Buy Hold Sell: 5 speculative ASX-listed stocks with upside potential

Ally Selby: Hey, how are you doing? And welcome to Livewire's Buy Hold Sell. I'm Ally Selby and this episode's a little bit of a fun one. We're going to be taking a look at three stocks for the punters, as well as two speculative buys our guests believe you should be taking a look at instead. To do that, we're joined by Daniel Moore from IML and Jun Bei Liu from Tribeca.

First up today we have Brainchip Holdings. It's been a really volatile ride for shareholders over the past 12 months. The stock is down 47%. It is up 44% since the beginning of the year though. Daniel, I'm going to start with you. Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Brainchip Holdings (ASX: BRN)

Daniel Moore (SELL): Sell for me. I think Brainchip's right at the pointy end of speculation. It's a pre-revenue AI business losing lots of money. I think it's losing US$60 million a year. It's not for us.

Ally Selby: How about you, Jun Bei? Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Jun Bei Liu (SELL): It's a definite sell. From memory, this company was doing something else a few years ago and now it seems to be all AI. It's pre-revenue, and for any investor, you need to see the commercial contract come through.

NexGen Energy (ASX: NXG)

Ally Selby: Next up today, we have Canadian Uranium developer and explorer, NexGen Energy. Staying with you, Jun Bei. Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Jun Bei Liu (HOLD): It's a hold for me. We like the quality of the assets. We love the uranium thematic. We think the prices will hold firm for the time being. And this is one of the highest-quality [uranium stocks]. Recently, its share price has had a bit of weakness and pullback because of the acquisition, but I think once we wash through that, the share price will perform fine.

Ally Selby: It has actually performed exceptionally well over the past 12 months. It's up 109%. I wish I bought that stock 12 months ago. Over to you, Daniel. Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Daniel Moore (BUY): It's still a buy for us. Definitely one of the more speculative stocks, but we really like it. It's the lowest cost and largest uranium deposit in the world. We really like the deposit because it's hard rock and that means really conventional mining. The company's super well funded as well. They've got hundreds of millions of dollars of cash to bring that mine into production. And they're pretty close hopefully, to getting their environmental approvals very soon.

Zip Co (ASX: Z1P)

Ally Selby: Okay. Last up today we have Zip Co which soared to tantalising heights in 2021 before crashing back down to Earth. Although, when I did some research on this company, I couldn't believe it. Its share price is up 134% over the past 12 months. Daniel, over to you. Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Daniel Moore (SELL): It's a sell for us, but I'd have to say the management's done a pretty good job getting that business back to profitability. The reason it's a sell though is they're not making that much money and we're in a really benign credit environment - I mean, there are no bad debts to speak of. The profits aren't good enough for us to love the business.

Ally Selby: Over to you, Jun Bei. Is it a buy, hold or sell?

Jun Bei Liu (SELL): This one's hard. I would rate it a sell as well. I think it's done very well. And then the challenge is, at the moment - the US, which is a pure buy now, pay later product, is doing really well for them. We know the US consumer is still very, very strong. And what the Fed or US government are trying to do is really clamp down on spending. If the consumer is going through a soft patch, a consumer credit product is going to struggle. I think the next 12 months will prove to be a little bit difficult for this company. I would be taking profit here.

Ally Selby: Really excited for this. We asked our guests to bring along one stock that is quite speculative, but they're still buying it today. Jun Bei, what have you brought for us?

DroneShield (ASX: DRO)

Jun Bei Liu (BUY): It's DroneShield. Now, this company is the only pure-play defence company that ticks every ESG box. It has this product where it shields, whether it's an airport, whether it's a military base or a prison, from drone attacks or sensing around drones. They also have a weapon that can take down the drone and it's completely safe to humans because it's a laser. And it has already got contracts across multiple governments, and across many countries. And in the last 12 months, there's been surging interest in purchasing their product - which has been incredible. In fact, they just released another contract announcement and we think many large ones are coming through very soon.

Ally Selby: Okay. Over to you, Daniel. Which speculative stock are you buying today?

Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG)

Daniel Moore (BUY): Sigma is the stock we're buying. They're in the process of trying to merge with Chemist Warehouse. The risk there is the ACCC doesn't let the deal go through. We think it's worth the risk though. We think it's more likely than not. 90% of the business will be Chemist Warehouse and you'll get the ability to get exposure to probably one of the best retail companies in Australia. They're growing sales at 10% per annum, rolling out stores with that fantastic discount model. And they're going into markets offshore and having huge success as well.

Ally Selby: Okay. Well, I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I did. If you did, why not give it a like? Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you never miss an update.

Which speculative stock are you backing?

Jun Bei named DroneShield and Daniel's betting on Sigma, but we'd love to know what you think. Let us know which speculative stock you are backing and why in the comments section below.