Smartkarma AI Primers, Smartkarma

αSK Primers

Smartkarma AI Primers

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

Research Reinvented

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
 <li>Kuraray is a global leader in specialty chemicals, holding dominant market shares in high-performance materials such as PVOH resin, optical-use poval film, and EVOH resin (EVAL), which are critical components in industries like packaging, electronics, and automotive.</li>
 <li>The company is navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment characterized by slow global demand and high raw material costs, which has compressed profitability. Net income has declined over the past three years despite revenue growth, reflecting margin pressure.</li>
 <li>Forward strategy is focused on the "PASSION 2026"plan, which prioritizes investment in growth and expansion businesses like EVAL™ and activated carbon, while optimizing or exiting underperforming segments to improve capital efficiency and shareholder returns.</li>
</ul>This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.


  Kuraray is a global leader in specialty chemicals, holding dominant market shares in high-performance materials such as PVOH resin, optical-use poval film, and EVOH resin (EVAL), which are critical components in industries like packaging, electronics, and automotive.
  The company is navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment characterized by slow global demand and high raw material costs, which has compressed profitability. Net income has declined over the past three years despite revenue growth, reflecting margin pressure.
  Forward strategy is focused on the "PASSION 2026"plan, which prioritizes investment in growth and expansion businesses like EVAL™ and activated carbon, while optimizing or exiting underperforming segments to improve capital efficiency and shareholder returns.
This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.

Primer: Kuraray Co Ltd (3405 JP) - Jan 2026

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

<ul>
<li>Our outlook remains neutral on global equities (MSCI ACWI) as of our August 8, 2024 Int’l Compass, after being bullish since early-November 2023</li>
<li>As discussed since late-July, we believe we're still within a 4- to 6-month pullback/consolidation from our selected July 17 starting point, until the market decides which was this consolidation resolves </li>
<li>TOPIX is below 2740-2820 resistance. Europe is testing resistance, though near potential breakouts on the EURO STOXX 50, STOXX Europe 600, and STOXX Europe 50. Watch for false breakouts</li>
</ul>


Our outlook remains neutral on global equities (MSCI ACWI) as of our August 8, 2024 Int’l Compass, after being bullish since early-November 2023
As discussed since late-July, we believe we're still within a 4- to 6-month pullback/consolidation from our selected July 17 starting point, until the market decides which was this consolidation resolves 
TOPIX is below 2740-2820 resistance. Europe is testing resistance, though near potential breakouts on the EURO STOXX 50, STOXX Europe 600, and STOXX Europe 50. Watch for false breakouts


Japan and Europe Holding Below Resistance; MSCI ACWI, ACWI Ex-US, EAFE (Local Curr) Below Resistance

Doing bespoke work since 2002....., Custom Products Group

Patrick Hansen

Doing bespoke work since 2002.....

Custom Products Group

Custom Products was started 14 years ago at Lehman Brothers by current co-founder Patrick Hansen, CFA. After 3 years at Lehman, Patrick moved the team to Macquarie Securities where Simon Rigney (co-founder) joined. 3 years ago we took Custom Products independent. 

Our core strength can be summed up three words. 1- Customization - we have very little off the shelf products and most work is done on a one on one bespoke basis. 2- Speed - We pride ourselves in our ability to get requests back to the client very quickly. 3- Confidentiality - We do not redistribute. There is no grace period where we wait a week and then mass blast. Any request stops with that client.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

We screened for large-cap names in Japan that have recently seen a spike in volatility. We calculated Beta over the last 6 months and compared it to the 7-year average Beta. We then screened for names where current Beta is more than 1.5 standard deviations above the 7-year average.As you can see from the results below, a number of names have really moved away from their historical average. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/6311" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6311:1">Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (4508 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/794" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:794:1">Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211 JP)</a> are both close to 3 standard…

We screened for large-cap names in Japan that have recently seen a spike in volatility. We calculated Beta over the last 6 months and compared it to the 7-year average Beta. We then screened for names where current Beta is more than 1.5 standard deviations above the 7-year average.As you can see from the results below, a number of names have really moved away from their historical average. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma (4508 JP) and Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211 JP) are both close to 3 standard…

Large-Cap Names that Have Gotten a Lot More Volatile Recently....

Chart based progressive global trading strategies, Chart Partners

Thomas Schroeder

Chart based progressive global trading strategies

Chart Partners

Chart Partners objective is to discover medium-term cycle turns and profit opportunities before they unfold, within structural trends while preserving capital with clear degrees of risk. We have real return ideas. 

Markets are dynamic and trading systems must reflect this. It is crucial to determine underlying correlations and lead-lag relationships within global markets and the impact on linked instruments. Our weekly Chartonics product gives you short-term trading strategies that can be applied within the medium and longer term macro trends that are mapped out in our strategy updates. 

Our methodology fuses global market variables and isolates drivers in trends. We specialize in FX, index trade in NY and Asia with a focus on Asian stocks. 

Chartonics flash Tuesday 30 August 2016USD/JPY macro low and position update webcast<div>We have made a USD bull case from JPY 100 or 95 if we broke below 100 with a bull pivot above USD/JPY 101 which was triggered Friday. The bigger test revolves around USD sustainability above 101 and a successful test on the lower 101 pullback zone followed by a move through the second hurdle at 102.70. MT pivot resistance lies at 104 (macro bull targets come in at 110 and 114 with ideal objective at 114/117 in…</div>

Chartonics flash Tuesday 30 August 2016USD/JPY macro low and position update webcastWe have made a USD bull case from JPY 100 or 95 if we broke below 100 with a bull pivot above USD/JPY 101 which was triggered Friday. The bigger test revolves around USD sustainability above 101 and a successful test on the lower 101 pullback zone followed by a move through the second hurdle at 102.70. MT pivot resistance lies at 104 (macro bull targets come in at 110 and 114 with ideal objective at 114/117 in…

USD/JPY Macro Low and Fresh Position Webcast

Japanese Turnaround Situations, Short-Ideas, Azabu Research

Michael Allen

Japanese Turnaround Situations, Short-Ideas

Azabu Research

Azabu Research is a publishing and consulting firm focused on distressed equities in the Japanese market. We specialize in turnaround strategies, corporate combinations, divestitures, and restructuring.

Publisher of the Tokyo Turnaround Letter, which conducts the most thorough research possible of publicly available information, including forensic tests for fraudulent overstatement of assets and understatement of liabilities, as well as rigorous market and industry analysis to assess the underlying strengths of the company’s products or services, the appropriateness of the company’s turnaround strategy, and the skill of its current management team. The average length of a report exceeds 25 pages of text and tables, excluding any disclosures or executive summaries.

We have more than 30 years of experience in applying this process to distressed equities in Japan. Additionally, subscribers have free access to detailed, yet easily navigated earnings models for the target company as well as the top five comparable companies, and unlimited access to the analyst for follow-up questions.

Azabu Research also conducts be-spoke research on a project basis, and provides consulting services to companies looking to restructure, divest, make acquisitions, go public, or improve investor sentiment toward their stock.

Independent Research and Consulting Firm

<ul>
<li>Japan’s chemicals industry is finally undergoing a long-overdue consolidation that should lead to fewer companies, higher profitability, and less volatility.</li>
<li>These changes may be driving significant mispricing. Like most segments, RoE drives most of the variance in PBR, but with more frequent and far larger outliers.</li>
<li>KH Neochem, Daicel, and Mitsui Chemicals are the undervalued outliers, and all three are positioned for rapid growth in our view.</li>
</ul>


Japan’s chemicals industry is finally undergoing a long-overdue consolidation that should lead to fewer companies, higher profitability, and less volatility.
These changes may be driving significant mispricing. Like most segments, RoE drives most of the variance in PBR, but with more frequent and far larger outliers.
KH Neochem, Daicel, and Mitsui Chemicals are the undervalued outliers, and all three are positioned for rapid growth in our view.


Long-Overdue Consolidation in Japanese Chemicals Drives Growth & Mispricing

Japan

KURARAY CO., LTD. manufactures synthetic and chemical fibers.  The Company provides special resin, man-made leather, fine chemicals, and non-woven fabrics used as apparel and industrial materials.  Kuraray also produces pharmaceutical and medical products such as dialyzers and dental-care products.  The Company focuses on environmentally beneficial products.

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Kuraray Co Ltd (3405 JP)

Primer: Kuraray Co Ltd (3405 JP) - Jan 2026

Kuraray is a global leader in specialty chemicals, holding dominant market shares in high-performance materials such as PVOH resin, optical-use...

αSK Primers

Japan and Europe Holding Below Resistance; MSCI ACWI, ACWI Ex-US, EAFE (Local Curr) Below Resistance

Japan and Europe Holding Below Resistance; MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, and EAFE (local currency) Also Below Resistance Though Testing Now; $EEM breakout...

Vermilion Research

Large-Cap Names that Have Gotten a Lot More Volatile Recently....

We screened for large-cap names in Japan that have recently seen a spike in volatility. We calculated Beta over the last 6 months and compared it...

Custom Products Group

USD/JPY Macro Low and Fresh Position Webcast

Chartonics flash Tuesday 30 August 2016USD/JPY macro low and position update webcastWe have made a USD bull case from JPY 100 or 95 if we broke...

Thomas Schroeder

Long-Overdue Consolidation in Japanese Chemicals Drives Growth & Mispricing

Consolidation in Japan's chemicals industry leading to fewer companies, higher profitability, and potential for growth in undervalued outliers...

Michael Allen

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Primer: Kuraray Co Ltd (3405 JP) - Jan 2026

Kuraray is a global leader in specialty chemicals, holding dominant market shares in high-performance materials such as PVOH resin, optical-use...

αSK Primers

Japan and Europe Holding Below Resistance; MSCI ACWI, ACWI Ex-US, EAFE (Local Curr) Below Resistance

Japan and Europe Holding Below Resistance; MSCI ACWI, ACWI ex-US, and EAFE (local currency) Also Below Resistance Though Testing Now; $EEM breakout...

Vermilion Research

Large-Cap Names that Have Gotten a Lot More Volatile Recently....

We screened for large-cap names in Japan that have recently seen a spike in volatility. We calculated Beta over the last 6 months and compared it...

Custom Products Group

USD/JPY Macro Low and Fresh Position Webcast

Chartonics flash Tuesday 30 August 2016USD/JPY macro low and position update webcastWe have made a USD bull case from JPY 100 or 95 if we broke...

Thomas Schroeder

Long-Overdue Consolidation in Japanese Chemicals Drives Growth & Mispricing

​Consolidation in Japan's chemicals industry leading to fewer companies, higher profitability, and potential for growth in undervalued outliers...

Michael Allen

Consolidation in Japan's chemicals industry leading to fewer companies, higher profitability, and potential for growth in undervalued outliers...