AgJunction (TSX: AJX, Stock Forum) suffered hard this year culminating in the Kansas-based manufacturer of satellite guidance and mapping technology for precision agriculture dropping to a 52-week low today.
Orders are down as agricultural machinery sales have slumped across the board with U.S. sales of combines and four-wheel drive tractors slipping 8.2% and 7.0% respectively during the first four months of 2014. All of this driven by growing prospects of decreasing profits for farms under the thumb of lower crop prices and ramping production costs related to seeds and chemicals.
The future doesn't paint a better picture as Europe faces more market contractions and farm equipment manufacturers like Deere & Co warning of a general slowing of economic growth and ongoing restriction of credit availability in the Commonwealth of Independent States due to knock-on effects of the Ukraine crisis.
Despite the current market-wide depression however, some investors are calling foul and claiming the company's present financial predicament is due to weak management, stating that entrenched board members and bad business models kept the firm from beating its IPO during the 17 years it has been in operation. Those same individuals are also calling for a sale of the company, hoping that fresh blood will rejuvenate the enterprise. Others are recommending caution and patience, stating that once the market corrects itself, AgJunction will regain and improve its share of the sector. The next 12 months will be incredibly important for the company if it hopes to quell the naysayers within its investment community.
NexJ Systems (TSX: NXJ, Stock Forum) has taken the long way down as the company slipped 82% from ~$9 in 2011 to a 52-week low of $1.65 during today's trading. The company which provides customer relations management solutions for financial services, insurance and health services including wellness. The core of their business relates to the financial sector with the company providing services to four of the top six wealth management firms and they have won multiple awards and received accolades from publications, analysts for said services.
Why the failing share price? I think the company missed the boat on recognizing the potential of its recent business addition regarding health services. This inaction led to a stagnation of growth for the company where it could have ridden the Healthcare IT market wave that's expected to hit an astronomical $56.7 billion by 2017.
Increasing regulation is forcing health care organizations into a corner as medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies face a continual tidal wave of medically-related information requests that that by law, and rightfully so, they aren't allowed to make a mistake on. These requests are only expected to increase in complexity and number, creating a massive dilemma for the 21st century health care management community and a tremendous opportunity for those entities willing to capitalize on this trend.
NexJ is perfectly positioned to move on this and its management, although strong, needs to shake off its apprehension, get off its collective butt and snap up the opportunity that's staring them straight in the face.
To wrap up, I received some flak for observations I made regarding Transgaming (TSX: V.TNG, Stock Forum). When I talked about mobile computing I wasn't referring to the ability to use your iOS and Android powered device as an additional screen or controller for the GameTree service. I was talking about the ability to use your mobile device to play games without the GameTree service.
If there are mobile versions of the GameTree service, please point them out, because the only 'app' I was able to find was an app that allowed those playing World Tour Poker on GameTree to use the app to have up to 5 people in the same room play against each other, using their connected device as their hand of cards.
Now, to respond to Transgaming's announced relationship with the Khronos Group in 2008. Khronos is responsible for OpenGL. OpenGL, although a dominant API in gaming for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics, is not without detractors with Doom creator, John Cormack, referring to the API as a “grab bag of broken inconsistent functionality”. DirectX 12, Mantle and Apple's Metal are giving it a run for its money and according to John, Nvidia's CUDA may ultimately gain the lead as cloud-based game design takes the forefront.
It seems at this point, the real commodities Transgaming has to offer is Cider, SwiftShader, its proposed enabling of PC games on iOS, Android and Steam OS, and possibly GameTree Mac. GameTree TV has yet to prove itself and it feels like its the company's flagship. It may actually hit, but I don't think it will hold against mobile gaming in the long run.