Alibaba, MAS Gold, TeamViewer - The rockets for the turn of the year!

China passes new online data protection law

In its second pandemic year, China has passed a new online privacy and security law. With these decrees, the Beijing leadership is drawing attention to itself with socialist-style regulation. Structural borrowings from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the European plans to hem in the big platforms cannot hide that a user-friendly Internet is not the goal of Xi Jinping's all-around attack. As a result, the Chinese Internet giants face a new challenge to comply with the regulator.

Alibaba - Only 20% above its 5-year low

Since November 2020, Alibaba shares have fallen to EUR 96.70 without much resistance. A 12-month loss of over 50% now weighs on the books of loyal investors. For months, Alibaba Holding has had massive problems with the Chinese regulator, which wants more say and transparency in all business dealings. Now, however, cheerful tones came from an investor event in China. At this event, CEO Daniel Zhang and other management team members announced how the Company should continue. 2021 was marked by regulation, a drop in the share price, and weaker growth in the operating business.

Key levers are now expected to be overseas business, expansion into poorer cities and the cloud division. They have been formulated as clear medium-term growth drivers. The new CFO wants to reflect the success of the past pragmatically forward through sustainable and lasting management. The challenges are undiminished but doable, Toby Xu said. Investing in poorer areas of China makes sense, as the market is already divided into metropolitan areas of millions. Alibaba has been highly profitable for years and can easily afford additional spending in expansion.

Alibaba shares started a turnaround below EUR 100 but were slowed down by the current correction in tech values. For 2022, one should show courage at this level and add courageously. A revival of the BABA share can mean 25-50% plus very quickly.

MAS Gold - Big plans for 2022

Precious metals markets could be the focus of investors in 2022 due to rising inflation, as gold has been able to provide adequate inflation protection in recent decades with an average return of 7.8% per annum. The biggest rise in the yellow metal occurred between the years 1999 to 2011, when the price increased tenfold. Today it makes sense to invest in sensible properties that will see an appreciation in their resource as prices rise.

We find such a project in the Company MAS Gold from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. For years, this province has been shining with good legal framework conditions for commodity companies. MAS Gold owns a 100% stake in the 463-hectare Contact Lake property, including the former producing gold mine.

Now the next deal has been announced: According to a letter of intent dated mid-December, MAS Gold is acquiring a 100% interest in the Preview SW gold deposit from Comstock Metals Ltd. for the issuance of 30 million new common shares. The 843-hectare property is adjacent to MAS Gold's Preview North in the gold belt of the Lac La Ronge Provincial Park exploration zone. Synergies could not be better as geographic proximity facilitates the exploration and operation of a joint processing plant. The mineral tenure will increase by 158,300 indicated and 270,800 inferred ounces of gold in the form of historic resources due to the proposed purchase.

Comstock will provide additional financing of CAD 200,000 to be issued in the first quarter of 2022 in conjunction with contributions from MAS Gold to explore the Preview SW property prior to the closing of the proposed transaction. Final closing is expected in March 2022, following the annual general meetings of both companies. Under the proposed transaction terms, Steven Goldman, the President and CEO of Comstock, will join MAS Gold. As a result, the Company will have a highly experienced management team to integrate its valuable properties.

With currently 140 million shares, the Company is valued at only CAD 14 million on the price list. In our opinion, the combination of the two neighboring license areas makes great sense. With further exploration steps in Q1-2022, MAS Gold could really take off in the coming year.

TeamViewer - Noticeable revenue accumulation in December

Operationally, TeamViewer's share price has become somewhat quieter, having plummeted by a good 75% following three consecutive profit warnings. In February 2021, the share was still EUR 49.50, and at EUR 26, the stock was listed in the Prime Standard for the first time in September 2019. The share has been fluctuating between EUR 10.80 and EUR 12.20 for some time with a very high turnover. On some days, more than 2.5 million shares are traded on German stock exchanges, which is already a lot for a TecDAX stock. So this means that 1% of the shares change hands every day.

Perhaps the pandemic could once again prove to be a price driver because the Omicron variant is spreading faster and faster. A state of emergency has been declared in London, and the Netherlands is taking precautions and going into lockdown. If there are massive contact restrictions again, the services of TeamViewer are likely to be in demand after the Company was able to quickly close the security gaps around "LOG4J," according to its information.

Numerous rumors are currently circulating about the alleged entry of one of the large German software houses, which would like to acquire the remote maintenance software and the technologies around augmented reality. Should a viable offer land on the table, TeamViewer, which is weak in operational terms, will undoubtedly be quickly taken off the price list, in our opinion. An initial holding at EUR 11.60 makes perfect sense for the speculative investor.

Alibaba and TeamViewer have come under fire for different reasons and are trading not far from their lows. However, both companies have viable technologies, and in Alibaba's case, the business is even highly profitable. The currently announced merger deal will take MAS Gold to a new dimension once completed.