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.

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>The headline for Amazon’s quarter was that its revenue growth decelerated 1700bps to 24% YoY , and appears set to decelerate another 1000bps in 3Q. Tough comps people. Tough comps.</p><p>The company has to invest more and more money to keep up with demand…historically, these are the times you invest in Amazon, when its going through capacity buildouts…its just never happened before that Amazon has had ongoing investment cycles for multiple years. In the end…the absolute size and profitability of the business will be larger. It might just take 2-3 quarters to prove out.</p><p>In the meantime, its higher margin AWS and Advertising businesses are ACCELERATING. AWS on a $59B runrate, growing 37% (500bps acceleration QoQ), Advertising on a $32B runrate, growing 87% (1400bps acceleration). We value these two businesses at ~2T….which is 30% ahead of the current market cap. We think retail is also worth ~$1T, which is what get us to our $3T valuation, which equates to $6,000 a share. </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>

The headline for Amazon’s quarter was that its revenue growth decelerated 1700bps to 24% YoY , and appears set to decelerate another 1000bps in 3Q. Tough comps people. Tough comps.The company has to invest more and more money to keep up with demand…historically, these are the times you invest in Amazon, when its going through capacity buildouts…its just never happened before that Amazon has had ongoing investment cycles for multiple years. In the end…the absolute size and profitability of the business will be larger. It might just take 2-3 quarters to prove out.In the meantime, its higher margin AWS and Advertising businesses are ACCELERATING. AWS on a $59B runrate, growing 37% (500bps acceleration QoQ), Advertising on a $32B runrate, growing 87% (1400bps acceleration). We value these two businesses at ~2T….which is 30% ahead of the current market cap. We think retail is also worth ~$1T, which is what get us to our $3T valuation, which equates to $6,000 a share. 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.

Amazon 2Q21: Pay Attention to AWS and Advertising

<p>We think Facebook was unfairly punished for its earnings last week...it "underperformed" Google's 2Q21 results because its "overperformed" in 2Q20...and that was due to the nature of its auction model, which shifted from brand advertising to direct response last year. Apple tracking headwinds aside, we think Facebook is very appealing at 22x forward earnings, and would be buyers below $350.</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>

We think Facebook was unfairly punished for its earnings last week...it "underperformed" Google's 2Q21 results because its "overperformed" in 2Q20...and that was due to the nature of its auction model, which shifted from brand advertising to direct response last year. Apple tracking headwinds aside, we think Facebook is very appealing at 22x forward earnings, and would be buyers below $350.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.

Facebook 2Q21: “Significant Deceleration?” Cmon.

<p>Spotify missed on MAUs again and lowered 2021 guidance. Not great for a subscription business built on a distant 10 year DCF built on subscriber trajectories. We have pushed Spotify as a short for a while and think its still a good short, especially as their spending on podcasting continues, even as usage is rolling over...oh yeah, and they still have no operating leverage. </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>

Spotify missed on MAUs again and lowered 2021 guidance. Not great for a subscription business built on a distant 10 year DCF built on subscriber trajectories. We have pushed Spotify as a short for a while and think its still a good short, especially as their spending on podcasting continues, even as usage is rolling over...oh yeah, and they still have no operating leverage. 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.  

Latest News from the World’s Leading Innovators

Granite Bay Capital

An innovation focussed investment company

Granite Bay Capital is an innovation focussed investment company with a deep focus on the companies at the leading edge of innovation across major themes such as AI, ubiquitous computing, sustainability, automation and longevity.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<h2>Headline Developments</h2><p>Another bad week for Didi (DIDI) , with the stock plummeting a further 21% after Bloomberg reported that Chinese regulators were weighing up “serious, perhaps unprecedented penalties” which may include a hefty fine (&gt;$2.8b), enforcing a state-owned investment or delisting the company from the NYSE.</p>

Headline DevelopmentsAnother bad week for Didi (DIDI) , with the stock plummeting a further 21% after Bloomberg reported that Chinese regulators were weighing up “serious, perhaps unprecedented penalties” which may include a hefty fine (&gt;$2.8b), enforcing a state-owned investment or delisting the company from the NYSE.

<p>We were wildly impressed by Google's quarter. Microsoft continues to chug along...our takeaway from the two is Amazon is primed for a monster print on Thursday...retail advertising is on fire right now, while GCP and Azure showed almost no deceleration QoQ.</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>

We were wildly impressed by Google's quarter. Microsoft continues to chug along...our takeaway from the two is Amazon is primed for a monster print on Thursday...retail advertising is on fire right now, while GCP and Azure showed almost no deceleration QoQ.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.  

TMT Megacap Earnings Observations: Google & Microsoft

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)

Amazon 2Q21: Pay Attention to AWS and Advertising

Retail decelerated ALOT. In the meantime, its higher margin AWS and Advertising businesses are ACCELERATING. We value these two businesses at...

Aaron Gabin

Facebook 2Q21: “Significant Deceleration?” Cmon.

We think Facebook was unfairly punished for its earnings last week...it "underperformed" Google's 2Q21 results because its "overperformed" in 2Q20....

Aaron Gabin

Spotify 2Q21: Podcasting Rolling Over?

Spotify missed on MAUs again and lowered 2021 guidance. Not great for a subscription business built on a distant 10 year DCF built on subscriber...

Aaron Gabin

Weekly Innovation Review (WIRE) #42

Headline Developments: Another bad week for Didi (DIDI) , with the stock plummeting a further 21% after Bloomberg reported that Chinese regulators...

Granite Bay Capital

TMT Megacap Earnings Observations: Google & Microsoft

We were wildly impressed by Google's quarter. Microsoft continues to chug along...our takeaway from the two is Amazon is primed for a monster print...

Aaron Gabin

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