As always, to herald the arrival of a new month, we asked our Foolish contributors (who are feeling especially 'capital-F' Foolish today!) to compile a list of some of the ASX shares experts are saying to buy in April. Here is what the team came up with.
Tristan Harrison: Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
The Xero share price has fallen by almost 30% since the start of 2022, but the business continues to grow.
In its FY22 half-year result, Xero revealed that its total number of subscribers rose by 23% to 3 million, while annualised monthly recurring revenue (AMRR) jumped 29% to $1.13 billion. Profitability continues to climb as well – the gross profit margin rose 1.4 percentage points to 87.1%.
Xero's goal is to become the world's most insightful and trusted small business platform to make life better for people in small businesses, as well as their advisors and communities worldwide. It's investing heavily to "drive long-term shareholder value."
Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison does not own shares of Xero Limited.
Bernd Struben: DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)
Droneshield offers products to detect and defeat drones on and off the battlefield.
With global drone production forecast to keep growing rapidly, the total addressable market for counter-drone technology is estimated to hit $5.9 billion by 2026. Analysts predict the market for drone defence technology will see annualised growth of more than 20% in that time.
There was much to like in Droneshield's full-year financial results for 2021. Among the highlights, revenue increased 91% year on year to $10.6 million. And repeat customer cash receipts leapt 350% from 2020 to reach $9.9 million.
Droneshield is a smaller company with a market capitalisation of around $80 million. Shares in the company were trading at 20 cents apiece at yesterday's close.
Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben does not own shares of Droneshield Ltd.
Brooke Cooper: Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)
Adairs is a staple store in many Australian shopping centres and is loved by its customers.
The company's loyalty program holds 950,000 members. Additionally, Adairs' sales remained relatively strong during the last half, considering it lost a significant number of store trading days during the period.
Unfortunately, the Adairs share price has tumbled by around 25% in 2022, but it could be one to look out for in the future. Broker Morgans is tipping 15% upside for Adairs shares this year, as well as a 9% dividend yield. The Adairs share price closed at $3.02 on Thursday.
Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper does not own shares of Adairs Ltd.
Sebastian Bowen: BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)
This exchange-traded fund (ETF) from BetaShares tracks the NASDAQ-100 Index (NASDAQ: NDX). The NASDAQ-100 houses most of the US tech giants on the American markets. You'll find everything from Netflix and Tesla to Apple and Paypal in this fund.
But US tech shares like these have had a rough time of it lately on the NASDAQ. As it currently stands, NDQ units are still down more than 11% from their all-time high, which was reached in November last year.
This could arguably present one with an attractive opportunity to get exposure to some of the world's leading tech companies at a discounted price. The BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF also has a trailing distribution yield of 3.8% at the time of writing.
Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen does not own shares of the BetaShares Nasdaq 100 ETF, but does own shares of Apple and Tesla.
Zach Bristow: Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
Macquarie has set the pace among ASX financials this past month and now trades around 13% higher over that period. At Thursday's close, the Macquarie share price was trading at $203.27, having leapt around $28 from its March 2022 low point.
Macquarie has exposure across banking, infrastructure and commodity markets — segments that have spearheaded investor returns in 2022 so far. The investment bank recently noted it has rebalanced its portfolio "as if it's a commodity boom", sizing up positions in ASX miners, whilst trimming holdings in leisure and healthcare.
Macquarie is also forecast to pay a $6.30 per share dividend, according to consensus figures from Bloomberg data.
Motley fool contributor Zach Bristow does not own shares of Macquarie Group Ltd.
Brendon Lau: Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)
The gold price has been under some pressure as Russia and Ukraine try to negotiate a ceasefire. While the short-term movement in the gold price will be influenced by geopolitical risks, Macquarie believes that the nominal yield curve's inversion, and still deeply negative level of real interest rates, remain supportive of the safe-haven commodity.
One of the broker's top picks among ASX gold shares is Northern Star. Macquarie has an 'outperform' rating and $14 share price target on Northern Star. At Thursday's close, Northern Star shares were trading at $10.74.
Motley fool contributor Brendon Lau does not own shares of Northern Star Resources Ltd.
Mitchell Lawler: Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL)
The COVID-19 PCR testing tailwind might be losing its former strength, but that hasn't stopped some analysts from remaining bullish on one of the world's leading medical diagnostic companies, Sonic Healthcare.
Despite recently achieving record revenue and profits, announcing an on-market share buyback program of up to $500 million, and acquiring one of the largest nationwide pathology practices in the United States (ProPath), shares in Sonic Healthcare are down by around 24% since the beginning of the year.
For Credit Suisse, the discount appears to offer an attractive share price compared to its own upgraded price target of $40.00. Sonic shares closed Thursday's session at $35.48.
Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares in Sonic Healthcare Limited.
Aaron Teboneras: Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)
Nearmap shares have surged by around 27% over the past month. This came on the back of a positive update by the aerial imagery specialist on 29 March.
Management highlighted that Nearmap has achieved group annual contract value (ACV) of $150 million for the first time ever. Furthermore, the company signed its largest-ever government annual contract in North America.
In the same update, Nearmap also reaffirmed that group ACV is expected to be at the upper end of the $150 million to $160 million guidance range in FY22. This represents a potential increase of between 17% and 25% compared with the prior year (FY21: $128.2 million).
The Nearmap share price closed Thursday's session 2.3% lower at $1.485.
Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of Neapmap Ltd.
James Mickleboro: Lifestyle Communities Limited (ASX: LIC)
Lifestyle Communities builds, owns, and operates land-lease communities that provide affordable housing options to Australians aged over 50.
The company notes that the land-lease model allows working, semi-retired, and retired people to downsize their family home to free up equity in retirement whilst enjoying resort-style living. This style of living is becoming increasingly popular, arguably putting Lifestyle Communities in a strong position to profit.
Goldman Sachs is very positive on the company's outlook and believes "the market is not capturing the long-term opportunity for this business to continue to grow its long-term annuity-style earnings with limited incremental capital."
The broker has a conviction buy rating and $24.50 price target on the company's shares. The Lifestyle Communities share price has dropped 18% in 2022 and closed Thursday at $17.04.
Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro does not own shares of Lifestyle Communities Limited.
