 aircraft have been grounded, including almost all of the group's wide-body fleet. Qantas is trying to help its people by using paid and unpaid leave.

The airline doesn't want any government support and said it's well placed to ride through this period.

Strong market reaction

Elsewhere, there was still strong reaction of both positive and negative movements.

The share price of Metcash Limited (ASX: MTS) rose 27%.

The share price of Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) grew 21.1%.

The share price of Silver Lake Resources Limited. (ASX: SLR) went up 20.1%.  

At the red end of the ASX:

The share price of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) fell 22.8% after providing a market update.

The share price of oOh!Media Ltd (ASX: OML) fell 16.5% after providing a market update.

The post ASX 200 recovers 5.8%, investor optimism returns appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did the Vista announce today?

Vista shares have been rocketing higher today following an investment update.

The Aussie film technology group has entered into an agreement to acquire a further 14.5% of Vista Entertainment Solutions (Shanghai) Ltd ('Vista China').

Vista will purchase the shares from a fellow shareholder, WePiao, and take a 62% controlling stake.

The Vista Group share price has surged 2.99% higher on the ASX to $3.45 per share.

Group CEO Kimbal Riley said the group is "delighted" to increase its stake in Vista China. China is a lucrative market with "12 of the world's top 20 cinema exhibitor chains" operating in the country.

"Vista China has more than doubled its revenue since the venture with WePiao was establish and the company is anticipated to be EBITDA positive in 2020", added Mr Riley.

The transaction values Vista China at RMB500 million (A$103.6 million) and is conditional on regulatory approvals. The group expects to receive these clearances in the second half of 2020.

What does this mean for the Vista Group share price?

The Vista Group share price looks set to close 3% higher on Friday.

This would bring Vista within touching distance of its $3.50 per share valuation where it started the year.

Vista shares plummeted lower in late August after a disappointing half-year result.

The film technology group reported 19% revenue growth and 16% EBITDA growth on the prior corresponding period.

But even a $6.2 million profit before tax couldn't please investors as the Vista Group share price plummeted 28.93% lower in one day back in late August.

That was largely due to the group's first-half net profit after tax slumping 23% lower as investors headed for the exit.

Vista Group International's shares have struggled to climb higher following that half-year result and remain at $3.45 per share after today's surge.

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It's not hard to think of some ASX stocks that have found themselves on the wrong side of expectations. The Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price, Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) share price, Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) share price and Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) are a few examples.

While I generally refrain from buying into underperforming stocks issuing disappointing news, Citigroup thinks investors should make the exception for the Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price.

Value buy for the patient investor

Shares in the data centre operator have fallen around 10% since it reported its full year results last week. It wasn't so much its FY19 performance that spooked investors, but it's questions around the market's bullish expectations for the group that's sent some shareholders scrambling for the exits.

However, Citigroup thinks the sell-off is overdone and has reiterated its "buy" recommendation on the stock as it sees around a 40% upside to the stock.

"We see FY20e as the year of 'digestion' as the financials absorb the annualisation of higher depreciation charges while FY21e should see NXT witness the operating leverage inherent in the business model as S2 billing utilisation achieves critical mass," said the broker.

"While the outlook is the most encouraging and constructive that it has ever been, large scale deployments by clients take time so patience is required and we expect FY20e patience to be rewarded in FY21e."

Price discipline an added advantage

Citi also liked that management is showing price discipline as it ramps up capacity. The group's premium position helped it increase revenue per megawatt by 5% half-on-half and 14% year-on-year. NextDC is not sacrificing price for volume and that bodes well for its bottom line.

The company is building more datacentres and adding capacity to meet anticipated growth in demand for such services. Demand continues to look strong even as NextDC added 12MWs of capacity.

"While NXT's FY21e EV/EBITDA [enterprise value-to-earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] of 14.2x represents a -13% discount to its global data centre peers, it is growing EBITDA >2x as fast as its peers (28% 3-year EBITDA CAGR vs. 14%)," added the broker.

Citi increased its price target on NextDC to $8.45 from $8.09 per share.

The post Citigroup says buy this hot ASX tech stock after its price crash appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Who is Vista Group's new CFO?

This morning, Vista Group announced the appointment of Matthew Cawte as the company's new CFO.

Mr Cawte joins the Vista Group with a lengthy record of financial and senior leadership, having previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Commercial Officer of bioinformatic company Biomatters.

Vista Group's CEO Kimbal Riley commented on the appointment of Mr Cawte, citing his broad financial and commercial background, international experience and public experience as valuable to the company's future.

The appointment of Mr Cawte follows the resignation of former CFO Rodney Hyde, who left the company to pursue a role with another New Zealand-based technology company. Following Mr Hyde's resignation earlier this year, Tony Barclay has served as the interim CFO for Vista Group.

Mr Cawte will commence his role as CFO on 7 August 2019.

A closer look at the Vista Group

Vista Group provides various services to the film industry, from point-of-sale, ticketing and loyalty program software to customer analytics software, allowing clients to target marketing campaigns. The group's cinema management software has a 40% global market share, with the software installed in 7,200 cinemas across 94 countries.

While the Vista Group share price was flat in morning trade following the company's announcement, it has been trading near all-time highs over the past few months, having rocketed more than 58% in 2019 so far. In an investor presentation late last month, Vista reported a 26% increase in earnings per share and a 22% rise in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation for 2018.

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The first is that shares will go ex-dividend on Friday, March 8, 2019.  The 'ex-date' is when the shares start selling without the value of its next dividend payment so an investor needs to own the shares before the ex-date to receive the dividend. The dividend will then be paid on Tuesday, March 26, 2019.

What is Sonic Healthcare' dividend yield?

At its recent half-year results, Sonic Healthcare declared an interim dividend of 33 cents per share (cps) for the six months. This was up 3.1% on the same period last year and gives Sonic Healthcare a trailing dividend yield of 3.4%, partially franked.

Source: Sonic Healthcare Limited 1H19 Presentation

Is the dividend sustainable going forward?

Sonic Healthcare offers what is known as a 'progressive' dividend policy which means the dividend rises over time as earnings per share increase and, in theory, will simply be held flat if the company has an off-year and earnings fall.

This policy works best for companies with steady growth pathways and Sonic Healthcare appears a reasonable fit, with earnings per share up 17.5% over the four years to 2018, though not in a straight line.

Based on the company's recent guidance the policy should continue to work well. The company notes it is "well set for ongoing strong growth" with estimates of Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) growth of 6%-8% for the full 2019 financial year.

It was a positive update for investors, however, if you're looking for faster earnings growth there are two other dividend-paying tech companies going ex-dividend on 08 March to consider:

• Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL)
• WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)

The post Read this before you buy Sonic Healthcare Limited shares for its dividend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a short recap of the Australian market:

• S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) lower 0.69% to 5,467.60
• ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) lower 0.71% to 5,533.30
• AUD/USD at US 71 cents
• Gold at US$1,258.88 an ounce
• Brent Oil at US$54.70 a barrel

The best-performing ASX 200 share today was gold miner Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) which saw its share price rise by 6.4% thanks to the declining share market. Other gold miners also got a boost including Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) which went up by 3.7%.

Shares of Healthscope Ltd (ASX: HSO) rose by 5.8% after the private hospital business gave a takeover update to the market.

It was another tough day for lithium miners which are reeling after yesterday's disappointing price announcement by Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) which saw its share price fall another 11% today. The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price also dropped 8.7%.

Another ASX 200 share heavily in the red today was Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX: VEA), it fell 6.8% due to a reduced refinery margin.

Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) shares fell by 5.3% despite revealing a potentially blockbuster deal with Odeon, the European cinema chain.

The Integrated Research Limited (ASX: IRI) share price dropped by nearly 6% after announcing that its CFO would become the interim CEO.

Another share to drop significantly was WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) which fell 5.7% partly due to the Chairman selling some shares on the market.

Finally, the Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) share price declined by 4.3% after revealing what the cost is from the recent Sydney hailstorm.

Here are some of today's top stories:

• Will the worst Santa crash in 16 years trigger a meltdown in the ASX 200 in 2019?
• Can the Pro Medicus gravy train rumble on in 2019?
• The bear roars for the NASDAQ
• Should you buy Bank of Queensland shares for their massive 8.3% dividend yield?

The post ALL ORDINARIES finishes lower Friday: 10 shares you missed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Vista provides film industry solutions for studios, distributors, exhibitors and cinema guests across the world.

Earlier today, it revealed an enterprise agreement with the UK & Ireland division of Odeon Cinemas Group. The share price fall was likely a result of the whole ASX share market falling.

If you haven't heard of Odeon, it's the largest cinema operator in Europe. Odeon was founded in the UK in 1928 and today it comprises 123 cinema sites in the UK & Ireland, it's one of the biggest players in the UK.

The Vista companies that are going to be utilised for this deal are: Vista Cinema (including Vista Digital Solutions), Cinema Intelligence for forecasting, Movio Cinema for providing customer analytics and campaign management, and movieXchange Film.

Odeo will use elements of Vista's Managed Service and Cloud-ready products for a fully integrated guest experience.

The deployment is scheduled to occur at some point during 2020.

The post The Vista Group share price fell 5% despite its new large deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While the vast majority of shares on the ASX have dropped lower today, some have managed to defy the market. Here are four shares ending the week with a move higher:

The Animoca Brands Corporation Ltd (ASX: AB1) share price has pushed 5% higher to 6.1 cents after announcing the launch of its Crazy Defense Heroes mobile game in the Americas and Europe on IOS devices. The game has been very successful in the Asia, ANZ, and Africa markets, and management is optimistic it will succeed in these new markets.

The Beadell Resources Ltd (ASX: BDR) share price is up 2.5% to 8.5 cents. While not all gold miners have moved higher today, a few small miners have benefited as investors bet on the gold price moving higher after President Trump shocked global markets by announcing plans to place a tariff on US$50 billion of imports from China.

The Silver Chef Limited (ASX: SIV) share price has jumped 6% higher to $3.71 despite there being no news out of the equipment funding provider. Prior to today, Silver Chef's shares were down 53% over the last 12 months. This could mean bargain hunters are swooping in now.

The Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGL) share price is up almost 1% to $2.70 after the film industry software solutions company announced that it has terminated its French market distribution agreement with Côté Ciné Group. According to the release, the company has decided to address France directly. It intends to build on its sales and delivery capabilities to take advantage of the opportunities the significant cinema market offers.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are ending the week with a move higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.