BlackBerry and Corsair Gaming are two meme stocks that also have the potential to rise on the companies’ solid fundamentals. Wall Street Memes digs in.
So-called “meme stocks” are usually labeled so due retail investors’ buying frenzy that runs counter to short sellers’ convictions and Wall Street’s bearishness. However, some meme stocks present decent fundamentals and could also be viewed as a long-term investment.
Today, Wall Street Memes brings the case of BlackBerry and Corsair Gaming, two stocks that seem to match good fundamentals with their meme status.
$BB - BlackBerry
The Canadian cybersecurity company became very popular in the early 2000s on the back of its BlackBerry phone with QWERTY keyboard and multimedia features, such as camera.Bad strategic decisions led to the company losing ground in the smartphone space, so it shifted focus to cybersecurity and software.
Figure 1: BlackBerry CEO John S. Chen.
Since then, the transition has been quite a challenge for BlackBerry. The stock sank after 2008, and investors seemed to have little hope that the company could return to its glory days.
Such bearishness led the stock to be heavily shorted, drawing the attention of retail investors on discussion boards. In January of 2021, BB underwent a classic short squeeze, when shares spiked from $7 to $25 in three weeks. Short interest is now at only 7% of the float.
Figure 2: BB stock performance since 1999.
Despite enough skepticism, BlackBerry’s current portfolio of technology products looks exciting. Cyber security and IoT (internet of things) are the main pillars of the company today. The QNX platform used in automobile manufacturing is popular among auto makers due to its “excellence in cybersecurity”, according to the Canadian tech company.
Figure 3: BlackBerry FY22 revenue reporting and outlook.
Also, BlackBerry Ivy, the software developed in partnership with Amazon for autonomous vehicles integrated with AWS (Amazon Web Services),promises to innovate in the mobility space through high-speed connectivity and monetizable data.
Lastly,rumors have surfaced that Facebook would be interested in using "Blackberry Secure" to bring WhatsApp Messenger to the Enterprise vertical. It is even speculated (although it has been for many years) that BlackBerry's patent portfolio could be sold.
BlackBerry may be a meme play to many today. But even if meme frenzy fizzles, BB “hodlers” could still benefit from maintaining their positions intact, should the market see enough value in BlackBerry's software and cybersecurity portfolio.
$CRSR - Corsair Gaming
Shares of gaming company Corsair Gaming are heavily shorted today, at a short interest of 30% – and the stock has been gaining popularity on discussion boards for this reason. However, bearishness on the short seller side does not seem to match the decent business fundamentals and low stock valuations.
Figure 4: Corsair Gaming PC.
Despite having delivered second quarter results slightly below Wall Street consensus, Corsair proved that it can still grow the top line, even after the pandemic. Net revenue of $473 million, an increase of 24% year-over-year, looked strong and landed close to analysts’ expectations.
Beyond revenues, Corsair has also been improving on profitability since 2018. Segment gross profit climbed from less than $200 million then to nearly half a billion dollars last year. Total segment gross margin moved nearly 10 percentage points higher in the past couple of years, to 30% in 2020. See below.
Figure 5: CRSR gross margin data by segment.
On valuations, Corsair's trailing P/E of 14 times compares favorably to an average P/E of 25 times in the gaming industry. Considering solid growth opportunities – global gaming is expected to reach $257 billion by 2025 – Corsair’s earnings multiple does not seem to be overly stretched.
In the end, it is hard to pinpoint why such elevated short interest. One theory is general market forces in 2021 that have favored cyclical over growth tech stocks. Another possibility is insider selling, since several company executives have sold large quantities of CRSR in recent months.
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