Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Pearson plc presented its interim results for 2025, underscoring both strategic advancements and areas impacted by external factors.</li><li>The company's strategy remains consistent, focusing on leveraging two significant trends: demographics and artificial intelligence.</li><li>These trends are shaping Pearson's trajectory, emphasizing the company's role in future-proofing learning via skill development in the AI era.</li></ul>

Pearson plc presented its interim results for 2025, underscoring both strategic advancements and areas impacted by external factors.The company's strategy remains consistent, focusing on leveraging two significant trends: demographics and artificial intelligence.These trends are shaping Pearson's trajectory, emphasizing the company's role in future-proofing learning via skill development in the AI era.

Pearson Plc: Strong Contract Renewal & Business Unit Performances As A Critical Growth Lever!

Consumer Analyst / Channel Surveillance Specialist, Trudence Capital Advisors

Pranav Bhavsar

Consumer Analyst / Channel Surveillance Specialist

Trudence Capital Advisors

Trudence Capital Advisors Private Limited is a SEBI-registered Research Analyst, holding SEBI registration number INH000015747. Our firm is dedicated to providing independent and unbiased research on Indian mid to large-cap companies. Trudence Capital is known for its counter-consensus views, with a focus on forensic research and on-ground primary investigations. Our research approach is thorough, involving detailed analysis of accounting practices and governance, alongside extensive channel checks.

Independent & Unbiased Research

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>We analyse markets of South Korea, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, China, Europe, and the US to study extreme dispersion, extracting repeatable, factor-driven signals beyond macro growth narrative.
</li>
<li>Across these markets, returns were driven by earnings inflection, ROE improvement, and cash-flow recovery; stability, defensiveness, and high quality without momentum underperformed.</li>
<li>
Cyclicality and operating leverage outperformed, while revenue growth mattered only when converting into earnings and cash, reinforcing bottom-up capital allocation over GDP-led narratives.</li>
</ul>


We analyse markets of South Korea, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, China, Europe, and the US to study extreme dispersion, extracting repeatable, factor-driven signals beyond macro growth narrative.

Across these markets, returns were driven by earnings inflection, ROE improvement, and cash-flow recovery; stability, defensiveness, and high quality without momentum underperformed.

Cyclicality and operating leverage outperformed, while revenue growth mattered only when converting into earnings and cash, reinforcing bottom-up capital allocation over GDP-led narratives.


Analyst, Schoolhouse Solutions

Daniel Su

Analyst

Schoolhouse Solutions

Schoolhouse is a strategy and research provider for the Education sector. We publish differentiated reports and bespoke research on the sector, focused on private and public companies in Asia-Pacific. Our team has decades of experience working with Education companies ranging from K-12 to Tertiary and Edtech.

Strategy and Research Provider

<ul>
<li>The education sector remains resilient despite headline privatisations, with market cap only slightly down to US$142bn after the removal of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/powerschool-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36946:1" rel="noopener">PowerSchool Holdings (PWSC US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/instructure-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26502:1" rel="noopener">Instructure Holdings (INST US)</a>.</li>
<li>AI disruption is reshaping the landscape, with key players like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chegg-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10114:1" rel="noopener">Chegg Inc (CHGG US)</a> collapsing while innovators like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/duolingo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33531:1" rel="noopener">Duolingo (DUOL US)</a> surge, highlighting a potential shift in investor focus.</li>
<li>M&amp;A and IPO activity is reawakening, with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kindercare-learning-cos-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35721:1" rel="noopener">KinderCare Learning (KLC US)</a> 's IPO, India's robust upcoming pipeline, and renewed private equity interest pointing to a cyclical upturn.</li>
</ul>


The education sector remains resilient despite headline privatisations, with market cap only slightly down to US$142bn after the removal of PowerSchool Holdings (PWSC US) and Instructure Holdings (INST US).
AI disruption is reshaping the landscape, with key players like Chegg Inc (CHGG US) collapsing while innovators like Duolingo (DUOL US) surge, highlighting a potential shift in investor focus.
M&amp;A and IPO activity is reawakening, with KinderCare Learning (KLC US) 's IPO, India's robust upcoming pipeline, and renewed private equity interest pointing to a cyclical upturn.


Valuations, Visas & Venture Pullback: An Equity + M&A Overview of the Education Sector in Q1 2025

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

Singapore Telecommunications / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>The latest recessionary signal we see: WTI and Brent crude oil prices violating 1.5-year supports, only adding to our prior concerns about a weakening labor market (Sahm rule, SRI triggered)</li>
<li>We also discussed last week (August 29) how we were expecting the S&amp;P 500, Japan's TOPIX, and Europe's EURO STOXX 50 to "roll over near current or marginally higher levels."</li>
<li>Ongoing belief (since July 25) is that $ACWI is going through a 1- to 4-month pullback/consolidation that could end up being a topping pattern. All have since reacted lower.</li>
</ul>


The latest recessionary signal we see: WTI and Brent crude oil prices violating 1.5-year supports, only adding to our prior concerns about a weakening labor market (Sahm rule, SRI triggered)
We also discussed last week (August 29) how we were expecting the S&amp;P 500, Japan's TOPIX, and Europe's EURO STOXX 50 to "roll over near current or marginally higher levels."
Ongoing belief (since July 25) is that $ACWI is going through a 1- to 4-month pullback/consolidation that could end up being a topping pattern. All have since reacted lower.


Crude Oil Breaking 1.5-Year Support, Failed Breakouts on $EFA $ACWX; Still Expecting More Downside

TSE Tokyo Price Index TOPIX / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>The MSCI ACWI index (ACWI-US) continues to test major support at $90.50-$91.50, though no decisive break yet; as long as this support area holds, we remain constructive on global equities.</li>
<li>MSCI EM (EEM-US) continues to test $37 support, while MSCI ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US) and EAFE (EFA-US) are testing supports at $45 and $65-$66, respectively</li>
<li>Remain overweight and add exposure to Japan; the TOPIX remains in a 1.5-year RS uptrend (vs. MSCI ACWI), and continues to hold above 5-month support at 2200-2215</li>
</ul>


The MSCI ACWI index (ACWI-US) continues to test major support at $90.50-$91.50, though no decisive break yet; as long as this support area holds, we remain constructive on global equities.
MSCI EM (EEM-US) continues to test $37 support, while MSCI ACWI ex-US (ACWX-US) and EAFE (EFA-US) are testing supports at $45 and $65-$66, respectively
Remain overweight and add exposure to Japan; the TOPIX remains in a 1.5-year RS uptrend (vs. MSCI ACWI), and continues to hold above 5-month support at 2200-2215


Remain Overweight and Add Exposure to Japan; Buys in Insurance, Services, Tech, Staples, Utilities

United Kingdom

Pearson is a British multinational education and assessment company that provides learning materials, assessments, qualifications, virtual learning, and English-language learning services. The company's core business revolves around creating and distributing high-quality content through digital systems and platforms, and verifying skills through various assessments and certifications. Pearson was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in London, UK.

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Pearson (PSON LN)

Pearson Plc: Strong Contract Renewal & Business Unit Performances As A Critical Growth Lever!

Pearson plc presented its interim results for 2025, underscoring both strategic advancements and areas impacted by external factors. The company's...

Baptista Research

2025 Learnings | Short the Stagnant

Analysis of across markets showed that earnings inflection, ROE improvement, and cash-flow recovery drove returns, highlighting the importance of...

Pranav Bhavsar

Valuations, Visas & Venture Pullback: An Equity + M&A Overview of the Education Sector in Q1 2025

Education sector resilient post-privatisations, AI disruption reshaping landscape, M&A/IPO activity reawakening - potential shift in investor focus.

Daniel Su

Crude Oil Breaking 1.5-Year Support, Failed Breakouts on $EFA $ACWX; Still Expecting More Downside

Crude Oil Breaking Below 1.5-Year Support, Yet Another Recessionary Signal; Bearish Failed Breakouts on $EFA $ACWX; Still Expecting More Downside;...

Vermilion Research

Remain Overweight and Add Exposure to Japan; Buys in Insurance, Services, Tech, Staples, Utilities

Remain Overweight and Add Exposure to #Japan; $TOPIX continues to hold above 5-month support at 2200-2215. Next down supports being tested at 4000...

Vermilion Research

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52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Pearson Plc: Strong Contract Renewal & Business Unit Performances As A Critical Growth Lever!

Pearson plc presented its interim results for 2025, underscoring both strategic advancements and areas impacted by external factors. The company's...

Baptista Research

2025 Learnings | Short the Stagnant

​Analysis of across markets showed that earnings inflection, ROE improvement, and cash-flow recovery drove returns, highlighting the importance of...

Pranav Bhavsar

Valuations, Visas & Venture Pullback: An Equity + M&A Overview of the Education Sector in Q1 2025

​Education sector resilient post-privatisations, AI disruption reshaping landscape, M&A/IPO activity reawakening - potential shift in investor focus.

Daniel Su

Crude Oil Breaking 1.5-Year Support, Failed Breakouts on $EFA $ACWX; Still Expecting More Downside

Crude Oil Breaking Below 1.5-Year Support, Yet Another Recessionary Signal; Bearish Failed Breakouts on $EFA $ACWX; Still Expecting More Downside;...

Vermilion Research

Remain Overweight and Add Exposure to Japan; Buys in Insurance, Services, Tech, Staples, Utilities

Remain Overweight and Add Exposure to #Japan; $TOPIX continues to hold above 5-month support at 2200-2215. Next down supports being tested at 4000...

Vermilion Research

Analysis of across markets showed that earnings inflection, ROE improvement, and cash-flow recovery drove returns, highlighting the importance of...

Education sector resilient post-privatisations, AI disruption reshaping landscape, M&A/IPO activity reawakening - potential shift in investor focus.