This new project changes everything: Deutsche Bank, Aspermont, Alibaba

Deutsche Bank: How digital is the share?

Deutsche Bank's share will be among the winners of 2023. Last month alone, the stock went up by around 11%. Over a six-month period, it has even risen by more than 45%. The reason for the share price rally is the interest rate turnaround. The higher the interest rates, the better banks can earn money with their bread-and-butter loans business. Investment banking also remained robust until the end - there was little sign of a crisis. But Deutsche Bank still has room for improvement in terms of returns. The solution to this problem is said to lie in ongoing digitization.

Years ago, the Company announced it wanted to focus more on areas where it could offer customers the greatest added value. Digitization is to play a significant role in this. In this way, security is to increase, and costs are to decrease. In order to bring a breath of fresh air into the bank, Deutsche Bank already sought increased cooperation with startups a few years ago. Anyone logging into their account today will quickly find such offers - be it around interest solutions or in other areas. So Deutsche Bank is on the right track. However, the digitization strategy will not bring the big breakthrough for shareholders. The reason: Deutsche Bank is too big and sluggish for individual projects to make such a big impact. However, the share remains solid.

Aspermont: Digital financing platform exceeds expectations

The Australian mediatech company Aspermont is more than solidly positioned. The Company comes from the traditional publishing business and stands, among others, for the renowned brands Mining Journal and Mining Magazine. In addition, Aspermont offers numerous other solutions for farmers, industrial companies and customers from the raw materials sector. A few years ago, Aspermont launched its digitization strategy and now rolls out its content predominantly digitally. The business relationships accumulated over decades are now also paying off in the event business, which Aspermont is driving both in physical presence and digitally. In 2022, Aspermont launched Blu Horseshoe, a financing platform with renowned partners, which has already processed 118 transactions in the first four months of its existence.

The Company sees this development as trend-setting. The digital platform is likely to be implementable in other markets as well. Proof that there is a market for such solutions has been provided. Coupled with the attractive media business, trade shows and other events, Aspermont offers comprehensive solutions for companies in the commodities sector and for growth companies in general. The research portal researchanalyst.com currently sees the stock as attractive: "The price-to-sales ratio of 3 with organic sales growth of 20% and margins of over 50% compares favorably with the peer group," according to the latest report.

Alibaba: End of the line?

The success of Alibaba, among others, shows that it can pay off to advance several synergistic and, at the same time, digital business areas. In addition to eCommerce and auctions, the Company also indirectly offers payment services, cloud solutions and all kinds of other projects. Customers can, therefore, hardly avoid Alibaba. Especially in China, the Company is strong and generates almost 70% of its sales. Due to the pandemic, economic activity in China weakened in 2022. Alibaba also felt the impact - for the first time in years, the Company did not publish full sales results for Singles Day. The eCommerce giant and Amazon clone also failed to provide a detailed outlook for 2023. The stock gained after the turn of the year but is currently consolidating. Even a share buyback program cannot stabilize the share price at present. In the long term, there is potential here, but in the short term, it can become turbulent.

Things look much more relaxed at mediatech hopeful Aspermont - the share price has been fixed around EUR 0.013 for months. This boredom can be a solid starting point for all investors convinced of the scaling story at Aspermont. For stocks such as Deutsche Bank and Alibaba, the drop seems more significant, given recent gains. Aspermont is also worth closer analysis for investors who otherwise tend to back blue chips.