Global markets were lower on Friday as shares on Wall Street dropped and also finished the week lower (for the 1st time in a month), after a Chinese agriculture delegation cancelled a planned visit to Montana, dampening optimism about US-China trade talks.
Over the weekend saw the first major All Blacks world cup game stream on Spark Sport, and the stream did not go smoothly. Spark Sport is offering refunds to Rugby World Cup subscribers after technical issues with its streaming service during the All Blacks victory over South Africa on Saturday night. Question marks on the suitability of the internet as a broadcast medium will add weight to arguments suggesting Spark is unlikely to be a meaningful competitor for incumbent Sky TV on key broadcast sports rights.
Stock in Focus: Pushpay (PPH:NZX / PPH:ASX)
Pushpay upgraded their operating earnings guidance for the 2020 financial on Friday to be between $23m to $25m, driven by cost efficiencies in recent months which will result in lower costs in the second half.
Unfortunately, operating revenue is guided to be slightly lower due to customer acquisitions in recent months being slightly weaker than in the previous year.
Shares have been under pressure after former CEO (and co-founder) Chris Heaslip stepped down and offloaded 12.24m of his shares which spooked the market. We recently met with new CEO Bruce Gordon and were impressed by Bruce who has an impressive background in the payments sector. We reiterate our BUY rating on Pushpay.
Members can login to read our full reports on Pushpay.
Australia & New Zealand Market Movers
The Australian market continued to trend higher on Friday (ASX 200 Index +0.20%) as energy stocks gained on oil moves, and earnings updates lifted the ASX to its fifth week of gains.
The New Zealand market was in positive territory on Friday (NZX 50 Index +0.26%) in heavy trading as Kiwi Property Group and Kathmandu gained on strong volumes, with the quarterly index reweighting driving traffic.
3 Things Markets Will be Watching this Week
- Trade War related news-flow is likely to continue to feature in headlines.
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand makes an interest rate decision on Wednesday.
- Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Lowe also makes a speech on Tuesday.
Have a Great Day,
