APAC IPOs & Placements

Zhen Zhou, Toh

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 Bottom-Up

New Oriental Education & Techn / Equity Bottom-Up

<p>China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. </p><p>In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.</p>

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

<p><strong>Summary: </strong>Coursera, an online education platform will see its business model decelerate faster than expected. While the TAM trajectory of online education has clearly inflected higher due to the pandemic, we think  the Coursera’s growth trajectory is being mismodeled based on 2020’s surge in signups. Coursera’s profitability is dependent on scaling its enterprise and degree customer bases. While the demand for upskilling employees is real, intense competition from LinkedIn, Pluralsight, and others may crimp growth and gross margins segment, while a lack of leverage with its content suppliers (university partners), plus edX’s open source alternative  weaken revenue sharing over time. A lack of tangible evidence of Coursera’s skills-based credentialing translating to jobs will result in underwhelming consumer growth and lack of pricing power. Downside risks around regulation and competitive incursion by tech platforms paired with an obscene valuation make a compelling short case.</p><p> <strong>Base Case Valuation: $33                                  Bull Case: $57                                 Bear Case: $20</strong></p><p></p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div>

Summary: Coursera, an online education platform will see its business model decelerate faster than expected. While the TAM trajectory of online education has clearly inflected higher due to the pandemic, we think  the Coursera’s growth trajectory is being mismodeled based on 2020’s surge in signups. Coursera’s profitability is dependent on scaling its enterprise and degree customer bases. While the demand for upskilling employees is real, intense competition from LinkedIn, Pluralsight, and others may crimp growth and gross margins segment, while a lack of leverage with its content suppliers (university partners), plus edX’s open source alternative  weaken revenue sharing over time. A lack of tangible evidence of Coursera’s skills-based credentialing translating to jobs will result in underwhelming consumer growth and lack of pricing power. Downside risks around regulation and competitive incursion by tech platforms paired with an obscene valuation make a compelling short case. Base Case Valuation: $33                                  Bull Case: $57                                 Bear Case: $20Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

Equity Capital Markets

Zhihu Technology / Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zhihu-technology-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32185:1" rel="noopener">Zhihu Technology (ZH US)</a> raised US$773m at the bottom-end of the IPO price range (including the US$250m concurrent placement).</p></div><div><p>In this note, we will discuss what is circulating in the market and share our thoughts on how it impacts Zhihu.</p></div><div><p>Our previous coverage of Zhihu:</p></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/zhihu-pre-ipo-in-the-early-stages-of-monetization" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49157" rel="noopener">Zhihu (知乎) Pre-IPO - In the Early Stages of Monetization</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/zhihu-censorship-as-top-risk-may-follow-fate-of-weibo" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49184" rel="noopener">Zhihu (知乎): Censorship as Top Risk, May Follow Fate of Weibo</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/zhihu-ipo-monetizing-curiosity" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49467" rel="noopener">Zhihu (知乎) IPO - Monetizing Curiosity</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/zhihu-ipo-trading-peers-have-corrected-significantly-but-still-has-a-modest-upside" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49684" rel="noopener">Zhihu (知乎) IPO Trading - Peers Have Corrected Significantly but Still Has a Modest Upside</a> </li>
</ul></div>

Zhihu Technology (ZH US) raised US$773m at the bottom-end of the IPO price range (including the US$250m concurrent placement).In this note, we will discuss what is circulating in the market and share our thoughts on how it impacts Zhihu.Our previous coverage of Zhihu:

Zhihu (知乎) Pre-IPO - In the Early Stages of Monetization 

Zhihu (知乎): Censorship as Top Risk, May Follow Fate of Weibo 

Zhihu (知乎) IPO - Monetizing Curiosity 

Zhihu (知乎) IPO Trading - Peers Have Corrected Significantly but Still Has a Modest Upside 


Zhihu (知乎) IPO Trading Update - Peers Took Another Leg Down on the Back of Rumored Document

Overseas Chinese Equities, Aequitas Research

Ming Lu

Overseas Chinese Equities

<ul class="">
<li>The chief of the People’s Bank of China made a positive comment on Ant Group.</li>
<li>India will ban 59 Chinese apps forever.</li>
<li>Tencent Music (TME US) increased its shareholdings in Universal Music Group.</li>
<li>Xiaomi (1810 HK)'s smartphone shipment increased by 32% yoy in 4Q20. </li>
</ul>


The chief of the People’s Bank of China made a positive comment on Ant Group.
India will ban 59 Chinese apps forever.
Tencent Music (TME US) increased its shareholdings in Universal Music Group.
Xiaomi (1810 HK)'s smartphone shipment increased by 32% yoy in 4Q20. 


China Internet Weekly (1Feb2021): Central Bank's Positive Comment on Ant, Xiaomi Got Mkt Share in Q4

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<p>Following the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gamestop-corp-class-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13790:1" rel="noopener">GameStop Corp Class A (GME US)</a> saga that has been all over the financial press (and is now spreading into the mainstream press), we have been getting questions on names in Hong Kong that could be prone to a squeeze.</p><p>We do not believe that retail players in Hong Kong have the heft that retail investors in the US do, nor are single stock options frequently used (though there is a lot of retail activity in warrants on large cap names), but the pain that is being felt in global portfolios could lead to unwinding in Hong Kong shorts too.</p><p>Some highly shorted stocks in Hong Kong that have seen prices jump today along with volume surge are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-healthcare-and-technology-company-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27008:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited (1833 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hang-seng-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24:1" rel="noopener">Hang Seng Bank (11 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/vitasoy-intl-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2807:1" rel="noopener">Vitasoy Intl Holdings (345 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-literature-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24388:1" rel="noopener">China Literature (772 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bank-of-east-asia-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:341:1" rel="noopener">Bank of East Asia (23 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mtr-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13289:1" rel="noopener">MTR Corp (66 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/want-want-china-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:355:1" rel="noopener">Want Want (151 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsonite-international-sa" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12790:1" rel="noopener">Samsonite (1910 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wharf-real-estate-investment" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26031:1" rel="noopener">Wharf Real Estate Investment (1997 HK)</a>.</p><p>We identify more stocks that could be prone to short covering based on short interest as a percentage of issued shares, free float and in terms of days of ADV to cover.</p>

Following the GameStop Corp Class A (GME US) saga that has been all over the financial press (and is now spreading into the mainstream press), we have been getting questions on names in Hong Kong that could be prone to a squeeze.We do not believe that retail players in Hong Kong have the heft that retail investors in the US do, nor are single stock options frequently used (though there is a lot of retail activity in warrants on large cap names), but the pain that is being felt in global portfolios could lead to unwinding in Hong Kong shorts too.Some highly shorted stocks in Hong Kong that have seen prices jump today along with volume surge are Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited (1833 HK), Hang Seng Bank (11 HK), Vitasoy Intl Holdings (345 HK), China Literature (772 HK), Bank of East Asia (23 HK), MTR Corp (66 HK), Want Want (151 HK), Samsonite (1910 HK) and Wharf Real Estate Investment (1997 HK).We identify more stocks that could be prone to short covering based on short interest as a percentage of issued shares, free float and in terms of days of ADV to cover.

China

East Buy is an investment holding company primarily engaged in livestreaming e-commerce, selling private label products and providing commission services. The company offers agricultural products, including fresh foods, juice, coffee, tea, and bedding, under its "East Buy" brand. Headquartered in Beijing, China, the company was founded in 2018.

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East Buy (1797 HK)

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening...

Zhen Zhou, Toh

Coursera: Back to School

Coursera, an online education platform will see its business model decelerate faster than expected. Downside risks around regulation and...

Aaron Gabin

Zhihu (知乎) IPO Trading Update - Peers Took Another Leg Down on the Back of Rumored Document

We think the drop is overdone. Sure, Zhihu is sort of an educational website but it is nowhere close to what the techedu companies are doing.

Zhen Zhou, Toh

HK Shorts: Squeeze-O-Meter

Following the GameStop saga, we try to identify stocks in HK that could be susceptible to a short squeeze based on short interest vs issued shares...

Brian Freitas

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China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening...

Zhen Zhou, Toh

Coursera: Back to School

Coursera, an online education platform will see its business model decelerate faster than expected. Downside risks around regulation and...

Aaron Gabin

Zhihu (知乎) IPO Trading Update - Peers Took Another Leg Down on the Back of Rumored Document

We think the drop is overdone. Sure, Zhihu is sort of an educational website but it is nowhere close to what the techedu companies are doing.

Zhen Zhou, Toh

China Internet Weekly (1Feb2021): Central Bank's Positive Comment on Ant, Xiaomi Got Mkt Share in Q4

The chief of Chinese central bank positively commented Ant Group.India will ban 59 Chinese apps forever. Tencent Music increased its shareholdings...

Ming Lu

HK Shorts: Squeeze-O-Meter

Following the GameStop saga, we try to identify stocks in HK that could be susceptible to a short squeeze based on short interest vs issued shares...

Brian Freitas