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https://www.nabtrade.com.au/investor/insights/latest-news/news/2021/11/3_stocks_in_the_3d
Aerometrex (AMX)

Market capitalisation: $70 million
Three-year total return: n/a
Analysts’ consensus target price: $1.31 (Thomson Reuters), $1.31 (FN Arena)
Adelaide-based Aerometrex, which listed in December 2019 at $1 a share, is a similar business to Nearmap – it also creates and sells aerial imagery on a Data-as-a-service (DaaS) basis – but it is slightly different, with a technological edge in its LiDAR (light detection and ranging) capability which accurately maps the ground surface using airborne lasers. Aerometrex has conducted major aerial imagery work programs for Microsoft, with its Bing Maps Ultracam Osprey oblique camera program for every Australian major capital city, and for Google Earth, with its Australia/NZ Cities 3D mapping program.
The company has a strong relationship with Google: it has been creating 3D models for regions of Australia and New Zealand for Google since 2013, but in May the companies signed what could be a transformative deal when Google bought a 3D model of downtown San Francisco that Aerometrex is creating. The model was created at a very high resolution of 2-centimetre pixels. Aerometrex has also created 3D models of the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Denver and Miami, and the company expects to be able to monetise these data sets to a wide range of organisations. At these levels of resolution, the 3D models can recreate the experience of actually walking or flying through these cities. The Google deal – struck before the work is complete – lifted the Aerometrex share price by 14%.
Aerometrex’s 3D model data is being used in a wide range of industries – Aereometrex says 18, at last count – such as urban planning, civil engineering, asset management, mining, oil and gas, coastal erosion, and emergency services. Its LiDAR laser mapping service is being used in Australia for bushfire fuel load modelling, to measure the amount of biomass in a given area and its connection to a vegetation canopy, to inform bushfire prevention and management work.
There is also a growing business opportunity in virtual reality systems and gaming engines – the gaming industry wants just as rich data as any other industry to make its games as realistic as possible.
Another major growth area is the MetroMap online store that allows customers to access and buy specific 3D datasets from an Australia-wide archive of high-quality, accurate aerial imagery, that is updated four times a year for capital cities, and once a year for major regional and rural centres – companies, especially small-to-medium-sized (SME) businesses, can buy precisely the images they need, cost-effectively.
In FY21 Aerometrex lifted operating revenue by 4.2%, to $20.9 million, with subscription revenue up five-fold, to $3.6 million, and annual recurring revenue almost tripling, to $4.8 million. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was down 15.3%, to $4.2 million. Analysts don’t see profitability before FY24, but virtually every other number is heading in the right direction.
Aerometrex says its total addressable global market for 3D mapping and modelling is estimated to exceed $USD8.1 billion ($10.8 billion) by 2025. The stock is down 24% since listing – and down 39% so far in 2021 – but I think it looks very attractive buying at these levels. The pain for IPO subscribers is working in the favour of someone buying the stock now.