Put Microvision on Your Radar if You’re Investing in Self-Driving Tech

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Redmond, Washington-based Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS) is among the best-known developers of Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar). Thus, if you’re seeking exposure to cutting-edge self-driving automotive technology, you can buy and hold shares of MVIS stock.

LiDAR sensors show car sensing traffic around it. LAZR

Source: Shutterstock

There’s plenty of reason to think that the Lidar market is a great market to be in right now. For example, according to Fortune Business Insights, the global lidar market size is projected to reach $6.71 billion by 2026.

Plus, that market is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.7% from 2019 to 2026. So the potential for revenue generation is definitely there. Yet not everyone is fully convinced that Microvision is the right Lidar business to invest in.

While there’s reason to be skeptical, I want to point out something that caught my attention during a recent conference call. It might change the skeptics’ minds.

MVIS Stock at a Glance

Admittedly, MVIS stock has experienced some roller-coaster price movement in 2021. But long-term shareholders have done quite well despite all of the chaos.

It was only a year ago that the shares were available for less than $1. It’s unlikely that you’d be able to buy the stock anywhere near that price now.

As the market’s awareness of Lidar technology increased in 2020, so did the price of MVIS stock. By the end of 2020, the stock was already above $5.

That’s a significant level because stocks trading below $5 are classified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as penny stocks. Still, things got even more interesting from here.

After breaking out of penny-stock territory, the wild ride in Microvision began. Starting in February 2021, the stock sprinted up to $25, then down to the $10 level.

After that, Microvision stock went back up to $25 again, but then was down to $14 and change at the end of April.

Hopefully you didn’t get whiplash from all of that. Going forward, the bulls should prepare to retake the $25 level and then build up enough momentum to break through it permanently.

Meme to the Extreme

It’s a shame when a stock gets pigeonholed as a “meme stock.” It’s really a disparaging term, the way some folks use it.

Not long ago, Microvision was frequently mentioned on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets forum. This, by itself, could cause some people to assume that MVIS stock belongs in the “meme stock” category. Yet I would counter that Microvision deserves better than that.

First of all, it’s not the company’s fault that Reddit traders chose to target Microvision.

Second, this is a real business in a growth-oriented industry (see again the CAGR stat mentioned above).

Microvision recorded $500,000 worth of sales during 2021’s first quarter. This isn’t a “pre-revenue” company with no top-line revenues to speak of.

Nonetheless, you’ll still hear about MVIS stock being the “newest meme stock.” Perhaps an update from an executive at Microvision can persuade people to take the company more seriously.

A Future Generation Product

After reading the transcript of Microvision’s first-quarter conference call, you might get the impression that CEO Sumit Sharma is on a mission to transform the Lidar market as we know it.

That could actually be a fair assessment of Sharma’s far-reaching vision. And with that, it’s reasonable to conclude that Sharma really knocked it out of the park with this conference call.

I recommend reading the whole transcript. However, I’ll cut to the chase. Here’s what’s probably the most notable snippet from the CEO’s speech:

“We expect Microvision’s long-range lidar sensor will have two versions in the future … A future generation sensor would be a more advanced version … [and could] include our proprietary software that would provide features needed for a stand-alone sensor used for active safety applications.”

This is a major revelation for current and prospective MVIS stock holders. Here are the possible features that Sharma teased:

  • Active Emergency Braking
  • Active Emergency Steering
  • Pedestrian Active Emergency Braking
  • Active Lane Keep
  • Plus, a “longer list of higher level ADAS features with Microvision software running on our edge computing”

The Takeaway

Investors will definitely want to keep a lookout for the upcoming version of Microvision’s next-gen Lidar product.

And for folks who can handle the volatility, MVIS stock could be a worthy buy-and-hold for Lidar lovers everywhere.

On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Louis Navellier, who has been called “one of the most important money managers of our time,” has broken the silence in this shocking “tell all” video… exposing one of the most shocking events in our country’s history… and the one move every American needs to make today.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/05/put-microvision-on-your-radar-if-youre-investing-in-self-driving-tech/.

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