MissionIR Small-Cap Investor Blog

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

OurPet’s Company (OPCO) an Undervalued Play in an Increasingly Hot Sector

Coming off of another quarter of record-breaking financials, with Q1 FY16 net revenues and net income up 10.3 and 24.7 percent respectively YOY, OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO) chairman and CEO Dr. Steven Tsengas recently told Austin, Texas-based IR/PR/SMR firm DreamTeamNetwork in an audio interview (http://dtn.fm/5z69S), that he thinks 2016 international sales could be one the biggest positive surprises from the company moving forward. This just after an extremely strong showing of the company’s new OurPets® Intelligent Pet Care™ line of smart products at the industry’s premier event, the Global Pet Expo, which is presented every year by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) and Pet Industry Distributors Association (PIDA).

Tsengas tipped his hand about international market traction horizons to DreamTeamNetwork in the aforementioned interview, explaining that the company’s OurPets and the PetZone brands were already seeing very strong floor play in China, Japan and South Korea, where the company has localized its initial efforts, and built up a tight rapport with consumers. With around 11 million dogs and 10 million cats (Japan Pet Food Association), Japan is a market that is noted for appreciating good design and should be prime development territory for OPCO, which should have no trouble adding to its position here. The same is true over in South Korea, where a similar cultural taste for ingenious design predominates, and where the pet population is on track to hit one million for the first time this year (http://dtn.fm/v0Vew).

The global pet market is a nice, stable growth environment for an innovator like OPCO, which is growing its retail footprint/consumer exposure via both its pet parent/prosumer OurPets brand and its mass market brand, PetZone. The latest Packaged Facts report that looks closely at the bullish scenario developing in the sector, with increasing interest by private equity and other M&A activity on the rise, lays out the case pretty well as to how there is plenty of room for growth. The continued strength of operators such as the country’s biggest rural lifestyle retailer, Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO), with its 1,500-plus stores and third consecutive year hosting Nestle’s (OTC: NSRGY) Purina Days last month, offers clear indication to the investment community about the true bedrock potential, and upper-limit scope of this market.

Underlying market dynamics like those driving the rise of TSCO have made other retailers and sector majors, such as Petco and PetSmart, hot properties for investors who are looking to cash in on people’s growing obsession with their pets. These same dynamics should also help propel lower-hanging investment fruit in the midcap range on down to new-found securities stardom. The market for pet products and services is currently on track to hit upwards of $91 billion in annual sales by 2019 (http://dtn.fm/vJ2I5), and you can bet your bottom dollar that the smart money out there is hard at work injecting further consolidative forces into this seemingly recession-proof consumer market.

OurPet’s Company is a great hidden gem type valuation story amid all this, and the company also has the IP/visionary design capability to surf the momentum with style, capitalizing on sector buzz in order to bring its exceptional product designs to light before the eyes of eager, pet-loving consumers. In the U.S. alone we have around 163 million or more cats and dogs, and the tendency to treat these pets like fully-fledged members of the family is steadily on the rise. This is a trend that OPCO is poised perfectly to benefit from with their OurPets brand of premium offerings like gorgeous, heavy-duty stainless steel feeding bowls that have a proprietary, patented, permanently-molded rubber ring on the bottom that prevents sliding and noise when the animal eats. Similarly elegant looking, yet robust and functional designs, each of them engineered with careful consideration of the animal’s needs, as well as the owner’s décor, have come to typify the OurPets brand in the minds of high-end and not-so-high-end consumers alike.

This dual brand approach by OPCO is ideal for courting the more lucrative high-end pet parent prosumer, and, as more people gravitate into this fold, OPCO will continue to shine more and more brightly as a design shop through the OurPets brand. The tendency for people to treat their pets like bonafide family members is on the rise globally as per capita incomes rise, and, in part, this may be due to the phenomenon of people who (as a country becomes more affluent) typically wait longer to have their first child, in which case the pet fills an emotional void.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com

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Agents Can Keep Afloat Despite Disruption with eXp World Holdings’ (EXPI) Cloud Brokerage

A study completed at Oxford University in the U.K. (http://dtn.fm/X1kBb) on jobs that were most likely to be replaced by computerization placed real estate brokers at number 40 out of the 702 positions surveyed, with a 97 percent chance of losing out to computers. Digital technologies are disrupting many industries, particularly those whose raison d’être is the reduction of information asymmetries. Upstarts like Airbnb and Uber Technologies have revolutionized business paradigms, and the waves of disruption are already lapping on the shores of the real estate domain. The real estate industry will have to keep up or give up. With its Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage, eXp World Holdings (OTCQB: EXPI) is offering brokers and agents the opportunity to keep up.

Disruption is the new buzzword, but it’s a reality as well. Now, homeowners can list a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) on ListingDoor, which Forbes has called the ‘Uber for Real Estate Sales’. If that is not alarming enough, the ListingDoor site proclaims that it has ‘Everything you need to sell and market your home FSBO, without the hassle of a real estate agent’. ListingDoor gives home sellers a complete market analysis with an Intel Report, which removes any information advantage a broker may have. A property owner is given a custom website to list his or her property. The best of the property can be highlighted in up to 24 images. He is provided with listing brochures and a colorful ‘For Sale’ yard sign printed and delivered next day by courier. In addition, the listing is syndicated to popular real estate sites such as Zillow (NASDAQ: Z), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) Homes, and Trulia (NYSE: TRLA).

The revolution has not quite deposed real estate agents and brokers, however. A recent research report (http://dtn.fm/nW6aM) on eXp World Holdings, issued by Fundamental Research in April 2016, points out that, for most Americans, the purchase of a home involves the largest financial outlay. It also cites statistics published by the National Association of Realtors:

‘…approximately 87 percent of buyers recently purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker (up from 69 percent in 2001), 8 percent purchased directly from a builder or builder’s agent, and 5 percent directly from previous owners. In the case of sellers, approximately 89 percent of sellers used a real estate agent when selling their home. For-Sale-by-Owner (FSBO) sellers accounted for just 8 percent, and such properties are typically sold to someone the seller knows.’

The changing landscape offers not just threats, but opportunities, as well. There are many advantages to working with a real estate agent, as this Forbes article (http://dtn.fm/e7X0C) points out. First, don’t try this at home; selling or buying a property is not as easy as it looks on TV. It will take you time to track down the specific information you require, and, even then, information is not knowledge. Only experience will allow you to use that information wisely. Second, a middleman focuses the negotiation on the factors that matter. Direct contact between buyer and seller risks bringing personality issues to the forefront. A deal can fall apart because the buyer doesn’t like the seller, even though he likes the house, or because the seller can’t bear the thought of his home falling into the hands of ‘someone like that’.

Thirdly, how up-to-speed are you on the legal issues? These can be notoriously arcane. Wouldn’t it be better to let a professional handle them? Fourthly, in a one-on-one deal, the maxim caveat emptor applies, whereas agents and brokers must follow regulatory guidelines and rules when conducting business. It’s possible, depending on state law, that a fiduciary relationship may arise, which means that the agent or broker is bound to put your interests ahead of his or her own. Fifth, for the buyer, monetary costs may go down before the sale but go up after the sale. The greatest danger for the lone ranger is not knowing what he does not know.

The Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage offered by eXp World Holdings’ wholly-owned subsidiary, eXp Realty, is a full service national real estate brokerage platform. Its cloud-based format reduces the costs associated with operating a brick-and-mortar office, yet, through a 3-D environment, provides all the services offered by traditional brokerages. In addition, agents can draw on services that include training and education, coaching and mentoring, and transaction and technical support. eXp Realty has already added over 1,100 agents and brokers operating in 40 states and Canada to its platform.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://investors.exprealty.com

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Monaker Group, Inc. (MKGI) Finding Success through its Personalized Shopping Flagship and Adaptation to the Increase in Mobile Users

The online travel industry has taken a more digital turn over the past four to five years. Many travel e-commerce websites allow users to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and more. These sites are normally booking or review sites. In 2014, online travel sales worldwide generated $533 billion, with this number expected to grow to $762 billion by 2019, according to Statista. Between 2008 and 2015, the number of people who booked online grew by 19.2 percent. The growth in the online travel industry has not just been limited to bookings, though. Travelers who admitted to using review sites to book their trips also grew by 10 percent between 2014 and 2015.

The online travel industry has seen particular growth on mobile devices. By the end of this year, it is expected that 51.8 percent of online holiday bookings will be made via a mobile device of some sort. People do not mind using a smaller screen to book a holiday, as businesses are optimizing their sites to suit mobile phones and tablets. Oscar Orozco, an e-marketing analyst, said, “Hotels, airlines, and online travel sites are better optimizing their websites for mobile bookings. As a result, people are finding a simpler and easier path to purchase and booking their trips right on their devices. This bodes well for the industry as a whole.” With this growth, the use of desktops and laptops has dropped, and the growth of mobile device usage for online bookings is expected to eat into this further for the foreseeable future, according to eMarketer.

Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI) encompasses all of the above in its business. The company is a technology-driven travel company made up of multiple brands. MKGI runs through its flagship, NextTrip.com. NextTrip offers its customers the opportunity to book every single aspect of their holiday on the Internet. From apartments and activities to flights and rental cars, NextTrip is a comprehensive booking platform that offers an all-inclusive service. With this platform, Monaker Group provides a personalized shopping experience that targets one of the most popular marketing trends of 2015 and 2016.

In the Growth Opportunity and Trends section of the Form-10K for Monaker Group, published in late June of this year, it says: “Our achievement of these objectives will further depend on our ability to successfully enable more online bookable listings”. This is made possible thanks to its numerous brands and platforms. In addition to this, the company has adapted its sites for use by mobile users and has continued to offer its customers a personalized way of shopping.

For more information, visit www.monakergroup.com

Moxian, Inc. (MOXC) Offering Customers a Personalized User Experience

In the Accenture Personalization Survey, it shows that most consumers would prefer a personalized retail experience. Also, from a Conversion Rate Optimization Report published in partnership between Redeye and EConsultancy, it says that 63 percent of businesses are personalizing their marketing activity for their customers. Lastly, 73 percent of online shoppers prefer to do business with brands that use customer information to make their shopping experience more personal, according to Digital Trends.

These are just some of the current e-commerce statistics that have seen a rise since 2014. Dave Richards from Accenture Consulting had this to say on the matter: “Personalization can be a powerful method for retailers to differentiate from competitors, increase basket size and build customer loyalty.” This growing trend that allows consumers to self-identify or use their social media platforms to log in to sites allows companies to collect personal information from their customers. They can then use this to customize each individual shopping experience both online and in-store. Although this marketing method has grown significantly in the past two years, statistics show that 38 percent of marketers still do not use personalization in their marketing.

This could be due to the fact that, despite most people preferring a personalized online shopping experience, many consumers are limited as to how much personal information they are willing to give to retailers, at least according to Accenture. Dave Richards followed his previous statement with: “To effectively implement personalization across all channels, retailers would benefit from understanding customers at a broad level as well as individually – determining where personalization strategies can best drive business results, and giving key subsets of customers the choice on how they wish to participate.”

But personalizing consumer experiences does not stop at retail stores for clothes, food, equipment, and other material products. Moxian, Inc. (OTCQB: MOXC) provides social marketing in order for organizations to continue to advertise and grow their businesses through social media. The company has two products: Moxian+ User and Moxian+ Business. These products and services help merchants personalize and target campaigns while enhancing the relationship between them and their users. This is done through the Moxian database, where consumer behavior is compiled.

The Moxian+ User app is designed for users to collect loyalty points from merchants. The app uses geo-location to tailor consumer searches to where they are at a specific time. In addition to the geo-location feature, users are able to set up personalized social media networks, allowing them to interact with friends, join groups and topics, and share and chat with a variety of social circles.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Moxian.com

Content Checked (CNCK) CEO Featured on UPTICK Network Stock Day Podcast

Content Checked Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: CNCK) CEO Kris Finstad was recently featured in an interview by Everett Jolly on the UPTICK Network Stock Day Podcast. Over the course of the conversation, Finstad told the story of Content Checked, from its humble beginning as a passion project to help decipher often confusing and misleading food labels to its current standing as a revenue-generating app company with an international userbase of more than two million. Finstad also gave listeners some insight into Content Checked’s plans for future growth, including the impending launch of its suite of apps in three additional international markets.

“Our database is now national, for the U.S., and we’re now going to Canada, as well, and then going to the U.K. and Australia,” Finstad stated in the interview. “This year is going to be our breakthrough year from a revenue standpoint.”

To listen to the full interview, visit http://dtn.fm/Fo0iH

When describing the advantages of Content Checked’s apps, Finstad pointed toward the accuracy and reliability of the company’s expansive product database. While many of its competitors rely on third-party data that can often include high error margins, Content Checked employs a team of nutritionists who work directly with food manufacturers to collect and deliver up-to-date information on approximately 70 percent of all conventional U.S. grocery products.

The relationships with food producers, stemming from the creation of its product database, also serve as a source of revenue for Content Checked. When users scan a product that doesn’t fit within their dietary guidelines, the company’s apps suggest suitable alternatives. Content Checked will allow producers to sponsor their products in order to secure a spot amongst these suggested alternatives.

The Company is now completing the process of shifting toward a subscription-based revenue model. These efforts include the impending release of revamped apps that include 60 new features in addition to an updated and improved experience for free users. With the upcoming launch of an expansive marketing campaign, a debt-free balance sheet and a current value that is based exclusively on its income, Content Checked presents considerable upside to prospective shareholders.

To view the company’s full financials, visit the following link: http://dtn.fm/sIJ7M

For more information, visit www.contentchecked.com

Cesca Therapeutics, Inc. (KOOL) Advancing the Practice of Cell Therapy for Regenerative Medicine

Cesca Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KOOL) describes itself as being “engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of cell-based therapeutics for use in regenerative medicine.” The company focuses on three markets: therapies, medical and diagnostic devices, and cell manufacturing and banking services. Most recently, the company’s CLIRST III trial was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The CLIRST III trial is being undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of Cesca’s SurgWerks-CLI platform. This platform is for the treatment of people with late-stage, no option or critical limb ischemia (CLI). The CLIRST III clinical study “is a prospective, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center, pivotal clinical study in which subjects are evaluated for prevention of major limb amputation in the treatment of non-reconstructable Rutherford Category 5 critical limb ischemia (CLI),” according to a study sponsored by Cesca described on the ClinicalTrials.gov website.

The trial is expected to begin in late 2016 and is for patients between the ages of 40 and 85. Participating patients will have been told by their doctors that amputation is the only option, or that they have Rutherford Stage 5 foot ulcers, or ulcers on their feet that do not heal. Other issues that the treatment could benefit include CLI or leg and foot pain while walking or at rest. The patients taking part in the study will be randomized in three to one ratios, with three receiving device treatments and one receiving a placebo treatment.

Cesca’s treatments and products do not stop at its Critical Limb Ischemia Rapid Stemcell Treatment. The company also offers a range of products, including Cellular Bioprocess Technologies such as The AutoXpress® Platform. In addition to this, KOOL also has the MarrowXpress™ (MXP™) System, which defines new processing standards for isolating and concentrating stem cells from bone marrow aspirate. Other products include cord blood transfer and freezing bag sets, as well as the BioArchive® System, which is the only 100 percent robotic storage and retrieval system for cryopreserving stem cell samples.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.CescaTherapeutics.com

OurPet’s Company (OPCO) Giving Back with New, Natural Pet Products

Sustainable practices are the topic of conversation in most industries today. Organizations worldwide have a responsibility toward the world we live in, and the pet industry is no exception. At OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO), there is an emphasis on protecting the environment. OPCO develops and markets high quality, innovative products to improve the health, safety, comfort, and enjoyment of pets. The company develops unique and innovative products, which is why most of them are patented. All products reflect an emphasis on designing problem solving solutions for pets and pet owners. Sustainability is part of this.

More is being done every year to make the pet industry as a whole more sustainable. Most recently, the Pet Industry Sustainability Coalition (PISC) launched the Pet Industry Sustainability Toolkit, which was developed for companies in the pet industry to help reduce their impact on the environment. In addition, work is being done to bring sustainability and pet ownership together. OurPet’s Company does everything in its power to have a minimal impact on the environment whenever a new product is being designed, developed, and manufactured. The company produces products with natural ingredients wherever it can, while maintaining a high level of attention on the safety and happiness of people’s pets.

This year, during its June shareholders meeting, OurPet’s Company brought forward its new product: Switchgrass with BioChar Natural Cat Litter. In the presentation, the company shows its findings, comparing the product to some of its competitors’ offerings. The OurPet’s Switchgrass Litter with BioChar produces less than two percent dust, has no odor after 10 minutes, and shows good moisture absorption and high clumping action. Switchgrass Litter with BioChar was tested in February 2016 by Bureau Veritas Testing and proves that the OurPet’s natural cat litter is the top performer among all its competitors.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com