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HITIQ Shifts to Consumer Market with VAFA Partnership

HITIQ Limited (ASX: HIQ) (HITIQ or the Company) announces a strategic shift to focus on the consumer market, targeting amateur and community-level athletes of all ages across a variety of sports with its new HITIQ PROTEQT system. This shift to the consumer market is a natural strategic step for the Company, running in parallel with its established work in professional sports, taking its world-leading impact detection technology where it can have the greatest impact—in the amateur sporting community, and positioning HITIQ to tap into a vast, accessible market, steering the Company toward a sustainable, cash flow positive future. This direction is reinforced by a significant milestone: a three-year partnership with the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), naming HITIQ as the VAFA’s ‘Official Concussion Technology Partner.’

  • HITIQ is shifting its strategic focus to the consumer market, targeting amateur and community-level athletes.
  • This strategic shift to the consumer market complements ongoing efforts in professional sports.
  • A three-year partnership with the VAFA marks a key launchpad, driving HITIQ toward a cash flow positive future.

The consumer market, encompassing millions of amateur players globally, offers a substantial opportunity driven by increasing concussion awareness and demand for cost-effective safety solutions. Research shows community-level athletes and parents prioritize wellbeing, creating strong incentives for adopting HITIQ’s technology, which includes real-time impact detection, symptom assessment, and telehealth support. As part of this shift, HITIQ PROTEQT will be made available to VAFA clubs, monitoring head impacts in real time, flagging potential concussion risks, and guiding players through symptom assessments with telehealth access to emergency physicians and concussion specialists when needed. Players diagnosed with concussion by their preferred medical professional will follow club medical staff guidance and AFL community concussion protocols for return-to-play. Leveraging its extensive elite sports foundation, HITIQ will keep advancing its technology at this level to strengthen offerings for the community market.

HITIQ PROTEQT integrates proven elite-level technology—previously validated by partners like Monash University and Virginia Tech—into an accessible, boil-and-bite smart mouthguard. Priced for broad uptake and paired with a subscription model, HITIQ PROTEQT offers head impact monitoring, concussion management, and return-to-play guidance, and will be available to consumers this season. The VAFA partnership builds on HITIQ’s prior success with the Nexus iMG in this league, providing a proven foundation to drive adoption among amateur players and families.

Earl Eddings, Executive Chairman of HITIQ, said:

“This shift positions HITIQ where the real demand is – grassroots sport. We’ve built a scalable, consumer- focused product that meets a clear need, backed by world-class technology and partnerships. This is about delivering safety to millions while driving sustainable growth for shareholders. Partnering with the VAFA is a critical step toward bringing HITIQ PROTEQT to life. With the VAFA as our launchpad, we’re gearing up to deliver our cutting-edge technology to community sport, starting with their teams and expanding nationwide.”

VAFA CEO Jason Reddick said:

“Player safety is a primary priority for the VAFA, and concussion is one of the most serious health issues in the game. So partnering with HITIQ, who are leading the way in impact detection technology that can assist with early flagging of potential concussions, is another step forward. We’re happy to help bring this next-level tool to our VAFA community and encourage our clubs to learn more about HITIQ PROTEQT. Any tool that can help players and club medical staff quickly identify a potential concussion and begin assessment and treatment earlier is worthy of consideration.”

Stuart McDonald, Senior Research Fellow of Monash University’s Department of Neuroscience, said: ‘Research with HITIQ’s instrumented mouthguards, including our studies in the VAFA, has shown they reliably detect and quantify the forces exerted on the head during collisions. Based on our experience, players have found their previous mouthguards very comfortable, and they also show promise in identifying impacts that may carry a higher concussion risk. While these devices do not diagnose concussion, they could be used to highlight significant impacts that might otherwise have been missed, encouraging appropriate symptom monitoring and medical evaluation.’

The Company’s growth strategy includes scaling manufacturing and expanding into key markets starting with Australia. With board renewal, we have brought in sport and consumer expertise, and a refreshed leadership team with global sports tech experience will support this shift, alongside plans to build a leading concussion dataset for stakeholders. With the VAFA partnership as a springboard, this strategic shift sets HITIQ on a clear course for profitability.

Earl Eddings will be presenting the attached slides this week for a non-deal Asia roadshow.

Click here for the full ASX Release

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

Crypto Market Recap: Australia to Start Crypto Pilot Program, Coinbase in Talks to Buy Deribit

Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (March 21) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$83,955.92, a 0.7 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The day’s trading range has seen a low of US$83,238.78 and a high of US$84,411.85.

A new analysis by trading resource Material Indicators on March 20 (Thursday) identified a classic manipulatory device known as spoofing by one or more whales as a reason why Bitcoin failed to sustain or rally past US$87,500 yesterday. Crypto markets are seeing decreased speculative trading, indicated by a lower Bitcoin hot supply. Analysts predict bearish trends could continue, with Bitcoin possibly dropping to $60,000.

Bitcoin performance, March 21, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$1,973.30, trading flat over the same period. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday low of US$1,938.90 and a high of US$1,976.41.

Crypto analytics platform Santiment observed the lowest supply of Ether on crypto exchanges since November 2015, which suggests that investors are moving their ETH into cold storage wallets for long-term holding. This could lead to a supply shock, resulting in a potential price surge.

Altcoin price update

  • Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$128.15, up 0.2 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$125.34 and a high of US$129.04 on Friday.
    • Sui (SUI) is priced at US$2.27, showing a 4.6 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily low of US$2.24 and a high of US$2.29.
    • Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.7105, reflecting a 1.1 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. Its lowest price on Friday was US$0.7017, with a high of US$0.7167.

    Crypto news to know

    Australia exploring digital asset integration

    The Australian government is developing a regulatory framework for digital assets, focusing on digital asset platforms (DAPs) and payment stablecoins. According to a white paper released by the Treasury office, the reforms aim to balance innovation with consumer protection, aligning with international best practices.

    Key elements include extending existing financial services laws to DAPs, treating payment stablecoins as stored-value facilities and reviewing the enhanced regulatory sandbox. Under the framework, the government plans to explore the potential of digital asset technology, while addressing de-banking issues and considering future initiatives such as the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework, central bank digital currencies, tokenization and decentralized finance.

    The paper details a pilot program that centers around exploring the practical applications of tokenization in financial markets, particularly in the wholesale sector. The program will be executed in collaboration with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center, the Treasury, ASIC and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

    These developments come ahead of a federal election slated for May 17 or earlier.

    Coinbase in talks to acquire Deribit

    Coinbase is reportedly in advanced discussions to acquire leading cryptocurrency derivatives platform Deribit, according to a Bloomberg report released on Friday afternoon.

    According to sources cited by the news outlet, the move aims to bolster Coinbase’s presence in the institutional crypto trading space by integrating Deribit’s established options and futures offerings.

    The acquisition would allow Coinbase to diversify its revenue streams and cater to sophisticated traders seeking complex financial instruments, potentially solidifying its position as a comprehensive crypto exchange in a rapidly evolving market.

    The companies have not commented on the potential deal, but have reportedly notified regulators in Dubai where Deribit holds a license.

    Canary Capital files to list Pengu ETF

    Canary Capital has filed US regulatory documents to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would hold Pengu (PENGU), the governance token of the Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token (NFT) project.

    This move follows an earlier proposal by the investment firm to offer the first Sui ETF on Monday (March 17).

    The proposed Pengu ETF aims to hold spot PENGU and Pudgy Penguins NFTs, potentially becoming the first US ETF to hold NFTs if approved. The filing also reveals plans for the ETF to hold other digital assets, such as SOL and ETH, for transactions related to the PENGU and Pudgy Penguins NFTs.

    As of March 21, PENGU had a market cap of approximately US$395 million, according to CoinGecko.

    Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

    Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

    This post appeared first on investingnews.com

    Stock Market News UK Update: FTSE 100 & 250 Rise

    Stock Market News: UK Forecast and Technical Analysis

    Today, the UK stock market saw the FTSE 250 increase by 195 points (0.9%) to 21,628, nearly matching the 1.2% increase in the FTSE 100, driven largely by gains in mining stocks. This positive momentum is creating a bullish sentiment in the market.

    The two London indices are leading the European market this morning. The DAX is up 0.7% in Germany, followed by the FTSE MIB in Italy, the CAC 40 in France, and the IBEX 35 in Spain, all of which are up 0.4%, reinforcing the optimistic outlook across Europe.

    The gain for the Euro Stoxx 600 is just under 1%. Risers include Just Eat Takeaway, rising 17%; TeamViewer, the software company and owner of Kenco, JD Peet.

    Among the higher risers, Wickes Group PLC, one of the UK’s listed companies, has seen a 3.3% increase in revenue despite facing difficulties retaining customers for its custom kitchen, home office installation, and bathroom services.

    In the first half, this segment’s revenues were destroyed by 17%, offsetting the 1% growth in revenue in its core retail offering.

    GSK Shares Decline

    GSK PLC, the drugmaker listed on the FTSE 100, raised its annual earnings and sales forecasts due to strong second-quarter performance from HIV and cancer treatments, but the stock is currently down 2.5%.

    Core EPS profits are now expected to increase by 10-12% in 2024, up from the previous guidance of 8-10%. Meanwhile, the overall profits are expected to increase by 7-9%, compared to the earlier estimate of 5-7%.

    Nonetheless, there were some omissions in the data: vaccination profit fell 9% short of expectations as shingles treatment Shingrix was a 20% disappointment as US sales plummeted 36%.

    This is due to decreased demand and inventory reductions. However, it is important to note that international sales make up about 64% of total revenue.

    General medicine, oncology, and HIV all performed better than anticipated.

    GSK/GBX 5-Day Chart

    Growth Expectation For FTSE 250

    In the last five years, Greggs’ shares have increased by 40%, outpacing the FTSE 250 London stock. The company’s first-half (H1) results have given them an additional 5% boost.

    The most recent data shows a 16% increase in profit before taxes and a 14% increase in sales.

    However, despite these gains, projections indicate a minor decline in Greggs’ EPS for the full year 2024. However, the company’s first-half revenue increased by only 15%.

    It is a basic diluted estimate that does not account for anomalies. However, it raises the possibility that projections are simply exaggerating the situation.

    Thanks to these expenditures and a well-defined expansion plan, Greggs has produced substantial returns for its owners.

    For the 2023 fiscal year, Greggs reported record yearly sales of £1.8 billion and a profit before taxes of £188.3 million.

    The company also disclosed a significant capital investment program aimed at enhancing its manufacturing capacity and expanding its capacity to accommodate approximately 3,500 stores throughout the United Kingdom.

    UK Stock Market Today: FTSE Stock Surge

    Among the top risers in the FTSE, Antofagasta PLC and Rio Tinto have shown significant gains. Antofagasta PLC saw notable gains despite no specific news being released. Rio Tinto’s positive results, which included a 1.8% increase in first-half profit, contributed to a 1% rise in its shares and may have influenced the broader market.

    More significantly, there are rumours that the Anglo-Australian miner Antofagasta is eyeing a major opportunity in the copper industry, further boosting investor confidence.

    The Footsie has continued to rise, hitting a two-month peak of nearly 8,374 following a 1.2% increase. This is the highest value for the London standard since May 22nd, topping 8,368.

    HSBC Makes a £3 Billion Buyback

    Following a largely flat first half of the year, HSBC Holdings PLC announced an additional interim dividend and a £3 billion share buyback.

    For the first half of 2024, the £0.10 per share dividend will equate to 20 cents, unchanged from the previous year. The share buyback is anticipated to be finished in three months.

    The bank, with a focus on Asia, reported a first-half pre-tax profit of $21.6 billion, which was marginally lower than the same period last year, even though revenue increased 1% to $37.3 billion and certain “strategic transactions” had a net positive revenue impact of $0.2 billion.

    The second quarter’s $16.5 billion in revenues exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the quarter’s $8.9 billion profit before taxes was significantly more than the $7.8 billion they had predicted.

    Despite being lower than the 1.53% consensus estimate, the net interest margin improved from 1.7% to 1.62% a year ago due to an increase in the finance cost of average profit liabilities. These developments are significant for the stock market news UK, as they may influence investor sentiment and market trends.

    FTSE 250 Share Price

    • Value: 21,572.34
    • Net Variation: 139.83
    • High/Low: 21,649.47 / 21,430.07
    • Previously closed price: 21,432.51
    • 52WK range: 16,783.09 – 21,432.51
    • Launch date: October 12th 1992
    • Constituents number: 250
    • Net MCap: 324,478
    • Dividend Yield: 3.35%
    • Average: 1,298
    • Largest: 4,059
    • Smallest: 81
    • Median: 1,085

    FTSE 100 Share Price

    • Value: 8,390.33
    • Previous Close: 8,292.35
    • Open Price: 8,292.35
    • Day low: 8,235.55
    • Day High: 8,297.92
    • 52-week low: 7,215.76
    • 52-week high: 8,474.41

    In summary, today’s gains on the stock market news UK are remarkable, as the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices both saw an increase. Mining stocks, especially in the FTSE 100, have primarily driven these gains. Major indices have also increased throughout Europe, indicating an optimistic trend in the market.

    While GSK continues to face difficulties even after increasing its earnings projections, Greggs has shown remarkable growth in both its stock price as well as profitability. Despite a little fluctuation in its profit margins, HSBC’s announcement of a significant share buyback and dividend demonstrates the strength of its financial position.

    The post Stock Market News UK Update: FTSE 100 & 250 Rise appeared first on FinanceBrokerage.

    Stock Market News UK Update: FTSE 100 & 250 Rise

    Stock Market News: UK Forecast and Technical Analysis

    Today, the UK stock market saw the FTSE 250 increase by 195 points (0.9%) to 21,628, nearly matching the 1.2% increase in the FTSE 100, driven largely by gains in mining stocks. This positive momentum is creating a bullish sentiment in the market.

    The two London indices are leading the European market this morning. The DAX is up 0.7% in Germany, followed by the FTSE MIB in Italy, the CAC 40 in France, and the IBEX 35 in Spain, all of which are up 0.4%, reinforcing the optimistic outlook across Europe.

    The gain for the Euro Stoxx 600 is just under 1%. Risers include Just Eat Takeaway, rising 17%; TeamViewer, the software company and owner of Kenco, JD Peet.

    Among the higher risers, Wickes Group PLC, one of the UK’s listed companies, has seen a 3.3% increase in revenue despite facing difficulties retaining customers for its custom kitchen, home office installation, and bathroom services.

    In the first half, this segment’s revenues were destroyed by 17%, offsetting the 1% growth in revenue in its core retail offering.

    GSK Shares Decline

    GSK PLC, the drugmaker listed on the FTSE 100, raised its annual earnings and sales forecasts due to strong second-quarter performance from HIV and cancer treatments, but the stock is currently down 2.5%.

    Core EPS profits are now expected to increase by 10-12% in 2024, up from the previous guidance of 8-10%. Meanwhile, the overall profits are expected to increase by 7-9%, compared to the earlier estimate of 5-7%.

    Nonetheless, there were some omissions in the data: vaccination profit fell 9% short of expectations as shingles treatment Shingrix was a 20% disappointment as US sales plummeted 36%.

    This is due to decreased demand and inventory reductions. However, it is important to note that international sales make up about 64% of total revenue.

    General medicine, oncology, and HIV all performed better than anticipated.

    GSK/GBX 5-Day Chart

    Growth Expectation For FTSE 250

    In the last five years, Greggs’ shares have increased by 40%, outpacing the FTSE 250 London stock. The company’s first-half (H1) results have given them an additional 5% boost.

    The most recent data shows a 16% increase in profit before taxes and a 14% increase in sales.

    However, despite these gains, projections indicate a minor decline in Greggs’ EPS for the full year 2024. However, the company’s first-half revenue increased by only 15%.

    It is a basic diluted estimate that does not account for anomalies. However, it raises the possibility that projections are simply exaggerating the situation.

    Thanks to these expenditures and a well-defined expansion plan, Greggs has produced substantial returns for its owners.

    For the 2023 fiscal year, Greggs reported record yearly sales of £1.8 billion and a profit before taxes of £188.3 million.

    The company also disclosed a significant capital investment program aimed at enhancing its manufacturing capacity and expanding its capacity to accommodate approximately 3,500 stores throughout the United Kingdom.

    UK Stock Market Today: FTSE Stock Surge

    Among the top risers in the FTSE, Antofagasta PLC and Rio Tinto have shown significant gains. Antofagasta PLC saw notable gains despite no specific news being released. Rio Tinto’s positive results, which included a 1.8% increase in first-half profit, contributed to a 1% rise in its shares and may have influenced the broader market.

    More significantly, there are rumours that the Anglo-Australian miner Antofagasta is eyeing a major opportunity in the copper industry, further boosting investor confidence.

    The Footsie has continued to rise, hitting a two-month peak of nearly 8,374 following a 1.2% increase. This is the highest value for the London standard since May 22nd, topping 8,368.

    HSBC Makes a £3 Billion Buyback

    Following a largely flat first half of the year, HSBC Holdings PLC announced an additional interim dividend and a £3 billion share buyback.

    For the first half of 2024, the £0.10 per share dividend will equate to 20 cents, unchanged from the previous year. The share buyback is anticipated to be finished in three months.

    The bank, with a focus on Asia, reported a first-half pre-tax profit of $21.6 billion, which was marginally lower than the same period last year, even though revenue increased 1% to $37.3 billion and certain “strategic transactions” had a net positive revenue impact of $0.2 billion.

    The second quarter’s $16.5 billion in revenues exceeded analysts’ expectations, and the quarter’s $8.9 billion profit before taxes was significantly more than the $7.8 billion they had predicted.

    Despite being lower than the 1.53% consensus estimate, the net interest margin improved from 1.7% to 1.62% a year ago due to an increase in the finance cost of average profit liabilities. These developments are significant for the stock market news UK, as they may influence investor sentiment and market trends.

    FTSE 250 Share Price

    • Value: 21,572.34
    • Net Variation: 139.83
    • High/Low: 21,649.47 / 21,430.07
    • Previously closed price: 21,432.51
    • 52WK range: 16,783.09 – 21,432.51
    • Launch date: October 12th 1992
    • Constituents number: 250
    • Net MCap: 324,478
    • Dividend Yield: 3.35%
    • Average: 1,298
    • Largest: 4,059
    • Smallest: 81
    • Median: 1,085

    FTSE 100 Share Price

    • Value: 8,390.33
    • Previous Close: 8,292.35
    • Open Price: 8,292.35
    • Day low: 8,235.55
    • Day High: 8,297.92
    • 52-week low: 7,215.76
    • 52-week high: 8,474.41

    In summary, today’s gains on the stock market news UK are remarkable, as the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices both saw an increase. Mining stocks, especially in the FTSE 100, have primarily driven these gains. Major indices have also increased throughout Europe, indicating an optimistic trend in the market.

    While GSK continues to face difficulties even after increasing its earnings projections, Greggs has shown remarkable growth in both its stock price as well as profitability. Despite a little fluctuation in its profit margins, HSBC’s announcement of a significant share buyback and dividend demonstrates the strength of its financial position.

    The post Stock Market News UK Update: FTSE 100 & 250 Rise appeared first on FinanceBrokerage.

    Nvidia’s CEO did a Q&A with analysts. What he said and what Wall Street thinks about it.

    Investors have closely watched Nvidia’s week-long GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for news and updates from the dominant maker of chips that power artificial intelligence applications.

    The event comes at a pivotal time for Nvidia shares. After two years of monster gains, the stock is down 15% over the past month and 22% below the January all-time high.

    As part of the event, CEO Jensen Huang took questions from analysts on topics ranging from demand for its advanced Blackwell chips to the impact of Trump administration tariffs. Here’s a breakdown of how Huang responded — and what analysts homed in on — during some of the most important questions:

    Huang said he “underrepresented” demand in a slide that showed 3.6 million in estimated Blackwell shipments to the top four cloud service providers this year. While Huang acknowledged speculation regarding shrinking demand, he said the amount of computation needed for AI has “exploded” and that the four biggest cloud service clients remain “fully invested.”

    Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Huang’s commentary on Blackwell demand in data centers was the first-ever such disclosure.

    “It was clear that the reason the company made the decision to give that data was to refocus the narrative on the strength of the demand profile, as they continue to field questions related to Open AI related spending shifting from 1 of the 4 to another of the 4, or the pressure of ASICs, which come from these 4 customers,” Moore wrote to clients, referring to application-specific integrated circuits.

    Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said the slide was “only scratching the surface” on demand. Beyond the four largest customers, he said others are also likely “all in line looking to get their hands on as much compute as their budgets allow.”

    Another takeaway for Moore was the growth in physical AI, which refers to the use of the technology to power machines’ actions in the real world as opposed to within software.

    At previous GTCs, Moore said physical AI “felt a little bit like speculative fiction.” But this year, “we are now hearing developers wrestling with tangible problems in the physical realm.”

    Truist analyst William Stein, meanwhile, described physical AI as something that’s “starting to materialize.” The next wave for physical AI centers around robotics, he said, and presents a potential $50 trillion market for Nvidia.

    Stein highliughted Jensen’s demonstration of Isaac GR00T N1, a customizable foundation model for humanoid robots.

    Several analysts highlighted Huang’s explanation of what tariffs mean for Nvidia’s business.

    “Management noted they have been preparing for such scenarios and are beginning to manufacture more onshore,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. “It was mentioned that Nvidia is already utilizing [Taiwan Semiconductor’s’] Arizona fab where it is manufacturing production silicon.”

    Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said Huang’s answer made it seem like Nvidia’s push to relocate some manufacturing to the U.S. would limit the effect of higher tariffs.

    Rasgon also noted that Huang brushed off concerns of a recession hurting customer spending. Huang argued that companies would first cut spending in the areas of their business that aren’t growing, Rasgon said.

    This post appeared first on NBC NEWS