Wall Street is increasingly beholden to the values and ideals of “the new kids on the investing block” as the Millennials and Zoomers make their way toward their prime producing, consuming, and investing years.
This is especially true given that most investment professionals advise their clients to invest with a risk tolerance profile that is dictated, in many ways, by age. In other words, if you’re older than 65, you want far less risk in your portfolio than if you are under 40.
Most of the wealth of the western world is owned and controlled by people older than 70. Some of that wealth has already been passed on. The rest of it will be at some point, likely over the next decade or so. That will result in the complete dominance of the values and ideals held by the Millennials and Zoomers over the direction of capital on Wall Street.
This has many implications. But first and foremost, it means the overwhelming prioritization of the Sustainability theme as a social norm guiding value-based investment decisions, as well as the general importance of the value-based investment process – known as ESG investing.
Some of the key stocks to watch in this process include: First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), Maison Luxe Inc (OTCMKTS:MASN), Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ), SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Bloom Energy Corp (NYSE:BE)
With that in mind, we take a closer look at several of these names with interesting recent catalysts.
Maison Luxe Inc (OTCMKTS:MASN) is the only publicly traded way to gain exposure to the carbon-negative diamond trade. It’s a really interesting concept and one that Millennials and Zoomers are likely to go bonkers for once they finally drop the singles act and start to tie the knot. It’s the only way you can propose to that special someone with a diamond that actually removed 20 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere to make – ie, not only did it not wreck a rain forest and enslave indigenous peoples, it actually helped to prevent climate change.
MASN’s investment holding, Aether Diamonds, has proprietary IP protecting its specialized carbon negative diamond production process. It is the world’s first and only carbon negative lab-grown diamond producer.
Maison Luxe Inc (OTCMKTS:MASN) also offers luxury retail consumer items that are responsibly sourced and affordable. The Company operates as a niche high-end luxury goods retailer, helping interested consumers obtain rare luxury items that may otherwise not be reliably available due to the nature of the luxury retail marketplace.
The company’s latest release notes that Aether has been ramping up its production over recent months after fielding more than $2.5 million in pre-orders. For every carat of diamond sold, Aether permanently removes 20 metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Anil Idnani, CEO of Maison Luxe, stated, “The diamond mining industry has been broadly responsible for more than its share of damage over the decades, in both social and environmental terms. The lab-grown diamond industry has been pushing back against this trend. But Aether is really the only player capable of a truly game-changing shift in that narrative.”
Maison Luxe Inc (OTCMKTS:MASN) powered to multi-million-dollar sales last year after launching. The company’s announcements thus far in 2021 suggest that pace is being met and likely exceeded as the world reopens and the luxury goods market thrives in a sea of savings and stimulus. In addition, the company is well-positioned for the ESG theme given its investment exposure to the only clear ESG-qualifying diamond producer in the world.
Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) is one of the world’s largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development.
Over the past 19 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 49 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over 150 countries. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built and connected over 5.6 GWp in over 20 countries across the world.
Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) most recently announced it has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Axpo Italia for the purchase of energy produced by two solar power plants under development totaling 12 MWp near Ragusa and Enna, in Sicily, Italy.
“We are pleased to sign this PPA with Axpo Italia as we execute on the first of many more collaboration opportunities in Italy,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. “The growth of renewable energy sources in Italy is critical to achieving the country’s clean energy transition objectives. We are honored to work with Axpo with whom we share the same vision on the energy transition, and work together to meet renewable energy goals by utilizing our solar technology and development expertise. Italy is also one of Canadian Solar’s key markets in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, or EMEA region, as we execute on a solar pipeline in excess of 1.3 GWp in the country.”
And the stock has been acting well over recent days, up something like 2% in that time. CSIQ shares have been relatively flat over the past month of action, with very little net movement during that period.
Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) pulled in sales of $1.1B in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of 31.9%. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($1.5B against $3.9B, respectively).
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) operates through three segments: Residential, Commercial, and Power Plant. The company provides solar power components, including panels and system components, primarily to dealers, system integrators, and distributors.
SPWR also offers commercial rooftop and ground-mounted solar power systems, and residential mounting systems, as well as utility-scale photovoltaic power plants. In addition, the company provides post-installation operations and maintenance services.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) recently announced the new mySunPower app, the company’s new experience for homeowners to review and manage their energy generation, consumption, and battery storage settings from a mobile device.
According to the release, the new mySunPower app for monitoring will be available for download for SunPower Equinox® customers on Feb. 16 on the Apple App Store and Google Play and will be available to all of SunPower’s 285,000 monitoring customers by spring 2021.
The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 10% in that timeframe.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) generated sales of $306.4M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of -10.4% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($549.4M against $500.7M).
