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Some stocks are best avoided. We really hate to see fellow investors lose their hard-earned money. Anyone who held Honey Badger Exploration Inc. (CVE:TUF) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 83% in that time. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 71%.
While a drop like that is definitely a body blow, money isn’t as important as health and happiness.
See our latest analysis for Honey Badger Exploration
Honey Badger Exploration hasn’t yet reported any revenue yet, so it’s as much a business idea as an actual business. You have to wonder why venture capitalists aren’t funding it. As a result, we think it’s unlikely shareholders are paying much attention to current revenue, but rather speculating on growth in the years to come. It seems likely some shareholders believe that Honey Badger Exploration will find or develop a valuable new mine before too long.
Companies that lack both meaningful revenue and profits are usually considered high risk. There is usually a significant chance that they will need more money for business development, putting them at the mercy of capital markets. So the share price itself impacts the value of the shares (as it determines the cost of capital). While some such companies do very well over the long term, others become hyped up by promoters before eventually falling back down to earth, and going bankrupt (or being recapitalized). It certainly is a dangerous place to invest, as Honey Badger Exploration investors might realise.
Honey Badger Exploration had net cash of just CA$769k when it last reported (September 2018). So if it hasn’t remedied the situation already, it will almost certainly have to raise more capital soon. With that in mind, you can understand why the share price dropped 30% per year, over 5 years. You can see in the image below, how Honey Badger Exploration’s cash levels have changed over time (click to see the values).
In reality it’s hard to have much certainty when valuing a business that has neither revenue or profit. Given that situation, would you be concerned if it turned out insiders were relentlessly selling stock? I’d like that just about as much as I like to drink milk and fruit juice mixed together. You can click here to see if there are insiders selling.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 6.3% in the last year, Honey Badger Exploration shareholders lost 71%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year’s performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 30% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares – and the price they paid.
Honey Badger Exploration is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on CA exchanges.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.