Amazon, Aspermont, Zoom - Economies of scale without end

Unlimited possibilities

At Aspermont, the leading media services provider for the global commodities industry, an end to growth is rather unlikely in the next few years. On the contrary, the transformation from a pure publishing house - Aspermont's publications such as Mining Journal and Mining Magazine have a history of over 185 years - to a global online B2B service provider should mean rosy times ahead for the ambitious Australians.

Better than Netflix

The digital transformation strategy included launching an Anything-as-a-Service (XaaS) model for B2B media, distributing high-quality content at a cost to a growing global audience. Through its long history, Aspermont has gained over 7.5 million registered contacts from the mining, energy and agriculture segments. These are now to be integrated and monetized step by step into the XaaS model. In addition to industry news, customers will also be offered premium services such as research, data and live or virtual events on an individualized basis. Payment runs via a multi-level, personalized flat rate model.

Expansion only just beginning

Aspermont has established itself as the absolute market leader in the mining industry. The next step is to expand into other segments and countries by developing the disruptive B2B platform, creating huge economies of scale. The geographic expansion alone should make the cash registers ring in the future; only 7% of the 4 million active users are from Asia. The expansion of activities into China is, therefore, a top priority for the management. With a well-filled cash position of around EUR 4.6 million, Aspermont intends to grow inorganically by acquiring new holdings in addition to developing new products. A B2B financing platform seems just as likely as cooperation with an online broker.

Quarterly figures show growth

The figures for the past quarter have just been released. The gross profit increased by 22% to EUR 1.74 million compared to the previous quarter and the gross margin climbed from 58% to a strong 65%. Growth is seen in all segments. The Data segment with 140% should be highlighted. The segments XaaS with 25% and Services with 9% completed the excellent result. Overall, EBITDA increased by 10% to EUR 0.25 million. Currently, the figures are still at a low level. However, it is already apparent that the economies of scale are taking effect. The stock market value of Aspermont is currently EUR 44.53 million. If you want to invest in innovation and growth, this is the right place for you.

Growth instead of security

Like a phoenix from the ashes, Zoom rose from the ashes last year due to the Corona lockdowns. But its rapid popularity came at a price. Originally, the video conferencing service was intended for business-to-business use only. In the wake of the lockdown, however, the free service also became interesting for private customers, who arranged to meet for workouts and yoga classes, in addition to video calls. In turn, this prompted bystanders to join other people's meetings and contribute content, some of which was undesirable or repulsive.

Now users from the US have gone to court to sue Zoom for inadequate security precautions. The Company wants to settle the class-action lawsuit with a payment of up to USD 85 million. However, the settlement with the plaintiffs still has to be approved by the competent judge in California. The share opened with a loss of more than 5% but already turned back into the green zone in the course of trading.

Offline comes back

Online was the only way to store during the lockdown. As a result of the rising vaccination rate and significant relaxations, people are increasingly shopping in retail stores again. The fact that even Amazon's growth would weaken should hardly come as a surprise to anyone. Nevertheless, stock exchange traders were disappointed by the latest forecasts of the online retailer for the current quarter. The group held out the prospect of sales of up to USD 112 billion, a weakening in growth to a maximum of 16%. After the sell-off, the share price should stabilize in the USD 3,300 range. In the long term, we continue to see Amazon as the undisputed market leader.

Amazon received a dampener after the announcement of the figures. Concerning the chart technical situation, we advise watching the title closely, as with Zoom. In contrast, the share of the online media Company Aspermont is extremely promising in the long term.