In the world of IPOs and business, share prices are everything to some industries. Being at the top of the metaphorical food chain is a great feeling for the Fortune 500 companies of the world. And for the PC gamers that chase that feeling via simulation games, there’s no better feat than beating out the competition. And when it comes to Capitalism Lab, there really is no better sim out there for chasing that feeling.
To improve your stock price in Capitalism Lab, you need to focus on your supply chain and keep the products flowing. Most players will want to focus in a few key areas before they really get going.
How to improve your stock price in Capitalism Lab
The stock market will fluctuate depending on the economic boom and bust cycle in the game world. Just like the real world, if the economy collapses, people are only concerned with survival. Financial markets driven by new investment will tank. If you want to change this at game start, turn on the Alternative Stock Sim on the New Game Setting menu’s Environment page. While using this mode, you cannot trade the stocks of player-owned subsidiaries. This particular form of insider trading is a great way to get quick cash in a normal game though. But you’re here to learn how to improve your stock price. Not to learn the ins and outs of the stock sim.
The best way to improve your stock price is to get a solid foundation and infrastructure. Get into a chosen few products at game start that will always be in high demand. Setting up firms for Wheat, Iron and Lumber are always good moneyspinners. Keep expanding and slowly dip your toes into the retail game to make even more cash.
You could also try and ride the highs of the stock market and new financial systems. The Banking DLC is a huge way to make easy money in the mid-game. You can take those initial profits from farming into a series of banking branches. Funnel investment into the banks via the Deposit mechanics and you can shoot up your income exponentially. After all, the best way to get a higher share price in this game is to return a higher profit.
Another option to go for increasing your stock price is to get your Investor Relations going. The HQ building has an Investor Relations room you can add. By spending up to $500,000 per month on relations via this room, you will directly increase your stock price. If you notice your stock value crashing, make sure you’re putting money into relations.
Market Share is another great metric for improving your stock price.
What about Market Share?
A lot of players will jump to the conclusion that market share is everything. After all, having a significant—or even total—control of the market is a great thing for earning quick cash. And to some degree that’s true, but you can’t get too caught up in it. Having a great way to generate revenue, thus increasing your stock price in Capitalism Lab, is a good way to grow.
Market Share is split into Production and Retail. The Production side is a lot harder and less profitable to capture. Most firms will vertically integrate or rely on port imports to sell new products. It can work, but most players opt for developing their own products, then selling from their own supply chain. This is mostly down to cost. You can sell to your retail locations at cost, and cut less into profits.
What problems can arise?
If you’re burning through resources at mines or lumberyards, you’re only going to control the supply until the next node spawns. Then, you’re stuck playing a cat-and-mouse game against the AI; having to hold back cash that could be spent on more profitable firms waiting to buy up the next resource node that spawns. And a lot of the time, it’s not worth it to corner the market on resources as there’s isn’t enough demand to capture that supply-side surplus.
A better way to approach market share is through focused production. You might want to try capturing enough of the jewelry market to where your products are the best gold and silver jewelry around. This is a much more effective use of your time. If you’re trying to control the flow of a good, you’re less concerned with individual profit for your firms. Not all of your stores will make a profit, so you want to be able to balance out market share and profit.
But don’t be fooled, it does come with some risk. If you’re not able to capture the market in your chosen goods in all the cities in a game, your opponents now have an edge that you can’t easily beat. Also, don’t be too concerned with exploding into 1st place. You will need to gradually capture market share through having a better quality product. Pouring money into adverts is one way to improve market share, but you also need to put funds into R&D to improve the actual quality of your items. If your competitor has a better product quality at some point, don’t be afraid to buy the tech from them, either.
Buying and selling a rush on your stock will cause it to rise and fall. Issuing new shares to raise capital will also drop your share price. But on the upside, you get more cash to expand. There are some pitfalls to be aware of, though. One more thing to be careful of is controlling interest. If you dilute your existing shares too much, the AI may end up buying you out of your own company. You must keep a controlling interest in your main company and its subsidiaries to retain control of them.
