Smart Home Stocks Soar 40% in 2017
Coming off a year in which the cumulative stock performance of public companies in the smart home, security and consumer electronics industries grew 22%, 2017 blew that away with a whopping 40.5% increase. However, some companies still saw red.
And you thought 2016 was a great year for the stocks of public companies engaged in the smart home industry.
Coming off a year in which the cumulative stock performance of public companies in the smart home, security and consumer electronics industries grew 22% in 2016, 2017 blew that away with a whopping 40.5% increase.
It appears the investment community is firmly behind the industry, which is a good signal for integrators. Indeed, the 40.5% stock price increase of the 46 public companies tracked by SSI sister publication CE Pro outperformed the overall stock market soundly in 2017.
Last year, the Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJIA) rose 25%. The past two years have been a nice comeback. Back in 2015, these smart home stocks fell 11.8%. For 2017, 36 companies reported increases in their share prices while 10 stocks fell.
Of course, most of the companies on the list (see below) are not pure-play stocks for the smart home industry. Most of them are diverse companies engaged in multiple industries, so the stock price increase may not be directly related to their performance in the automation, security or electronics’ sides of their businesses.
Also, the list itself is always evolving. Several companies that were staples on the list for many years are no longer public, such as Nortek, which was sold to Melrose Industries, and AVAD, which Ingram Micro sold last year.
ADT is not on the list, but soon will be as the company recently filed for an IPO after being spun out of Apollo Global Management. Also, long-time retailer HH Gregg was delisted from the stock exchange in 2017 after several years of struggling.
2017 Winners Led by Sharp, Control4
The company with the biggest stock price increase last year was Sharp (TYO: 6753) with an impressive 271% ascent.
It has been a nice rebound for this once-struggling company. Back in 2015, the Japanese company had seen its stock fall to a miniscule $1 per share. In August 2016, Foxconn (TPE: 2354) completed its $3.8 billion acquisition of Sharp, and in 2017 the company announced its first profit in four years.
The stock price had already grown to $2.30 per share to start the year and finished at $8.54. While Sharp had bid to acquire Toshiba Visual Solutions last year, those assets ultimately went to Hisense for $113.6 million.
Meanwhile, Control4 (Nasdaq: CTRL) stock kept humming along in 2017. The home automation company ended the year just under $30 per share, up from about $10 per share to start the year. Control4 has made several strategic purchases of late, including Triad Speakers and most recently Ihiji.
LG Electronics (KRX: 066570) was the only other company to more than double its stock price in 2017, rising 137%. Other big winners included IAC Interactive (Nasdaq: IAC; HomeAdvisor.com) up 97%; Samsung (Harman) up 61%; Sony Electronics up 61%; Best Buy up 61%; and Amazon up 57%.
The most expensive stocks to buy are Samsung (KRX: 005930; equivalent of $2,426/share in Korean won), Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN; $1,189/share) and Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL; $1,065/share). The cheapest stocks on the list are Toshiba (TYO: 6502; $2.84/share), VOXX (Nasdaq: VOXX; $5.60/share) and Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM; $6.93/share).
2017 Losers Include Comcast, TiVo
It’s never a good sign when the economy is cooking and the stock market is setting records, yet your company stock has fallen. Besides HH Gregg, the Indianapolis-based retailer that was delisted, the biggest decliner in 2017 was Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), which saw its stock price fall by 40% last year.
Other big decliners were Ascent Capital Group (Nasdaq: ASC-MA; the MONI holding company fell 29.3%); Universal Electronics (Nasdaq: UEIC; -26%); TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO; -25%) and IMAX (NYSE: IMAX; -26%).
TiVo is riding a roller coaster. Last year, it was one of the best performing stocks on the list with a 134% increase following its acquisition by Rovi Corp., which then melded into the public stock of TiVo.
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About the Author
Jason Knott
Jason Knott is Chief Content Officer for Emerald Expositions Connected Brands. Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990, serving as editor and publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He joined CE Pro in 2000 and serves as Editor-in-Chief of that brand. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the CEDIA Business Working Group since 2010. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California. Have a suggestion or a topic you want to read more about? Email Jason at [email protected]
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