Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Amid recent market carnage, one of the strong turnaround stocks in Korea is NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) which is down 54% from its highs in February 2021.</li>
<li>Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of new games. </li>
<li>Short sale value/market cap ratio for NCsoft has declined materially in the past several weeks, reflecting increased optimism in the company's future prospects. </li>
</ul>


Amid recent market carnage, one of the strong turnaround stocks in Korea is NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) which is down 54% from its highs in February 2021.
Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of new games. 
Short sale value/market cap ratio for NCsoft has declined materially in the past several weeks, reflecting increased optimism in the company's future prospects. 


NCsoft: A Strong Turnaround Play in Korean Game Sector

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research, AlphaSituations

Robert Sassoon

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research

AlphaSituations

Since its establishment, AlphaSituations has delivered a track record of outperformance with a hit rate of winners of more than 70% of its portfolio of ideas generating annualized average returns of 20%. In January 2022, AlphaSituations was contracted by Water Tower Research, an investor engagement and stakeholder communication platform to provide coverage of Special Situations

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.</li>
<li>While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. </li>
<li>We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.</li>
</ul>


Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.
While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. 
We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.


MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul><li>The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation.</li><li>One would expect Activision’s rival, Electronic Arts to gain a valuation premium after this event especially given that the company’s financial performance has been decent.</li><li>EA's live services across its portfolio have delivered strong recurring revenue and year-over-year growth in the previous quarter and it remains fundamentally strong.</li></ul>

The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation.One would expect Activision’s rival, Electronic Arts to gain a valuation premium after this event especially given that the company’s financial performance has been decent.EA's live services across its portfolio have delivered strong recurring revenue and year-over-year growth in the previous quarter and it remains fundamentally strong.

Electronic Arts: Growing In A Fast-Evolving Gaming Industry 02/22

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.

<ul>
<li>Roblox was crushed on 4Q21 earnings, owing to a weak guidance for January due to tough Covid comps.</li>
<li>We think the selloff is overdone given the still strong user growth and the "of course" normalization that was due to occur after incredible growth for the past two years.</li>
<li>Once growth normalizes midyear, the platform narrative will resume as reaccelerating core growth and 2023 advertising growth comes into view. A likely double from here.</li>
</ul>


Roblox was crushed on 4Q21 earnings, owing to a weak guidance for January due to tough Covid comps.
We think the selloff is overdone given the still strong user growth and the "of course" normalization that was due to occur after incredible growth for the past two years.
Once growth normalizes midyear, the platform narrative will resume as reaccelerating core growth and 2023 advertising growth comes into view. A likely double from here.


Roblox 4Q21: Metaverse or Optical Illusion?

<ul>
<li>It was reported on 2/9 that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) increased its stake in NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) to 6.69%, which currently represents 808 billion won ($670 million).</li>
<li>This investment comes right after it was reported in the past several days ago that Saudi Arabia's PIF purchased a 5% stake in Nexon (3659 JP) for $883 million.</li>
<li><strong>Saudi Arabia's PIF investing NCsoft and Nexon as well as launching Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) are likely to renew increased interest in the recently beaten down Asian game stocks. </strong></li>
</ul>


It was reported on 2/9 that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) increased its stake in NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) to 6.69%, which currently represents 808 billion won ($670 million).
This investment comes right after it was reported in the past several days ago that Saudi Arabia's PIF purchased a 5% stake in Nexon (3659 JP) for $883 million.
Saudi Arabia's PIF investing NCsoft and Nexon as well as launching Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) are likely to renew increased interest in the recently beaten down Asian game stocks. 


Saudi Arabia's PIF Launches Savvy Gaming Group and Buys 6.7% of NCsoft & 5% of Nexon

United States

Activision Blizzard, Inc. publishes, develops, and distributes interactive entertainment software and peripheral products. The Company's products cover diverse game categories, including action/adventure, action sports, racing, role playing, simulation, first-person action, music-based gaming and strategy.

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Activision Blizzard (ATVI US)

NCsoft: A Strong Turnaround Play in Korean Game Sector

Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of...

Douglas Kim

MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

Why we think that the prospect of earning double-digits annualized returns from this transaction within the next 18 months might not be such a gamble

Robert Sassoon

Electronic Arts: Growing In A Fast-Evolving Gaming Industry 02/22

The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation. One...

Baptista Research

Roblox 4Q21: Metaverse or Optical Illusion?

2-3% MoM billings growth in January was the (negative) headline, but continued strong DAU growth and Hours Engaged are proof that the underlying...

Aaron Gabin

Saudi Arabia's PIF Launches Savvy Gaming Group and Buys 6.7% of NCsoft & 5% of Nexon

Saudi Arabia's PIF investing NCsoft and Nexon as well as launching Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) are likely to renew increased interest in the recently...

Douglas Kim

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