Today, we need to bring a new profile that has delivered outstanding stock returns in the last week; Arkados Group Inc. (OTCMKTS:AKDS), an Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider. Company LogoIts stock price spiked from $0.50 in September to almost $1.75 a share.Have a look at it: 1 year chart for AKDSBut, that's not all.The most significant is that more than 200,000 shares changed hands some days. In our opinion, it is a clear signal that the market interest in the stock has gone up.Check the following stock chart: 1 month chart for AKDSBusinessArkados Group, Inc. was founded in 1998. In the company materials, we could read the following about its activities:
"We deliver technology solutions for building and machine automation and energy conservation and provide energy conservation services such as LED lighting retrofits, HVAC system retrofits and solar engineering, procurement and construction services." Source
In our opinion, the most interesting is the following. The company focuses on the development and commercialization of IoT software platform to provide support to Big Data applications. These systems help manage energy management services provided by AKDS.The company is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, at the Economic Development Corporation at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.Recent Developments - The most significant in 2017Did you see the share price decline that occurred in May?The share price went down from approximately $1.5 to $0.75. We believe that the announcement that created this decline was the acquisition of SolBright Renewable Energy, LLC, a renewable energy design and development company based in Charleston, SC.We believe that the acquisition was a great business initiative. It was said that the two companies will be able to combine the value of renewable energy services with the vast benefits of our IoT Arktic™ software platform. Furthermore, the companies noted that "it is expected to be a tremendous catalyst for revenue and earnings growth."The payment was made in a combination of debt, cash, and shares. In our opinion, the fact that 4,000,000 shares of the company’s common stock were issued to pay for SolBright Renewable Energy, LLC, created the share price decline. However, we believe that the future growth of the company would be able to offset the potential stock dilution.The increase in the share price that occurred five months later proved that we were not wrong.In August and September, the most important announcement was the change of the company name, which was recently approved by the Board of Directors. The company will soon be called Solbright Group, Inc. in order to show better the business activities of AKDS. We will need to wait for the FINRA to accept the change of the name as well as the change of the ticker.Additionally, on September 21, 2017, the company released its results for the company’s fiscal year ended May 31, 2017. The most important was the increase in revenue; 25% year-over-year to $2,346,811 compared to $1,871,030 for the comparable year ago period.What happened in October?On October 4, 2017, the company announced that it had joined the Continental Automated Building Association (CABA), which is an organization focused on the advancement of connected home and intelligent building technology. We appreciate the news, as the company will be able to network with other professionals as well as increase awareness of its technology.On October 24, 2017, the company released its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. Revenue was $5,278,041, which shows an increase of over 1100% compared to revenue of $424,487 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. Furthermore, gross profit increased to $782,064 from $44,478 year over year; an increase of over 1600%.According to the company, increase in revenue was created by the growth in the company’s customer base and revenue recognized from the SolBright acquisition.Balance SheetThe results in the last quarter were not the only thing to like. The company shows a solid financial situation. Have a look at the last financial figures shown in the last balance sheet report.
- Cash: $0.8 million
- Goodwill: $13 million
- Total Assets: $19 million
- Long Term Debt: $8 million
- Total Liabilities: $15.3 million
These financial figures include the SolBright acquisition. We believe that the most recent revenue figures released and the fact that the company increased the amount of assets quite a bit were the main drivers of the share price spike.Those market participants who were able to recognize that the amount of assets increased from $0.2 million to more than $19 million in less than a year saw big profits in their trading accounts.ConclusionCurrently trading with a market cap of $28 million, AKDS is an exciting story among small caps. We believe that the most interesting item for the company was the acquisition of SolBright Renewable Energy, LLC. It was the number one catalyst. In our opinion, more news about this acquisition may make the share price increase more. To sum up, a lot is happening with this company and the stock price is reflective of that.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on AKDS, sign up below!Image courtesy of Raj Pal via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in AKDS and have not been compensated for this article.