Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>There have been a lot of deals in the last 5 years, including M&amp;A between Japanese companies, distribution deals/licenses, foreign companies buying into Japan and Japanese buying foreign brands. </li>
<li>Consolidation is a key motivation but so are category expansion, rationalisation and buying in expertise. All these reasons and more suggest more deals to come in the next few years.</li>
<li>Here we provide a comprehensive list of deals between 2019-2025 as well as a map showing who owns who and, as important, who influences who without any paperwork at all.</li>
</ul>


There have been a lot of deals in the last 5 years, including M&amp;A between Japanese companies, distribution deals/licenses, foreign companies buying into Japan and Japanese buying foreign brands. 
Consolidation is a key motivation but so are category expansion, rationalisation and buying in expertise. All these reasons and more suggest more deals to come in the next few years.
Here we provide a comprehensive list of deals between 2019-2025 as well as a map showing who owns who and, as important, who influences who without any paperwork at all.


[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

Equity Analyst - Asia Consumer Sector, Investory

Devi Subhakesan

Equity Analyst - Asia Consumer Sector

ASIA CONSUMER: INSIGHTS AND INVESTMENT IDEAS

Investory

Investory is a Singapore-based boutique independent equity research firm founded in January 2017 with a primary focus on consumption themes across Asia-Pacific.

We aim to generate investible ideas based on consumption trends and outlook. We screen our ideas on several parameters - product potential, long-term growth and management commitment being the most critical.  We follow a fundamental analysis approach in our stock selection process and are not restricted by market cap.

We aspire to grow into a leading source of unbiased research, free of conflict of interest, for investors yearning for independent and disciplined analysis. 

We also undertake bespoke research mandates to support our Institutional clients’ investment needs.

Our team comprises of professionals with extensive experience in the Asian equity markets, in areas ranging from research, servicing institutional clients and investment management.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Sea Ltd’s stock surged nearly 20% yesterday after it reported 2Q 2025 results that beat street expectations across key metrics.</li>
<li>During the investor call, Management sounded confident in sustaining growth while improving profitability, citing a vast addressable market and an emerging logistics cost advantage.</li>
<li>Full-Year gaming guidance was raised on the back of Free Fire’s strong momentum across performance metrics.</li>
</ul>


Sea Ltd’s stock surged nearly 20% yesterday after it reported 2Q 2025 results that beat street expectations across key metrics.
During the investor call, Management sounded confident in sustaining growth while improving profitability, citing a vast addressable market and an emerging logistics cost advantage.
Full-Year gaming guidance was raised on the back of Free Fire’s strong momentum across performance metrics.


Sea Ltd (SE US): Inside the Rally – What Drove the 20% Post Earnings Surge?

AI | Semiconductors | Commodities, Mint Finance

Raghav Vashisht

AI | Semiconductors | Commodities

Deep Fundamental Analysis

Mint Finance

Mint Finance's investment research blends deep fundamental analysis with technical & quant insights. Investment strategies straddle across multiple asset classes with risk management embedded into every trade to deliver an outsized reward-to-risk ratio.

Mint Finance's research is centered around three key themes. First, energy transition and climate change. Second, artificial intelligence. Third, shifting world order with its impact across politics and monetary economics.

<ul>
<li>Record royalties now make up over half of Arm’s revenue, with Compute Subsystems (CSS) earning nearly 2x more than conventional designs.</li>
<li>Hyperscaler CPU share jumps to ~50%, as Neoverse powers AI infrastructure at NVIDIA, AWS, Google, and Microsoft.</li>
<li>Custom silicon stickiness deepens, with multigenerational GPU deals and CSS design wins spanning cloud, PC, and automotive verticals.</li>
</ul>


Record royalties now make up over half of Arm’s revenue, with Compute Subsystems (CSS) earning nearly 2x more than conventional designs.
Hyperscaler CPU share jumps to ~50%, as Neoverse powers AI infrastructure at NVIDIA, AWS, Google, and Microsoft.
Custom silicon stickiness deepens, with multigenerational GPU deals and CSS design wins spanning cloud, PC, and automotive verticals.


[Earnings Review] Arm’s AI Royalty Engine Powers Through Cloud and Edge Tailwinds

Technology / Semiconductor / Internet Research

Nicolas Baratte

<ul>
<li>Google: increased 2025 Capex ($75bn -&gt; 85bn). Capex will increase in 2026. Higher capex is justified by “strong demand for Cloud products and services“.</li>
<li>Meta: last quarter increased 2025 Capex ($62.5bn -&gt; 68bn). This quarter, more modest $1bn increase to $69bn. Meta expects “another year of similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026”.</li>
<li>Microsoft: FY26 Capex growth will moderate compared to FY25 (FY25 Capex increased 58% YoY).</li>
</ul>


Google: increased 2025 Capex ($75bn -&gt; 85bn). Capex will increase in 2026. Higher capex is justified by “strong demand for Cloud products and services“.
Meta: last quarter increased 2025 Capex ($62.5bn -&gt; 68bn). This quarter, more modest $1bn increase to $69bn. Meta expects “another year of similarly significant capital expenditures dollar growth in 2026”.
Microsoft: FY26 Capex growth will moderate compared to FY25 (FY25 Capex increased 58% YoY).


Hyperscalers 2Q25: Revenue Growth Accelerates, Cloud Revenues Accelerate, Capex Higher

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

<ul>
<li>Magnificent 7 positioning remains elevated across global funds, but momentum has clearly stalled, with recent activity pointing to consolidation rather than renewed conviction buying. </li>
<li>Growth and GARP funds are near fully allocated, while Value and Yield managers remain structurally underweight— potentially limiting the potential for broad-based participation from here. </li>
<li>Microsoft leads with cross-style appeal; Tesla lags with minimal support. Apple is the conviction underweight, while NVIDIA’s benchmark surge has left it at a record active underweight.</li>
</ul>


Magnificent 7 positioning remains elevated across global funds, but momentum has clearly stalled, with recent activity pointing to consolidation rather than renewed conviction buying. 
Growth and GARP funds are near fully allocated, while Value and Yield managers remain structurally underweight— potentially limiting the potential for broad-based participation from here. 
Microsoft leads with cross-style appeal; Tesla lags with minimal support. Apple is the conviction underweight, while NVIDIA’s benchmark surge has left it at a record active underweight.


Magnificent 7:  Global Fund Positioning Update

United States

Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company's products include books, music, videotapes, computers, electronics, home and garden, and numerous other products.  Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers.

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Amazon (AMZN US)

[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...

Michael Causton

Sea Ltd (SE US): Inside the Rally – What Drove the 20% Post Earnings Surge?

Sustained strong growth momentum for key metrics and profitability across business segments seems to have taken the street by surprise. Expect...

Devi Subhakesan

[Earnings Review] Arm’s AI Royalty Engine Powers Through Cloud and Edge Tailwinds

Record Q1 royalties, surging Neoverse share, and premium CSS adoption reinforce Arm’s AI platform strategy, even as the quarter missed revenue...

Mint Finance

Hyperscalers 2Q25: Revenue Growth Accelerates, Cloud Revenues Accelerate, Capex Higher

Google, Meta and Microsoft will increase in 2026. Don’t look for complications, some firms have 70-100% market share: Nvidia, TSMC, SK Hynix and...

Nicolas Baratte

Magnificent 7: Global Fund Positioning Update

Positioning in the Magnificent 7 remains near record highs, but momentum is fading as growth funds top out and value remains sidelined.

Steven Holden

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52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

​Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...

Michael Causton

Sea Ltd (SE US): Inside the Rally – What Drove the 20% Post Earnings Surge?

Sustained strong growth momentum for key metrics and profitability across business segments seems to have taken the street by surprise. Expect...

Devi Subhakesan

[Earnings Review] Arm’s AI Royalty Engine Powers Through Cloud and Edge Tailwinds

Record Q1 royalties, surging Neoverse share, and premium CSS adoption reinforce Arm’s AI platform strategy, even as the quarter missed revenue...

Mint Finance

Hyperscalers 2Q25: Revenue Growth Accelerates, Cloud Revenues Accelerate, Capex Higher

​Google, Meta and Microsoft will increase in 2026. Don’t look for complications, some firms have 70-100% market share: Nvidia, TSMC, SK Hynix and...

Nicolas Baratte

Magnificent 7: Global Fund Positioning Update

Positioning in the Magnificent 7 remains near record highs, but momentum is fading as growth funds top out and value remains sidelined.

Steven Holden

Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...

Google, Meta and Microsoft will increase in 2026. Don’t look for complications, some firms have 70-100% market share: Nvidia, TSMC, SK Hynix and...