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UMT United Mobility Technology: AI support for small and medium-sized businesses

Zalando is not the only company looking to benefit from artificial intelligence. AI can bring real added value and improve the competitiveness of companies in so many industries and processes. This is precisely why UMT United Mobility Technology AG has developed an "AI colleague."

The Munich-based company has repositioned itself and is now an AI pure play. The "UMS Vision AI" platform aims to take SMEs in particular to a new level in process automation. This provides customers with a "digital clerk" that reads orders, emails, invoices, or customs documents in a wide variety of formats, converts them into a uniform data format, and enables automatic further processing. UMS Vision AI learns customer-specific characteristics, adapts workflows accordingly, and thus aims to achieve significant cost and time savings while reducing errors.

An example: A medium-sized company needs to compare an invoice with the delivery note and the original purchase order to identify discrepancies in quantity, unit price, or delivery terms. A human employee typically needs around 15 minutes for this task. The UMT AI automatically extracts all relevant data from the corresponding documents, processes it, and makes the information available directly in the company's ERP system, including notes on potential discrepancies. This happens within seconds, saving on personnel costs and freeing staff to focus on more productive and value-creating tasks.

UMT has already convinced its first customers. Sales efforts are currently being stepped up.

Zalando: Tax problem or buying opportunity?

Zalando has not been a source of joy for shareholders this year. The euphoria over a possible economic recovery in Germany only briefly drove the share price up to EUR 40. After that, the share price fell almost continuously and is now trading at around EUR 22 in a clear downward trend. Analysts see a buying opportunity, but a media report is causing concern. Blick.ch reports on possible criminal handling of misdirected shipments in Switzerland.

Misdirected shipments occur when the wrong products are accidentally or carelessly packed into parcels when orders are placed. For deliveries from Germany to Switzerland, these incorrect shipments are not cleared through customs because they do not appear on the order list. Subsequent customs clearance by Zalando has allegedly been deliberately circumvented for years. At least, that is what a former employee of a Zalando logistics partner reports. As a result, goods worth CHF 100 million were not cleared through customs. Zalando rejects the accusation that this was done deliberately. Swiss authorities are investigating.

Zalando certainly does not need this distraction right now. After all, analysts have recently been positive about the Company. UBS recommends buying shares in the DAX-listed company. They see Germany's largest e-commerce company as an AI winner. Analysts estimate the fair value of the share at EUR 42. DZ Bank also considers Zalando shares a "Buy". Analysts believe the growth story remains intact, even though they have reduced their price target from EUR 40 to EUR 36.

RENK: Expectations too high?

The controversial US peace plan for the war between Russia and Ukraine is already putting noticeable pressure on defense stocks on the stock markets, regardless of whether it is politically feasible at all. On an otherwise friendly trading day, RENK, Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, and Co. got off to a weak start to the week. The prospect of détente alone is enough for many investors to take profits in the defense sector.

The majority of analysts at RENK remain bullish. However, mwb is currently tending to put the brakes on. In their latest study, analysts have reduced their fair value for RENK shares from EUR 58 to EUR 55 and assigned a "Hold" rating. The reason for this caution is that analysts expect cyclical growth in the coming years. RENK is targeting revenue of EUR 2.8 billion to EUR 3.2 billion for 2030. However, mwb expects the mid-range to be more likely. In contrast, the market is already pricing in the upper end of the range. In addition, growth is expected to slow down after 2030, before the high-margin service business is likely to more than compensate for the decline in new business from the mid-2030s onwards - an exciting analysis.

Fundamentally, the RENK story remains intact: double-digit growth rates, rising margins, and a growing share of the highly profitable aftermarket business. However, this also explains the analysts' caution. From their perspective, most of these prospects are already reflected in the share price. Positive surprises are hardly possible.

In the current environment, stock picking is the order of the day. The overall market is struggling, but there are always interesting stories to be found. UMT is an AI pure play that aims to bring real added value to small and medium-sized businesses. The platform is in place, and now the sales team needs to convince customers. Zalando does not appear to be expensive and is approaching the important Christmas season. The tax issue should be monitored but not overrated. Defense stocks such as RENK appear to have run out of steam at the moment. However, this could change again quickly.