Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

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.

Event-Driven

<p>We have consistently favoured Huya over Douyu over the last year based on the thesis that Douyu appeared to have engaged in some short-term window dressing on costs to obtain a favourable merger multiple and that Huya's operational performance was more sustainable. This appears to have been borne out over recent quarters and <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-antitrust-regulator-block-tencents-091439825.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters is now reporting</a> that the merger will in fact be blocked.</p>

We have consistently favoured Huya over Douyu over the last year based on the thesis that Douyu appeared to have engaged in some short-term window dressing on costs to obtain a favourable merger multiple and that Huya's operational performance was more sustainable. This appears to have been borne out over recent quarters and Reuters is now reporting that the merger will in fact be blocked.

Huya Vs. Douyu - Merger Blockage Is a Problem for Douyu

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.

Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/soulgate-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33304:1" rel="noopener">Soulgate (SSR US)</a> is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). </p></div><div>
<p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. </p>
<p>Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of <em>Genshin Impact</em>, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its <em>Werewolf Rooms</em> (a subset of its <em>Animated Partyroom</em> app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game <em>Werewolf</em>.</p>
</div><div><div>
<p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/soulgate-ipo-initiation-lost-soul" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:51651" rel="noopener">Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul,</a> we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  </p>
<div class="content-highlight"><p>Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. </p></div>
</div></div>

Soulgate (SSR US) is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by Tencent (700 HK) (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). 
At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. 
Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of Genshin Impact, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its Werewolf Rooms (a subset of its Animated Partyroom app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game Werewolf.

In Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul, we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  
Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. 


Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

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.

<div>
<p>On 27th May 2021, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Casey introduced the <em>No IPOs for Unaccountable Actors Act</em>, which aims to prohibit IPO on U.S. exchanges for Chinese companies. </p>
<p>The act is a follow up on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which was signed by Trump on 18th Dec 2020 and which seeks to stop China ADRs from being traded on the US exchanges.</p>
</div><div><p>We have looked at the ADRs in the past, in our previous notes:</p></div><div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-adrs-secondary-listing-deep-dive-yin-and-yang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China ADRs Secondary Listing Deep-Dive: Yin and Yang,</a> published in Feb 2020,  we looked at the background and rules around undertaking a secondary listing in Hong Kong and then came up with a short-list of companies that might undertake a secondary listing. </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-adrs-secondary-listing-covid-19-has-increased-the-tension-but-narrowed-the-short-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In China ADRs Secondary Listing: COVID-19 Has Increased the Tension but Narrowed the Short List</a> published in May 2020, we looked at the recent developments and provided an revised short-list</li>
<li>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-adrs-secondary-listing-holding-foreign-companies-accountable-act-i-m-coming-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China ADRs Secondary Listing - Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act - I’m Coming Home</a>, published in May 2020, we spoke about the implication of the act which had made its way through the senate.</li>
<li>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-adrs-secondary-listing-pipeline-looks-rich-have-three-years-to-move" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China ADRs Secondary Listing - Pipeline Looks Rich, Have Three Years to Move</a>, published in Feb 2021 we looked at the ADR pipeline and spoke about the updates from the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act becoming law and the updates at Hong Kong end as well. </li>
<li>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/china-adrs-sec-notice-instead-of-three-probably-have-four-years-till-2025-correction-overdone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China ADRs - SEC Notice - Instead of Three, Probably Have Four Years till 2025 - Correction Overdone, </a> we spoke about the new SEC notice and its implications. </li>
</ul>
<p>In this note, we'll talk about the new act and its possible timelines and implications.</p>
</div>


On 27th May 2021, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Casey introduced the No IPOs for Unaccountable Actors Act, which aims to prohibit IPO on U.S. exchanges for Chinese companies. 
The act is a follow up on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which was signed by Trump on 18th Dec 2020 and which seeks to stop China ADRs from being traded on the US exchanges.
We have looked at the ADRs in the past, in our previous notes:


China ADRs Secondary Listing Deep-Dive: Yin and Yang, published in Feb 2020,  we looked at the background and rules around undertaking a secondary listing in Hong Kong and then came up with a short-list of companies that might undertake a secondary listing. 

In China ADRs Secondary Listing: COVID-19 Has Increased the Tension but Narrowed the Short List published in May 2020, we looked at the recent developments and provided an revised short-list
In China ADRs Secondary Listing - Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act - I’m Coming Home, published in May 2020, we spoke about the implication of the act which had made its way through the senate.
In China ADRs Secondary Listing - Pipeline Looks Rich, Have Three Years to Move, published in Feb 2021 we looked at the ADR pipeline and spoke about the updates from the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act becoming law and the updates at Hong Kong end as well. 
In China ADRs - SEC Notice - Instead of Three, Probably Have Four Years till 2025 - Correction Overdone,  we spoke about the new SEC notice and its implications. 

In this note, we'll talk about the new act and its possible timelines and implications.


China ADRs - A New Act Aims to Put an End to China ADR IPOs

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Shifara Samsudeen, FCMA, CGMA

Equity Analyst

Kuaishou Technology / Equity Capital Markets

<div>The Chinese short-video and livestreaming platform <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/beijing-kuaishou-technology-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29725:1" rel="noopener">Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK)</a>  reported its 1Q2021 results today (24th May). Kuaishou’s revenues for the quarter grew 36.6% YoY driven by strong growth in revenue from Online Marketing services which helped offset YoY drop in revenue from Live Streaming. Kuaishou’s revenue for the quarter declined 6.0% on a quarter-over-quarter basis due to huge drop in live streaming revenues which declined 8.2% QoQ during 1Q21.</div><div></div><div><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/208/522/original/image_63846562621621867858258.png?1621867860" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="208522"></figure></div><div>Kuaishou’s gross profit margin for the quarter improved to 41.1% compared to 34.2% a year ago benefitting from a favourable revenue mix. On the other hand, operating losses for the quarter increased to 42.8% of revenues from 40.3% in the same quarter a year ago.</div>

The Chinese short-video and livestreaming platform Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK)  reported its 1Q2021 results today (24th May). Kuaishou’s revenues for the quarter grew 36.6% YoY driven by strong growth in revenue from Online Marketing services which helped offset YoY drop in revenue from Live Streaming. Kuaishou’s revenue for the quarter declined 6.0% on a quarter-over-quarter basis due to huge drop in live streaming revenues which declined 8.2% QoQ during 1Q21.Kuaishou’s gross profit margin for the quarter improved to 41.1% compared to 34.2% a year ago benefitting from a favourable revenue mix. On the other hand, operating losses for the quarter increased to 42.8% of revenues from 40.3% in the same quarter a year ago.

Kuaishou: Online Ad Drives Top Line Growth; Margins to Remain Under Pressure with Overseas Expansion

Overseas Chinese Equities, Aequitas Research

Ming Lu

Overseas Chinese Equities

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>We believe the mobile game growth rate will be back to the level before the pandemic.</li>
<li>WeChat Pay took advantage of AliPay’s poor relation with the government.</li>
<li>WeChat mini-program will be the most promising business.</li>
<li>We set an upside of 19% for the end of 2Q22. Buy.</li>
</ul>


We believe the mobile game growth rate will be back to the level before the pandemic.
WeChat Pay took advantage of AliPay’s poor relation with the government.
WeChat mini-program will be the most promising business.
We set an upside of 19% for the end of 2Q22. Buy.


Tencent (700 HK): Growth Will Be Back to Level Before Pandemic, But Still Healthy, Buy

United States

DouYu International Holdings Limited operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, focuses on development of live game streaming. DouYu International Holdings serves customers in China.

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Douyu International Holdings (DOYU US)

Huya Vs. Douyu - Merger Blockage Is a Problem for Douyu

Reuters is now reporting that the Huya-Douyu merger will in fact be blocked and we believe this is highly negative for Douyu but could be positive...

Mio Kato

Soulgate IPO: Valuation Insights

The IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. However, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's strategy will generate...

Arun George

China ADRs - A New Act Aims to Put an End to China ADR IPOs

On 27th May 2021, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Casey introduced the No IPOs for Unaccountable Actors Act, which aims to prohibit IPO on U.S....

Sumeet Singh

Kuaishou: Online Ad Drives Top Line Growth; Margins to Remain Under Pressure with Overseas Expansion

Kuaishou’s 1Q2021 results reveal that the company’s live streaming business growth is declining after seeing a boost during the pandemic last year.

Shifara Samsudeen, FCMA, CGMA

Tencent (700 HK): Growth Will Be Back to Level Before Pandemic, But Still Healthy, Buy

We believe the mobile game growth will be back to the level before the pandemic. WeChat Pay took advantage of AliPay’s poor relation with the govt....

Ming Lu

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