09. February 2021 | 08:10 CET
Verbio, Desert Gold, Heidelberger Druck: Where you can get something right now
It is easy to bet on the future - especially on the stock market. Numerous business models compete for the attention of investors and the best ideas are rewarded. Sometimes, you have to think a little out of the box if you want to bet on the future. We look at three stocks and see whether they are suitable for future investment.
time to read: 3 minutes by Nico Popp
Author
Nico Popp
At home in Southern Germany, the passionate stock exchange expert has been accompanying the capital markets for about twenty years. With a soft spot for smaller companies, he is constantly on the lookout for exciting investment stories.
Verbio: How much future does this story have?
Verbio is one of the winners in the SDAX. Even before its inclusion in the index at the end of 2020, the value increased significantly. The biogas specialist wants to get a piece of the pie when it comes to sustainable energy sources. Margins were up, especially in the production of bioethanol and biodiesel, which gave the Company a good first half. However, the stock market sometimes takes a closer look and is more interested in the future. The future could be somewhat weaker than expected - after all, Verbio's business was already weakening in the second quarter of the fiscal year. Some investors took profits after the price rally of the past months.
But what is the real outlook for the share? Verbio has a solid future, even if the topic of bioenergy is no longer new. Most recently, an article caused a stir, explaining that, according to Verbio, four bales of straw would be enough to produce enough biogas to power a car for a year. Longtime stockbrokers reading the article will have been reminded of a long-forgotten small-cap that wanted to power the engines of cars in Africa with cotton. To be sure, there is considerably more substance behind Verbio. But the comparison makes it clear that there is now also a lot of speculation in the share price. The correction may continue for a while. Below EUR 33, however, investors should become cautious.
Desert Gold has good arguments in the ground
Anyone who has already participated in one cycle or another on the stock exchange knows that supposed future stories don't always have substance. It is well known that there are evergreens on the markets that are continually in vogue. One example of this is gold shares. While the market is slowly but surely realizing that the lockdown could last into the spring, resourceful speculators are thinking ahead: more government aid and further cash injections from central banks are likely to bring gold back into the focus of the broader investor community. The price performance of the Canadian Company Desert Gold last year shows how this can turn out. Between April and July, the share price tripled in Canada and has been correcting since then. In the meantime, the value has found a bottom just above the level of a year ago. But a lot has happened in the meantime.
Desert Gold has two promising projects in Mali. The flagship is SMSZ and it is located in the middle of a mining region where B2Gold, Barrick Gold and AngloGold Ashanti are also active. Desert Gold has made a name for itself in recent months with good drill results. Among others, 3.62 g/t gold over 42 meters or 6.28 g/t gold over 13 meters convinced the markets. The Company is currently drilling again to make its property even more attractive and opening up the prospect of production. If this succeeds, the share holds great opportunities for speculative investors. Gold has not only a long history but also a future.
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen: No buying panic!
A share that, like Desert Gold, was a penny stock until recently, but is nevertheless much better known, is Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. The Company faced digital transformation for years and suffered from a difficult industry environment. Now, however, the Company has turned the right screws in several places. Above all, the Heidelberg Company has cut back on personnel. Nevertheless, essential divisions caused sales to decline in the first half of the fiscal year, including the digital division. The pandemic has not left Heidelberger Druckmaschinen unscathed.
Despite the vaccines, the situation does not seem to be improving in the short and medium-term and the Company is likely to continue to produce poor figures in the coming months. However, whenever a company has to reposition itself due to the market situation, great opportunities also arise. The only important thing is the timing of the entry. There is no need to panic when buying Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. Even if the value becomes cheaper again, there is still a great risk. Bioenergy or something tried and tested, such as gold, appears to be more in demand in the current market environment.