Masayoshi Son, founder and chief exec of Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank, has called a reported ~$US18.5bn ($28.3bn) investment in WeWork “foolish”.
Last year, ongoing criticism about WeWork’s huge financial losses and strange corporate structure saw the firm abandon its listing aspirations. Enigmatic cofounder Adam Neumann also stepped down as chief exec.
Masayoshi Son has now given the office leasing start-up — which was privately valued at +$US47bn prior to its famously bungled IPO — a lowly $US2.9bn valuation in Softbank’s latest earnings presentation.
Son is famous for his wild pressos. This time, a series of slides shows three unicorns running toward the so-called ‘Valley of Coronavirus’.
Two unicorns get stuck in the valley, but one flies across the hole to the other side, symbolising how SoftBank sees some companies succeeding in the wake of the crisis. Somehow.
In Markets…
On Monday, European investors were buoyed by an easing of lockdown restrictions and proposals for a European Recovery Fund worth €500bn; that’s 4.2 per cent of Eurozone GDP.
US share markets also soared when drug maker Moderna reported “positive” phase one results for a potential COVID-19 vaccine. CNBC also reported that US Federal Reserve Chair Powell was committed to “using all tools to fight the unprecedented economic downturn”.
SMALL CAP WINNERS
Here are the best performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm on Tuesday May 19:
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
| CODE | COMPANY | PRICE | % CHANGE | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMP | Emperor Energy | 0.04 | 122.22% | $1.5M |
| E25 | Element 25 | 0.35 | 75.00% | $18.4M |
| CPT | Cipherpoint | 0.02 | 53.85% | $786K |
| VAL | Valor Resources | 0.002 | 50.00% | $1.9M |
| MNW | Mint Payments | 0.01 | 42.86% | $6.4M |
| NAE | New Age Exploration | 0.004 | 33.33% | $2.7M |
| BRK | Brookside Energy | 0.006 | 33.33% | $4.0M |
| OVT | Ovato | 0.024 | 33.33% | $13.2M |
| LIN | Lindian Resources | 0.015 | 31.82% | $6.4M |
| MPR | Mpower | 0.015 | 25.00% | $1.9M |
| AX8 | Accelerate Resources | 0.035 | 25.00% | $2.2M |
| XTC | Xantippe Resources | 0.003 | 25.00% | $6.7M |
| SBR | Sabre Resources | 0.0025 | 25.00% | $1.7M |
| ZIM | Zimplats Holdings | 10.60 | 22.54% | $931.1M |
| ASN | Anson Resources | 0.028 | 21.74% | $15.0M |
| CE1 | Calima Energy | 0.006 | 20.00% | $10.8M |
| IVZ | Invictus Energy | 0.025 | 19.05% | $9.4M |
| MXR | Maximus Resources | 0.039 | 18.18% | $1.6M |
| HCH | Hot Chili | 0.02 | 17.65% | $29.6M |
Emperor Energy (ASX:EMP) is working with large cap infrastructure provider APA Group (ASX:APA) to help get its Judith gas field in Victoria into production. The stock was up +120 per cent by lunchtime.
Advanced manganese explorer Element 25 (ASX:E25) has released its maiden ore reserve for its Butcherbird project in WA.
It was enough to give the stock a 75 per cent bump in morning trade.
Lindian Resources (ASX:LIN) jumped +30 per cent on solid grades from extensions to the Gaoual bauxite project in Guinea.
“The extensions will no doubt add considerable scale to the very high-grade conglomerate bauxite, further strengthening the significance of the Bouba Plateau and the entire project area, leaving no doubt this is a world class discovery,” the company says.
SMALL CAP LOSERS
Here are the worst performing ASX small cap stocks at 12pm on Tuesday May 19:
Swipe or scroll to reveal the full table. Click headings to sort.
| CODE | COMPANY | PRICE | % CHANGE | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTE | GTE | 0.001 | -50.00% | $1.3M |
| BAS | Bass Oil | 0.001 | -33.33% | $5.0M |
| CCE | Carnegie Clean Energy | 0.001 | -33.33% | $11.1M |
| CLZ | Classic Minerals | 0.001 | -33.33% | $8.2M |
| OAR | Oakdale Resources | 0.002 | -20.00% | $1.4M |
| DDD | 3D Resources | 0.002 | -20.00% | $6.3M |
| CTO | Citigold Corporation | 0.004 | -20.00% | $9.7M |
| TMK | Tamaska Oil and Gas | 0.005 | -16.67% | $4.5M |
| DRE | Dreadnought Resources | 0.005 | -16.67% | $8.8M |
| CUX | Crossland Strategic Metals | 0.005 | -16.67% | $5.1M |
| PUR | Pursuit Minerals | 0.005 | -16.67% | $1.8M |
| RDF | Redflex Holdings | 0.36 | -15.29% | $54.4M |
| IVR | Investigator Resources | 0.018 | -14.29% | $15.2M |
| KTE | K2 Energy | 0.013 | -13.33% | $3.9M |
| VOR | Vortiv | 0.105 | -12.50% | $14.6M |
| CXZ | Connexion Media | 0.014 | -12.50% | $12.1M |
| KGM | Kalnorth Gold Mines | 0.007 | -12.50% | $6.3M |
| GBZ | GBM Resources | 0.065 | -12.16% | $14.6M |
| ECG | eCargo Holdings | 0.022 | -12.00% | $13.5M |
Junior gold explorer Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) fell after announcing a capital raising.