Airbus, Kleos Space, Lufthansa: Investing like Elon Musk

Airbus: Waiting for the hydrogen aircraft

We all know Airbus as the European answer to Boeing. The Franco-German Company does almost 70% of its business in civil aviation. Helicopters are also an important pillar. In space, the Company currently makes about 20% of its sales. That means that Airbus is already well-positioned in an exciting future topic. The number of rocket launches is rising, and more and more satellites are being launched into orbit. As a result, this lowers the prices for such launches and makes more and more new business ideas promising.

As a kind of basic supplier for all aspects of aerospace, Airbus is also likely to benefit. The Company has revamped its space and helicopter divisions in recent months and made them fit for the future. Such measures are always well received by the market if initiated before a division delivers really poor figures or before a new market picks up speed. At Airbus, the timing was right in this respect. The stock benefits from full order books, but Airbus is no longer a growth stock. There is no dividend, and what will happen to civil aviation is also written in the stars. At least Airbus already has plans for a hydrogen aircraft. But it will be some time before that is in the air.

Kleos Space: Scalable business model with data from space

The satellites of the European-Australian Company Kleos Space are already in orbit. The visionaries have already launched Earth satellites into orbit twice. The business model: The satellites monitor radioactivity on Earth and send the data to an AI that analyzes it. The data processed in this way is intended to make the world's remote regions, in particular, safer. In concrete terms, this involves monitoring pirate activities, for example, or even fending off tugboats and smugglers. Kleos Space's potential customers are shipping companies but also intelligence services, border guards and the military. Since the prices for rocket launches and transport keep falling and Kleos Space only has to collect the data once and then sell the licenses multiple times, the stock could also be promising.

A few months ago, Kleos CEO Andy Bowyer gave an interview addressing the appeal of the subscription model. "Currently, we are developing our offering to meet the requirements of NATO, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, the European Commission and other key institutions. Our offering covers defense and security, regulation and environmental protection, and commerce. We are convinced that we can address many potential customers with our offering," he said, emphasizing that the Company has been working with potential customers for a long time and has received consistently positive feedback. The third satellite cluster is scheduled for launch in January 2022. As a result, the data quality for potential customers will also increase. In recent months, the share has consolidated slightly but still shows relative strength. Those interested in the business model can look into the value at their leisure.

Lufthansa: The crane is being plucked

In the case of the Lufthansa share, investors might get the impression that it is getting cheaper and cheaper the longer they watch it. The stock only survived the first year of the pandemic thanks to government aid and still has a high debt ratio today. What the future holds for civil aviation is up in the air. While many people will probably be happy to see family or business partners face to face again soon, there is no denying that the pandemic has changed things drastically. The short conference on Zoom is often more convenient than the half-day trip to Berlin or London. Lufthansa is also likely to feel the effects of this. The many debts are also expected to weigh on Lufthansa's figures for a long time to come. There are no dividends to be had here either. Of the three stocks that earn their money above the clouds, Lufthansa is the least promising.

On the other hand, Airbus looks better - with the long-term prospect of a hydrogen aircraft and its involvement in space and armaments, the Company appears to be well-positioned. However, the Group is unlikely to generate any momentum - the uncertainty surrounding civil aviation is too great. The situation at Kleos Space, on the other hand, is quite different. The business model is virtually unrivaled, and if the Company succeeds in convincing a critical number of customers, it can scale its data subscription business. The share is speculative but anything but uninteresting.