2022's Top 3 Flops

Finnair - Corona isn’t going anywhere, and the couch potatoes are already booking caravan holidays for next summer. Sell.

Lemonsoft - Valuation is far too high, and the product isn’t revolutionary. It’s going to crash.

Incap - There’s probably nothing wrong with this company, but +286% YTD for an electronics manufacturer. I’m going to counter the market and bet on a bumpy 2022.

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  1. Qt

I certainly don’t wish for Qt’s decline. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t consider it impossible for Q4 to be the second earnings disappointment in a row. Worse than Q3, which would then trigger an even sharper decline right at the beginning of the year. On top of this, there are still high multiples, which offer plenty of room for a fall if the broader market also crashes.

  1. Kamux

This year’s poor performance will continue in Q4 and next year. Important personnel are leaving for Kesko and elsewhere, and people with the same surname as the CEO are starting to appear in top management. The CEO keeps forum members happy by occasionally increasing his ownership by 0.0001%, just like Hannu Lehto.

  1. Lehto

Good old Lehto has been reliable in this category, and this time it’s enough for third place. The blunders continue from one quarter to the next, with no end in sight. Skeletons abound in the closets. It’s still not as cheap as it should be. And there are no guidelines that Lehto couldn’t fall short of.

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  1. Savosolar - Always a sure bet. The only thing I’d worry about is the company going bankrupt before 2023. Though I guess it will stay afloat with new share issues. By the way, it’s in my own portfolio from early in my investing career, a modest -97% on the board.

  2. BBS - I don’t know much about the company, but I guess a deceiver will keep deceiving. Are competitors also passing them by?

  3. Betolar - Next year could be tough for the valuation if there’s no revenue. Or can it even be valued then?

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For it to flop, either the current high value collapses or the high growth expectation goes unseen. Underperforming is not automatically a flop. So, with these specs:

  • Qt. It somehow feels so tight that even a small rustle will take the price back to double-digit euros with a quick elevator. The market seems to be moving away from tech for next year.
  • Finnair. Even today’s price is higher than before Corona in relation to the split, when growth and expectations were already huge. Add Omicron, new restrictions, and Asia not opening up, and it will come down hard and fast…
  • Kamux. Things haven’t gone as smoothly as they should have, and competition has tightened even more than expected. It really can’t withstand even a slightly weaker quarter, and certainly not even the smallest profit warning. Then we’ll see single-digit numbers.
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  1. Fifax
  2. Betolar
  3. BBS
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  1. Kamux - A business that is too competitive, and Kamux doesn’t distinguish itself in any way. In addition, leaders change frequently, meaning all is not well beneath the surface.

  2. Finnair - It’s not yet Finnair’s time to shine.

  3. Cash - Money that isn’t invested in good and profitable companies in the stock market, regardless of the market sentiment, won’t generate anything.

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It’s easy to pick a couple of sure bets and one dark horse here:

  1. Valoe
  2. Savosolar
  3. Lemonsoft
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  1. Rivian - 100 billion valuation and no revenue. Has held its own relatively well but is inevitably going to the plank.

  2. Nightingale - approx. 200M market cap and revenue is predicted to be a few million in 2022 and even 2023. Either crazy deals will start to happen or one zero will be removed from the valuation. Inderes still isn’t buying this for their model portfolio.

  3. Domestic IPO market - sentiment is cooling, early in the year there were still entrepreneurs stumbling, and eventually buyers will run out when the price/quality ratio is poor and no one is interested in chasing a few quick bucks.

Honorable mentions QT and Betolar!

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  1. Lehto
  2. Kamux
  3. Citycon
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Let’s try a few larger companies here, although it’s likely that a smaller one might take the biggest hit:

  1. Outokumpu: this peak of Helsinki’s cyclicality will drop at least 50% when we go down the alpine slope.

  2. Metso Outotec: traditionally takes a good hit during downturns, and a minus of 40-60% would not be strange at all. It fell from €35 to €7 during the financial crisis, if I recall correctly, so there might be buying opportunities :slight_smile:

  3. Fortum: when macro data, inflation, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine don’t favor it, a minus of 30-50% is the least I expect to see.

Points 2 and 3 are in my portfolio; I’ll add more if they hit -50%.

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  1. Qt
  2. Savosolar
  3. Fifax
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Tecnotree

  • Just because I’ve accumulated so much of this in my portfolio, and if it crashes, at least there’s some joy - I knew it! But if it were a prediction for 2022’s winners, I’d put it there too.

Boreo

  • Just because it deserves a bit more of a beating for trying the Sievi trick.

Spinnova

  • It will drop to 1.x figures just because it’s not ready and secondly because I can get in cheaply - to wait for the future.
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1. Qt. Growth rockets are no longer favored in the market; people are moving their assets to safe Tokmannis and Sampos for protection.
2. Finnair. More coronavirus variants are emerging, and air traffic is still not returning to normal.
3. Lehto. The rising price of raw materials is eroding margins, and the company cannot pass on costs to end customers quickly.

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Their share prices might not crash too much, but…

  1. Lehto. I’ve already lost faith that they can make the business profitable. I’m increasingly leaning towards them shutting down. I’ve followed the company for a long time and I like their concept. Thank goodness I wasn’t invested in direct shares when the price hovered closer to €20. I’ve never invested in this, but it’s under observation in case of a turnaround.

  2. Savosolar. I don’t even know what to comment on this one. I’ve followed this for a long time too. Mostly out of curiosity to see how the story ends.

  3. Valoe. This gives off similar vibes as Lehto. There seems to be business, but I don’t know if anything will ever come of it. It’s under observation just in case they manage to get things running smoothly.

I was tempted to include Loudspring here too. It’s the only one I have money invested in, chosen randomly from a Kauppalehti listing back in the day. It’s been in my portfolio for about three years, and I’ve completely lost track of what kind of company it is – a bird or a fish :rofl:

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  1. Savosolar
  2. Loudspring
  3. Lehto

Their stock market journey over the past three years has been heavily in decline, with no turnaround in sight.

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I tried to put together a yet-to-be-introduced triple bet, the less popular the trio, the bigger the payout, right?

  1. Savo-Solar. The absolute favorite, though it probably won’t go bankrupt next year either.

  2. SSH. Small glimmers of hope in 2021 have suitably raised expectations, so we can correct investors’ misconceptions with a proper drop next year.

  3. Saga Furs. Shorting this one would even meet ESG criteria, wouldn’t it? Maybe fur farming will be banned next year, or even boomers and Russians will just realize the not-coolness of wearing a caged animal’s skin.

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  1. Savosolar
  2. Betolar
  3. Nightingale
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  1. Kempower
  2. Savosolar
  3. Nightingale
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Savosolar - the latest share issue was undersubscribed, bankruptcy might finally be looming this year
Nightingale - too much competition and too small a company to respond to it. I haven’t really bothered to look into this, but I have looked into Synlab, for example, and I don’t quite understand how this could grow enough to be a serious player
Spinnova - I like the company, but the valuation right now is completely reckless

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