$HighCom Ltd(HCL.AU)$ Ok ive talked about this stock a couple of times. Its an Australian company with subsidiaries in the USA. I first brought it when russia invaded ukraine. They make military helmets and body armor, and do drones as well.
Im seriously anti war, but the stuff they make saves the lives of people that didn't start war, so i was fine investing in it. Shortly after i invested, the company Received the largest contract they had ever had to supply helmets and body armor to an anonymous buyer, and the cash was paid in advance in full. Obviously ukraine, but they could not disclose that.
This was a game changer for the business but it took about 2 months for the market to pick the news up, and the stock skyrocketed eventually. The then CEO invested heavily in procurement of raw materials and production facilities, and in hindsight paid too much. Eventually he was fired, a bit harsh in my opinion because at the time, in the environment he was in, it seemed a logical move.
Going forward though, the price has now plummeted As the graph below shows. So at this point im a bag holder in it. But why haven't i cut my losses?
Well the product is amazing. According to the companies web site at the time i invested (over two years ago) there helmet was the only one on the market that could stop an ak47 Or similar bullet. the US army, US police forces spec for a helmet is that it only has to stop a bullet from a pistol. This seemed insane to me. I mean when i did my military training nobody had pistols, we all had SLRs or M16s (similar to AK47s) thats just foobar!
But anyway as always id like to consider what i have learned from this investment, and apply it going foward:
1) just because a product is superior to anything on the market, doesn't equate to sales. The customer buys what the want, not necessarily what they need.
2) investing in small companies that make huge announcements can create huge opportunities because short term, nobody is listening.
3) and this is more advice for the comms people in the business. Highcom has been dead silent since announcing the early retirement of their CEO, and their price has dived deeper than a whale searching for deep sea squid. Talk to us! Keep us informed. If you don't we will assume the worst.
I will continue to hold the stock, because eventually I believe military worldwide will see the benefits of better protection for there soldiers. I only have a small position so no biggie if it crashes further. And the upside if they actually get more big contracts and actually tell us what's going on, well the up in my opinion has way more positives than the downside.
Happy trading tigers. I have way more wins than losses to be fair, but i do believe in transparency. I'm not always on the winning side ;)
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