RE:RE:RE:RE:LodeLink is a Game ChangerI think you're bang on. They're talking about hiring up to 600 employees in the next 3 years, so there's no way they don't already have sollid traction. The uptake is clearly there and only going to grow exponentially. On its own, LodgeLink may outvalue the rest of BDIs core business at some point. It will take some time but it is already past the "project" phase. They have already passed the "survival" stage and are now clearly entering the success/growth stage where the scale up will be quick. 600 employees for LodgeLink is more than all of BDIs employees "pre-LodgeLink", so this thing could be huge. Aside from software developers and marketing, most of these employees would be needed for customer care I would imagine, so they must see a huge uptake in the number of accounts.
I think you're right. At some point larger investors/institutions will take notice of what's happening with LodgeLink and may enter with large stake positions in BDI and we may see a huge spike in SP.
Let's not forget how well BDI has done with their other core businesses on top of that.
It's kind of nuts because BDI's share price got up above $5 in 2017 and between $3-$4 for the majority of 2018. If you go look at their Net Income (loss) and Revenues, BDI is in a FAAAAARRRRRR better position today, so historically speaking it is trading at a discount even though they've done a fantastic job of diversifying the core businesses.
https://stockhouse.com/companies/financials?symbol=t.bdi
The LodgeLink addition and growth just seems like an amazing bonus now and I don't thnk large investors and institutions are aware of LodgeLink and that BDI is no longer handcuffed by just the oil and gas market. They've got assets to provide the disaster recovery, education, banks sectors etc. The oil and gas still plays a large role, but they are really well diversified now, especially after the Vanguard acquisition which is accretive to the tune of 6 cents per share positive EPS. That is a very meaningful impact on their financials. I must say, I was pissed at first that BDI issued $3M in common shares and $8.7M in preferred shares to the founders of Vanguard, but in hindsight it is very smart. Those founders are still with the company and have now have a HUGELY vested interest in seeing Vanguard/BDI do well. Can you imagine you were working for Vanguard/BDI and were issued 100s of Thousands of shares at less than $1.50 a share? You would be super-motivated to ensure the company continues to grow and excel.
To summarize, I think the recent share price rise has been great, but the company is WAAAYYYYY better off than in 2017/2018 when it's share price was between $3-$5 and I think we may sail past that threshold in the coming year.