share price copping a hammering, page-58

livewire The most-tipped small-caps for 2021

The #2 most tipped small-cap: EML Payments (ASX:EML)

• Percentage of votes in the top 10: 11%
• Market Cap: $1.4 billion
• Share price: $3.81 (Market close, 8 January 2020)

Having topped your 2020 small-caps list, EML Payments (ASX:EML) has been dethroned this year, claiming second place with 53 tips. The gift and prepaid-card provider was badly burnt during the pandemic sell-off in March, with its share price falling 79%. EML went on to make a miraculous recovery, rebounding by 229% from its low. For the calendar year, EML was still in the red -9.72% but has since recovered its losses, lifting 1.8%.

Dominic Rose of Montgomery Lucent Investment Management is confident the company's share price will continue to lift as businesses reopen, with the firm recently increasing its exposure to the business within its small companies fund.

"The recent encouraging vaccine news materially increases confidence in a solid earnings recovery in FY22," he said.

"Market estimates are for EBITDA to rebound 40 per cent in FY22 to $74 million, still well below pre-COVID expectations of $95-100 million."

First Sentier Investors' Dushko Bajic also tipped EML as his pick for the reopening trade, arguing he believes "they will be a big beneficiary of foot traffic returning more broadly in the economy