Q: Any thoughts on this small junior, good price action as of late with crude moving up?
5i Research Answer:
AOI has had a decent year, up 30%. It has $175M cash and has high risk, high reward exploration potential. From a base of zero last year, revenue is now ramping up and is expected to hit $103M this year. It is profitable with good cash flow, and in the 2Q production guidance was maintained. It is a very cheap stock on most metrics. It started paying a dividend in Feb 2022, with current yield at 2.11%. Insiders own 2% directly. We would still need to put it into the higher-risk camp, but it reads fairly well for an exploration play. There is some geo/political risk in Kenya and Ethiopia but this is where big discoveries can be made.