Scale market report: Up high and down low

Just put it on the index? This is not an option in the scale segment. Stock-picking is the order of the day here. Because some things perform very well, others not at all.
 

16 September 2024. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). Success stories and disappointments - the Scale segment has it all. While the price of the Verve Group - formerly Media and Games Invest - has tripled since September 2023 and Apontis Pharma and MPC Münchmeyer Petersen Capital have still managed to achieve price gains of 40%, many Scale shares have recorded losses.

Overall, this results in a Scale All Share Index that has barely budged or even lost ground slightly since the beginning of the year. The DAX, on the other hand, has gained 11%. However, the Scale All Share is not alone in this.  The MDAX and SDAX are also far behind the DAX, down 5% and 2% respectively since the beginning of the year. Although the US Small & Midcap Index Russel 2000 is clearly in the profit zone with a plus of 8 percent, it is far behind the S&P 500, which has risen by almost 19 percent.

The Scale All Share stands at 1,135 points on Monday afternoon after 1,168 points a month ago. The top performers on a twelve-month basis are currently the advertising software provider Verve Group (SE0018538068), POS system company Vectron Systems (DE000A0KEXC7) and pharmaceutical company Apontis Pharma (DE000A3CMGM5). Asset manager MPC (DE000A1TNWJ4) and financial services provider JDC Group (DE000A0B9N37) are also doing well.

2G Energy: Price setback exaggerated?

The high-revenue 2G Energy share (DE000A0HL8N9), which has fluctuated significantly for several years, has lost ground again after a good run in the first few months of the year. It currently costs EUR 20 after EUR 27 in May. The combined heat and power plant manufacturer recently delivered solid figures for the first half of the year. The company, which also produces heat pumps, generated a pre-tax profit of 4.1 million euros - despite a delay in total output due to bottlenecks.  

The analyst firm First Berlin then confirmed its buy recommendation and target price of 34 euros. According to the analysts, the increase in margins despite a decline in total output shows how well the industrial production process is now functioning. 2G is able to adjust costs quickly and flexibly to the level of capacity utilization. The analysts consider the recent drop in the share price to be exaggerated. 

Cantourage: business is up, share is down

Will the partial liberalization of cannabis in Germany be reversed? This sword of Damocles hangs over the shares of cannabis provider Cantourage (DE000A3DSV01). According to CDU leader Friedrich Merz, cannabis legalization is a mistake on the part of the traffic light government, and his party will reverse the law if it comes to power. The share, which had risen to over 11 euros in February, is currently trading at just 5.20 euros. Yet business is booming. Cantourage generated higher sales from January to August 2024 than in 2023 as a whole. “Our figures are good - and we are growing faster than the market,” explained CEO Philip Schetter in an interview with Nebenwerte-Magazin. As a company, Cantourage is still unknown to investors. “We need to work on this and continue to deliver good figures.”

The analysts at Montega speak of an extremely dynamic sales trend. “In addition, Cantourage was sold out in some popular product categories due to strong demand, so the actual demand would have allowed for even stronger development.” Montega emphasizes that Cantourage deals exclusively with medical cannabis and that this area should not be directly affected even in the event of a possible return to the status before April 2024. The analysts recommend buying the stock and believe it will return to 11 euros.

The Platform Group goes shopping again

According to Montega, The Platform Group is also undervalued. The software company for platform solutions is still on a buying spree. The stake in Simon-Profi-Technik and the Motorprofi.com platform was recently increased to 100 percent.

“The Platform Group is once again impressing with strong growth and is well on track to exceed its own annual targets,” explains Montega. Confidence in the corporate strategy is growing with an increasing track record and new investor groups could be won over. Montega names a price target of 13 euros and recommends buying in. The share is currently trading at 8.40 euros after 6 euros at the beginning of the year and a peak of over 10 euros in June. 

Price slump for Advanced Blockchain and Mynaric

By contrast, things are not going well for Advanced Blockchain (DE000A0M93V6) and Mynaric (DE000A31C305). The share price of the blockchain and Web3 company Advance Blockchain has halved since March to currently 3.52 euros. Most recently, the company also reported indications of an incorrect booking of token sales in 2023 - with a negative impact on consolidated earnings in 2023.

Mynaric, the specialist for laser communication technology for the aerospace industry, has seen a steep decline since mid-August. The share price fell from just under EUR 14 to EUR 4 within a short space of time and is now as low as EUR 2.30. The company had revised its sales expectations downwards and lowered its operating loss forecast. In addition, the CEO and CFO left the company and a Chief Restructuring Officer was appointed.