Tech Talk: here’s what’s happening with the more than 200 ASX tech stocks

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The small cap ASX tech sector has got the lot – artificial intelligence, blockchain, SaaS, drones, gamers, Internet of Things, wearables, telecommunications. Oh my.

But since we last checked in on the tech kids, it’s been a rough two months. Of the 230-odd ASX tech stocks, only 46 have seen improvements in share price value since late October, while 162 have lost value. 

On an unweighted average, ASX tech stock shares have fallen 10 per cent over the past two months.

Some of this is undoubtedly due to global market conditions, which have hit tech stocks particularly hard.

Back home, the biggest winner in the past two months has actually been the beleaguered diversified telco Inabox Group (ASX:IAB).

The company was hit hard by a profit downgrade a little over a year ago, when it lost several customers from a business that it acquired. Its shares dove and it started to go on the lookout for solutions.

That answer has come in the form of a $34.5 million takeover offer by telco MNF Group (ASX:MNF) for the company’s operating subsidiaries.

It’s helped Inabox regain all of the value it lost in the past year, rising 105 per cent to 98.5c at close on Tuesday.

Kids smartwatch maker MGM Wireless (ASX:MWR) is another on the winners’ list, having risen 63 per cent in the past two months to trade at $4.83 at close on Tuesday.

The company, which makes a smartwatch designed to keep kids safe by limiting access to the internet and social media, hit its highest point since 2017 earlier this month after signing a New Zealand distribution deal.

Spark, a $6.6 billion dollar telecommunications provider, is now stocking MGM’s “Spacetalk” smartwatch in its 73 New Zealand stores.

WhiteHawk (ASX:WHK) is another, up 33 per cent to 5.6c in the past two months, largely thanks to a deal with the United States government.

WhiteHawk is a cloud-based cyber security exchange platform that offers virtual consultations and in early November it became the US government’s latest cyber risk consultant.

It told investors it will provide a tailored version of its 360 Cyber Risk Framework service to various US government departments so they can beef up defences against attacks on their supply chains.

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And 3D mapper Pointerra (ASX:3DP) has also been on the rise, in part because of two monthly subscriptions for data management in the emerging autonomous car sector it secured in October.

Pointerra makes cloud-based technology that manages the huge amounts of data contained in 3D files such as maps. It provides super-detailed mapping datasets without the need for high-performance computing.

One of the unnamed clients was described as “one of North America’s leading mobile mapping companies, which provides production mapping software for the Autonomous Driving industry”.

Down the other end of the scale, Dropsuite (ASX:DSE) is the biggest loser, dropping 73 per cent in the past two months to be trading at 3.4c at close on Tuesday.

The email backup provider Dropsuite had a huge fall in paying users, losing some 420,000.

It’s a big reversal of fortune for shareholders after DropSuite went on a huge run mid-year.

The stock climbed almost 500 per cent from 2.7c in May to a high of 16.2c in July on the back of higher customer numbers and cash receipts.

In July the stock jumped 40 per cent after it netted 100,000 new paid users over a three-week period thanks to an “extensive marketing campaign”.

Dropsuite had 750,000 paid users at the end of August — up from 189,000 in same period last year “driven by massive growth in email backup”.

But that number halved to 350,000 after a Latin America client “deactivated the backup service for an estimated 420,000 paid users … who were deemed as not actively utilising their email service”.

Tech bellwether stock Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) is also down 50 per cent to $2.86 as it tries superannuation and credit cards to arrest a slump.

This is a table of ASX-listed tech stocks and their share price changes over the past two months. Click headings to sort

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