ASX tech stock Catapult Group International Ltd (ASX: CAT) has surged almost 30% since last Wednesday. In the past year, it has climbed an incredible 207%.
For shareholders, it's always good to see the value of their holding soar over the short and long term.
Catapult describes itself as the "global leader in sports technology solutions". It works with top leagues, teams, and organisations, helping to optimise performance, avoid injury, and improve athletes' return to play.
One market analyst believes the ASX tech stock's strong performance in the last week could be due to an exciting reason.
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Impending takeover approach?
According to reporting by The Australian, Catapult shares have seen four times their average trading recently, helping them smash a new 52-week high of $3.46 at the time of writing today. Currently up 7.45%, this is also the highest they've been in eight years.
The newspaper reported on speculation from PAC Partners institutional sales trader James Nicolaou about why there has been so much Catapult stock traded. He said:
Trading like it's about to get a takeover bid.
However, Forager Funds Management CIO Steve Johnson does not believe that a takeover approach is imminent. Despite Catapult being one of the largest positions in the Forager fund, Johnson said:
I don't see this one getting taken over any time soon. Just some great results and a lot of people don't own it who need to.
How good was the HY25 result?
On 14 November, the company reported its half-year result for the six months to 30 September 2024. You can read our coverage of that report.
The ASX tech stock reported its annualised contract value (ACV), a leading indicator of future revenue, grew 20% year over year on a constant currency basis to US$96.8 million.
Catapult's actual revenue increased by 19% year over year to US$57.8 million. The company delivered a free cash flow of US$4.8 million. This was more than the entire 2024 financial year when it made US$4.6 million of free cash flow. The HY24 free cash flow improved by US$3.4 million year over year.
The company said its HY25 result reflected an "ongoing approach to diligently managing the company's variable and fixed cost base, further strengthening Catapult's financial position since the company crossed a key profitability inflection point in FY24".
It also gave some guidance about the 2025 financial year. It said it expected ACV growth to remain "strong" with low churn, continued improvement in cost margins towards its long-term targets, and higher free cash flow as the company scaled.
Catapult also said it would continue to invest in its next generation of products.
