Shares in online gaming company 32Red (LSE: TTR) have sunk by around 8% today despite there being no news flow released by the company. Clearly, this is rather disappointing for the company’s investors but, in the last year, its shares are still up by a whopping 230%.
Part of the reason for such strong share price gains has been record financial performance by the company. For example, in its most recent interim results 32Red reported total net gaming revenue which was 22% higher than the same period from the previous year. And with the recent acquisition of Roxy Palace, 32Red appears to have further top and bottom line growth ahead of it over the medium term.
In fact, in the current year 32Red is forecast to increase its bottom line by 62%. With the company’s shares trading on a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.2, this equates to a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.3. This indicates that today’s large fall in its share price is unlikely to continue and, for less risk averse investors, 32Red could be a profitable buy in the long run.
Also falling today are shares in Plexus (LSE: POS), with the oil and gas engineering specialist posting a fall in its valuation of over 11%. As with 32Red, no specific news flow has been released by the company to warrant such a fall, although Plexus has been hit hard by a declining oil price in recent months which has sent its shares lower by 46% in the last six months.
Despite this weakening of investor sentiment, Plexus is still expected to post strong growth numbers in the current financial year. In fact, its bottom line is due to rise by 57% this year and this puts it on a PEG ratio of just 0.3. Certainly, the outlook for the oil and gas industry remains uncertain, but with Plexus having a niche product which has excellent long term growth prospects, now could be a good time for less risk-averse investors to buy a slice of it.
Moreover with the company increasing its final dividend by 182% in the most recent financial year, it appears to be confident in its long term prospects and in its financial standing.
Meanwhile, mobile payments solution provider Monitise (LSE: MONI) continues to fall, with its shares down by another 6% today to make it a fall of 88% in the last year. And until the company can show a clear path to profitability which is backed by the market, it would be of little surprise for its shares to continue their slide.
Of course, Monitise has endured a highly challenging period which has included management changes as well as disappointing financial performance. However, it still has a very appealing product and a list of blue-chip customers which means that it continues to have turnaround potential.
The problem, though, is the length of time it is taking for Monitise to transition from a great product to a great business with a black bottom line. And with a pretax loss of £27m forecast for the current financial year, it appears as though things could get worse before they get better for Monitise.
