Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Autonomous Driving represents the perfect fusion of our love affair with automobiles and our fascination with artificial intelligence. It has been part of our collective imagination for decades, first epitomized at the 1939 New York World Fair Futurama exhibit which posited an automated highway system (AHS), sponsored by General Motors. Research on AHS conducted at The Ohio State University led to the development of the world's first partially autonomous vehicle in 1962. Fast forward half a century and the goal of achieving autonomous driving is firmly fixed in the glare of our automobile headlights. Leading automakers, as well as technology companies, are promising autonomous or at least highly autonomous automobiles within the next three years. At the forefront, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/11369" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11369:1">Alphabet Inc Cl C (GOOG US)</a> represented by its automotive spin-off Waymo, is in the process of launching the world's first driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/18811" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18811:1">General Motors Co (GM US)</a>, arguably the closest to Waymo in technology terms, has announced similar plans to launch an autonomous ride-sharing service in 2019.Not all is rosy in the autonomous driving garden, however. The sector has been plagued by high-profile defections of key staff leaving to either create their own startups or join competitors. These moves have led to equally high-profile and in some cases, embarrassing, law-suits. Other companies rush to hire talented artificial intelligence engineers has decimated the research ranks of leading universities.The safety and reliability of autonomous driving technology on our streets today has also been thrown into doubt in recent times. Just two days ago, on March 18'th, the first fatal accident involving an autonomous vehicle occurred in Phoenix Arizona, details <a href="https://electrek.co/2018/03/19/uber-self-driving-prototyp-fatal-crash-police/" target="_blank">here</a>. That vehicle was a Volvo XC90 and was part of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/430" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:430:1">Uber Technologies Inc</a> self-driving test fleet in the city. According to initial reports, the vehicle was operating in autonomous mode and had a safety driver on board. While we need to await the outcome of this particular investigation, previous incidents involving other autonomous vehicles highlight some astonishing shortcomings of the technology being used on our streets today. Indeed, there are now serious questions about the viability of so-called Level 3 autonomous driving in so far as they rely on emergency intervention by a driver highly likely to have been distracted by something more exciting than monitoring an automobile driving by itself. Autonomous driving is a subject far too broad to be covered in a single Insight. Consider this a primer where we begin by examining the origins of autonomous driving, tracing its roots back to 1960s which, by no coincidence, was also the starting point for much of the research on modern-day artificial intelligence. We look at the specific factors which combined to propel autonomous driving from the AI laboratories of prestigious universities to the drawing boards of multinationals around the globe. We review the framework for the different levels of autonomous driving and highlight the fact that most auto OEM's choose to largely ignore them. We then examine in detail the aforementioned issues with Level 3 autonomous driving and reveal that the technology used in the Volvo XC90, the vehicle involved in the recent fatal accident in Phoenix, specifically warns in its user manual that it should not be used for city driving and that it cannot detect pedestrians, cyclists etc. Recognizing the seminal role that <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/11369" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11369:1">Alphabet Inc Cl C (GOOG US)</a> has played in advancing the technology, we provide an in-depth review of their self-driving initiative from its inception as a secretive Google X project to its current day incarnation as Waymo. By way of contrast, we examine the autonomous driving ambitions of one of the world's leading auto OEMs, General Motors, and provide a detailed review of their progress to date. Finally, we address the question on everybody's mind when it comes to autonomous driving - are we there yet?

Autonomous Driving represents the perfect fusion of our love affair with automobiles and our fascination with artificial intelligence. It has been part of our collective imagination for decades, first epitomized at the 1939 New York World Fair Futurama exhibit which posited an automated highway system (AHS), sponsored by General Motors. Research on AHS conducted at The Ohio State University led to the development of the world's first partially autonomous vehicle in 1962. Fast forward half a century and the goal of achieving autonomous driving is firmly fixed in the glare of our automobile headlights. Leading automakers, as well as technology companies, are promising autonomous or at least highly autonomous automobiles within the next three years. At the forefront, Alphabet Inc Cl C (GOOG US) represented by its automotive spin-off Waymo, is in the process of launching the world's first driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona. General Motors Co (GM US), arguably the closest to Waymo in technology terms, has announced similar plans to launch an autonomous ride-sharing service in 2019.Not all is rosy in the autonomous driving garden, however. The sector has been plagued by high-profile defections of key staff leaving to either create their own startups or join competitors. These moves have led to equally high-profile and in some cases, embarrassing, law-suits. Other companies rush to hire talented artificial intelligence engineers has decimated the research ranks of leading universities.The safety and reliability of autonomous driving technology on our streets today has also been thrown into doubt in recent times. Just two days ago, on March 18'th, the first fatal accident involving an autonomous vehicle occurred in Phoenix Arizona, details here. That vehicle was a Volvo XC90 and was part of Uber Technologies Inc self-driving test fleet in the city. According to initial reports, the vehicle was operating in autonomous mode and had a safety driver on board. While we need to await the outcome of this particular investigation, previous incidents involving other autonomous vehicles highlight some astonishing shortcomings of the technology being used on our streets today. Indeed, there are now serious questions about the viability of so-called Level 3 autonomous driving in so far as they rely on emergency intervention by a driver highly likely to have been distracted by something more exciting than monitoring an automobile driving by itself. Autonomous driving is a subject far too broad to be covered in a single Insight. Consider this a primer where we begin by examining the origins of autonomous driving, tracing its roots back to 1960s which, by no coincidence, was also the starting point for much of the research on modern-day artificial intelligence. We look at the specific factors which combined to propel autonomous driving from the AI laboratories of prestigious universities to the drawing boards of multinationals around the globe. We review the framework for the different levels of autonomous driving and highlight the fact that most auto OEM's choose to largely ignore them. We then examine in detail the aforementioned issues with Level 3 autonomous driving and reveal that the technology used in the Volvo XC90, the vehicle involved in the recent fatal accident in Phoenix, specifically warns in its user manual that it should not be used for city driving and that it cannot detect pedestrians, cyclists etc. Recognizing the seminal role that Alphabet Inc Cl C (GOOG US) has played in advancing the technology, we provide an in-depth review of their self-driving initiative from its inception as a secretive Google X project to its current day incarnation as Waymo. By way of contrast, we examine the autonomous driving ambitions of one of the world's leading auto OEMs, General Motors, and provide a detailed review of their progress to date. Finally, we address the question on everybody's mind when it comes to autonomous driving - are we there yet?

Global Healthcare Analyst

Tina Banerjee

Equity Capital Markets

NASN Intelligent Tech (Zhejiang) / Equity Capital Markets

NASN Intelligent Tech (Zhejiang) (NASN HK)

<ul>
<li>NASN Intelligent launched its Hongkong IPO aiming to raise up to HK$ 643.9M (~ US$ 82M). NASN develops intelligent driving motion control technologies, currently offering brake-by-wire solutions.</li>
<li>NASN Intelligent intends to use the IPO proceeds to enhance R&amp;D capabilities, upgrade production/manufacturing facilities, raise service capabilities, raise brand recognition and working capital.</li>
<li>Valuation that the company is seeking does seem stretched just because the company relatively is in its early stages of growth and it will slowly and steadily scale up.</li>
</ul>


NASN Intelligent launched its Hongkong IPO aiming to raise up to HK$ 643.9M (~ US$ 82M). NASN develops intelligent driving motion control technologies, currently offering brake-by-wire solutions.
NASN Intelligent intends to use the IPO proceeds to enhance R&amp;D capabilities, upgrade production/manufacturing facilities, raise service capabilities, raise brand recognition and working capital.
Valuation that the company is seeking does seem stretched just because the company relatively is in its early stages of growth and it will slowly and steadily scale up.


NASN Intelligent Tech IPO: Valuation Not Intelligent Enough To Carry It Through

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

As long as market dynamics remain largely positive and the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we believe a constructive outlook is warranted. To reiterate, support levels to watch include $90 on ACWI-US, $53 on ACWX-US, and $52 on EEM-US. Open the attached file to read our complete International Strategy document, and to find links to detailed comments and recommendations for each of our 12 Sectors.

As long as market dynamics remain largely positive and the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we believe a constructive outlook is warranted. To reiterate, support levels to watch include $90 on ACWI-US, $53 on ACWX-US, and $52 on EEM-US. Open the attached file to read our complete International Strategy document, and to find links to detailed comments and recommendations for each of our 12 Sectors.

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

Our outlook remains bullish and we continue to believe that the path of least resistance is higher for global equities. We see global equities as being in a goldilocks scenario where market dynamics and technicals are arguably 100% bullish. Of course, at some point this almost too good to be true scenario is likely to result in a pullback, but for now we see no signs of this rally letting up.  In our December International Strategy, we highlight areas of the market where we see actionable opportunities in Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Materials and Manufacturing.

Our outlook remains bullish and we continue to believe that the path of least resistance is higher for global equities. We see global equities as being in a goldilocks scenario where market dynamics and technicals are arguably 100% bullish. Of course, at some point this almost too good to be true scenario is likely to result in a pullback, but for now we see no signs of this rally letting up.  In our December International Strategy, we highlight areas of the market where we see actionable opportunities in Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Materials and Manufacturing.

Global Equity Strategy: Bullish Outlook Intact

We continue to be encouraged by market dynamics that are supportive of an ongoing equity bull market. Additionally, there continues to be an absence of breakdowns on the major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, &amp; EAFE). As a result, our outlook remains bullish.  In this report we show some love to various Sectors that have not been big attention-grabbers for us in recent months, but still have plenty of attractive stocks. The stocks highlighted hail from a variety of countries. Sectors covered include Services, Communications, Staples, Financials, and Utilities.

We continue to be encouraged by market dynamics that are supportive of an ongoing equity bull market. Additionally, there continues to be an absence of breakdowns on the major global indexes (MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, EM, &amp; EAFE). As a result, our outlook remains bullish.  In this report we show some love to various Sectors that have not been big attention-grabbers for us in recent months, but still have plenty of attractive stocks. The stocks highlighted hail from a variety of countries. Sectors covered include Services, Communications, Staples, Financials, and Utilities.

Global Equity Strategy: Market Dynamics Remain Positive, And So Are We

Germany

Continental AG manufactures tires, automotive parts, and industrial products. The Company produces passenger cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, bicycle tires, braking systems, shock absorbers, hoses, drive belts, conveyor belting, transmission products, and sealing systems. Continental markets its products worldwide.

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Continental (CON GR)

Autonomous Driving- Are We There Yet?

I find it fascinating to read this again, almost six years to the day since I published it. I intend to publish an update on this topic in the...

William Keating

NASN Intelligent Tech IPO: Valuation Not Intelligent Enough To Carry It Through

NASN Intelligent launches Hong Kong IPO to raise funds for R&D, production upgrades, and brand recognition. Valuation looks steep suited only for...

Tina Banerjee

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

As long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we...

Vermilion Research

Global Equity Strategy: Bullish Outlook Intact

Our outlook remains bullish and we continue to believe that the path of least resistance is higher for global equities. In this report, we...

Vermilion Research

Global Equity Strategy: Market Dynamics Remain Positive, And So Are We

We show some love to various Sectors that have not been big attention-grabbers for us in recent months, including Services, Communications,...

Vermilion Research

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Autonomous Driving- Are We There Yet?

I find it fascinating to read this again, almost six years to the day since I published it. I intend to publish an update on this topic in the...

William Keating

NASN Intelligent Tech IPO: Valuation Not Intelligent Enough To Carry It Through

​NASN Intelligent launches Hong Kong IPO to raise funds for R&D, production upgrades, and brand recognition. Valuation looks steep suited only for...

Tina Banerjee

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

As long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we...

Vermilion Research

Global Equity Strategy: Bullish Outlook Intact

Our outlook remains bullish and we continue to believe that the path of least resistance is higher for global equities. In this report, we...

Vermilion Research

Global Equity Strategy: Market Dynamics Remain Positive, And So Are We

We show some love to various Sectors that have not been big attention-grabbers for us in recent months, including Services, Communications,...

Vermilion Research

NASN Intelligent launches Hong Kong IPO to raise funds for R&D, production upgrades, and brand recognition. Valuation looks steep suited only for...