CATAPULT BANKS ON NEW TECH FOR REBOUND
ASX-LISTED technology outfit Catapult is aiming for a rebound, launching a new athlete monitoring device targeted at professional basketball teams.
It comes at a time when chief executive Will Lopes says his company’s shares are being significantly undervalued. The stock, which closed steady at 72c on Monday, is down almost 40 per cent over the past year.
Catapult has launched its new Vector T7, a device trialled by several US basketball teams, including Duke University and Ohio State University’s women‘s team, described as the most compact athlete monitoring device for basketball players.
It offers live tracking of player analytics, including positional sensors and heart rate monitoring.
The company’s wearable technology is used by elite sports teams, including all 32 NFL teams, Australian AFL teams and English Premier League Soccer teams, but Mr Lopes said his company had been under-represented in basketball. “Historically we have been the dominant player in soccer, rugby, football and ice hockey, but we have been underpenetrated pretty significantly in basketball,” he said.
Catapult, which was born out of an innovation program by the CSIRO, supplies its wearable athlete tracking technology and data analytics software to more than 3600 elite teams around the world.
Listed on the ASX via an IPO in 2014, the company was once considered one of the ASX’s leading tech stocks and its share price climbed as high as above $4 in 2016.
Mr Lopes, a former Amazon executive said that his company’s future forecast revenue under contract was about the same as its entire market capitalisation, meaning it was being undervalued by investors. “I think we’re certainly undervalued,” Mr Lopes said.