wallstreet:online, flatexDEGIRO, Facebook: Which broker share is the best?

wallstreet:online: Media + Brokerage = Success?

One example is wallstreet:online. The Company, which many private investors know because of the portal of the same name or the news site Finanznachrichten.de, has been operating brokerage under the Smartbroker brand for more than a year. During its first year, Smartbroker exceeded all expectations and attracted numerous new customers. There were a total of 80,000 in the first year. By the end of 2021, this figure is expected to rise to 200,000 customers. At the same time, the Company has invested in qualified personnel and, in addition to CEO Mattias Hach (previously Comdirect, flatex, ViTrade), has also brought financial expert Roland Nicklaus from the Supervisory Board to the Management Board as CFO. The goal: to address investors even better.

wallstreet:online is pursuing a business model focusing on the media business and establishing the Smartbroker as an attractive alternative to existing providers. After the already good figures for customer growth, the quality also seems to be convincing: Only recently, Smartbroker received the grade "very good" three times in the broker test of the Handelsblatt. wallstreet:online wants to dovetail its media even better with its brokerage and make it possible for customers to trade directly from forums or articles. It will increase sales and also make the portals even more attractive. The share continues to be on an upward trend, with the price rising like clockwork for more than a year.

flatexDEGIRO: What is next after 2020?

The share price of wallstreet:online competitor flatexDEGIRO has also performed well. Most recently, analysts have been concerned about whether trading revenues would continue to be as robust in the second or third quarter as they have been so far. As a result, the share price fell a little. Investors will find out how business is going at the end of June - that is when the Company presents their figures. flatexDEGIRO offers several brokerage brands and focuses primarily on low prices. Furthermore, the Company has developed a core banking system that provides white-label solutions to business customers.

In 2020, the Company's revenue was EUR 261 million, with profit reaching almost EUR 100 million. Within 2019 and 2020, the Company managed to significantly increase its number of customers, partly due to the acquisition of DEGIRO. In 2020, flatexDEGIRO had around 1.3 million customers. The number of transactions also multiplied last year. Thanks to its full banking license, flatexDEGIRO can offer various financial services. However, whether the value currently still has so much imagination after the growth that has already taken place remains an open question.

Facebook: This is how it is done!

Facebook, on the other hand, is also doing good business in the media sector. The Company shows how effectively a media offering can support sales: Users are offered personal ads and content that fits their usage habits. In this way, Facebook has risen into the "Big Five" of the major tech groups. Today, the Company is valued at around EUR 770 billion. The launch of its dating service in the US shows that new products can also be effectively brought to market in Facebook's universe. That this project will be a success seems preprogrammed. Even the Facebook network, which has been a bit out of fashion of late, has recently increased its daily users. And for those who have turned their backs on Facebook, the Company has alternatives in the form of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Facebook's success is likely to continue. Although tech stocks have been punished a little recently, this is likely to be only a temporary weakness, at least for the big players in the industry - their market position is too big. Smaller companies, on the other hand, can learn from Facebook. wallstreet:online also has many relevant media in its portfolio in the German-speaking region that deal with financial investments. Like Facebook, wallstreet:online could convert the interactions there into new customers and sales for its Smartbroker even more effectively in the future. In the brokerage sector, the wallstreet:online share has the edge because of its promising media holdings.