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.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>MAUs beat, margins miss, guidance weak. Where / when is the operating leverage?</li>
<li>Podcasting business took a restructuring charge this quarter, not bullish for the business meant to expand gross margins.</li>
<li>TikTok reportedly readying a new streaming music app... not good.</li>
</ul>


MAUs beat, margins miss, guidance weak. Where / when is the operating leverage?
Podcasting business took a restructuring charge this quarter, not bullish for the business meant to expand gross margins.
TikTok reportedly readying a new streaming music app... not good.


Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, 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

Lionheart Studio  / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lionheart-studio-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36417:1" rel="noopener">Lionheart Studio (426630 KS)</a>, a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.</li>
<li>The company is majority owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-games-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26730:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS)</a>, which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  </li>
<li>We spoke about the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison in our previous note. In this note, we’ll talk about our earnings estimates and valuation.</li>
</ul>



Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.
The company is majority owned by Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS), which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  
We spoke about the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison in our previous note. In this note, we’ll talk about our earnings estimates and valuation.


<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lionheart-studio-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36417:1" rel="noopener">Lionheart Studio (426630 KS)</a>, a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.</li>
<li>The company is majority owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-games-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26730:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS)</a>, which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  </li>
<li>We spoke about the company’s past performance in our previous note. In this note, we’ll undertake a peer comparison.</li>
</ul>



Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea,  aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO.
The company is majority owned by Kakao Games Corp (293490 KS), which after having recently hiked its stake, owned 54.94% of the company prior to listing.  
We spoke about the company’s past performance in our previous note. In this note, we’ll undertake a peer comparison.


LionHeart Studio IPO - Peer Comparison - Youngest and Most Untested

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>'s reported sale of its <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a> stake led to a selloff on Meituan and on other companies that Tencent has invested in.</li>
<li>There are 10 listed companies where <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>'s holding is over US$1bn. Some stakes are more likely to be sold than others. </li>
<li>A complete stake sale will benefit some companies more than others since they are part of a wider array of indices and that will bring in passive flow.</li>
</ul>



Tencent (700 HK)'s reported sale of its Meituan (3690 HK) stake led to a selloff on Meituan and on other companies that Tencent has invested in.
There are 10 listed companies where Tencent (700 HK)'s holding is over US$1bn. Some stakes are more likely to be sold than others. 
A complete stake sale will benefit some companies more than others since they are part of a wider array of indices and that will bring in passive flow.


Tencent's Potential Sale of Meituan Stake - Read Across to Other Stocks & Index Implications

<ul>
<li>Spotify's earnings were not as impressive as they seemed. Revenue beats driven by huge FX tailwinds, while MAU beats are coming from low ARPU regions.</li>
<li>ServiceNow's earnings were not as weak as seemed. Uberbullish CEO Bill McDermott had already guided to elongated sales cycles, but we think reiterated margin targets and 130% NRR matter more. </li>
<li>Inverse results...Spotify jumped without any evidence of progress towards an unbelievable LT operating model, while ServiceNow fell without evidence that its (superb) LT model is in question.</li>
</ul>


Spotify's earnings were not as impressive as they seemed. Revenue beats driven by huge FX tailwinds, while MAU beats are coming from low ARPU regions.
ServiceNow's earnings were not as weak as seemed. Uberbullish CEO Bill McDermott had already guided to elongated sales cycles, but we think reiterated margin targets and 130% NRR matter more. 
Inverse results...Spotify jumped without any evidence of progress towards an unbelievable LT operating model, while ServiceNow fell without evidence that its (superb) LT model is in question.


TMT Earnings Quick Hits: Spotify and ServiceNow

Luxembourg

Spotify Technology S.A. provides music streaming services. The Company offers commercial free music and ad-supported services to subscribers. Spotify Technology serves clients worldwide.

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Spotify (SPOT US)

Spotify 3Q22: Another TikTok Victim?

Spotify had another murky quarter as margins continue to undershoot despite management talking about more cost discipline in this "new" cost of...

Aaron Gabin

Lionheart IPO - Thoughts on Valuation

Lionheart Studio (426630 KS), a game development studio based in South Korea, aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO. In this note,...

Sumeet Singh

LionHeart Studio IPO - Peer Comparison - Youngest and Most Untested

Lionheart Studio, a game development studio based in South Korea, aims to raise around US$420m via its South Korean IPO. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

Tencent's Potential Sale of Meituan Stake - Read Across to Other Stocks & Index Implications

A Reuters report that Tencent intended to sell its stake in Meituan led to a selloff across Tencent's investee companies. The impact of passive...

Brian Freitas

TMT Earnings Quick Hits: Spotify and ServiceNow

A tale of two cities...Spotify jumped without any evidence of progress towards an unbelievable LT operating model, while ServiceNow fell without...

Aaron Gabin

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