Why investors are hesitant to play ball with Jumbo

Jumbo Interactive, the Brisbane-based company that resells lottery tickets online, was among the sharemarket's runaway performers in 2019. Its shares rose to nearly $28 apiece back in October, nearing a market capitalisation of $1.5 billion and it was the darling of many investors.

The shares slowly fell back from that level – largely on valuation fears – and then went lower again during the first wave of the COVID-19 sell-off. At their lowest, Jumbo shares were trading just below $7, although they are now back at closer to $12 a share, giving the company a market capitalisation of a little below $720 million.