What Are Ian King’s Stock Picks? (2023 Picks Revealed)

Ian King is an investment “guru” from Banyan Hill Publishing, and like most stock pickers, he releases different presentations from time to time that tease his picks.

I’ve written about several of his stock picks on this site already, but after seeing a recent Ian King ad, I decided to put this post together to keep track of his latest 2023 picks.

As of writing, I have only found one Ian King stock teaser this year about a semiconductor company, so that is what I will be discussing shortly.

But as I come across new Ian King teasers, I will strive to update this post. And if you come across any Ian King presentations that you want me to look into, let me know in the comments section below!

Breaking Down Ian King’s 2023 Stock Picks

As of writing, the only stock teaser I’ve seen from Ian King in 2023 is one about a so-called “fourth convergence,” where he teased a U.S.-based semiconductor company.

The pitch was part of a $3,000-odd service he runs called Extreme Fortunes, which I haven’t joined, but I did look into the clues he shared to see what I could uncover.

Here’s what I found…

Ian King’s “Fourth Convergence” (aka “No. 1 Semiconductor Stock”) – February 2023

The basis of Ian King’s latest 2023 pitch is that he believes we’re in the midst of a “fourth convergence,” which he claims could be bigger than the previous three.

According to King, the past three “convergences” were related to shale energy (oil), green energy, and biotech. And he claims that this fourth convergence “will be more lucrative” than those and have a bigger impact on the U.S. economy.

“Over the course of my two-decade career, I’ve seen convergences like this happen three times.

“And each time, bold investors had the chance to make anywhere from 1,000% to 5,000% within five years. But this time, during this Fourth Convergence, things will be a bit different.

“The opportunity to make money … will be more lucrative.

“The stake for the U.S. economy … will be larger.

“And the advancement for human kind … will be more impactful.”

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20230307235937/https://pro.banyanhill.com/p/WMC-EXFCONV23-001/EEXFZ3EP/Full

Long story short, Ian King’s fourth convergence prediction centers around semiconductors, which he considers to be the “new gold rush.”

Here’s how he put it:

“This Fourth Convergence, is quite literally the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s been 70 years in the making. It’s essentially the key that will ignite the $94 trillion global economy.

“And it’s all thanks to this…”

[presentation shows image of a microchip]

“… Anyone who follows my research knows I consider microchips to be the new gold rush.

“These microchips are in everything … your phone, your watch, your computer, your car, your refrigerator…”

Why is he so bullish on microchips?

I can’t speak for Ian King, but from what I can gather, he’s bullish because they are essential to virtually every electronic device you can think of, and the industry meets his ‘three-part criteria’ of a so-called “convergence.”

In short, the teaser explained that each “major convergence” was born from the combination of government funding, “groundbreaking innovation,” and “massive equity.” And he claims that “one small cap company” in Beverly, Massachusetts, is “poised to capitalize on this era.”

“Again — 70 years have been building toward this moment — ever since semiconductors were created back in the 1950s. Seventy years of deals, of pieces moving on the board, of supply chains being built, of more than 50 failure points being created, of leaps in technology…

“But what I see happening in microchips over the next few years will be like taking seven decades of waiting and compressing them into 24 months.

“And this one small cap company in Beverly, Massachusetts, is poised to capitalize on this era.”

Honestly, I find Ian King’s presentations to be quite overhyped.

He talks a lot about making big gains in a relatively short time (like making 5,000% gains in five years) and always tends to highlight all the winning stocks he’s recommended, without breathing a word about the ones that have gone wrong.

Nevertheless, I was curious to know what company he was teasing. So I looked into the clues he shared, which you can see a summary of below:

“Well, I’m not the only one paying attention to this phenomenon. They have some of the biggest investors in the world rallying behind them.

“The world’s LARGEST asset manager, BlackRock…

“The $4.4 trillion State Street Corporation…

“Even billionaire David Booth from Dimensional Fund Advisors.

“Plus, it has a team of some of the sharpest minds in the industry. They’re former executives from Intel, Raytheon, GE, even chip giant ASML.

“And its crowning achievement is this: It’s launched the first single-wafer implanter.”

Other than that, King didn’t say much about the company he was teasing, but he did talk about something called ion implantation, which I’m not even going to attempt to explain. But it is relevant to semiconductors and (it seems) the company he’s pitching.

So here’s a summary of what he said on that front:

“Ion implantation allows energy to move through the chip in a more efficient way, improving performance of the semiconductor itself.”

[…]

“Today, there are features on a chip as small as a grain of sand. Your red blood cells are larger than some of the structures inside these chips.

“And considering everything microchips are critical to … this ion implantation is key to unlocking some of the biggest technologies of the next century.”

So, based on what Ian King said in the pitch, his stock pick is a small-cap company in the semiconductor industry that is based in Beverly, Massachusetts. And it seems as though what the company does may have something to do with chip “implantation.”

What could it be?

I can’t be 100% certain, but I think Ian King might be teasing Axcelis Technologies (ACLS), a Beverly-based company that designs, manufactures, and services equipment for the semiconductor industry.

Oh, and it “produces ion implantation systems.”

Here’s a snippet from Wikipedia on what the company does…

“Axcelis Technologies, Inc. is an American company engaging in the design, manufacture, and servicing of capital equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry worldwide. It produces ion implantation systems, including high and medium current implanters, and high energy implanters, and curing systems used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips.”

Aside from that, another thing that leads me to think his pick is Axcelis is that the three institutional investors King mentioned all appear to be holders of this stock as of writing.

And while it’s technically not a “small-cap” stock (because its market cap is over $2 billion), it’s still a relatively small stock at around $4 billion.

King’s pitch was released in February, too, which means it could have been recorded in January (or earlier), and the stock has rallied since.

So, while the only way to be certain would be to read his “Fourth Convergence” report (and fork out almost $3k in the process), this is my best guess on his latest pick.

Update: August 30, 2023 (“3 Stocks to Profit From America’s New Chip-Making Boom”)

I just finished looking into a new (August 2023) stock teaser by Ian King, where he teased three semiconductor companies he’s bullish on.

I’m not sure what all three of them are, but based on the clues, the first one appears to be Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NVTS), a California-based semiconductor company that develops gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors.

The second, ESS Tech Inc (GWH), an Oregon-based energy storage company that designs and produces iron flow batteries.

You can see my complete writeup of Ian King’s August 2023 presentation here to get all the details and see how I arrived at the above conclusions.

What Are Ian King’s Past Stock Picks?

Aside from the presentation we just discussed, I’ve looked into four stocks that Ian King has teased, which are all tech-related, and in this section, I’ll break my research down.

Infinergy Stock (October 2021)

This was quite a popular Ian King presentation that was released in October 2021, and it was all about a solar power company he was bullish on.

In short, my research suggests that Ian King was teasing a company called SunPower Corporation (SPWR), a U.S. solar and battery energy storage company.

Digitarium Stock (September 2021)

Another stock teaser Ian King released was all about something he called “digitarium,” which is basically a term he used to describe “big data.” And he teased a California-based company that, based on his clues, appears to be Splunk (SPLK).

Ian King’s “#1 EV Stock” (July 2021)

In July 2021, Ian King released a presentation about the “EV revolution.”

And he specifically teased a “critical material” that he said EV manufacturers need, which appears to have been a rare earth called Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) oxide.

Long story short, my research led me to the conclusion that his pick was most likely a company called MP Materials (MP), a rare-earth materials company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MaaS Stock (December 2020)

MaaS stands for “Mobility-as-a-Service,” and this was something that Ian King touted a lot in 2020. He also discussed the idea of a “convergence” in this pitch and said that his “No. 1 stock for the mobility revolution” was a company in the LiDAR space.

You can see my full report on this teaser here, but the short story is that my research suggests that Ian King’s MaaS stock pick was Velodyne Lidar (VLDR).

Note: there is no recent chart available for this stock, as it completed a merger with a company called Ouster.

Is Ian King (and His Service) Legit?

Ian King does appear to have recommended some decent tech stocks over the years, but I would suggest taking his presentations with a grain of salt.

I say that because he (like many other “gurus” in the space) tends to talk up his winning picks while downplaying his losing picks. And this was the case in his latest 2023 pitch.

After going through his teaser, you’d think everything he touched turned to gold.

But nobody gets it right all the time!

Another thing to consider when it comes to Ian King’s newsletters is that he is heavily focused on technology companies and crypto. He appears to have recommended some of the most speculative, risky stuff you can think of. And while it may have paid off in some cases, his readers have likely experienced some considerable drawdowns.

Nevertheless, I don’t think I’d label his newsletter a scam.

I may not be interested in half the stuff he recommends (especially the crypto stuff), but I don’t think he’s actually scamming anyone.

Either way, if you are considering joining his service, I would suggest being mindful of the types of investments he recommends and not rushing into anything without doing your own due diligence. As there is no guarantee you will profit by following his picks.

I should also note that Banyan Hill Publishing (the company behind his services) pitch numerous upsells to their members. So if you join one of Ian King’s entry-level services (like Strategic Fortunes), don’t be surprised if the company pitches you on more expensive services shortly afterward, like Extreme Fortunes and numerous others.

All told, the company sells $10,000s in newsletter services, and many of their higher-priced services do not come with a refund policy.

Bottom Line

It’s impossible to know for certain what companies Ian King is recommending without joining one or more of his paid services, but I hope you found my sleuthing helpful. And I will strive to keep this post updated as I come across new Ian King stock teasers.

Thanks for reading!