Gazprom, Desert Gold, TeamViewer - Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Gazprom - P/E ratio of 3!

The world's largest natural gas producer is a classic example of how political and country risks can negatively impact a company's valuation. Gazprom controls the Russian gas industry to a large extent and has a monopoly on natural gas exports. The Company owns the world's largest natural gas pipeline network with a total length of 171,200 kilometers. The Russians account for 15% of global production. The majority is consumed domestically, with exports to more than 30 countries.

The commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline would allow the Russian state-owned Company to significantly expand its footprint in Europe once again. Despite all the problems, a start-up this year seems likely. The industry leader brings a market capitalization of USD 111 billion, valuing it at just 0.7 times expected 2022 sales. On the earnings side, the discounts become even more pronounced. The 2022 P/E ratio is a modest 3! Comparable commodity companies are valued at least twice as high. Analysts believe the shares will rise 27% this year. The estimated 15% dividend yield is on top of that.

Desert Gold Ventures - January is going to be hot!

Desert Gold Ventures focuses on gold deposits in Mali, West Africa. The state is the continent's fourth-largest gold producer. The SMSZ project, named after the shear zone between Senegal and Mali (Senegal-Mali Shear Zone), is the key asset. The property covers a vast area of 410 sq km and is the region's largest contiguous non-producing land package.

Geographic proximity to several producing Tier 1 gold mines underscores the potential. Late in the year, the Company reported new drill targets, among other things. More importantly, however, was the announcement that the first NI 43-101 compliant resource for the SMSZ project will be released before the end of January. The share price should then be much higher. Currently, the market capitalization is a moderate CAD 21 million.

Recently, the Canadians announced to have started follow-up drilling on Gourbassi West North Zone on a planned length of 1,500m. The Gourbassi West North target is located in the southwestern portion of the SMSZ project and showed a new near-surface gold discovery last year. Upon completion of the drilling campaign, the nearby Mogoyafara South and Linnguekoto West zones will be targeted.

Jared Scharf, President and CEO of Desert Gold, stated, "After being chased away by rains last season and only being able to complete one drill fence on this target, we are very pleased to be able to drill again so soon. This target is very exciting as it appears to be the widest gold zone we have seen on the entire property package. This initial program should be completed quickly, and results will be released as soon as they are available."

TeamViewer - Not yet done

Even the best jurisdiction or cast of megatrends will not help if a company has the wrong focus. Founded in 2005, the Göppingen-based Company has established itself as a major connectivity solutions provider. These make it possible to remotely access, control, manage, monitor and repair devices of all kinds. TeamViewer's software has been installed on more than 2.5 billion devices worldwide. In addition to residential customers, the Company also has more than 600,000 paying enterprise customers.

The stock market story also started well, and the stock was considered a digital Corona profiteer. But in 2021 came the crash. Far too expensive sponsorship deals costing the Company about 10% of revenue, weaker-than-expected business performance, and profit warnings sent the share price plummeting. On the way to regaining lost investor confidence, the departure of the CFO was an insignificant side note. The question of the long-term profitability of the business model remains. With a market capitalization of 2.4 billion, the Company is still valued at 5 times sales. If TeamViewer does not surprise positively soon, the share could drop even further and then the Göppingen-based Company would be a takeover target.

Gazprom attracts with a very low company valuation and a princely dividend. TeamViewer is turnaround speculation, although even lower prices are more likely. We see the greatest potential in the Desert Gold share. The size and quality of the project will not disappoint patient investors. The first resource estimate will be published this month.