Japan Specialist

Mark Chadwick

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Appier achieved 32% revenue growth and 50.1% gross margin in Q1 FY23, exceeding company expectations</li>
<li>We expect the pace of growth to accelerate, driven by stronger momentum in Digital Content in Q2 and Q3</li>
<li>We remain bullish following the recent pullback in the share price. Stock is attractive at 5x EV/Rev</li>
</ul>


Appier achieved 32% revenue growth and 50.1% gross margin in Q1 FY23, exceeding company expectations
We expect the pace of growth to accelerate, driven by stronger momentum in Digital Content in Q2 and Q3
We remain bullish following the recent pullback in the share price. Stock is attractive at 5x EV/Rev


<ul>
<li>ChatGPT has focused the investment community on the potential of AI to drive business performance and investment returns.</li>
<li>Forbes picked Adobe as its top AI pick in 2023. We pick Appier, which is a faster-growing alternative in the digital marketing space.</li>
<li>Appier’s revenue grew by over 50% last year and unlike many SaaS companies, it is profitable.</li>
</ul>


ChatGPT has focused the investment community on the potential of AI to drive business performance and investment returns.
Forbes picked Adobe as its top AI pick in 2023. We pick Appier, which is a faster-growing alternative in the digital marketing space.
Appier’s revenue grew by over 50% last year and unlike many SaaS companies, it is profitable.


Appier (4180) | It's Doubled, so What's Next

Index Rebal/Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Index Rebal/Special Situations

Quiddity Advisors

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. </li>
<li>For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. </li>
<li>Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2023.</li>
</ul>


The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. 
For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. 
Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2023.


TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of "The Big April Basket" 2023

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

<ul>
<li>The January 2023 TOPIX FFW Trade was announced today. The two-way trade is worth about ¥325bn. </li>
<li>There are four ADDs previously discussed: <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sun-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36668:1" rel="noopener">Sun* (4053 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/appier-group-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32165:1" rel="noopener">Appier Group (4180 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chubu-steel-plate-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18535:1" rel="noopener">Chubu Steel Plate (5461 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chubu-steel-plate-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18535:1" rel="noopener">Chubu Steel Plate (5461 JP)</a>. </li>
<li>There are 57 downweights, 11 upweights (but only seven FFW buys). The rest is reverse funding to buy. There are 10 names with &gt;$10mm AND &gt;3 days ADV to sell.</li>
</ul>


The January 2023 TOPIX FFW Trade was announced today. The two-way trade is worth about ¥325bn. 
There are four ADDs previously discussed: Sun* (4053 JP), Appier Group (4180 JP), Chubu Steel Plate (5461 JP), and Chubu Steel Plate (5461 JP). 
There are 57 downweights, 11 upweights (but only seven FFW buys). The rest is reverse funding to buy. There are 10 names with &gt;$10mm AND &gt;3 days ADV to sell.


January TOPIX FFW Review - Some Big Sells

<ul>
<li>In mid-December, digital UX creation agency (90% of revenues) and "talent agency" (10%) announced it would move from TSE Growth to TSE Prime mid-December 2022.</li>
<li>This was in Janaghan's "Not Ready" list in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/topix-inclusions-who-is-ready-dec-2022" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:85784" rel="noopener">TOPIX Inclusions: Who Is Ready (Dec 2022)</a> because it did not meet two of the requirements. But it turns out it did.</li>
<li>This is therefore a TOPIX inclusion event at end-January 2023.</li>
</ul>


In mid-December, digital UX creation agency (90% of revenues) and "talent agency" (10%) announced it would move from TSE Growth to TSE Prime mid-December 2022.
This was in Janaghan's "Not Ready" list in TOPIX Inclusions: Who Is Ready (Dec 2022) because it did not meet two of the requirements. But it turns out it did.
This is therefore a TOPIX inclusion event at end-January 2023.


Sun* (Sun Asterisk - 4053 JP) TOPIX Inclusion Event

Japan

Appier Group, Inc. provides artificial intelligence software as a service (AISaaS) services based on data-driven decisions. The Company offers data analysis for potential users predicting and acquiring, relationships building and maintaining, purchasing and action motivation, audience intelligence, and more. Appier Group serves clients across Asian.

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Appier Group (4180 JP)

Appier (4180) | Another Positive Quarter

We remain bullish on Appier. The first quarter results re-affirm our view that the company will see continued growth in sales, driven by its core...

Mark Chadwick

Appier (4180) | It's Doubled, so What's Next

Appier Group (4180 JP) stock price has more than doubled since we first wrote about the company a year ago. We remain bullish.

Mark Chadwick

TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of "The Big April Basket" 2023

Daiei Kankyo, Socionext, Sun* , Mercari, Loadstar Capital, Bewith, Medley, and Appier Group are our high-conviction names that could see their...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

January TOPIX FFW Review - Some Big Sells

The TOPIX January 2023 FFW trade was announced today. 57 down-weights, 11 FFW up-weights. The Phased Weight Reduction has its second leg. Total to...

Travis Lundy

Sun* (Sun Asterisk - 4053 JP) TOPIX Inclusion Event

Sun Asterisk (a.k.a. Sun*) is a "Digital Creative" agency which consults and builds IT products for customers. It will enter TOPIX at end-January....

Travis Lundy

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