Fresh money for wallstreet:online, and K+S and Deutsche Bank in waiting position

Deutsche Bank - At a critical point

Deutsche Bank's start to the 2022 stock market year was ambitious and extremely successful. With the Federal Reserve turning away from its ultra-loose monetary policy to several interest rate hikes, the share certificates of most listed financial institutions jumped to new four-year highs and broke through long-term downtrends. But then came Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and share prices crashed within a few days because of concerns about excessive credit obligations. The share price of the Frankfurt-based Company has fallen by almost 50% since mid-February. However, there is a strong support area in the EUR 7.85 area, which could serve as a holding point in the long term.

The US investment house Morgan Stanley has revised the price target of Deutsche Bank shares downward, but with a price target of EUR 12.00 after EUR 14.90 and the rating "Equalweight", it still sees significant potential compared to the current price. Analyst Magdalena Stoklosa forecasts a 7% year-on-year decline in Q2 earnings for European investment banks. Business in asset and wealth management is also likely to have been weak, the expert said.

wallstreet:online - Setting sail for expansion

Of course, few stocks have escaped the general market correction of recent months. In the peer group comparison, however, wallstreet:online AG, which will soon trade under the name Smartbroker Holding AG, still stands tall. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the extremely successful figures for the past year 2021 and, on the other hand, the forecasts regarding the growth and development of the optimized Smartbroker 2.0. Despite the transitional year, the Company expects a 25% increase in sales to between EUR 62 million and EUR 67 million, while operating EBITDA after customer acquisition costs is expected to grow from EUR 4.4 million to between EUR 10 million to EUR 12 million. In addition, securities accounts are expected to increase by 22% to 300,000 by the end of 2022, and assets under custody are expected to break through the EUR 10 billion sound barrier in the course of the year, reaching around EUR 10.3 billion by the end of the year.

However, the planned launch of "Smartbroker 2.0" and the establishment of the Company's brokerage infrastructure should allow the enormous economies of scale to take effect. The primary prerequisite for implementing this model is an increase in the KWG license. In order to expand the growth areas of the group, a capital increase has now been placed, generating gross proceeds of around EUR 10 million.

A total of 580,000 no-par bearer shares were issued, increasing the Company's share capital by just under 4% to EUR 15.6 million. The placement price per new share was EUR 17.30. The fact that more than half of the new shares were subscribed to by members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board is very encouraging.

Matthias Hach, CEO of wallstreet:online AG and wallstreet:online Capital AG on the latest capital increase: "We are in the fortunate position of being able to finance the growth of Smartbroker from current revenues - to a large extent our successful media business contributes to this. Nevertheless, we decided to carry out the capital increase at short notice, enabling us to accelerate our ambitious plans once again. At the same time, the Board of Executive Directors and the Supervisory Board are sending a clear signal to the market: 'We stand behind our ideas and goals 100%'."

K+S AG - Easy come, easy go

The roots of the K+S Group go back to the 19th century. At that time, miners in Germany developed the first potash deposits. Today, the K+S Group is the world's fifth largest potash producer and an internationally oriented raw materials company with production sites in Europe and North America, employing more than 11,000 people.

As a result of the sanctions against Uralkali and Belaruskali, we reported in detail in a detailed K+S report, which were responsible for around 35% of potash production worldwide in recent years, Western suppliers now had to compensate for the shortage in supply. With a view to a dazzling year as a whole, forecasts for the year were revised back in March. The Kassel-based company now expects an operating result (EBITDA) of between EUR 1.6 billion and EUR 1.9 billion.

After an exaggeration of the potash price, a correction is currently taking place. In addition, there is a lack of urgently needed natural gas, as a result of which the producers that have been hyped in recent months have lost ground. The price of the K+S share then gave up the entire gains of the increase since the Russian invasion and is currently trading at the breakout level of early March at around EUR 20. The technical indicators would even allow for a further loss to the support area around EUR 16. Nevertheless, anti-cyclical investors should watch the stock.

In the past months, shares of banks and financial service providers came under the wheels despite several interest rate hikes. Starting next week, the reporting season for the second quarter begins. Due to the increase in the interest margin, positive surprises could follow at Deutsche Bank. wallstreet:online receives fresh money from its own ranks and can continue its strong growth. K+S could become interesting at the current level.