6 Stock Ideas - Investment Conference
Based on 1-on-1 meetings with CEOs and CFOs, ranked by risk/reward.
Last week we attended the Planet MicroCap conference in Las Vegas.
The name suggests it covers only micro caps, but in reality several small-cap companies were present. We were there mostly for the small-caps, where trading volumes and liquidity are higher, which matters to us. Most companies were U.S., with a few Canadian ones.
We attended the Toronto edition last year and found several interesting ideas there, so we expected this trip to be worth it.
It was very much so.
Out of 138 companies, we narrowed the field to 14 through initial research and conducted 1-on-1 meetings with the CEO or CFO. From there, 6 names stood out as most compelling.
This piece is for investors looking for new ideas. While you should always do your own research, this should give you useful insights gathered from a week of research and in-person meetings with management.
If you are interested in replicating our global equity portfolio, the Aurelion Index, it is available on Plutus. Plutus allows users to automatically invest in model portfolios and handles trade execution.
You can learn more at runplutus.com.
Importance of being critical toward management
Being able to talk directly with management at these conferences is invaluable.
After a few years of doing this, we have developed a few techniques to get them to talk more on what they actually expect from the business. Last year, after the 1-on-1 meetings at Planet MicroCap Toronto, we classified the companies we liked and the ones we dismissed. You can find them here:
For transparency, the 5 companies we identified as compelling have returned an average of 35% since the conference in October 2025, compared to -20% for the 7 we dismissed.
The most important thing is to stay away from promotional CEOs. Last year at the Toronto conference, we fortunately saw right through ZOOMD.
Their goal appears to be to increase the stock price in order to then raise capital… The company (addtech business) ended up losing two major clients without new demand to fill those, which led to a -76% return over 8 months.
We are not adding any of the companies discussed in this piece to our main portfolio, the Aurelion Index, yet.
At this smaller company stage, much of the analysis comes down to whether management is outright promotional or whether they can actually deliver. Most of them were pitching us the dream. We asked several questions designed to keep them accountable and we’re now waiting a quarter or two for proof, alongside additional research on our side, before potentially adding one or two.
For micro and small-cap companies, the risk is generally higher, but some below can honestly become multibaggers.
Some readers may want to buy their favorite names here and be earlier than us, which is a completely fair approach as well. Last year, we used that same process (conference, then further research) and this is how we ended up finding a company in our portfolio.
To the best of our knowledge, everything we discuss is public information.
Structure
We start by ranking all the companies using charts based on:
Our estimated risk-reward
Short-term versus long-term attractiveness
Market capitalization
Revenue growth versus EV/EBITDA multiple
We then present the 6 companies.
We also discuss the 8 we dismissed after taking to management. However, we think that depending on your investment style, some may still be a fit, so we have still detailed them. If you want to get the most out of this article with limited time, the best approach is to read the 6 ideas, then quickly skim the dismissed companies in case you find something interesting.
As always, feel free to let us know your thoughts on the companies.