q.beyond, Blackrock Silver, Navstone - New name, new focus, undiscovered potential?

Q.BEYOND AG - Profiteer of digitalization

In May 2020, QSC AG renamed itself q.beyond. QSC went public 21 years ago, almost to the day. The Company wanted to capture a significant share of the market for high-speed Internet access. Back then, SDSL, which today seems more like the "Stone Age" given the 5G perspective. The enormous technological change in the telecommunications and Internet industry has made many business models obsolete over time but has given rise to even more. Topics such as cloud or IoT are among the disruptive trends of digitalization.

In 2019, the Company sold its stagnating telecommunications business as part of a strategic realignment. With the associated complete repayment of financial liabilities and the available net liquidity, the Company held out the prospect of acquisitions. q.beyond has evolved into a cloud, SAP and IoT specialist. The Company stands out positively in the highly fragmented market due to two aspects. First, q.beyond covers almost the entire digital value chain through combined expertise in cloud, SAP and IoT. Secondly, it is the strategic focus that the Company places on a few industries (including retail, manufacturing, energy) and can demonstrate a great deal of expertise. Another development is also exciting - the Company was recently named top supplier by the EHI Retail Institute for the Zero-Waste Assistant installed at Fressnapf. This sustainability solution aims to reduce merchandise destruction and make predictive price adjustments. This facet represents added value for customers and significantly complements the range of services and increases marketing opportunities. Ultimately, the strategic realignment will be reflected in significantly rising margins in the medium term.

The figures for the past fiscal year do not yet reflect the success of the transformation. Analysts also expect a loss in the current fiscal year and a return to profitability only in 2022. For a long time, the dividend continuity of EUR 0.03 was considered unshakable. Now, no dividend will be distributed, for the time being, a good decision given losses. All in all, the analysts approve further upside potential for the share. The experts from Warburg are the biggest optimists with a price target of EUR 2.90.

BLACKROCK SILVER CORP - Commodity guru buys silver

Investor legend Jim Rogers recently answered in an interview the question of what he was currently investing in: "Silver." Rogers, who founded the legendary hedge fund Quantum Funds together with George in 1970, is referred to by many as a commodity guru, as he predicted a new commodity supercycle before the tech crash a good 20 years ago. But why silver in particular? Rogers cited several reasons for his favorite. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is based on the premise that governments no longer reduce their debts in the traditional way but through inflation. In the past, inflation and crises have always led to gold and silver rising as crisis currencies. Whether this argument will be weakened because of cryptocurrencies remains to be seen. Second, the much greater distance of the silver price from the all-time high than gold clearly speaks for silver. Third, Rogers pointed out that silver is also in demand as an industrial metal.

So if you trust Rogers' good nose and want to "leverage" the investment in silver, you should take a detailed look at the exploration company Blackrock Silver. The Company focuses on the exploration and development of projects in the "silver state" of Nevada. The most significant, historic silver discoveries in the US state included the Comstock Lode and Tonopah Silver District in western Nevada within the so-called Walker Lane Trend. Blackrock Silver's larger project, "Tonopah West," covers an extensive area west of the Tonopah Silver District. Blackrock's objective is to prove the western extension of the District and restore the Tonopah Silver District to a significant producing area. To this end, 40,000 meters are being drilled as part of the current drilling program. The goal is to be able to produce a resource estimate by the end of 2021.

In early April, the Company announced that it had entered into a land exchange agreement with Nevada Select Royalties and three other landowners. The agreement covers surface use rights of three patented mining concessions covering 14.3 hectares, which were a gap in the Tonopah West concession area and adjacent to the mining concessions where the Company is currently drilling. In exchange for the three patented concessions that allow Blackrock "surface rights" to a depth of 100 feet (30.48 meters) in the new areas, Nevada Select Royalties will receive the rights below 100 feet to approximately 5.5 hectares on the Blackrock properties. The deposit area is fully attributable to Blackrock. There is a lot of potential in the stock and the stock market value of around CAD 101 million is still modest.

NAVSTONE SE - New start as a real estate company, 45% discount to NAV!

Navigator Equity Solutions reinvents itself. The m:access listed Company has renamed itself Navstone SE, reflecting its new business focus on "real estate". The Company closed the past fiscal year with low revenues of EUR 0.2 million (previous year: EUR 5.7 million) but still a positive net result of EUR 2.6 million (previous year: EUR 4.2 million). Both figures are mainly attributable to the sale of the investment in the IT Competence Group. Further positive effects arose with the realignment of the investment in net digital AG and the associated share price development.

The balance sheet showed excellent figures at the end of the year. Equity increased by EUR 1 million to EUR 15.1 million, with a high equity ratio of around 87%. After deducting the shares held in treasury, the net asset value (NAV) is around EUR 3.30 per share. This valuation ratio, which is important for investment companies and real estate companies, shows a significant discount of 45% between the net asset value and the stock market price. Liquidity increased significantly to EUR 13.4 million as of the reporting date (previous year: EUR 9.3 million).

Navstone is now focusing on the acquisition of high-quality residential portfolios for rental in European growth regions. The current focus is on the greater Dublin area. The Company is also involved in real estate development projects throughout Europe, either as a financing partner or (co-)developer. Given the solid balance sheet and the high cash position, the Company is significantly undervalued at around EUR 12 million and a NAV discount of 45%.