A look at how growth stocks are doing: NEL, Pathfinder Ventures, Deutsche Bank

NEL: Hydrogen on top

The Norwegian hydrogen giant NEL has published some positive news in recent months. New record orders and the growing interest of large industrial companies in the hydrogen sector give hope that the NEL share will move forward again. For some weeks now, however, the share price has been moving sideways rather than upwards. The situation looks better for suppliers of fuel cells. Plug Power, for example, has entered into a cooperation agreement with Amazon, and the retail giant is even buying shares in the growth company. A crisis of growth stocks does not look like that!

Nevertheless, it is worth taking a closer look at the business models. While suppliers of hydrogen mobility are currently on the verge of their products passing the practical test, innovative companies around hydrogen production are increasingly receiving competition from established industrial stocks. NEL is a stock that has potential, but its business model is not unique. Investors should be aware of this.

Pathfinder Ventures: Campground investment niche

Also a growth stock, but in an entirely different space, is Pathfinder Ventures. The Company is entering an area where primarily large real estate investors have been active up to now: Pathfinder operates and invests in campsites. The Company has previously operated in Canada, with a focus on British Columbia. The Canadian district north of the US state of Washington impresses with dreamlike nature and a comparatively dense population. Cities such as Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna are home to millions of people. In times of rising prices and travel restrictions, these people are increasingly looking for recreation nearby. That is where Pathfinder Ventures comes in with its three sites. All parks have excellent modern infrastructure and thus appeal particularly to families.

In the medium term, Pathfinder intends to roll out its strategy on an even larger scale and has announced acquisitions. The market for campgrounds in Canada and also the USA is extremely fragmented. In many cases, owners have been managing individual parks themselves for decades. Pathfinder Ventures has the expertise to identify promising parks and has the experience of efficiently investing in infrastructure on the ground. True to its motto, "By campers for campers", Pathfinder has become a brand with charisma. Some campground operators may prefer to sell to Pathfinder in the future rather than to other investors who often see campgrounds as "cheap building land" and close parks rather than continue to operate them. Pathfinder Ventures is a down-to-earth growth stock with a clear mission. Those who see a perspective in camping and trust the Company's expertise around campgrounds may want to take a closer look at the stock.

Deutsche Bank: Are growth companies more than fig leaves?

When it comes to financing growth, banks also play a significant role - at least in theory. In practice, financial institutions are very skeptical when it comes to providing capital to founders. Especially when business models are innovative, banks lack a reference. As a result, startups rush to the capital market or serve venture capital investors to advance their ideas. For banks, this often leaves innovative opportunities untapped. In recent years, Deutsche Bank has opened up to growth companies and, among others, supports the bus company FlixBus and the company tonies, which offers a playback device for audio games and music for children. So far, however, such cooperations have not paid off on the prices of bank shares. Even when it became known last year that Commerzbank must have made a good cut with fintech investments, this left the share prices cold. The bottom line for investors: If you want growth in your portfolio, you have to invest in growth stocks yourself.

Although interest rates are rising, the opportunities for innovative business models remain great. Firstly, interest rates are still low, and secondly, the cake is being distributed around future technologies such as hydrogen - anyone who does not invest now will probably be left out in the cold. But there are also prospects for traditional business models, such as the campsite operator Pathfinder Ventures. The Company also considers bank financing possible for acquisitions - unlike high-tech, Pathfinder's figures can be easily understood by any loan officer. The next few months will show how the Company can implement its plans.