The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was on form again in June, rising by a sizeable 2.1% to 7,313 points.
While a good number of shares climbed higher with the market, some climbed more than most. Here's why these were the best performing ASX 200 shares in June:
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Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
The Altium share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last month with a 29.8% gain. This electronic design software provider's shares rocketed higher after it announced the receipt of a takeover approach from Autodesk. The US software giant made a formal, non-binding, indicative and unsolicited proposal of $38.50 per share to acquire the company. This represented a 41.5% premium to its last close price at the time. However, the Altium Board believes it undervalues the company and rejected the proposal.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price wasn't far behind with a gain of 27.4% in June. Investors were fighting to get hold of the payments company's shares after it announced the expansion of its one-time card footprint in the United States. This will mean that Afterpay will soon let US consumers shop with 12 of the most popular and largest merchants in the country. This includes Amazon, Nike, Nordstrom, Target, and Walgreens. Combined, the new merchant additions represent almost half of all U.S. ecommerce volume.
Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME)
The Pro Medicus share price was a very strong performer in June, rising 27.4% over the period. Improving sentiment in the tech sector and the announcement of a research collaboration agreement with Mayo Clinic gave the health imaging technology company's shares a big boost. In respect to the latter, the agreement will serve as the framework for collaboration between the two parties to facilitate development and commercialisation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), leveraging the Visage AI Accelerator platform.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
The Whitehaven Coal share price was back on form and stormed 23.2% higher in June. This appears to have been driven by the release of a number of positive broker notes during the month in response to the improving outlook for metallurgical coal. One of those brokers was Ord Minnett, which upgraded Whitehaven Coal's shares to a buy rating with a $3.00 price target. This is still over 50% higher than where the Whitehaven Coal share price ended the month.
