02. November 2020 | 09:07 CET
Ballard Power, Saturn Oil & Gas, Amazon - The profiteers of the crisis!
The profiteers of the first wave of the Corona pandemic are seen from the most recently published quarterly figures. The well-known FAANG stocks Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet (Google) were able to improve their balance sheets significantly. Besides some winners, the number of losers is much larger. These now either have to fight for survival or are swallowed cheaply by financially more robust competitors. The takeover wave should pick up speed in 2021, across all industries!
time to read: 2 minutes by Stefan Feulner
Author
Stefan Feulner
The native Franconian has more than 20 years of stock exchange experience and a broadly diversified network.
He is passionate about analyzing a wide variety of business models and investigating new trends.
The pike in the carp pond
Due to the sharp drop in prices, there are also great opportunities in the oil market to grow disproportionately through acquisitions. The prerequisite is that you are blessed with cash and have already localized the possible takeover targets. For John Jeffrey, the experienced CEO and Chairman of Saturn Oil & Gas, the current circumstances are just perfect. For Jeffrey, it is clear that buying in competitors offers clear advantages over its own drilling program. The current market capitalization of the Canadians is currently at favorable EUR 15 million. Targeted acquisitions would take the Company into new dimensions.
Strategically sensible
Understandably, Jeffrey is keen not to produce at a much higher cost in the future than at present. In 2019, Saturn Oil & Gas was by far the cheapest oil producer in Canada. At only around USD 12 per barrel of oil, the production costs were significantly lower than those of the large, well-known oil producers, which had production costs of well over USD 30 per barrel.
Change in management indicates growth
Only yesterday, the news came in that Saturn Oil & Gas will continue to strengthen its position. Wendy Woolsey is joining the team headed by Jeffrey on an interim basis. Woolsey herself has more than 25 years of experience in the Canadian oil and gas industry. She served as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Yoho Resources Inc. from 2005 to 2016 and before that as Manager of Finance at Baytex Energy and Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Symmetry Resources Inc. For Jeffrey, this is another coup and possibly a sign of further growth for Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. We can be excited about what will follow in the coming weeks.
Strong partnership
Good news at Ballard Power. The Canadians have reached a final agreement with the automotive giant Audi on the extended use of the FCgen HPS fuel cell stack. According to the press release, the marketing of the new fuel cell development can start worldwide and across all industries, including trucks and passenger cars. Previously, Ballard had only the right to use the stack for a limited number of applications, including bus, rail, marine, mining, construction, aviation and stationary power applications.
Caution advised
Despite the very positive news, caution is advised at one of the leading fuel manufacturers. After the ongoing strong correction, the resistance zone, which was successfully defended last week, has to hold at around CAD 16.50. If not, the next way would be the 200-day line, which currently runs at approx. CAD 13.50.
Unstoppable
One could guess that the figures for the third quarter would be positive. However, these even beat all analysts' estimates by a wide margin. Amazon increased its sales in the reporting period by 37% to USD 96.1 billion. Operating income rose to USD 6.2 billion, compared to USD 3.2 billion in the same period of the previous year. Earnings per share exploded to USD 12.37. Analysts had "only" expected proceeds of USD 93 billion, but they were clearly off target for earnings per share. They estimated this at only USD 7.41. With the recent lockdowns in almost all of Europe, nothing should stand in the way of an absolute record year.