Deutsche Bank, Aspermont, Tencent: Where the tech boom starts

Deutsche Bank: How digital can it get?

The Deutsche Bank share is anything but an insider tip. The stock has lost some ground in recent weeks, but the current price trend is nothing more than summer weakness. The bank has shrunk in recent years and is no longer the world-class bank it once was. Nevertheless, there is hope. Trading in bonds and equities, in particular, brought the bank a profit again in the year's first quarter. At the same time, the bank is closing a fifth of its branches by the end of the year. The extent to which such a strategy is intended to retain customers who pay money for banking services remains an open question. Via videoconferencing, there are already numerous other providers luring customers with digital solutions and low fees. Deutsche Bank is therefore entering difficult territory. Nevertheless, a success of the cost-cutting measures should go down well on the stock market.

One risk associated with Deutsche Bank remains its high dependence on investment banking. In recent years, the "blue bank" has repeatedly initiated innovations in other areas. Still, all too often, the ideas failed due to excessively high fees or were scrapped in strategy changes. The stock is quite solid, and Deutsche Bank is making progress - for example, in refinancing. But the stock is not a high-flyer.

Aspermont: Analysts see 200% potential

The Aspermont share, on the other hand, could be such a high-flyer. The Australian media company is known globally - after all, it publishes renowned mining magazines such as Mining Magazine. For some years now, Aspermont has been digitally positioned and uses the business relationships it has built up over decades for new approaches. In the meantime, there are also corresponding publications or e-learning offers for farmers or industrial companies. Most recently, the analyst firm GBC Research called out a price target of EUR 0.06 per share - based on the current price, that would be a threefold increase. The analysts emphasize Aspermont's five-year growth, profitability and especially the scalability of the business model. The services can be rolled out to more customers without any problems. Costs are hardly affected by this in the case of digital services. Aspermont's database includes a total of 7.1 million contacts, according to the Company. For investors, this is a great opportunity.

In addition to media offerings for companies and professionals around the commodities sector and industry, Aspermont also offers marketing platforms and helps companies come together. The shareholder structure is currently very concentrated towards the board and management, who hold more than half of the outstanding shares. Furthermore, around 30% of professional investors are on board, which also includes family offices. Private investors account for only about 16% of the investor base. Given the convincing business model, the existing growth and the compelling plans, private investors may take a closer look at the stock. The fact that the stock is a penny stock should not be unsettling. Aspermont is a healthy Company and quotations in the cent range are not unusual for Australian companies.

Tencent: When will the stock become attractive again?

The Chinese Internet stock Tencent is an excellent example of where a digital platform and the associated high scalability can lead. The specialist for instant messaging, social networks and online gaming climbed from EUR 15 to over EUR 80 between 2016 and 2021. But then came the crash. The central government in Beijing tightened the thumbscrews for tech companies and foreign investors took flight. Since then, the stock has lost a lot of ground. In the long term, however, this could also be an opportunity. Gambling on the Internet will remain a growth market in the future, and Tencent offers services in Asia comparable to WhatsApp and PayPal here. However, the share resembles a falling knife in the short term - cautious investors are better off not buying yet.

When in-demand products are digitized, advantages arise for both customers and companies. Top dogs in old industries, such as Deutsche Bank, are having a hard time realigning themselves. However, the Australian media Company Aspermont succeeded in making this strategic shift years ago. With a market capitalization of around EUR 45 million, the share is nevertheless still inexpensive and, according to analysts, could still rise significantly. The Chinese group Tencent has already experienced such a multiplication. Here, too, opportunities could lurk in the long term, but the negative points are Beijing's influence and the Company's already high level of awareness.