Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Oshadhi Kumarasiri

Equity Analyst

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicai" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai (DDL US)</a>, an on-demand fresh produce and grocery delivery platform in China with RMB 11.3bn in annual revenue and 6.9m in monthly active customers, announced the offer price range for its IPO at $23.5-25.5 per ADS.</p><p>At the proposed IPO price range, Dingdong Maicai’s market cap and the post-money EV will be between $5.8-6.3bn and $5.0-5.5bn respectively.</p><p>In our previous insights, we examined the company’s business model and the cost structure and expressed our concerns regarding Dingdong Maicai’s inability to be profitable in the next few years.</p><p>At a 2022 EV/Sales range of 1.4-1.5x, valuation is also towards the high end compared to e-commerce peers with dominant 1P business models (Dingdong Maicai’s business model is mostly 1P).</p>

Dingdong Maicai (DDL US), an on-demand fresh produce and grocery delivery platform in China with RMB 11.3bn in annual revenue and 6.9m in monthly active customers, announced the offer price range for its IPO at $23.5-25.5 per ADS.At the proposed IPO price range, Dingdong Maicai’s market cap and the post-money EV will be between $5.8-6.3bn and $5.0-5.5bn respectively.In our previous insights, we examined the company’s business model and the cost structure and expressed our concerns regarding Dingdong Maicai’s inability to be profitable in the next few years.At a 2022 EV/Sales range of 1.4-1.5x, valuation is also towards the high end compared to e-commerce peers with dominant 1P business models (Dingdong Maicai’s business model is mostly 1P).

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/missfresh-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33468:1" rel="noopener">Missfresh (MF US)</a> is an online grocery platform in China. Missfresh notes that it ranked first in China’s on-demand DMW (distributed mini-warehouse) retail industry in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and ranked second in 2020 as measured by GMV (gross merchandise value), according to iResearch. Missfresh is backed by Shunwei China Internet Fund IV (12.4% of outstanding shares, 3.8% of voting power) and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (8.1% of outstanding shares, 2.5% of voting power). </p></div><div><p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.00-16.00 per ADS, Missfresh will have a market cap of $3.4 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $279.2 million, below the rumoured $500 million raise target. Missfresh has received $90 million indications of interest from CIC ($40 million), Tencent ($20 million), Davis Selected Partner Advisors ($10 million), Genesis Capital ($10 million) and Vision Plus Capital ($10 million). </p></div><div><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/missfresh-ipo-initiation-no-so-fresh" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53139" rel="noopener">Missfresh IPO Initiation: No so Fresh</a>, we stated that Missfresh was a beneficiary of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in an exceptional 1Q20. However, the performance since 1Q20 has been lacklustre as Missfresh is facing the twin challenges of tough competition and a partial reversal of consumer behaviour. While the recent fundraisings to support <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pinduoduo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27250:1" rel="noopener">Pinduoduo (PDD US)</a> (Duo Duo Maicai) and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>’s online grocery delivery platforms underscores the opportunity, it also suggests that Missfresh will find it harder to compete and generate shareholder returns. We concluded that Missfresh is a challenged business and we would pass on the IPO.</p></div><div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>Our valuation analysis suggests that Missfresh is broadly fairly valued on a growth adjusted EV/Sales compared to its peers. For investors looking to play the first-day IPO pops or gain exposure to a pure-play online grocery delivery platform, we think that peer, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicai" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai (DDL US)</a> which also launched its NYSE IPO, offers a better risk-reward profile.  </p></div></div></div><div><p><strong><em>For readers interested in peer</em></strong>, Dingdong, we highlight our notes - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-ipo-initiation-an-arms-race-is-brewing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53334" rel="noopener">Dingdong IPO Initiation: An Arms Race Is Brewing</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-ipo-valuation-insights" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53568" rel="noopener">Dingdong IPO: Valuation Insights</a>. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wm-tech-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32976:1" rel="noopener">WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK)</a> has also filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports. We discussed this in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/wm-tech-ipo-initiation-food-for-thought" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49914" rel="noopener">WM Tech IPO Initiation: Food for Thought</a>. </p></div>

Missfresh (MF US) is an online grocery platform in China. Missfresh notes that it ranked first in China’s on-demand DMW (distributed mini-warehouse) retail industry in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and ranked second in 2020 as measured by GMV (gross merchandise value), according to iResearch. Missfresh is backed by Shunwei China Internet Fund IV (12.4% of outstanding shares, 3.8% of voting power) and Tencent (700 HK) (8.1% of outstanding shares, 2.5% of voting power). At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.00-16.00 per ADS, Missfresh will have a market cap of $3.4 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $279.2 million, below the rumoured $500 million raise target. Missfresh has received $90 million indications of interest from CIC ($40 million), Tencent ($20 million), Davis Selected Partner Advisors ($10 million), Genesis Capital ($10 million) and Vision Plus Capital ($10 million). In Missfresh IPO Initiation: No so Fresh, we stated that Missfresh was a beneficiary of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in an exceptional 1Q20. However, the performance since 1Q20 has been lacklustre as Missfresh is facing the twin challenges of tough competition and a partial reversal of consumer behaviour. While the recent fundraisings to support Pinduoduo (PDD US) (Duo Duo Maicai) and Meituan (3690 HK)’s online grocery delivery platforms underscores the opportunity, it also suggests that Missfresh will find it harder to compete and generate shareholder returns. We concluded that Missfresh is a challenged business and we would pass on the IPO.Our valuation analysis suggests that Missfresh is broadly fairly valued on a growth adjusted EV/Sales compared to its peers. For investors looking to play the first-day IPO pops or gain exposure to a pure-play online grocery delivery platform, we think that peer, Dingdong Maicai (DDL US) which also launched its NYSE IPO, offers a better risk-reward profile.  For readers interested in peer, Dingdong, we highlight our notes - Dingdong IPO Initiation: An Arms Race Is Brewing and Dingdong IPO: Valuation Insights. WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK) has also filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports. We discussed this in WM Tech IPO Initiation: Food for Thought. 

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicai" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai (DDL US)</a> is an online grocery platform in China. The <em>Dingdong Fresh</em> mobile app and mini-programs enable Chinese consumer to shop online for groceries and other products. Dingdong notes that its market share in the on-demand e-commerce industry as measured by GMV (gross merchandise value) was 10.1% in 2020, according to CIC. Dingdong is backed by Shunwei China Internet Fund V (5.7% of outstanding shares), General Atlantic (5.6%), SoftBank Vision Fund (5.6%), CMC Capital (5.3%) and DST Asia (5.1%). </p></div><div><p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $23.50-25.50 per ADS, Dingdong will have a market cap of $6.0 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $314.9 million, below the rumoured $500 million raise target. Dingdong has received $200 million indications of interest from existing shareholders Aspex Master Fund ($50 million), Coatue ($50 million), SoftBank Vision Fund ($50 million) and Tiger Global ($500 million). </p></div><div><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-ipo-initiation-an-arms-race-is-brewing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53334" rel="noopener">Dingdong IPO Initiation: An Arms Race Is Brewing</a>,  we stated that t<span>he current frenzy around the online grocery delivery market in China is reminiscent of the bike-sharing frenzy a few years.</span><span> The resulting arms race has led to specialists (such as Dingdong and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/missfresh-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33468:1" rel="noopener">Missfresh (MF US)</a>), tech goliaths (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pinduoduo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27250:1" rel="noopener">Pinduoduo (PDD US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>) and traditional offline stores (such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wm-tech-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32976:1" rel="noopener">WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK)</a>) reporting heavy losses for their online grocery segments in the quest to grab market share. </span><span>The online grocery delivery market is set for a shakeout which means that like bike-sharing, it will result in significant shareholder value destruction. We concluded that we would pass on the IPO and wait on the sidelines to see how this plays out.</span></p></div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>Our valuation analysis suggests that Dingdong trades at attractive multiples (EV/Sales and growth adjusted EV/Sales) compared to its peers. The strong indications of interest suggest ongoing support from shareholders. While the fundamentals are less than ideal, the undemanding rating implied by the IPO price range offers a reasonable risk-reward profile. We think that Dingdong is worth a punt for investors seeking to play the first-day IPO pops or gain exposure to a pure-play online grocery delivery platform. </p></div></div><div><p><strong><em>For readers interested in peer</em></strong>, Missfresh, which also launched its Nasdaq IPO, we highlight our note - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/missfresh-ipo-initiation-no-so-fresh" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53139" rel="noopener">Missfresh IPO Initiation: No so Fresh</a>. WM Tech has also filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports. We discussed this in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/wm-tech-ipo-initiation-food-for-thought" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:49914" rel="noopener">WM Tech IPO Initiation: Food for Thought</a>. </p></div>

Dingdong Maicai (DDL US) is an online grocery platform in China. The Dingdong Fresh mobile app and mini-programs enable Chinese consumer to shop online for groceries and other products. Dingdong notes that its market share in the on-demand e-commerce industry as measured by GMV (gross merchandise value) was 10.1% in 2020, according to CIC. Dingdong is backed by Shunwei China Internet Fund V (5.7% of outstanding shares), General Atlantic (5.6%), SoftBank Vision Fund (5.6%), CMC Capital (5.3%) and DST Asia (5.1%). At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $23.50-25.50 per ADS, Dingdong will have a market cap of $6.0 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $314.9 million, below the rumoured $500 million raise target. Dingdong has received $200 million indications of interest from existing shareholders Aspex Master Fund ($50 million), Coatue ($50 million), SoftBank Vision Fund ($50 million) and Tiger Global ($500 million). In Dingdong IPO Initiation: An Arms Race Is Brewing,  we stated that the current frenzy around the online grocery delivery market in China is reminiscent of the bike-sharing frenzy a few years. The resulting arms race has led to specialists (such as Dingdong and Missfresh (MF US)), tech goliaths (Pinduoduo (PDD US) and Meituan (3690 HK)) and traditional offline stores (such as WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK)) reporting heavy losses for their online grocery segments in the quest to grab market share. The online grocery delivery market is set for a shakeout which means that like bike-sharing, it will result in significant shareholder value destruction. We concluded that we would pass on the IPO and wait on the sidelines to see how this plays out.Our valuation analysis suggests that Dingdong trades at attractive multiples (EV/Sales and growth adjusted EV/Sales) compared to its peers. The strong indications of interest suggest ongoing support from shareholders. While the fundamentals are less than ideal, the undemanding rating implied by the IPO price range offers a reasonable risk-reward profile. We think that Dingdong is worth a punt for investors seeking to play the first-day IPO pops or gain exposure to a pure-play online grocery delivery platform. For readers interested in peer, Missfresh, which also launched its Nasdaq IPO, we highlight our note - Missfresh IPO Initiation: No so Fresh. WM Tech has also filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports. We discussed this in WM Tech IPO Initiation: Food for Thought. 

APAC IPOs & Placements

Zhen Zhou, Toh

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/missfresh-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33468:1" rel="noopener">Missfresh (MF US)</a> (MFL) is looking to raise up to US$336m in its U.S. IPO.</p><p>MFL is a leading online and offline neighbourhood retail platform with three main businesses, on-demand distributed mini warehouse (DMW) business, intelligent fresh market, and retail cloud services. As per iResearch, MFL was the company that pioneered the DMW model in 2015 before any player in the industry. As of March 31, 2021, the company had a network of 631 DMWs in 16 cities in China.</p><p>Our previous coverage of the IPO:</p><ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/missfresh-limited-pre-ipo-worrying-and-unsustainable-trend" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:52862" rel="noopener">Missfresh Limited (每日优鲜) Pre-IPO - Worrying and Unsustainable Trend</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-vs-miss-fresh-pre-ipo-one-clear-winner" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:52871" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-fresh-food-competition-in-and-outside-of-frontline-warehouse" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:52994" rel="noopener">Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse</a> </li>
</ul>

Missfresh (MF US) (MFL) is looking to raise up to US$336m in its U.S. IPO.MFL is a leading online and offline neighbourhood retail platform with three main businesses, on-demand distributed mini warehouse (DMW) business, intelligent fresh market, and retail cloud services. As per iResearch, MFL was the company that pioneered the DMW model in 2015 before any player in the industry. As of March 31, 2021, the company had a network of 631 DMWs in 16 cities in China.Our previous coverage of the IPO:

Missfresh Limited (每日优鲜) Pre-IPO - Worrying and Unsustainable Trend 

Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner 

Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse 


Missfresh Limited (每日优鲜) IPO - Stale Valuation

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicia" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) </a>(DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.</p></div><div><p>Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.</p></div><div><p>In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:</p></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-pre-ipo-increasing-market-share-fast-growth-but-no-signs-of-profit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit</a></p></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-vs-miss-fresh-pre-ipo-one-clear-winner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner</a></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-fresh-food-competition-in-and-outside-of-frontline-warehouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse</a></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-pre-ipo-thoughts-on-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation</a></li>
</ul></div><div><p>In this note we will run the deal through our ECM Framework and talk about deal dynamics.</p></div>

Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) (DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:
Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit
Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner
Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse
Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation
In this note we will run the deal through our ECM Framework and talk about deal dynamics.

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - It's Still like a VC Bet but Probably Worth It

China

Dingdong Maicai provides on-demand e-commerce services in China

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Dingdong Maicai (DDL US)

Dingdong Maicai IPO - Valuation

At a 2022 EV/Sales range of 1.4-1.5x, valuation is also towards the high end compared to e-commerce peers with dominant 1P business models.

Oshadhi Kumarasiri

Missfresh IPO: Valuation Insights

Our valuation analysis suggests that Missfresh is broadly fairly valued on a growth adjusted EV/Sales compared to its peers. We think that Dingdong...

Arun George

Dingdong IPO: Valuation Insights

The undemanding rating offers a reasonable risk-reward profile. Dingdong is worth a punt for investors seeking to play the first-day pops or gain...

Arun George

Missfresh Limited (每日优鲜) IPO - Stale Valuation

Missfresh Limited (MFL) is looking to raise up to US$336m in its U.S. IPO.MFL is a leading on-demand distributed mini warehouse (DMW) business,...

Zhen Zhou, Toh

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - It's Still like a VC Bet but Probably Worth It

Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) (DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger...

Sumeet Singh

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