The economic climate might still be facing a load of uncertainty as 2024 begins, but don’t tell that to the smart home electronics channel. After a miserable 2022 that saw all but a few publicly companies tracked by CE Pro in the custom integration space suffer losses, investors had much more confidence last year, during which our annual Smart Home Stock Index enjoyed overall gains of 26.4%.
That being said, one could also say that things could not get much worse than 2022, and that applied to the U.S. financial market on the whole. Still, the custom electronics industry appears to be sitting pretty in a year where the S&P 500 also increased a healthy 24% and Nasdaq rose an even more impressive 43%.
Part of the Smart Home Stock Index’s strong performance was due to the tech behemoths’ bouncing back.
Biggies Amazon (up 81%), Alphabet (Google/Nest, 59%), Microsoft (57%), and Apple (48%) were back in investors’ favor last year after a rocky 2022.
In the AV market, major global manufacturers of displays of other electronics including Hisense (96%), Samsung (38%), Sony (26%), and LG Electronics (15%) saw steady increases in 2023.
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The smart security space also continued to make inroads with investors. Despite companies such as ADT and Johnson Controls being on the downside, 2023 was a solid one especially for access control/smart lock companies. ASSA Abloy (34% increase), Fortune Brands (33%), Alarm.com (30%), NAPCO (23%), Allegion (20%), and Resideo (17%) – which recently sold its wire and cable business to Southwire – did well, and security-focused distributor Wesco Anixter saw its price go up 39%.
While not traded in the U.S., Shelly Group AD (a subsidiary of parent Allterco) had a banner year on its native Bulgarian financial market having climbed 129% to the USD equivalent of approximately $26.83. The biggest gainer by percentage was smart security provider Arlo Technologies, which rose 164% but stands at a low price of $9.28.
For good measure, Emerald, owner of CE Pro, CEDIA Expo, Commercial Integrator Expo, and Total Tech Summit, ended last year at nearly $6/share ($5.98), good for a 69% increase from the beginning of 2023.
ADT, Best Buy, DISH Among Brands Down in 2023
Only 11 out of the 55 companies tracked by CE Pro took hits and dropped in price for the year, a marked reversal of fortune from last year when only four companies experienced gains.
Big-box giant Best Buy only had a slight 2% decline in 2023, but that followed a tough 2022 and overall has fallen from $101.60 to $78.28 over the past two years. ADT, which spun off its commercial division last year, dropped from $9.07 to $6.91 (-24%) after being one of a small number of manufacturers in the Smart Home Stock Index that ended 2022 on an upswing.
Despite remaining the overwhelming satellite brand being installed by integration companies, DISH Networks continued its downward trajectory last year, dropping 59% to $5.73 — two years ago at this time it was at $32.44.
New Smart Home Stock Index Additions Score Big
Of all the brands followed in the Index, Somfy dropped from this year’s list as it was delisted as a private company.
Meanwhile, CE Pro added to the Smart Home Stock Index GPS giant Garmin, which acquired subwoofer specialist JL Audio last August; and NRG Energy, which completed its purchase of Vivint Smart Home in March 2023.
Both Garmin and NRG experienced solid gains in 2023. Garmin’s stock price rose 31% to $128.54. Vivint began the year at $11.90 but was acquired by a company in NRG that soared from $32.20 to $51.87 in 2023, a 61% jump.
NRG’s increase perhaps signaled a larger investment trend into power and energy storage and management companies.
Two key brands in that sector tracked in the Index, Eaton and Schneider Electric, climbed 53% and 39% to $240.70 and $181.78, respectively. Additionally, SurgeX parent AMETEK enjoyed a 17% uptick to $164.14.
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