Independent Research, US Dominant Players, Investment Talk

Investment Talk

Independent Research, US Dominant Players

Investment Talk is for readers who wish to learn about companies that are potentially outside of their own circle of research, as well as those who are longing to become part of a community of like-minded investors and learn more about investment research. I would describe myself as a long-term investor who typically takes a 3Y to 5Y outlook, before reassessing once that period matures. I follow the adage that one should research, reach a conclusion, and then verify and continue to hold so long as the thesis remains intact. My own investing style is one that seeks to find dominant players within their respective market who have shown signs of monopoly or oligopolistic behaviour, unlikely to be disrupted, in tandem with discovering market disruptors who have a high likelihood of disrupting their respective market. Equally (and weighted accordingly) I seek to discover more nuanced, misunderstood, situations with a shorter time frame.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Meta Platforms surprised investors in Q1 but not because the quarter was outstanding. Rather, it wasn’t as bad as some had assumed.</li><li>In an unusual turn of events, Zuckerberg’s earnings call appearance resulted in whispering sweet nothings into investors’ ears</li><li>However great that might be, the quarter provided no conclusive update on the loss of signal from Apple’s iOS updates, with management offering on-platform messaging/commerce as a potential sidestep</li></ul>

Meta Platforms surprised investors in Q1 but not because the quarter was outstanding. Rather, it wasn’t as bad as some had assumed.In an unusual turn of events, Zuckerberg’s earnings call appearance resulted in whispering sweet nothings into investors’ earsHowever great that might be, the quarter provided no conclusive update on the loss of signal from Apple’s iOS updates, with management offering on-platform messaging/commerce as a potential sidestep

FB: "Planning to Slow the Pace of Our Investments" In the Metaverse.

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

<ul>
<li>Promised operating leverage is pushed out until likely 3Q22, but only higher employee RSUs is a permanent inflationary impact.</li>
<li>Overcapacity is almost certainly transitory, as long as the retail business grows, this will be soaked up in a quarter or two.</li>
<li>AWS backlog is booming again. Amazon's current valuation = 12x forward AWS sales.</li>
</ul>


Promised operating leverage is pushed out until likely 3Q22, but only higher employee RSUs is a permanent inflationary impact.
Overcapacity is almost certainly transitory, as long as the retail business grows, this will be soaked up in a quarter or two.
AWS backlog is booming again. Amazon's current valuation = 12x forward AWS sales.


Amazon 1Q22: (Some) Cost Inflation Is Transitory, The Moat Is Not

<ul>
<li>Solid earnings call heightened our conviction in Facebook as a terrific long for the next year.</li>
<li>Reels monetization headwind will become a tailwind... just a question of when. TikTok threat is real, but Facebook knows how to clone other's innovations.</li>
<li>Apple IDFA issues not worsening, Facebook will figure this out eventually.</li>
</ul>


Solid earnings call heightened our conviction in Facebook as a terrific long for the next year.
Reels monetization headwind will become a tailwind... just a question of when. TikTok threat is real, but Facebook knows how to clone other's innovations.
Apple IDFA issues not worsening, Facebook will figure this out eventually.


Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>We like ServiceNow into earnings. Strong 4Q21 results poised to continue, positive earnings revisions and negative stock action makes this a safe large cap bet.</li>
<li>Facebook intrigues us...incredible potential risk/reward if you think this company shouldn't trade at 10x forward EV/EBITDA. Lots of fear on the name, but reacceleration of revenues and earnings coming.</li>
<li>Don't like the Paypal or Intel setups. Paypal's CFO departure signal he thinks shareholder returns will be weak in the next year or two. Believe him.</li>
</ul>


We like ServiceNow into earnings. Strong 4Q21 results poised to continue, positive earnings revisions and negative stock action makes this a safe large cap bet.
Facebook intrigues us...incredible potential risk/reward if you think this company shouldn't trade at 10x forward EV/EBITDA. Lots of fear on the name, but reacceleration of revenues and earnings coming.
Don't like the Paypal or Intel setups. Paypal's CFO departure signal he thinks shareholder returns will be weak in the next year or two. Believe him.


<ul>
<li>Since Elon Musk bought his 9.2% stake in Twitter, the stock is up 30%</li>
<li>We are doubtful Musk can alter the trajectory of Twitter’s slow product development and weak monetization of direct response advertising and SMB customers.  </li>
<li>Twitter trades 6.5x forward sales / 61x forward earnings / 28x forward EV/EBITDA while Facebook trades 4.5x / 19x / 10x those same metrics…essentially 1/3rd the valuation on earnings.</li>
</ul>


Since Elon Musk bought his 9.2% stake in Twitter, the stock is up 30%
We are doubtful Musk can alter the trajectory of Twitter’s slow product development and weak monetization of direct response advertising and SMB customers.  
Twitter trades 6.5x forward sales / 61x forward earnings / 28x forward EV/EBITDA while Facebook trades 4.5x / 19x / 10x those same metrics…essentially 1/3rd the valuation on earnings.


Musk Buys Twitter, You Should Buy Facebook

United States

Meta Platforms Inc. operates as a social technology company. The Company builds applications and technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. meta Platform is also involved in advertisements, augmented and virtual reality.

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

Meta (META US)

FB: "Planning to Slow the Pace of Our Investments" In the Metaverse.

Meta Platforms surprised investors in Q1 but not because the quarter was outstanding. Rather, it wasn’t as bad as some had assumed.

Investment Talk

Amazon 1Q22: (Some) Cost Inflation Is Transitory, The Moat Is Not

Current 2023E has AWS @ $104B and Advertising at $48B in revenues. Both are 45%+ EBITDA margin businesses. Today you are paying 16x forward EBITDA...

Aaron Gabin

Facebook 1Q22: TikTok-Ified

Positively addressed IDFA, spending, and monetization concerns. Facebook is massively undervalued. We think its worth at least $290, which is 50%...

Aaron Gabin

TMT Pre-1Q Earnings Thoughts

Some thoughts about potentially good earnings setups (ServiceNow and Facebook) vs. not so good setups (Paypal and Intel) for the first wave of TMT...

Aaron Gabin

Musk Buys Twitter, You Should Buy Facebook

Why buy Twitter hoping Elon Musk can solve slow product development, and weak monetization of direct response advertising, when you can buy a re...

Aaron Gabin

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)