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

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Luckin launched lemonade drinks with raging success of 5.08 mn cups sold for the first week, ~10% of store sales. Market cheered to send the stock higher;  </li>
<li>We view it with mixed feelings. While it is margin accretive and sales enhancing,  is not conducive to improving coffee penetration and cultivating consumers' habit for drinking coffee;</li>
<li>We see Luckin as increasingly one of, instead of the, street drink company, because lemonade is actually the top selling SKU of all milk tea vendors in China. </li>
</ul>


Luckin launched lemonade drinks with raging success of 5.08 mn cups sold for the first week, ~10% of store sales. Market cheered to send the stock higher;  
We view it with mixed feelings. While it is margin accretive and sales enhancing,  is not conducive to improving coffee penetration and cultivating consumers' habit for drinking coffee;
We see Luckin as increasingly one of, instead of the, street drink company, because lemonade is actually the top selling SKU of all milk tea vendors in China. 


Luckin's Small Step into Non-Coffee Drinks Is a Big Step of Its Future Directions

Blue Lotus China New Economy Research, Blue Lotus Research Institute

Eric Wen

Blue Lotus China New Economy Research

<ul>
<li>Despite Cotti’s difficulties, we are seeing intensified competition with well-funded competitors like Starbucks and KFC, joining the price war, which poses challenges to Luckin’s effort at raising prices.</li>
<li>We see Luckin at losing its coffee differentiation. We revised down average store sales growth to (5%)/(10%)YoY due to weak sales caused by the narrowing scope of the RMB9.9 promotion</li>
<li>We downgrade the stock rating from BUY to SELL and lower TP to US$17/ADS.</li>
</ul>


Despite Cotti’s difficulties, we are seeing intensified competition with well-funded competitors like Starbucks and KFC, joining the price war, which poses challenges to Luckin’s effort at raising prices.
We see Luckin at losing its coffee differentiation. We revised down average store sales growth to (5%)/(10%)YoY due to weak sales caused by the narrowing scope of the RMB9.9 promotion
We downgrade the stock rating from BUY to SELL and lower TP to US$17/ADS.


[Luckin (LKNCY US, SELL, TP US$17) Rating Change]: Old Tricks Might Have Run Out of Its Use

China/Asia TMT

Shawn Yang

Macroeconomics

<ul>
<li>We continue to chat with venture capitalists (VC’s) and hedge fund managers in our tour of China.</li>
<li>Our takeaway is that Chinese government intend to nurture local governments into VC’s to (partially) replace land finance as a pillar of fiscal revenue;</li>
<li>The resulted policy measures and shifts will benefit STAR SSE as a politically oriented destination and EV/renewable sectors as national championships, at the expense of the consumer sector.</li>
</ul>


We continue to chat with venture capitalists (VC’s) and hedge fund managers in our tour of China.
Our takeaway is that Chinese government intend to nurture local governments into VC’s to (partially) replace land finance as a pillar of fiscal revenue;
The resulted policy measures and shifts will benefit STAR SSE as a politically oriented destination and EV/renewable sectors as national championships, at the expense of the consumer sector.


Blue Lotus Macro: No Short-Term Investors in the Short Term, Summary of Our Tour of China.

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Nicholas Tan

APAC 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

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chagee-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45011:1" rel="noopener">Chagee Holdings (CHA US)</a>  raised around US$411m in its US IPO, after pricing the deal at the top of the range at US$28/share. </li>
<li>Chagee (CG) is a leading premium tea drinks brand, serving healthy and delicious freshly-made tea drinks.</li>
<li>In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics and added a new peer to compare with  </li>
</ul>



Chagee Holdings (CHA US)  raised around US$411m in its US IPO, after pricing the deal at the top of the range at US$28/share. 
Chagee (CG) is a leading premium tea drinks brand, serving healthy and delicious freshly-made tea drinks.
In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics and added a new peer to compare with  


Chagee IPO Trading: Delisting Overhang but Much Cheaper than Peers

Equity Analyst, Investory

Devi Subhakesan

Equity Analyst

ASIA CONSUMER: INSIGHTS AND INVESTMENT IDEAS

Investory

Investory is a Singapore-based boutique independent equity research firm founded in January 2017 with a primary focus on consumption themes across Asia-Pacific.

We aim to generate investible ideas based on consumption trends and outlook. We screen our ideas on several parameters - product potential, long-term growth and management commitment being the most critical.  We follow a fundamental analysis approach in our stock selection process and are not restricted by market cap.

We aspire to grow into a leading source of unbiased research, free of conflict of interest, for investors yearning for independent and disciplined analysis. 

We also undertake bespoke research mandates to support our Institutional clients’ investment needs.

Our team comprises of professionals with extensive experience in the Asian equity markets, in areas ranging from research, servicing institutional clients and investment management.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chagee-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45011:1" rel="noopener">Chagee Holdings (CHA US)</a> 's IPO valuation discount to its peers, including HK-listed tea-beverage players as well as US-listed China-based coffee-beverage player, suggest a strong potential upside on listing.</li>
<li>US Investor concern over impact of tariffs and caution due to lingering memories of the Luckin Coffee scandal could translate to higher risk premium for the stock.</li>
<li>Expect Chagee to trade at a discount to budget beverage peers like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mixue-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40623:1" rel="noopener">Mixue Group (2097 HK)</a> given its limited room for network expansion within China and likely slower overseas growth.</li>
</ul>



Chagee Holdings (CHA US) 's IPO valuation discount to its peers, including HK-listed tea-beverage players as well as US-listed China-based coffee-beverage player, suggest a strong potential upside on listing.
US Investor concern over impact of tariffs and caution due to lingering memories of the Luckin Coffee scandal could translate to higher risk premium for the stock.
Expect Chagee to trade at a discount to budget beverage peers like Mixue Group (2097 HK) given its limited room for network expansion within China and likely slower overseas growth.


Chagee IPO: Is It Worth the Risks? Peer Comparison and Valuation Analysis.

China

Luckin Coffee Inc. provides non-alcoholic beverages. The Company offers various types of coffee. Luckin Coffee serves customers in China.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Luckin Coffee (LKNCY US)

Luckin's Small Step into Non-Coffee Drinks Is a Big Step of Its Future Directions

Luckin's Lemonade drinks are a short-term profit boost, but may not sustain due to lower quality. Luckin's pursuit of me-too SKU is worrisome to us.

Blue Lotus Research Institute

[Luckin (LKNCY US, SELL, TP US$17) Rating Change]: Old Tricks Might Have Run Out of Its Use

To make things worse, we see Luckin at losing its coffee differentiation. We downgrade the stock rating from BUY to SELL and lower TP to US$17/ADS.

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Macro: No Short-Term Investors in the Short Term, Summary of Our Tour of China.

We continue to chat with venture capitalists (VC’s) and hedge fund managers in our tour of China. Our takeaway is that Chinese government intend to...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Chagee IPO Trading: Delisting Overhang but Much Cheaper than Peers

Chagee raised around US$411m in its US IPO, after pricing the deal at the top of the range at US$28/share. In this note, we talk about the trading...

Nicholas Tan

Chagee IPO: Is It Worth the Risks? Peer Comparison and Valuation Analysis.

Investors can expect a strong upside on listing despite the backdrop of tariff-related market concerns given Chagee’s IPO is priced at a notable...

Devi Subhakesan

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Luckin's Small Step into Non-Coffee Drinks Is a Big Step of Its Future Directions

​Luckin's Lemonade drinks are a short-term profit boost, but may not sustain due to lower quality. Luckin's pursuit of me-too SKU is worrisome to us.

Blue Lotus Research Institute

[Luckin (LKNCY US, SELL, TP US$17) Rating Change]: Old Tricks Might Have Run Out of Its Use

To make things worse, we see Luckin at losing its coffee differentiation. We downgrade the stock rating from BUY to SELL and lower TP to US$17/ADS.

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Macro: No Short-Term Investors in the Short Term, Summary of Our Tour of China.

We continue to chat with venture capitalists (VC’s) and hedge fund managers in our tour of China. Our takeaway is that Chinese government intend to...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Chagee IPO Trading: Delisting Overhang but Much Cheaper than Peers

Chagee raised around US$411m in its US IPO, after pricing the deal at the top of the range at US$28/share. In this note, we talk about the trading...

Nicholas Tan

Chagee IPO: Is It Worth the Risks? Peer Comparison and Valuation Analysis.

Investors can expect a strong upside on listing despite the backdrop of tariff-related market concerns given Chagee’s IPO is priced at a notable...

Devi Subhakesan

Luckin's Lemonade drinks are a short-term profit boost, but may not sustain due to lower quality. Luckin's pursuit of me-too SKU is worrisome to us.