The Aston Martin (LSE: AML) share price is a wealth-destroying machine. The FTSE250a publicly traded company takes investors’ money and sets it on fire. It wiped out 60% of my holdings in 18 months and I’m one of the lucky ones.

Aston Martin shares listed on the stock exchange London Stock Exchange in 2018 at £19 each. Today they pay less than 65p, which is a staggering 97% less, and investors still don’t want to know that. But at some point the agony has to end. True?

Investing is cyclical. There are times when damaged stocks quickly recover, making devoted investors luxurious. To take Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR) for example. The British engineering giant struggled for years until – bam!

Impressive return of the FTSE 100 index

For years everything went wrong. Trent 1000 engines suffered from corrosion and cracks, while costs rose and profit warnings multiplied. The corruption scandal cost him £500 million. Then the pandemic struck, grounding airline fleets around the world and depriving them of revenue from aircraft engine maintenance contracts that are based on miles flown.

In 2020, Rolls-Royce reported a loss of almost £4 billion, reversing the previous year’s profit of £583 million. Net debt exceeded £4 billion. And then everything changed. At high speed. They increased by 80% in one year and 1,077% in five years.

Rolls-Royce really took off after fresh CEO Tufan Erginbilbiç publicly embarrassed it as: “burning platform”telling employees that they lose money with every investment. This description fits the Aston Martin quite well. Could he design the same phrase?

They both operate on a different scale. Aston Martin produces luxury cars and boasts a prestige-boosting Formula 1 team. Rolls-Royce has its fingers in a much wider range of cakes, including civil aviation, power systems and defence, while pioneering other areas such as miniature modular reactors, better known as mini-nuclears. Erginbilgiç believes they will make Rolls-Royce the most valued company in the UK. Something like this will never happen to an Aston Martin.

Problems with FTSE 250 quotes

But like Rolls, James Bond the automaker has been under attack on multiple fronts due to patchy sales, untimely deliveries, fierce competition from rival brands and, of course, the pandemic. Fortunately, there is no corruption scandal. But it has £1.4 billion of net debt on a market capitalization of £650 million and is essentially kept afloat by Canadian billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.

Despite this, it remains a beloved brand, with recent releases receiving good reviews, if not sales. On October 29, the group reported a third-quarter loss of £112 million as wholesale volumes were hit by US tariffs. Much now depends on what will come Defeat model and then its first hybrid.

Ultimately, the return of flying sparked a fire under Rolls-Royce. I suppose an economic recovery in the US or China could do the same for Aston Martin, but I’m not convinced. I have faint moments when I think about topping up the stake, but they pass quickly. Aston Marting may continue to grow rapidly, but it’s too risky for most investors. Only for dreamers and gamblers.