"minerals, pharmaceutical, tech, etc etc"
You may have a point re other companies not producing income/profit.
However here is the difference:
A miner has to spend x time on surveying, drilling, meeting JORC requirements, getting permits/approvals, building plants, the list goes on, this can take 2-5 years depending on the mineral, location etc.
The market understands this and associates the risk accordingly.
A Pharmaceutical is similar, in which is hads to create, test and have their product evaluated normally via stages 1,11,111 and then approved by the drug authorities, this again is known to take 2-5 years, market understands this and risks the stock accordingly.
IOT are the ones who have stated they have X product and have met their market buyers and have estimated presales of X.
The market understands what timeframe is considered normal and when the expectations are not met, question the merit of the company.
IOT could have quite easily stated in their prospectus, we have a drone (in development) that may take 12 months -24 months until finalised due to a,b and c.
That would be fine, no problem at all, those buying should then be fully aware of the timeframe until any sale/ profit may be realised.
These are what I would consider the main differences.
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