Utilico Insights - Jacqueline Broers assesses why Vietnam could be the darling of Asia for investors. Watch the full video here.
Good to see AFC getting some Boxing Day exposure. Interestingly, the article talks about Extreme E wanting to power the entire operation using the fuel cell (apart from the ship that is discussed earlier), which seems to suggest that not only should there be an announcement about the second series being charged by the AFC fuel cell but also potentially about using this to power everything. I am still amazed that more companies have not followed Extreme E's lead but the end of year update suggested that we might not have too long to wait now. Merry Christmas to all genuine shareholders!
https://dirtfish.com/off-road/extreme-e/the-environmental-truth-behind-extreme-e/
So how does XE charge the cars? Put simply, via hydrogen.
XE’s power supplier AFC Energy uses a hydrogen fuel cell to provide electricity to the cars, but that doesn’t mean it has to cart around huge amounts of hydrogen in order to do it.
It has developed a way in which to generate its own hydrogen on-site. Solar panels generate some electricity so hydrogen can be created in an electrolyzer, then the hydrogen is stored in the fuel cell ready for use. It means that the fuel going into the Odyssey 21s is clean, totally renewable, and very little harm is being caused to the environment.
And it’s not on a small scale. Over the course of an XE weekend, the power produced in the hydrogen cell would be enough to power around 3000 homes for a few hours. No small feat for a unit that’s extremely small in size when compared to national grid industrial plants.
At the moment the rest of the paddock is powered by generators. Historically these generators would have been fueled by diesel, but XE has replaced the diesel with a HVO fuel, effectively using a type of vegetable oil to ensure there’s power on site.
Again, it’s not the end of the road on the power front. Having assessed the potential that the hydrogen cell could provide, XE wants to be able to use this system to fuel its entire operation in the future.
Achieving that would mean the series could truly boast that it’s clean and using 100% renewable sources of fuel.
Having taken a few days to digest the end of year update, whilst watching the mayhem continue on the markets, I have come to the conclusion that AFC is taking a very measured approach. People have accused AB of ramping up expectations and talking about "jam tomorrow" for years but this report was very different. It essentially provided a quietly confident picture but steered clear of talk about imminent contracts or "holy grail" technology.
The bad news is that this meant that there was not a feeding frenzy to buy the shares upon its release but the good news is that any new contracts or developments have not been priced in yet. This is in stark contrast to the half yearly report which led to great expectations and a subsequent hammering when these expectations were not fully met.
Time will tell but I suspect that this more measured approach might finally lead to far less volatility in the share price and a steady rise towards the brokers' conservative valuations as the company gradually realises its potential.
Good to see AFC getting a couple of mentions in this bullish article about the hydrogen sector, including this one which doesn't seem to fit AFC's current remit:
"It’s ?lso worth noting th?t UK universities ?re ?t the v?ngu?rd of the growing scientific-commerci?l rel?tionship ?s innov?tion ?cceler?tes.
Cr?nfield University, for ex?mple, is working with AFC Energy to test how to combust hydrogen in convention?l diesel engines."
https://technotrenz.com/trends/forget-batteries-hydrogen-is-the-new-clean-fuel-in-town-and-it-may-be-able-to-keep-the-uk-warm-1402416.html
I see that one of the Fool's writers is recommending buying AFC. It would be nice if, after years of trying to talk AFC down, these tips helped to encourage more buyers following the recent savaging of the sector:
https://www.fool.co.uk/2021/12/11/how-id-buy-shares-for-a-1k-portfolio/
The most speculative stock I would buy is hydrogen start-up AFC Energy. This business could revolutionise the hydrogen market through its green technology. This firm is still in its early stage development, which is why it is so risky. There is a high chance the company could struggle to survive before commercialising its technology.
Still, I think the stock has tremendous potential to revolutionise the energy market. In my opinion, this potential more than offsets the risks associated with the business.
Stuck at 100 recommendations. It might get up to 200 now I have nudged everyone as it was buried in all the afternoon's posts.
Ignoring the predictable negative replies from the vocal deramping minority (including the transparent attempt to start a new thread with the same title) and focusing on the 56 recommendations so far. Let's see if we can make it to 200 and show that we do not need to let the few persuade the many!
Meanwhile, it is good to see a bit of buying returning, whether coincidental or not.
I note that, since more than 100 people showed their quiet support for the company, there have been hundreds of negative posts spreading fear and doubt. The only facts that we know are that AFC has released 2 major pieces of good news in the last month and said nothing to suggest that the previously announced plans are anything other than on track. Everything else is just speculation from people trying to influence investor confidence for their own gain.
Give this post a recommendation if you agree and let's see if we can get to 200 people this time! If nothing else, this should help to counter the fearmongering.
Let's hope that, eventually, all of these positive steps lead to the market valuing the company how the brokers value it with their current valuation that doesn't even factor in this "huge opportunity" (amongst others).
https://*********************/companies/uk/electrical-and-electronic-equipment/afc-energy-plc/research/zeus-capital/afc-energy-afc-ln-maritime-potential-emerging/2541ffd7-5343-4cde-b7fb-7de68b1a0b84/9112cbfd-9511-44d7-a3b0-767bcdd8cc11
AFC Energy has announced that its “S” Series hydrogen fuel cell system and ammonia cracker have been selected for the Norwegian ZeroCoaster bulk cargo ship design. The proposal has also been awarded “Approval in Principle” status by DNV, the international certification agency. The announcement is another significant endorsement of AFC Energy’s technology and the group’s biggest step forward in Maritime. This is further endorsement of our investment thesis, which was refreshed in September, which points to 188p valuation per share excluding this huge opportunity.
It is very interesting, Nickjhe. Given how vehemently the negative voices deny the suggestion that sentiment on a bulletin board can affect a share price (in which case why do they constantly post?), it makes you wonder what would happen if everyone broke their silence and created a far more positive board. Perhaps this thread/experiment will encourage many people to do this.
103 recommendations now so there does seem to be a disconnect between the negative tone of the board and the more supportive view of the silent majority. Perhaps it just shows that a lot of people have AFC on their radar and that they are waiting to press the buy button when the right news drops. AB must realise that all eyes are on his H2 expectations so let's see how the next few weeks pan out.
Already at 74 recommendations, despite the massive treeshake this morning. This would appear to support the theory that the company has a lot more supporters than the tone of this board would suggest. Let's hope that the SP starts to reflect this soon!
The popularity of the "20 people" thread has got me thinking. Given the way that this board has been dominated by negativity for weeks, is it possible that we have lost sight of the fact that the vast majority of people who read this board actually silently believe that AFC has a bright future?
Please recommend this post if you believe this and let's see if we can get more support than for the "20 people" thread. Who knows, it might even create some some positivity to counteract all that negativity!
I not that ITM is up 8% now so still hoping for the usual slightly delayed recovery over here on AFC.
It does look like the assault on the sector has made buyers more nervous than a couple of weeks ago but if the bottom has been reached then confidence could return quickly. The fact that ITM, which we know has been officially shorted, is up 6% should help to calm the nerves, especially as AFC tends to follow ITM/s movements.
Good to see some local coverage mentioning AFC in the Dorset Echo. Let's hope that an Extreme E extension to next year is one of many contracts to be announced soon.
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19735588.st-helena-ship-arrives-poole-extreme-e/
St Helena ship arrives in Dorset for Extreme E
By Sarah Cartlidge @sarahcartlidge
Audience and Content Editor
A former Royal Mail ship which has been transporting freight for an off-road event which sees electric vehicles race in remote parts of the world has arrived in Dorset.
The St Helena has clocked up more than 19,000 nautical miles transporting Extreme E’s race freight and logistics into Poole.
The freight includes the all-electric ODYSSEY 21 race cars – three of which are entrants for teams founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button - the AFC Energy system including solar panels and hydrogen fuel cell to charge the cars emission free, two Zenobe second-life batteries to power the paddock, plus everything else required to create a race site in remote locations without event infrastructure.
This will now be set up in the British Ministry of Defence Base at Bovington.
Alejandro Agag, CEO and founder of Extreme E, said: “It’s certainly been a busy month but a very rewarding one. It’s hard to believe that Extreme E is now preparing for its final X Prix of our inaugural season and that the St. Helena is back here in the UK where she departed nearly a year ago - and what a year it’s been!
“We are so excited to be ending our first season in Dorset in the UK. Despite the incredible places we have visted so far this year - Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Greenland and Sardinia - the landscape here is equally as amazing and there’s no doubt that it’s certainly going to be challenging for the cars and the drivers. I cannot wait!”
The cars and series’ equipment departed Sardinia’s port of Cagliari, Italy, before making its way westwards across the Mediterranean Sea towards the UK, guided by a pod of dolphins for a whole afternoon during the voyage.
The crew will spend the next few days unloading all of the freight on board for the Jurassic X Prix which takes place on December 18 and 19.
Jgbb, I agree and I am as frustrated as anyone about the fall in the SP but I have been around AIM long enough to know that the SP can behave very strangely (for lots of reasons) and I would not want to sell due to a falling SP if I felt that a company was going in the right direction - quite the reverse, in fact!
Jgbb, I have no way of knowing what any individual is doing, regardless of what they write in their posts. I understand your your points but, for me, the question is whether I would be buying now if I had sold at 80p+ earlier in the year. My answer is a definite "yes" as the company has no much more going for it now than then, regardless of whether it has taken 6 months or so longer than expected to get there. Everyone else needs to decide for themselves but I am very aware that a lot of people want to convince/scare others into selling whereas my point is that, if I wasn't already full onboard, I would be buying at this time.
From my experience, as a general rule , the harder that people are working to convince you to sell (and last week saw a very concerted effort IMHO) then the more likely it is that you have something that they want, but nothing is certain in life. GLALH and DYOR!
Whilst I appreciate that it has not been the best year for the sector in general, including over the last couple of weeks, it is very interesting to see the change in narrative from so many "shareholders" since the start of the year. I can clearly remember all the very optimistic share price predictions at the start of the year and, since then, the company has made huge strides, including a successful large placing, new partnerships, proving of the technology with Extreme E, signing the first major contract last week with ABB, greatly increased broker targets and lots of positive updates.
I accept that progress has been slower than hoped but none of this changes the reality that the company is in a far stronger position now than at the start of the year. So many of those same people who were filled with optimism then seem so negative or despondent now, with quite a few claiming to have sold out or reduced their holdings.
The kind explanation is that it is simply herd mentality, with them having gotten carried away with the hype 11 months ago but with them now getting carried away with the fearmongering now. However, many recent posts make me suspect that many people are actually playing the game of talking the company down in the hope of lowering the share price for personal gain.
Whatever the case, it seems to have far less to do with the company's performance/potential and far more to do with the short-term vagaries of the share price and I am suprised that so many people have been sucked into this way of thinking. Now would seem to be the worst time all year to sell or to doubt the company, with January being the best time when the share price was much higher and far less commercially developed, but there will no doubt being a sudden flood of optimism/hype soon enough and, as ever, time will tell.
They don't seem to have much reach normally but it is heartening to see that they have taken the effort just now to turn their written story (with ACV typo!) into a video in English, French, German and Chinese.
https://youtu.be/LPPrvAziXhg
Whatever the reach of these videos, I really do no think that the market has begun to appreciate the potential significance of last week's news but let's see what happens this week.
You just have to look at the trading pattern to see that someone has tried to inflict maximum damage to the SP. 17 million shares traded including the very large UT trade at the end, with literally thousands of AT sells in small batches. This would be a suicidal way to sell shares so there must be an ulterior motive behind it. Add in the fact that ITM/CWR did ok today, with much lower relative volumes, and it is clear that this attack was aimed specifically at AFC, rather than being a sector wide one like in the past. All we can do is wait to see what happens next week but I am in no doubt that some people are making money out of targeting AFC this way even though many people will deny that this is even possible.