Japan Specialist

Mark Chadwick

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Effissimo Capital's stake in Pacific Industrial rose to 7.7%, challenging a below-market MBO at ¥2,050/share (0.7x book); shares trade higher amid expectations of a better offer.</li>
<li>Strategic Capital continues to engage with Noritake - it is working - as the company announces a buyback</li>
<li>Asset Value Investors increased its stake in Sharing Tech to over 15% - financial performance is strong, capital allocation is sensible. </li>
</ul>


Effissimo Capital's stake in Pacific Industrial rose to 7.7%, challenging a below-market MBO at ¥2,050/share (0.7x book); shares trade higher amid expectations of a better offer.
Strategic Capital continues to engage with Noritake - it is working - as the company announces a buyback
Asset Value Investors increased its stake in Sharing Tech to over 15% - financial performance is strong, capital allocation is sensible. 


Activism Briefs | Noritake, Pacific Industrial, Sharing Tech, Helios

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Noritake - Despite strong profits from semiconductor ceramics, lack of strategy for underperforming segments and idle assets invites activist pressure for structural reform. </li>
<li>Square Enix - New turnaround plan lacks clear KPIs and capital discipline, prompting activists to demand sharper execution and improved shareholder returns. </li>
<li>Eiken Chemical - Activists gained board influence through compromise, advancing governance reform and signaling momentum toward a potential buyout.</li>
</ul>


Noritake - Despite strong profits from semiconductor ceramics, lack of strategy for underperforming segments and idle assets invites activist pressure for structural reform. 
Square Enix - New turnaround plan lacks clear KPIs and capital discipline, prompting activists to demand sharper execution and improved shareholder returns. 
Eiken Chemical - Activists gained board influence through compromise, advancing governance reform and signaling momentum toward a potential buyout.


Japan Activism Briefs | Noritake, Square Enix, Eiken Chemical

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

As long as market dynamics remain largely positive and the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we believe a constructive outlook is warranted. To reiterate, support levels to watch include $90 on ACWI-US, $53 on ACWX-US, and $52 on EEM-US. Open the attached file to read our complete International Strategy document, and to find links to detailed comments and recommendations for each of our 12 Sectors.

As long as market dynamics remain largely positive and the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we believe a constructive outlook is warranted. To reiterate, support levels to watch include $90 on ACWI-US, $53 on ACWX-US, and $52 on EEM-US. Open the attached file to read our complete International Strategy document, and to find links to detailed comments and recommendations for each of our 12 Sectors.

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

Our outlook remains neutral for global ex-U.S. markets while horizontal consolidation continues on the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index.  In today’s report we take a bottoms-up view on developed ex-U.S. equities, highlighting stocks that present attractive buy opportunities within the Communications, Health Care, Manufacturing, Materials, Technology, Transportation, and Utilities Sectors

Our outlook remains neutral for global ex-U.S. markets while horizontal consolidation continues on the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index.  In today’s report we take a bottoms-up view on developed ex-U.S. equities, highlighting stocks that present attractive buy opportunities within the Communications, Health Care, Manufacturing, Materials, Technology, Transportation, and Utilities Sectors

Bottoms-Up View on Developed Markets: Actionable Stocks, Part 2

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.

We initially screened for names that do not have a lot of cash relative to their short-term debt. We then went a step further and limited the universe to names that have bonds/loans coming due in the next 3 years. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/315" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:315:1">Softbank Group Corp (9984 JP)</a> is the largest names to make the list. Softbank's Short-term debt to cash ratio (%) is 221%. Softbank has ¥1.5tn in cash &amp; short-term investments, compared to ¥3.9tn in short-term debt. <h2>Screen Criteria</h2><ol>
<li>Mkt-cap greater than ¥50bn</li>
<li>Short-term Debt to Cash is…</li>
</ol>

We initially screened for names that do not have a lot of cash relative to their short-term debt. We then went a step further and limited the universe to names that have bonds/loans coming due in the next 3 years. Softbank Group Corp (9984 JP) is the largest names to make the list. Softbank's Short-term debt to cash ratio (%) is 221%. Softbank has ¥1.5tn in cash &amp; short-term investments, compared to ¥3.9tn in short-term debt. Screen Criteria
Mkt-cap greater than ¥50bn
Short-term Debt to Cash is…


Names with Bonds Coming Due and Not a Lot of Cash...

Japan

Noritake Co Ltd, a member of the Morimura Group, manufactures houseware products such as ceramic tableware and whetstones.  The Company sells its products under Noritake brand name around the world.  Noritake also produces grinding wheels for industrial use.

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Noritake Co Ltd (5331 JP)

Japan Activism Briefs | Noritake, Square Enix, Eiken Chemical

Activist pressure mounts on Noritake, Square Enix, and Eiken Chemical for strategic reform and improved shareholder returns.

Mark Chadwick

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

As long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we...

Vermilion Research

Bottoms-Up View on Developed Markets: Actionable Stocks, Part 2

Our outlook remains neutral for global ex-U.S. markets while horizontal consolidation continues on the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index. In today’s report...

Vermilion Research

Names with Bonds Coming Due and Not a Lot of Cash...

We initially screened for names that do not have a lot of cash relative to their short-term debt. We then went a step further and limited the...

Custom Products Group

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Activism Briefs | Noritake, Pacific Industrial, Sharing Tech, Helios

​Investors challenge low buyout offer, engage in buybacks, and increase stakes in companies with strong financial performance.

Mark Chadwick

Japan Activism Briefs | Noritake, Square Enix, Eiken Chemical

​Activist pressure mounts on Noritake, Square Enix, and Eiken Chemical for strategic reform and improved shareholder returns.

Mark Chadwick

Global Equity Strategy: Constructive Pullback; Overweight Value

As long as the MSCI ACWI (ACWI-US), ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US), and EM (EEM-US) indexes are above their respective intermediate-term support levels we...

Vermilion Research

Bottoms-Up View on Developed Markets: Actionable Stocks, Part 2

Our outlook remains neutral for global ex-U.S. markets while horizontal consolidation continues on the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index. In today’s report...

Vermilion Research

Names with Bonds Coming Due and Not a Lot of Cash...

We initially screened for names that do not have a lot of cash relative to their short-term debt. We then went a step further and limited the...

Custom Products Group

Investors challenge low buyout offer, engage in buybacks, and increase stakes in companies with strong financial performance.

Activist pressure mounts on Noritake, Square Enix, and Eiken Chemical for strategic reform and improved shareholder returns.