In my opinion, this decline was unwarranted.

The only news the company published last month was a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting on 24 September. In the update, Versarian revealed that it was progressing with all its collaborations and activities in China, which shouldn’t have inspired investors to sell.

Specifically, CEO Neill Ricketts said that Versarian, “has continued to make significant progress since the release of our annual results on 17 July 2019, in particular with a number of our collaborations and our activities in China.“

Management is currently spending most of its time with Chinese partners as it wants to conclude a deal in the country as “soon as reasonably possible.“

The primary partner in the region is the Beijing Institute of Graphene Technology Co. Ltd (BIGT). BIGT has helped Versarian set up an office in the country and secure “endorsement and support of provincial Chinese governments” for a joint venture between the two parties.

Upcoming catalyst?

According to the pre-AGM update, BIGT is also working with Versarian in identifying “factory facilities within preferred key strategic provinces.“

And the Institute is committed to helping fund the project as well. It is working towards the purchase of up to 15% of Versarien’s share capital through the issue of new shares.

A deal in China could be the catalyst that wakes up the Versarien share price, but the environment is not getting any easier for the group. The trade war between China and the US is causing some severe friction in the global economy, and there is also a risk that the US might look to limit outside investment in China. It is not clear how policymakers would do this, but any efforts to curtail Western investment into China are likely to have a knock-on effect on Versarian’s progress.

With this being the case, even though shares in the graphene company look cheaper today than they were a month ago, I don’t think the stock is a ‘buy’ right now.

Wait and see

Versarien is still in its early stages of growth, and the company has a long way to go before it is self-sustaining. In the meantime, it will rely on third parties to provide the funding to keep the lights on. Any major setback either with the firm’s own growth plans or with a US-China trade deal might inspire backers to pull funding. That could be a big headache for the group.

That being said, if the company does manage to ink a manufacturing and distribution agreement for graphene in China, then the sky could be the limit for Versarian.

However, with so much uncertainty shrouding its outlook at this point, I think it might be better to stand on the sidelines and wait for more clarity before taking a position.

There are plenty of other small caps out there with much brighter prospects in the meantime.

The post Why the Versarian (VRS) share price fell 20% in September appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Rupert Hargreaves owns no share mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

That was back in October of last year. Over the past three months, the company has proven me wrong. In its interim results release for the six months to the end of September, it reported an increase in revenues of 19% to £5.2m and a decrease in losses before interest tax depreciation and amortisation of 16% to just under £0.4m.

Following a fundraising at the end of September, the company ended the first half of its financial year with £6.1m of cash in the bank, which at the current rate of losses (£800k every six months after including the cost of investments) is enough to sustain it for three years according to my conservative calculations.

A make or break year

Even though my figures suggest that the company has enough money to keep the lights on through 2021, this year is set to be a make or break one for the Versarien share price. 

I think the key here is China. Over the past four months, management has been in intensive discussions with a number of Chinese Partners and has already secured partnerships with some leading manufacturers across sectors, and formal relationships have been secured with Chinese provincial government bodies.

In other words, the group has put in the foundations for growth in China and now all it has to do is to build on these relationships.

Management is hopeful that 2019 will yield positive results on this front. “We are confident that we can make rapid progress this year with the commercialisation of graphene-enhanced products both in China and globally with our partners,” CEO Neill Ricketts declares in a trading update published earlier today.

Growth expectations

These are not the only collaboration efforts the company has been pursuing over the past 12 months. As my colleague Paul Summers recently noted, the group signed no fewer than nine collaboration agreements during the six months to the end of September, including formalising plans to build a manufacturing centre with a Chinese partner in Shandong Province.

As Paul goes on to note in his article, Versarien is “very much about the future,” and so far, investors have been willing to give the business the benefit of the doubt thanks to the progress it has made signing deals around the world. However, the company’s market capitalisation of just over £200m does not leave much room for error. Investors are expecting big things here, and there’s a lot of pressure for management to execute successfully in 2019. 

If 2019 is another successful year for the group, then I can see the shares heading much higher from current levels. On the other hand, if momentum stalls, the Versarian share price could stagnate or even fall.

Considering what it achieved in 2018, I’m confident that it can replicate the success in 2019 and that’s why I think I was wrong about the firm’s share price.

The post Why I think I was wrong about the Versarien share price appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Rupert Hargreaves owns no share mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

One company that has served early investors — including myself — particularly well over the last year or so has been advanced materials engineer Versarien (LSE: VRS).

Based on today’s interim report, I’m in no hurry to sell just yet.

Collaboration crazy

Befitting its high-growth credentials and need for ongoing investment, Versarien reported a pre-tax loss of £0.7m over the six months to the end of September, despite revenue increasing 19% to £5.22m. Nevertheless, it’s the operational progress made by the company that’s of more interest to the market right now. 

Continuing a trend that began roughly one year ago, Versarien inked nine new collaboration agreements over the reporting period, as well as capturing the services of Matt Walker and Pete Jay from the Department of International Trade to spearhead the company’s international ambitions.

Highlights since September include the purchase of a controlling stake in Spanish company Gnanomat and the Memorandum of Understanding signings with three Chinese firms — one of which relates to plans to build a manufacturing centre in Shandong Province.

Reflecting on the latter, CEO Neill Ricketts stated that the company’s expansion into China has “attracted a large number of suitors” and that Versarien intended to replicate the process “in other Asian territories“.  These developments, when combined with the £5.15m raised back in September, leaves the company “extremely well positioned for the future“, Mr Ricketts added. 

And Versarien is very much about the future. To be clear, a substantial proportion of the company’s current valuation is based on the potential for graphene to revolutionise our world. As such, it’s therefore absolutely vital that at least some of the firm’s many ongoing collaborations lead to substantial orders to justify the already-lofty market capitalisation of £175m. On this front, things are looking positive. 

Last month, it received an order for 1kg of Nanene — its patented graphene nano platelets — from a major global airline with the intention of using the product in fire-retardant aircraft interior parts. Encouragingly, more orders are “anticipated“.

But there’s more. Today, Versarien also announced that US engineering giant AECOM had placed an order for 50kg of graphene-enhanced polymer material with another 200kg order likely in early January. Should final testing be successful, the next bit of news relating to this project could be very significant indeed. 

Bottom line

Clearly, there’s still a long way to go for the Cheltenham-based business to silence its doubters. Nevertheless, if you believe (as I do) that the mass-market adoption of graphene is only a matter of time, then it is arguably the best horse to back. The fact that its stock still trading almost 40% below the high of 187p achieved almost three months ago suggests that now might be as good a time as any to begin building a position.

If — and it is a sizeable ‘if’ — Versarien is able to capitalise on its pole position in the commercialisation of the wonder material, then I maintain it could help some investors reach financial independence far earlier than they ever imagined.

The post Why I think small-cap growth stock Versarien could still help you achieve financial independence appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Paul Summers owns shares in Versarien. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

The right stuff

My colleague GA Chester made a good job of explaining why Versarien flew to the skies in his recent article. Briefly, in November and early December it announced new partnerships with an unnamed global consumer goods company and US-headquartered global chemicals supplier, plus ongoing advanced negotiations with several multinational companies across various sectors. It is all down to the magic word graphene. 

Versarien uses proprietary materials technology to create game-changing engineering solutions for blue-chip companies, for use across a broad variety of industry sectors. The quality of its graphene, coupled with its research capabilities in the universities of Manchester and Cambridge, is attracting interest from multinational blue-chips, who are keen to commercialise its developments.

Funds, funds, funds

Versarien also successfully raised £2.9m in November to fund its expansion. The fundraising, which was oversubscribed, was a welcome boost given its dwindling cash balance. This fell from £1.51m on 30 September 2016 to just £350,000 last September.

Versarien recently published a buoyant set of interims, showing group revenues rising 167% to £4.38m, up from £1.64m in the first half of 2016. Its loss before tax almost halved from £1.47m to £770,000. Net assets totalled £5.72m, up slightly from £5.14m in 2016. My worry is that investors are putting a high price on future success with the AIM-listed company’s market cap a pretty meaty £92m. Given that it has been recently making a loss, and was down to its last £350,000, there is a lot of hope built into that valuation. 

Nano technology

The group’s fortunes are also dependent on the success of its own clients. For example, it has a collaboration with CT Engineering in the aerospace industry, which was exposed to the recent decline in the oil and gas sector. This had a knock-on impact on Versarian’s revenues in 2016, which fell from £2.36m to £1.66m as a result. However, with the oil price climbing, its prospects now look brighter.

Versarian recently launched a promising collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries to supply and test its proprietary Nanene few-layer graphene nano-platelets in aerospace composite structures, and it opened a US sales office in Palo Alto to exploit significant opportunities in the region. 

Spikey

Versarien is progressing on a number of fronts, and the future looks promising. The share price has dipped slightly following recent excitement as investors take profits and await the next announcement. Currently, it trades at 63p. You could wait for further news before committing funds, but the problem is that if the news is good the share price may spike before you have time to click ‘buy’. It will be riskier buying today, but potentially more rewarding if your nerves can take it.

What really counts right now is commercial opportunities offered by graphene. That is hard for outsiders to judge. Probably one for your watchlist, rather than to dive into today.

The post Versarian plc could be a millionaire-maker in 2018 appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Harvey Jones has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

While agreeing with a Foolish colleague that the market minnow still represents a risky purchase, I think the potential rewards on offer make it one worth taking for those with sufficiently long investment time horizons.

Before looking at my reasons for this, let’s peruse today’s interim numbers. 

“Significant interest”

Group revenues jumped 167% over the six months to the end of September to a little under £4.4m. Although a lack of profit is to be expected at this stage, pre-tax losses at the advanced engineering materials firm almost halved to £770,000 from £1.47m over the same period in 2016. 

Away from the figures, Versarien confirmed that it had seen “significant interest” from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for its “few layer graphene non-platelets” (otherwise known as Nanene) over the reporting period. In addition to being awarded two competitive framework tenders to provide its products to the Centre for Process Innovation, Versarien’s Total Carbide business also received its “largest ever order” for parts to be used by “the UK’s largest aero engine manufacturer“.  

As positive as all this sounds, it’s the news since the end of the September that’s really got investors salivating. Arguably the most significant announcements have been those relating to collaborations with Israel Aerospace Industries and a leading global consumer goods company to use Nanene in its packaging. Elsewhere, the establishment of a US sales office in Palo Alto (home of Tesla Motors) “to exploit significant opportunities in the region” is another promising development.

Of course, any one set of results from a company are backward-looking and only a snapshot. To really appreciate the investment case for Versarien, you need to see the bigger picture.

Only the beginning

Although the recently-announced collaborations are a huge lure, it’s what might be revealed over the coming weeks that could really put a rocket under the share price. With the company already hinting at further deals being announced before the end of the year (and November’s £2.8m fundraising now allowing it to scale up Nanene production by a factor of 10), I think those taking a position today could still be handsomely rewarded prior to the market closing for the festive break.  

Another thing I like about Versarien is the fact that CEO Neill Ricketts also happens to be its largest shareholder. When the person running the company has a significant proportion of his own wealth invested, you can be fairly sure that his interests will be aligned with those of its other owners.

My last reason for backing it is perhaps the most important to its success over the long term; namely, the quality of the graphene it produces. While competitors exist, the AIM-listed company is the only one to have had its product independently approved by the University of Manchester — the home of the miracle material. To my mind, that kind of scientific credibility can’t be bought. 

While some share price volatility is perhaps inevitable as traders take profits (and confirmation bias shouldn’t be ignored), the investment case for Versarien is nothing short of compelling, in my view.

The post 3 reasons I’m backing hot stock Versarien plc appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Paul Summers owns shares in Versarien. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

The last time I covered the company, at the beginning of April, Versarien had just acquired an 85% stake in Cambridge Graphene. A few weeks earlier, the group also signed heads of terms for a distribution agreement with Lansdowne Chemicals for its recently-launched graphene brand Nanene. The partnership followed what management described as “one of the first significant orders placed in the UK for the supply of high-quality graphene” at the end of 2016. 

From strength to strength 

Seven months on and it looks as if Versarien’s outlook has only improved. At the beginning of July, the company announced its figures for the year to March 31 revealing revenue growth of 35% to £5.9m… but an increased pre-tax loss of £2.2m. 

Since these figures were published, the group has announced some new contract awards, including a £200,000 order for precision components for use in engines for one of the world’s leading airliners. 

At the beginning of November, management revealed that the level of interest being expressed in Versarien’s graphene “continues at record levels.” The update also noted the firm was in “advanced negotiations with two of the world’s largest consumer goods” regarding collaboration on “research, development and testing of Versarien’s proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets in polymer structures“. On November 17, the company confirmed the start of a collaborative effort between it and one of the two consumer groups, which had placed its first order. 

Enormous potential market 

All in all, it looks as if Versarien is growing rapidly and the potential market for the firm is massive. 

The global graphene market is projected to expand from $20m (year-end 2016) to $600m by 2025, and if Versarien can grow at the same rate (53% per annum), revenue could surge to £177m per year by 2025. This is a highly optimistic forecast, but it shows the opportunity the firm has.

Having said all of the above, I need to stress that this is a highly risky opportunity. 

Cash in the bank?

Even thought Versarian has made enormous progress in signing on customers during the past year, the one area where the firm is still struggling is profitability and cash generation. 

In the past year, the company has raised £4.4m from investors to keep the lights on. At the end of March, the firm reported a cash balance of £1.4m and has since raised £2.9m via a placing, so it looks as if it’s still burning through a few million pounds a year. 

The good news is that it seems investors are more than happy to fund the group through these early stages of growth. The last placing at the end of November was more than twice oversubscribed and was enlarged from its original goal of £1.2m to raise a total of £2.9m.

With the backing of its shareholders, Versarian has time to grow its operations and take advantage of the enormous opportunity it has in front of it. That’s why I’m considering adding the shares to my portfolio. 

The post Why I’d consider Versarien plc after almost three-bagging in a year appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Rupert Hargreaves owns no share mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

So what is Versarien, and what’s going on?

The company, which describes itself as an “advanced materials engineering group,” produces something called Nanene — a particular type of ‘nano’ graphene. Graphene is claimed to be 200 times stronger than steel — and as it conducts electricity and heat, it has been touted as a replacement for copper wires and for use for circuitry on flexible surfaces.

The stuff sounds like it has great potential, and investor enthusiasm helped create a Versarien share price spike back in April — though that petered out over the subsequent few months.

Versarien is still in its cash-burn days — but the firm’s fundraising round in early November was very successful. So much so that it was more than twice oversubscribed, and was enlarged to raise a total of £2.9m.

Exciting progress

At recent rates of losses that might last around another year-and-a-half, but there’s been a big development that could potentially change all that — on 17 November, the company announced a collaboration with a “global consumer goods company,” and that’s the day the share price commenced its rapid ascent.

We’d already heard, in Versarien’s 3 November, trading update that it was “in advanced negotiations with two of the world’s largest consumer goods groups and anticipates receipt of the first purchase order imminently.” The latest update expanded that to say it “has now started collaborating with one of them to enable both groups to work together on research, development and testing of Versarien’s proprietary Nanene few layer graphene nano-platelets in polymer structures.”

As part of that, the as-yet-unidentified new partner has placed its first Nanene purchase order and will use it in polymer structures “primarily for packaging applications, for testing and evaluation, with a view to improving material strength, moisture control and recyclability.”

Negotiations are also in progress, we are told, with “a number of other multinational companies” with a view to further collaboration and commercialisation of the product.

But wait a mo…

This might make you want to rush over to your broker and place an order for Versarien shares — but before you do, you need to be aware of the risks.

Although the global graphene market is predicted to grow from a little over $20m at the end of 2016 to more than $600m by 2025 (and beyond that, who knows — very possibly into billions), the material is proving hard to commercialise and others firms have not been able to turn it into a big money-spinner yet.

And though Versarien’s new partnership deal (especially when coupled with other potential developments) does sound like a significant step forward, there are still many unanswered questions.

Will the commercialisation of the product be successful? How much of the funding for it will each partner contribute? How many ways and by what proportions will future profits be split? How long will it take before large-scale commercialisation becomes a reality? When will Versarien see its first profits? And what further funding (with accompanying dilution) will be needed before that time arrives?

Versarien could be very big, but it’s very risky.

The post Should you buy soaring growth stock Versarien plc after 100% rise in a week? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Alan Oscroft has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Versarien is an advanced materials company. The firm acquired an 85% stake in Cambridge Graphene in January and raised £1.5m last month to help scale up the business.

It seems this investment is already paying off. At the end of March, the group announced that the Cambridge Graphene team, supplemented by recently added personnel, is already producing graphene in sample quantities for customers using new equipment purchased with the fundraising proceeds. Further, Versarien is undertaking further testing and commissioning of capital equipment to scale up its graphene manufacturing capability.

A huge new market 

The graphene business has attracted plenty of criticism over the past few years. The material is believed to be 200 times stronger than steel with numerous potential applications such as turning seawater into freshwater, improving the efficiency of solar cells and helping toughen up phone screens.

However, this wonder material is proving hard to commercialise, and so far, most investors who have tried to profit from the graphene boom have been left with nothing but losses.

The question is, could Versarien buck this trend? Well, it seems the group’s management is doing everything possible to make sure that this is the case. At the beginning of February, the firm signed heads of terms for a distribution agreement with Lansdowne Chemicals for its recently-launched graphene brand Nanene. This partnership came nearly two months after what Versarien’s management describes as “one of the first significant orders placed in the UK for the supply of high-quality graphene,” which was announced at the end of November.

Making headway

So it’s clear Versarien is making progress, but the company is still in its early stages of growth. Luckily, the firm’s legacy divisions are generating sales, which means the group has an existing base to grow from.

Last year the legacy divisions reported revenue of £4.4m and this year, management expects revenue to come in slightly below expectations. But compared to the graphene opportunity management is targeting, Versarien’s legacy income is relatively insignificant.

At the end of 2016, the graphene market had a total value of $23.7m, but this market is expected to grow at an annual compound rate of 36.7% through to 2025, giving a final size of $643m. If the market continues to expand at this rate, by 2035 it could be worth a total of $8.4bn. 

With such an enormous addressable market emerging, it’s clear how much potential Versarien has. That said, the company does come with its own set of risks. Like all early stage businesses, there’s the risk that management won’t be able to commercialise its graphene product entirely and the company may run out of cash. 

Overall, after recent developments, the outlook might look as if it’s improving, but the company still has a huge amount of work to do before it can be considered to be an attractive growth stock. 

The post Why Versarien plc shares are trading 10% higher appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?
• Will SpaceX, Nvidia, or Alphabet be the first $10trn stock?
• Up 95%! This FTSE 100 stock’s outperformed Nvidia over the past year
• With a 9.3% yield, is this an amazing opportunity to consider buying dirt-cheap Taylor Wimpey shares?
• How much do you need in a Stocks and Shares ISA to aim for £375 a week in retirement?

Rupert Hargreaves has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.