GameStop, wallstreet:online, Nikola - It goes on blithely

wallstreet:online - Pure growth

The transformation into a financial services provider with an integrated community continues unabated, as already shown by the preliminary, unaudited figures for the first half of 2021. According to these figures, the Group increased its revenue by around 57% year-on-year to EUR 23.8 million in the first six months. Operating EBITDA before new customer acquisition costs for the Smartbroker rose to EUR 9.0 million, as expected, and almost doubled compared to the first half of 2020 when this stood at EUR 4.4 million. Operating EBITDA does not include customer acquisition costs for the Smartbroker, which amounted to just under EUR 8 million.

Smartbroker's key growth figure, assets under management, rose to EUR 6.8 billion in the first six months, a threefold increase on the same period last year. These are in over 187,000 custody accounts, of which over 142,000 are customers of Smartbroker. The goal remains to open 200,000 accounts by the end of the year. Although growth weakened somewhat after the exceptional first quarter, also driven by meme shares, the already pronounced revenue forecast of between EUR 45-50 million is to be maintained. That makes the Smartbroker number one in terms of customer deposits and the clear number two among German neobrokers in terms of customer numbers.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that all areas of the Group contributed to growth. The reach of the financial portals averaged 376 million page impressions per month and increased by 37% year-on-year.

The market capitalization of the wallstreet:online Group is currently EUR 345.80 million. The neobroker Trade Republic, which the Berliners were already able to leave behind in terms of assets under management, brings it to an incredible EUR 5 billion. So there is still a lot of catch-up potential here.

Nikola - A new bride

Initially, a financial investment by General Motors in truck manufacturer Nikola was planned last year. However, after the allegations of fraud, General Motors distanced itself visibly. Now Nikola presented a new strategic partner in the form of German automotive supplier Bosch. The US Company announced in a press release it will purchase key components such as the fuel cell stack, the compressor, the power electronics and the control unit with sensors from Bosch as part of a strategic agreement. These will then be assembled into fuel cell power modules at Nikola's US plant in Arizona. The first application is said to be planned in the US version of the Nikola Tre FCEV.

Speculative investors could now get their money's worth with Nikola. After bottoming out in the EUR 9 area, the share has recovered to over EUR 11.45 in recent weeks. Exceeding the mark could generate price potential initially in the first target area at EUR 14.

GameStop - Analysts disappointed

Everyone knows the share of GameStop, at least since the meme hype when small investors in Reddit forums agreed to shoot the share "to the moon" to hurt hedge funds who bet on falling prices. The US video game retailer released its second-quarter numbers, which were encouraging thanks to a rebound in trading after the Corona lockdowns.

Revenue increased by just over a quarter year-on-year to USD 1.18 billion. GameStop narrowed its loss from USD 111.3 million to USD 61.6 million. However, the Company was well below the estimates of analysts. An investment is still not pressing due to the astronomically high market capitalization of USD 12.93 billion.

Monetary policy remains loose, and interest rates are historically low. As a result, the way is clear for growth and further rising capital markets. wallstreet:online is clearly undervalued compared to its neobroker competitors. Nikola is a speculative trading idea, and GameStop is not a serious investment at the current valuation.