Oil prices fall

Headlines say Oil prices fall and all stock picks are a mix of 83% BUY, 8.5% HOLD and 8.5% SELL.

1. AVOID AFERIAN

Top stock pick this week is AVOID Aferian by Steve Moore in ShareProphets with a tip performance of a ginormous 50%!!!

Aferian is a B2B streaming video platform that listed at 138p way back in 2004 and has had its ups and downs to 15p per share where it resides today, an all-time low.

The big news this week is that Aferian raised USD $4 million to avoid a loan drawdown, equal to 30% of shares, to b eused as general working capital. The struggling Cambridge tech company announced 26 million new shares at 12p each which caused a 39% rise in shares by the next day.

Steve notes debt is outweighs assets and a material loss and says AVOID.

Steve Moore is the only analyst rating with AVOID in Stockomendation and there are no active short positions open.

2. LONG TERM BUY OCADO

Second top stock pick this week is LONG TERM BUY Ocado Group by Ben McPoland in The Motley Fool with a tip performance of 23%.

Big news this week as Norwegian robotics company AutoStore withdrew litigation against the British grocery technology company. Shares soared at the announcement AutoStore will have to pay £200 million to Ocado in 24 monthly instalments putting an end to the 3 year legal battle after the UK High Court rules in March there was no infringement by Ocado on patents held by AutoStore. Shares jumped 11% at the news.

Ocado launched at 159p back in 2010 and is now on an upward trajectory at 920p.

Mixed bag in Stockomendation – Ben says LONG TERM BUY, Emma Powell & Chris Bailey say AVOID, and Goldman Sachs and Barclays say NEUTRAL or EQUAL WEIGHT. There are 11 short positions currently open.

3. EQUAL WEIGHT REACH

Third interesting top stock pick this week is EQUAL WEIGHT Reach by Barclays with a tip performance of 23%.

Shres jumped 20% at the announcement that the full year forecast would be achieved in the shareholder update, however the interim figures tell a different story with digital sales down by 16% & print sales down by 18%. Management blamed facebook for the loss of digital page views. With total print revenues 2.7% down, hopeful traders might see a bargain albeit with plenty of uncertainty.

The British newspaper and publishing house launched at 226p in 1993 and is now at 84p.

Who knows what’s in store for Reach and three Stockomendation analysts are divided: Barclays says EQUAL WEIGHT, Steve Moore says WATCH and Royston Wild says BUY. There are no active short positions open.

Image credit : Aferian

UK Fund Manager Short Positions
See which UK Fund Managers are betting against your investments by accessing current & historical short positions on UK companies showing you which fund manager has shorted which company and by how much.

Join Now

CASH PRIZES ARE BACK!
Think you can pick stocks? Play the June league UK Share Picking game FREE for your chance to win cash prices : uksharepickinggame.co.uk

Disclaimer: The contents of this article should not be considered financial advice. Pricing data correct as at 27th July 2023.