Japanese Turnaround Situations, Short-Ideas, Azabu Research

Michael Allen

Japanese Turnaround Situations, Short-Ideas

Azabu Research

Azabu Research is a publishing and consulting firm focused on distressed equities in the Japanese market. We specialize in turnaround strategies, corporate combinations, divestitures, and restructuring.

Publisher of the Tokyo Turnaround Letter, which conducts the most thorough research possible of publicly available information, including forensic tests for fraudulent overstatement of assets and understatement of liabilities, as well as rigorous market and industry analysis to assess the underlying strengths of the company’s products or services, the appropriateness of the company’s turnaround strategy, and the skill of its current management team. The average length of a report exceeds 25 pages of text and tables, excluding any disclosures or executive summaries.

We have more than 30 years of experience in applying this process to distressed equities in Japan. Additionally, subscribers have free access to detailed, yet easily navigated earnings models for the target company as well as the top five comparable companies, and unlimited access to the analyst for follow-up questions.

Azabu Research also conducts be-spoke research on a project basis, and provides consulting services to companies looking to restructure, divest, make acquisitions, go public, or improve investor sentiment toward their stock.

Independent Research and Consulting Firm

Equity Bottom-Up

NIDEC CORPORATION is the world's leading manufacturer of small precision motors mainly used in HDD and optical disk drives. The company has extended its focus to the home appliance and automotive markets. NIDEC is active in M&A and its subsidiaries include the world's leading manufacturers of LCD panel handling robots and camera shutters.

<ul>
<li>Shigenobu Nagamori resigned as director but remains honorary chairman, a move we see as insufficient to address Nidec's recent accounting controversy.</li>
<li>Meaningful recovery requires both founders’ full retirement, a restructured, more independent board, and a chief risk officer to oversee professional auditing and reforms.</li>
<li>The company also needs to improve transparency on assets, overhaul incentives toward return on investment, and develop a realistic mid-term plan to improve return on capital.</li>
</ul>


Shigenobu Nagamori resigned as director but remains honorary chairman, a move we see as insufficient to address Nidec's recent accounting controversy.
Meaningful recovery requires both founders’ full retirement, a restructured, more independent board, and a chief risk officer to oversee professional auditing and reforms.
The company also needs to improve transparency on assets, overhaul incentives toward return on investment, and develop a realistic mid-term plan to improve return on capital.


Nidec (6594): Fake Resignations Don't Count

Smartkarma AI, Smartkarma

αSK

Smartkarma AI

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

Zhong Ao Home Group Limited is an independent property management company in China. The Company provides property developers and owners with management services to residential properties. Zhong Ao Home Group also offers sales assistance by deploying on-site staff.

<ul>
  <li>
<a href="https://smartkarma.com/entities/zhong-ao-home-group-ltd">Zhong Ao Home</a> is a small, independent property management company in China facing a challenging market, characterized by stagnant revenue and declining profitability over the past several years.</li>
  <li>The company's stock appears undervalued on traditional metrics (P/E, P/B) and offers a high dividend yield, which may attract value and income-oriented investors.</li>
  <li>Significant headwinds persist, including intense competition within a fragmented industry and a reliance on the troubled Chinese real estate sector, creating high uncertainty for future growth.</li>
</ul><p><em>This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.</em></p>


  
Zhong Ao Home is a small, independent property management company in China facing a challenging market, characterized by stagnant revenue and declining profitability over the past several years.
  The company's stock appears undervalued on traditional metrics (P/E, P/B) and offers a high dividend yield, which may attract value and income-oriented investors.
  Significant headwinds persist, including intense competition within a fragmented industry and a reliance on the troubled Chinese real estate sector, creating high uncertainty for future growth.
This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.

Primer: Zhong Ao Home (1538 HK) - Dec 2025

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Akshat Shah

APAC IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

CiDi is a leading provider of autonomous driving technology for commercial vehicles in China with a focus on research and development of autonomous mining and logistics trucks, V2X technologies and high-performance perception solutions.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cidi-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44089:1" rel="noopener">CiDi Inc (CIDI HK)</a> raised US$183m in its Hong Kong IPO.</li>
<li>CiDi is a leading autonomous driving technology provider for commercial vehicles in China, with a strong foothold in the autonomous mining segment.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the demand and trading dynamics.</li>
</ul>



CiDi Inc (CIDI HK) raised US$183m in its Hong Kong IPO.
CiDi is a leading autonomous driving technology provider for commercial vehicles in China, with a strong foothold in the autonomous mining segment.
In this note, we will talk about the demand and trading dynamics.


Head of Research, Krungthai XSpring

Waraporn Wiboonkanarak

Head of Research

A full service Thai brokerage

Krungthai XSpring

Krungthai XSpring is a full service broker. The company provides a wide range of investment services such as Securities Brokerage, Derivative Agent Business, Securities Borrowing and Lending, Securities Trading, Underwriting, Financial Advisory, Wealth Advisory, Private Fund Management and International Markets Securities Trading. 

In terms of credibility, Fitch Ratings has assigned Krunghtai XSpring a long-term rating of AA- and a national short-term rating of F1+ with stable outlook.

Tisco Financial Group Pcl is a bank holding company.  The Company's banking subsidiary offers working capital, project, term, automobile and home loans; custodian services; securities brokerage; mutual funds; and private banking; and advises on equity and debt capital markets, privatizations, debt restructuring, project finance, and mergers and acquisitions.

<ul><li>We maintain a Neutral rating with a FV of Bt108.00, based on a PBV of 2.01x derived from a regression analysis.</li><li>Long-term growth is broadly in line with the industry, with net profit expected to post a –0.8% CAGR over 2025–27E, pressured by normalization of credit cost provisions after a period of excess reserves.</li><li>Tactical upside risk is limited as the stock trades above its 180-day average PBV; however, TISCO’s key attraction remains its high dividend yield, estimated at 7.2%.</li></ul>

We maintain a Neutral rating with a FV of Bt108.00, based on a PBV of 2.01x derived from a regression analysis.Long-term growth is broadly in line with the industry, with net profit expected to post a –0.8% CAGR over 2025–27E, pressured by normalization of credit cost provisions after a period of excess reserves.Tactical upside risk is limited as the stock trades above its 180-day average PBV; however, TISCO’s key attraction remains its high dividend yield, estimated at 7.2%.

TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP Plc. (TISCO): 4Q25E Profit To Decline YoY And QoQ

Healthcare Equity Analyst - Emerging & Dev Markets, daaimon

Avien Pillay

Healthcare Equity Analyst - Emerging & Dev Markets

daaimon

daaimon is an independent research company focusing on healthcare and consumer sectors across developed and emerging markets. We produce insightful research which challenges conventional thinking. In particular, we look for new ideas by testing consensus forecasts and markets expectations.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise / Equity Bottom-Up

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited owns and operates hospitals in India.  The Company also runs a 24-hour pharmacy network via over 120 outlets across India. Apollo Hospitals also runs clinics and offer managed care and family health plans. The Company has a variety of locations in Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Dubai, Vizag, Bilaspur and Chengannur.

<ul>
<li>Recent results are disappointing and point to slower organic growth especially in the much higher margin Healthcare Services division.</li>
<li>The recent results also provide further evidence revealing the difficulty in expanding the network outside of management contracts.</li>
<li>Apollo is the cheapest of the three main listed hospital groups. At 48 forward PE &amp; 26 forward EV/EBITDA, we expect the core division to be growing faster (9%, Sept-25,Q2-results).</li>
</ul>


Recent results are disappointing and point to slower organic growth especially in the much higher margin Healthcare Services division.
The recent results also provide further evidence revealing the difficulty in expanding the network outside of management contracts.
Apollo is the cheapest of the three main listed hospital groups. At 48 forward PE &amp; 26 forward EV/EBITDA, we expect the core division to be growing faster (9%, Sept-25,Q2-results).


Apollo Hospitals Update (APOLLOHOSP ) – Retain Sell

Sell / Short Ideas
Outperform on the downside

Nidec (6594): Fake Resignations Don't Count

Shigenobu Nagamori's resignation as director of Nidec resolves nothing. Both founders should retire, and a complete board restructuring is needed...

Michael Allen

Primer: Zhong Ao Home (1538 HK) - Dec 2025

Zhong Ao Home is a small, independent property management company in China facing a challenging market, characterized by stagnant revenue and...

αSK

CiDi IPO Trading - Subdued Insti Demand

CiDi Inc. raised around US$183m in its Hong Kong IPO. In this note, we will talk about the IPO and demand and trading dynamics.

Akshat Shah

TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP Plc. (TISCO): 4Q25E Profit To Decline YoY And QoQ

Tactical upside risk is limited as the stock trades above its 180-day average PBV; however, TISCO’s key attraction remains its high dividend yield,...

Krungthai XSpring

Apollo Hospitals Update (APOLLOHOSP ) – Retain Sell

Disappointing results, indicating slower organic growth in the higher margin Healthcare Services division. Results also demonstrate difficulty in...

daaimon

Nidec (6594): Fake Resignations Don't Count

​Shigenobu Nagamori's resignation as director of Nidec resolves nothing. Both founders should retire, and a complete board restructuring is needed...

Michael Allen

Primer: Zhong Ao Home (1538 HK) - Dec 2025

Zhong Ao Home is a small, independent property management company in China facing a challenging market, characterized by stagnant revenue and...

αSK

CiDi IPO Trading - Subdued Insti Demand

CiDi Inc. raised around US$183m in its Hong Kong IPO. In this note, we will talk about the IPO and demand and trading dynamics.

Akshat Shah

TISCO FINANCIAL GROUP Plc. (TISCO): 4Q25E Profit To Decline YoY And QoQ

Tactical upside risk is limited as the stock trades above its 180-day average PBV; however, TISCO’s key attraction remains its high dividend yield,...

Krungthai XSpring

Apollo Hospitals Update (APOLLOHOSP ) – Retain Sell

Disappointing results, indicating slower organic growth in the higher margin Healthcare Services division. Results also demonstrate difficulty in...

daaimon

Shigenobu Nagamori's resignation as director of Nidec resolves nothing. Both founders should retire, and a complete board restructuring is needed...