Blue Lotus Research Institute

Andy Fu

China growth and global non-US Internet equities

Blue Lotus Research is a Hong Kong Type 4 Licensed investment advisory firm focusing on Chinese growth equities and global non-US Internet equities

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>2025's Chinese New Year (CNY)  closed with a bang. Home appliances, mobile phones and general merchandises were robust.  Catering saw steady growth and box office hit a record high;</li>
<li>Domestic travel was vibrant. So was inbound overseas travel. But outbound overseas travel was in the doldrums on several unfavorable incidents involving kidnapping in Thailand and flu in Japan; </li>
<li>We predict a 65% chance of a housing resurrection post CNY.  We observe an improvement in consumer sentiment as life gradually returning to normal. </li>
</ul>


2025's Chinese New Year (CNY)  closed with a bang. Home appliances, mobile phones and general merchandises were robust.  Catering saw steady growth and box office hit a record high;
Domestic travel was vibrant. So was inbound overseas travel. But outbound overseas travel was in the doldrums on several unfavorable incidents involving kidnapping in Thailand and flu in Japan; 
We predict a 65% chance of a housing resurrection post CNY.  We observe an improvement in consumer sentiment as life gradually returning to normal. 


2025's Chinese New Year Consumption Tiltering Towards the Positive

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.

Equity Capital Markets

BrainBees Solutions / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/brainbees-solutions-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36115:1" rel="noopener">BrainBees Solutions (FIRSTCRY IN)</a> (FirstCry) raised around US$500m in its August 2024 India IPO. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.</li>
<li>In India, FirstCry sells Mothers’, Babies’ and Kids’ products through its online platform, company-owned modern stores, franchisee-owned modern stores and general trade retail distribution.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



BrainBees Solutions (FIRSTCRY IN) (FirstCry) raised around US$500m in its August 2024 India IPO. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.
In India, FirstCry sells Mothers’, Babies’ and Kids’ products through its online platform, company-owned modern stores, franchisee-owned modern stores and general trade retail distribution.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry) - US$2bn IPO Lockup Expiry with Most Investors Still in the Money

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

<ul><li>For this year’s Spring Festival Holiday (SFH), we identified several key trends regarding travel and consumption: 1) overall domestic travel demand remains resilient, with solid increases in both the number of tourists and per capita consumption;</li><li>2) outbound travel demand remained strong and inbound travel could become an important long-term growth driver for the travel industry over the long-run; and</li><li>3) although overall consumption sentiment likely still takes time to recover, retail sales GMV growth during the holiday period was strong, and “national subsidy” remains a solid driver for growth in key categories such as home appliances and communication equipment. </li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

For this year’s Spring Festival Holiday (SFH), we identified several key trends regarding travel and consumption: 1) overall domestic travel demand remains resilient, with solid increases in both the number of tourists and per capita consumption;2) outbound travel demand remained strong and inbound travel could become an important long-term growth driver for the travel industry over the long-run; and3) although overall consumption sentiment likely still takes time to recover, retail sales GMV growth during the holiday period was strong, and “national subsidy” remains a solid driver for growth in key categories such as home appliances and communication equipment. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Internet - Trends Observed from 2025 Spring Festival

Co-founder of Cube Asia, Cube Asia

Simon Torring

Co-founder of Cube Asia

Defining Social Commerce in Southeast Asia

Cube Asia

We offer granular market data and insights for online retail in Southeast Asia, helping brands and retail companies drive profitable growth. 

Why the Cube?
3 dimensions of granularity to help you get deep into the 1) geographies, 2) categories, and 3) types of data and insights you need for your business.

The Cube is a big-data machine that is continuously listening to public data sources and primary research, and triangulating across thousands of data points using probabilistic modeling to produce an accurate and granular picture of Southeast Asia’s online retail landscape.

<ul><li>Wow! They grow up so fast.” is often said about children.</li><li>But the same can also be said about e-commerce in Southeast Asia, which in just 15 years has grown from naught to a sector worth USD 165 billion in 2024.</li><li>Now though, the landscape is showing signs of consolidation, with major platforms strengthening their foothold while others seeing their market share decline — some have even exited completely.</li></ul>

Wow! They grow up so fast.” is often said about children.But the same can also be said about e-commerce in Southeast Asia, which in just 15 years has grown from naught to a sector worth USD 165 billion in 2024.Now though, the landscape is showing signs of consolidation, with major platforms strengthening their foothold while others seeing their market share decline — some have even exited completely.

Go big or go home: Signs of consolidation in Southeast Asia e-commerce

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Clarence Chu

APAC IPOs & Placements

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/guming-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40622:1" rel="noopener">Guming Holdings (GUM HK)</a> is looking to raise US$202m in its Hong Kong IPO. Guming Holdings (Guming) sells freshly-made beverages in China.</li>
<li>Guming Holdings (Guming) sells freshly-made beverages in China. Guming focuses on the mid-priced freshly-made tea beverage market with product prices typically ranging between RMB10-18.</li>
<li>In this note, we discuss our thoughts on valuation at the IPO price range.</li>
</ul>



Guming Holdings (GUM HK) is looking to raise US$202m in its Hong Kong IPO. Guming Holdings (Guming) sells freshly-made beverages in China.
Guming Holdings (Guming) sells freshly-made beverages in China. Guming focuses on the mid-priced freshly-made tea beverage market with product prices typically ranging between RMB10-18.
In this note, we discuss our thoughts on valuation at the IPO price range.


Guming Holdings IPO - Digestible Valuation from the Bottom End

China

JD.com, Inc. is an online direct sales company in China. The Company offers a wide selection of products through its website and mobile applications. JD.com sells appliances, computers, digital products, communication products, garments, books, and household items to consumers and vendors.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
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JD.com (9618 HK)

2025's Chinese New Year Consumption Tiltering Towards the Positive

China's spring festival goods consumption sees solid growth and domestic tourism service thrives. Consumer sentiment increases slightly but income...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry) - US$2bn IPO Lockup Expiry with Most Investors Still in the Money

BrainBees Solutions (FIRSTCRY IN) (FirstCry) raised around US$500m in its August 2024 India IPO. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to...

Sumeet Singh

Internet - Trends Observed from 2025 Spring Festival

For this year’s Spring Festival Holiday (SFH), we identified several key trends regarding travel and consumption: 1) overall domestic travel demand...

CMB International

Go big or go home: Signs of consolidation in Southeast Asia e-commerce

Wow! They grow up so fast.” is often said about children. But the same can also be said about e-commerce in Southeast Asia, which in just 15 years...

Simon Torring

Guming Holdings IPO - Digestible Valuation from the Bottom End

Guming Holdings (GUM HK) is looking to raise US$202m in its Hong Kong IPO. In this note, we discuss our thoughts on valuation at the IPO price range.

Clarence Chu

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

2025's Chinese New Year Consumption Tiltering Towards the Positive

​China's spring festival goods consumption sees solid growth and domestic tourism service thrives. Consumer sentiment increases slightly but income...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Brainbees Solutions (FirstCry) - US$2bn IPO Lockup Expiry with Most Investors Still in the Money

BrainBees Solutions (FIRSTCRY IN) (FirstCry) raised around US$500m in its August 2024 India IPO. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to...

Sumeet Singh

Internet - Trends Observed from 2025 Spring Festival

For this year’s Spring Festival Holiday (SFH), we identified several key trends regarding travel and consumption: 1) overall domestic travel demand...

CMB International

Go big or go home: Signs of consolidation in Southeast Asia e-commerce

Wow! They grow up so fast.” is often said about children. But the same can also be said about e-commerce in Southeast Asia, which in just 15 years...

Simon Torring

Guming Holdings IPO - Digestible Valuation from the Bottom End

Guming Holdings (GUM HK) is looking to raise US$202m in its Hong Kong IPO. In this note, we discuss our thoughts on valuation at the IPO price range.

Clarence Chu

China's spring festival goods consumption sees solid growth and domestic tourism service thrives. Consumer sentiment increases slightly but income...