With the end of the year almost upon us, we asked our Foolish contributors to compile a list of some of the ASX shares experts are saying to Buy in 2021.
Here is what the team have come up with…
Tristan Harrison: A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)
In addition to my December ASX share pick, A2 Milk could be another potential growth share to find its feet again after a strong first half of 2020 but weaker second half. COVID-19 impacts and Chinese concerns have sent the A2 Milk share price down to around the $13 mark. But at that price, it's valued at 23x FY22's estimated earnings.
The local Chinese business is growing quickly to compensate for lost daigou sales and the United States business is gaining traction. A2 Milk has also started generating earnings from Canada. Furthermore, the company has (or had, prior to announcing its proposed $385 million purchase of Mataura Valley Milk in August) close to NZ$1 billion of cash on its balance sheet.
Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison does not own shares of A2 Milk Company Ltd.
Sebastian Bowen: Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE)
My ASX share pick for 2021 is Treasury Wines. Treasury, which owns brands like Wolf Blass and the famous Penfolds, is an ASX company that has had a difficult year in 2020.
At the time of writing, Treasury shares remain down around 42% year to date. This company had a major focus on exporting to the Chinese market, which is now in shreds thanks to new Chinese tariffs. However, it's possible that the market has overreacted here, given Treasury's strong brands and a plethora of remaining export opportunities. Thus, Treasury could be a potentially lucrative turnaround play next year.
Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen does not own shares of Treasury Wine Estates Ltd.
Bernd Struben: Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)
Brickworks focuses on property, investments, and supplying building products for the residential and commercial markets in Australia and the United States. Both the Australian and US Governments are supporting infrastructure and building construction in 2021.
Brickworks has a long history of share price appreciation (though not in a straight line!). In 2020, at the time of writing, the Brickworks share price is up 3.2% for the year thanks to a 57% surge since 22 April. It trades at a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.09 times.
Brickworks is also a reliable ASX dividend share, paying out both dividends this year for a yield of 3.1%, fully franked.
Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben does not own shares of Brickworks Limited.
James Mickleboro: Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
Appen is a leading provider of solutions to the artificial intelligence (AI) market. Through its team of over 1 million skilled contractors across the world, the company provides and prepares the data that goes into AI models. Among its customer base you will find the likes of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
While FY2020 has been underwhelming because of COVID-19 headwinds, Appen's management is confident the company's performance will rebound strongly in 2021. After which, increased spending on AI is expected to underpin strong demand for Appen's services over the long term. This sentiment has been echoed by analysts at Macquarie. Macquarie believes the recent weakness in the Appen share price presents a buying opportunity and has held firm with its outperform rating and $43.00 price target.
Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro does not own shares of Appen Ltd.
Brendon Lau: Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN)
The Ansell share price has corrected by around 20% since hitting a record high in early November. Ansell has been one of the big COVID winners this year and news of promising COVID-19 vaccines has prompted some investors to lock in profits.
But one could argue demand for gloves is unlikely to abate even as vaccines are rolled out since people are likely to remain more safety conscious than prior to the pandemic. Furthermore, with no vaccine guaranteed to be 100% effective, consumers may be reluctant to throw away their protective consumables just yet.
Motley Fool contributor Brendon Lau owns shares of Ansell Limited.
Regan Pearson: Pushpay Holdings Ltd (ASX: PPH)
Payments platform company Pushpay was one of the big winners of 2020. As public gatherings were restricted, new churches rushed to sign up and move donations away from cash to digital platforms. Not only did Pushpay increase its customers by 38% in the first half of FY21, its revenue jumped by a huge 51% to US$86.6 million.
Although this growth was spurred by lock-downs and will likely slow in 2021, the healthy free cash flow Pushpay has built will put the company on a strong footing to reinvest into sales or prepare for larger acquisitions to keep up momentum in 2021.
Motley Fool contributor Regan Pearson does not own shares of Pushpay Holdings Ltd.
Rhys Brock: Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH)
Back in March, things were looking pretty bad for online sports betting company Pointsbet. Sports leagues across the world were grinding to a halt due to COVID-19 restrictions, and the company's share price was in freefall.
However, Pointsbet has still found a way to achieve several key milestones in 2020, not least of which was signing a new five-year marketing contract with US sports media giant NBC Universal.
Pointsbet is also heading into 2021 with a significant war chest. After a round of capital raisings from institutional and retail investors, Pointsbet now has over $430 million in total corporate cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet.
Motley Fool contributor Rhys Brock owns shares of Pointsbet Holdings Ltd.
