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

Abacus Property Group (ASX: ABP)

The Abacus share price is up 7% to $2.76. This morning, this property company announced the successful completion of the institutional component of the Abacus Storage King (ASK) 1 for 5.6 pro-rata securityholder offer. The offer was well supported by a combination of existing Abacus securityholders and new eligible institutional investors.

Centaurus Metals Limited (ASX: CTM)

The Centaurus Metals share price is up 13% to 88.5 cents. This follows news that Centaurus has acquired offtake rights over the Jaguar nickel sulphide project in Brazil from Vale. This is in exchange for an increase in Vale's net operating royalty over the project by 1.2% for nickel sulphate product and 1.25% for nickel concentrate and other products.

Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)

The Pointsbet share price is up over 19% to $1.63. Investors have been buying this sports betting company's shares after it announced the receipt of a competing offer for its US operations. DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) has offered US$195 million for the business, which is meaningfully higher than Fanatics Betting and Gaming's offer of US$150 million. Due diligence access has been granted to DraftKings.

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)

The Woolworths share price is up over 2% to $39.48. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of UBS this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded this retail giant's shares to a buy rating with a $43.00 price target. Its analysts expect Woolworths to continue winning market share.

The post Why Abacus, Centaurus, Pointsbet, and Woolworths shares are racing higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the sports betting company's shares are up 16% to $1.59.

Why is the Pointsbet share price jumping?

Investors have been bidding the Pointsbet share price higher today after the company received an approach from US$11 billion rival DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) for its US operations.

According to the release, the company has received an unsolicited non-binding indicative proposal from DraftKings to acquire its US business for a headline purchase price of US$195 million in cash, on a debt-free and cash-free basis with no financing condition.

Last month, Pointsbet entered into an agreement to sell the business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming for a headline cash consideration of US$150 million.

However, after considering the offer over the weekend, the company's board has decided that "the DraftKings Proposal could reasonably be expected to lead to a Superior Proposal."

As a result, Pointsbet will now engage with DraftKings on its proposal. Though, it warns that the proposal does not constitute a binding offer or a commitment from DraftKings to negotiate or execute a definitive agreement. In light of this, there is no guarantee that the DraftKings proposal will result in a binding definitive agreement.

It has given DraftKings until 6pm on 27 June to complete its due diligence and finalise its proposal.

As things stand, Pointsbet continues to recommend the Fanatics Betting and Gaming offer to shareholders.

The post Why is the Pointsbet share price jumping 16% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The PointsBet share price was able to edge higher in the last two weeks, driven by a strong third-quarter update, the launch of its iGaming platform in Michigan and a small US$2.9 million acquisition.

What's driving the PointsBet share price lower? 

The PointsBet share price is swimming against the tide today with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) falling 1.30% and the S&P/ASX 200 Info Tech (INDEXASX: XIJ) falling 3.80%. 

Another contributing factor to the weakness in PointsBet shares could be the weakness in its key US-listed rival, Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG). 

Could Draftkings influence the PointsBet share price? 

PointsBet competes with Draftkings for market share in the significant US sports betting and iGaming market. 

The Draftkings share price has taken an almost 20% dive in the last three trading sessions. Despite the company's upbeat first-quarter results and guidance upgrade on 7 May, its shares were met with the increasing occurrence of good news into a sharp share price sell off.  

DraftKings delivered a 253% increase in revenues to US$312 compared to a year ago, beating analyst estimates of US$236 million. The company also reported a 114% increase in monthly unique payers of 1.54 million. This strong result was driven by factors including increased engagement, customer retention, successful product cross-selling and major sporting events such as the Super Bowl.

A key positive that PointsBet could take away from the DraftKings result was its guidance upgrade. DraftKings raised its full-year guidance from US$0.9  billion to US$1.0 billion to $1.15 billion to $1.05 billion. 

Foolish takeaway

The US sports betting scene continues to develop in favour of betting companies. Currently, there are 21 states and the District of Columbia that allow online sports betting, up from 20 in the last quarter. There are also an additional six states that have legalised sports betting but not yet operational and 13 states working towards legalisation. 

Despite the growth opportunity at hand, the significant 9% selloff in the PointsBet share price today looks largely outside of its control. The whipsaw like action for the PointsBet share price is a more likely reflection of today's challenging market environment for growth and tech shares. 

The post Down 9%, the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price is struggling today. Here's why. appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

SPACs have been growing in popularity over the past year or two. They have also been singled out as a symptom of what some investors call an overheating market.

So what exactly is a SPAC, and are they coming to the ASX?

A SPACtacular idea?

A SPAC is a way that an unlisted company can join the share market. Think of a SPAC as an alternative to an initial public offering (IPO).

However, unlike an IPO, which involves the unilateral listing of a new company's shares, SPACs operate a little differently. They involve a shell company, that exists only for the purposes of the SPAC.

If all parties agree, this shell company merges with an unlisted private company in order to form a new company on the share market. Many speculative investors like to hunt for these shell companies before an official announcement is made.

That's because a SPAC has very little value before an announced merger. And potentially a lot once the merger is announced.

Some famous examples of companies that have listed using a SPAC include Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA) and Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG).

SPAC that, right on the ASX floor?

At least until now, SPACs have been an American phenomenon. But it might be about to be coming to a whole lot closer to home for Aussie investors. According to reporting in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today, the ASX is facing a growing chorus of supporters clamouring for SPACs to be allowed on our own ASX.

Especially given that some companies that might have listed on the ASX could instead look to the US for a SPAC merger.

The AFR reports that Ian Taylor, head of equity capital markets at Goldman Sachs in Sydney, is one such voice. He told the AFR that they can be an efficient and useful way for companies to join a share market.

"There are real uncovered gems at very large sizes… the SPAC structure is evolving for the better and I do think that fears of a bubble are overdone," he told the AFR.

However, the ASX will certainly be wary of the frothiness the whole SPAC space has seen in recent times. The AFR report also states that SPACs raised US$78 billion from investors in 2020, but has already raised another US$72 billion in the 2½ months of 2021 so far.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was reportedly forced to issue an alert to retail investors last week. It warned them that celebrity like Jay-Z backing a SPAC is not a reason to invest. Not exactly a problem the ASX would want, you would think.

The ASX is reportedly considering the idea. The AFR tells us that the ASX has stated that, "we will listen to the market and take a cautious approach".

That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of the whole process, but this is certainly an interesting space to watch!

The post Are SPACs coming to the ASX 200? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did Draftkings announce?

DraftKings held its virtual investor day presentation last night, where the company raised its long-term financial targets and upgraded its forecasts for the US sports betting market. The company cited positive legalisation trends to arrive at a new US$67 billion projection for the sports betting industry. It also noted that domestic online sports wagering alone could be worth US$22 billion or more, assuming all states legalise sports betting. The company did acknowledge that full legalisation could be ambitious because getting anti-gambling states such as Hawaii and Utah is likely to be difficult. 

This compares to commentary from PointsBet back in August 2020, which cites Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan estimating the US iGaming and Sports betting sector to be worth a combined US$12 billion by 2025. 

Another interesting point from its investor day was its commentary around Canada. Canada recently approved single-game sports betting and is estimated to be a $5 billion to $8 billion sports betting opportunity. 

Why this could be good for the PointsBet share price 

Despite being competitors and fighting each other for market share, DraftKings' positive commentary regarding broader market conditions is likely to be good news for the PointsBet share price. 

PointsBet is currently operational in 5 US states including New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Colorado. The company has also made plans to enter the iGaming sector with an in-house platform in the works for an inaugural launch in Michigan in 2H FY21, followed by New Jersey.

In its half-year results presentation, Pointsbet hinted at the potential opportunity to launch New York, a state with one of the largest estimated sports betting revenues, and Canada. 

Why the PointsBet share price is slumping this month

The PointsBet share price has slumped more than 20% in the last month. This brings its year-to-date returns to just 8% compared to its peak year-to-rate returns of almost 50%. 

PointsBet might have been caught in the recent tech and growth driven selloff due to rising bond yields. This has seen many leading ASX 200 shares, such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), become some of the worst-performing shares this month. 

The post Could this overnight news lift the PointsBet (ASX:PBH) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Much of these year-to-date gains occurred yesterday, after Pointsbet announced it had entered into a multi-year partnership to be the official gaming partner of the Detroit Red Wings (hockey) and Little Caesars Arena. The strategic deal includes a brand new Pointsbet sports bar coming to Little Caesars and signage during Detroit Red Wings' games this upcoming season.

Pointsbet share price finally going somewhere 

Before yesterday's announcement, the Pointsbet share price has seemingly gone nowhere since its game-changing deal with NBCUniversal was announced last August. The deal almost doubled the Pointsbet share price in a single day from $7 to $13. 

The partnership will push the Pointsbet brand and products in front of the largest sports audience of any US media with exclusive television and digital sports betting integrations. 

From a cost perspective, Pointsbet has committed a total marketing spend of US$393 million in progressively increasing amounts over the 5-year media partnership, together with incentives payable to NBC for customer referrals. NBC will also take a 4.9% ownership stake in the Pointsbet company. 

Competing US bookmakers reporting strong results 

Elsewhere, William Hill plc reported significant growth in the US in its trading statement for the unaudited 52 weeks ended 29 December 2020. William Hill US went live in five states and launched mobile in five states, leading to 121% net revenue growth in the fourth quarter. Its sports betting apps and sports book odds are also featured in both ESPN and CBS Sports, two of America's leading sports media brands. 

Pointsbet's major US competitor, DraftKings Inc (NASDAQ: DKNG) has also rallied strongly in 2021, with year-to-date returns sitting at 17%. 

The post The Pointsbet (ASX:PBH) share price is up 10% this year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.