Palantir, wallstreet:online, Commerzbank - Significant steps

Commerzbank - Is the state bidding farewell?

Is the German government realizing a loss of EUR 4 billion and selling its built-up share package, which was built up in 2008 as part of the state rescue during the financial crisis? US investor Cerberus, which has already been a major shareholder in Frankfurt since 2017 with a stake of around 5%, is at least interested.

As reported by Handelsblatt, several meetings have already taken place with the US. In addition to Finance Secretary Jörg Kukies, Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz was present at least once. The federal government still owns a total of 15.5% of Commerzbank, and a sale is being advocated above all by the liberals.

Analyst Tobias Lukesch takes a positive view of the current situation at the Frankfurt-based bank. The restructuring potential, the interest rate potential and the privatization make the experts from Kepler Chevreux optimistic so that a "buy" rating with a price target of EUR 7.50 was assigned.

wallstreet:online - Significant price potential

With a buy rating and a price tag of EUR 37.70, the stock of wallstreet:online AG was rated by analysts at GBC AG. The experts see significant price potential following the half-year figures and the confirmed forecasts for the full year 2021. Indeed, the current share price of the Berlin-based Company is EUR 22.90 after a period of weakness. Compared to the competition, however, the price shows relative strength.

The euphoria of the experts at GBC is based on the continuation of the dynamic growth trend of the first six months. Compared to the same period of the previous year, consolidated sales on a pro forma basis increased significantly by 57% to EUR 23.80 million. The jump in sales was mainly driven by organic growth effects. New records were also set in terms of customer growth. In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the number of customers increased by around 70,000 to almost 190,000. Assets under management exploded by 59% to EUR 6.80 billion.

The team around CEO Matthias Hach was able to confirm the previous company guidance. Accordingly, the Management Board continues to expect a year-on-year increase in sales to approx. EUR 45.0 million to approx. EUR 50.0 million and an increase in operating EBITDA to between EUR 4.00 million and EUR 6.00 million. Overall, the analysts of GBC AG are convinced that the wallstreet:online group should succeed in significantly expanding its market positions in both core business areas, social & media and online brokerage, as part of the initiated transformation into a financial services provider with an integrated financial community, and thus continue its dynamic growth course.

The even closer integration of the two core business areas in the future and the resulting advantages should enable the Company to additionally drive forward its future revenue and earnings performance. Launching a new smartphone app and a new trading interface in the first half of 2022 should generate new revenue momentum.

Palantir - In the army now

A significant order for data analytics specialist Palantir Technologies led to a 9% share price rally. The software company announced that it has been selected by the US Army's Program Manager for Intelligence Systems and Analytics to provide the Army's Intelligence Data Fabric and analytics foundation for the Capability Drop 2 (CD-2) program.

Palantir said it will deploy the Palantir Gotham platform to support Army intelligence users worldwide with a globally federated intelligence data fabric and analytics platform that includes multiple security classifications.

"We look forward to continuing to work with PEO IEW&S and the Army's Intelligence Community in delivering new and exciting technologies to support their modernization efforts," said Doug Philippone, Global Defense Lead at Palantir.

Online brokers were among the crisis winners due to increased trading activity and rising customer numbers; however, growth is slowing across the board. wallstreet:online's dovetailing of a financial community and online broker gives it a unique selling point and significant upside potential, analysts say. Commerzbank, like Palantir, could continue its turnaround.