Opera (OPRA)

Opera was a well known browser 15+ years ago.
It has a very low market share for a very, very long time. You can check that here: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share
I think you can ignore the browser-business at all. It’s about fintech.

The main thesis is all about their lending business - microloans in emerging markets via their Apps like Okash. Most of their revenue comes from these fintech apps.

A few red flags for me:

  1. Weird company structure - Opera got bought by a chinese investor some time ago. CEO, Yahui Zhou, is barely visible on their website, IR, press releases etc. Almost like he doesn’t want to be seen. That it is run by a management team from china is already enough for me, not to invest.

  2. From Wikipedia “[…] most of Opera’s lending business is operated through apps offered on Google’s Play Store. In August [2019], Google tightened rules to curtail predatory lending and, as a result, Opera’s apps are now in black and white violation of numerous Google rules,” and that the company’s “entire line of business is at risk of disappearing or being severely curtailed when Google notices,” as well as the fact that “instead of disclosing to investors that its “high-growth” microfinance segment could be imperiled by these new rules, Opera instead immediately raised $82 million in a secondary offering without disclosing Google’s changes to investors.” Opera Software’s CEO and Chairman, Zhou Yahui, was also recently affiliated with Qudian, a Chinese firm also involved in loans, which saw its US stock plummet after accusations of fraud and illegal lending practices.[…]"

  3. I don’t think this company is such a “secret” that it can be so much undervalued. The market has to know something, or it just has the same doubts as I have. The chart looks like it could be from a cannabis company.

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