Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Amid recent market carnage, one of the strong turnaround stocks in Korea is NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) which is down 54% from its highs in February 2021.</li>
<li>Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of new games. </li>
<li>Short sale value/market cap ratio for NCsoft has declined materially in the past several weeks, reflecting increased optimism in the company's future prospects. </li>
</ul>


Amid recent market carnage, one of the strong turnaround stocks in Korea is NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS) which is down 54% from its highs in February 2021.
Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of new games. 
Short sale value/market cap ratio for NCsoft has declined materially in the past several weeks, reflecting increased optimism in the company's future prospects. 


NCsoft: A Strong Turnaround Play in Korean Game Sector

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.

<p>In the past few weeks, Facebook changed its name to Meta, showing its emphasis on the concept as central to its future. Nvidia and AMD have been skyrocketing as investors speculate that in the future, all the large platforms will be putting huge money behind the concept. AMD just got a big win at Facebook to help power its Metaverse. Facebook is putting soooo much behind the metaverse…its almost a shame they couldn’t just buy Roblox.</p><p>This was a fine fine quarter for Roblox, the platform is aging up, growth accelerating internationally, platform extensions abound. But…consensus bookings and revenue estimates for FY22 rose 1% and 3.5% respectively…not the type of revisions that merits a 30% move higher. 8% short interest doesn’t sound like much, but 4 days to cover on a relatively thin float seems to be the culprit. We would take profits on Roblox and look to re-engage in the $80s.</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div>

In the past few weeks, Facebook changed its name to Meta, showing its emphasis on the concept as central to its future. Nvidia and AMD have been skyrocketing as investors speculate that in the future, all the large platforms will be putting huge money behind the concept. AMD just got a big win at Facebook to help power its Metaverse. Facebook is putting soooo much behind the metaverse…its almost a shame they couldn’t just buy Roblox.This was a fine fine quarter for Roblox, the platform is aging up, growth accelerating internationally, platform extensions abound. But…consensus bookings and revenue estimates for FY22 rose 1% and 3.5% respectively…not the type of revisions that merits a 30% move higher. 8% short interest doesn’t sound like much, but 4 days to cover on a relatively thin float seems to be the culprit. We would take profits on Roblox and look to re-engage in the $80s.Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

<p>We owned Activision for many years until the pandemic when our thought was that like Netflix Activision had likely pulled in demand and would be enjoying a peak in near term earnings. The controversy around its work environment has provided an entry point for one of the best video game franchises as it is trading at 19x forward earnings, below even the March 2020 at the pandemic low. Given the stock’s longterm average of 25-26x, we think the risk reward here is compelling.</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div>

We owned Activision for many years until the pandemic when our thought was that like Netflix Activision had likely pulled in demand and would be enjoying a peak in near term earnings. The controversy around its work environment has provided an entry point for one of the best video game franchises as it is trading at 19x forward earnings, below even the March 2020 at the pandemic low. Given the stock’s longterm average of 25-26x, we think the risk reward here is compelling.Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

<p>Roblox, an online gaming platform geared towards children, is poised to continue the accelerating usage and monetization triggered by the pandemic. Its business model produces a flywheel where its audience grows as new games are introduced, further incentivizing its user/developers to create more user generated content that strengthens the platform. A large, hyper engaged youth audience offers Roblox open-ended optionality around advertising, sponsorships, and other new monetization avenues. Already highly cash generative, Roblox is poised to invest in localization efforts to expand its global reach, while potentially introducing new metaverse-based gaming platforms for older demographics. </p>
<p><strong>Base Case Valuation: $30B<br></strong><strong>Bull Case: $60B<br>Bear Case: $10B</strong></p>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p style="text-align: left;">Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.  </p>
</div>

Roblox, an online gaming platform geared towards children, is poised to continue the accelerating usage and monetization triggered by the pandemic. Its business model produces a flywheel where its audience grows as new games are introduced, further incentivizing its user/developers to create more user generated content that strengthens the platform. A large, hyper engaged youth audience offers Roblox open-ended optionality around advertising, sponsorships, and other new monetization avenues. Already highly cash generative, Roblox is poised to invest in localization efforts to expand its global reach, while potentially introducing new metaverse-based gaming platforms for older demographics. 
Base Case Valuation: $30B Bull Case: $60B Bear Case: $10B

Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.  


Roblox: If Its in the Game, Its in the Game

Equity Capital Markets

<p>In this insight, we provide an updated valuation analysis on the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/roblox-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29697:1" rel="noopener">ROBLOX Corp (RBLX US)</a> direct public listing. The company has provided a guidance that it plans to complete its direct listing on or near March 10th. The company has also provided the full year results in 2020. Roblox plans to sell 198,917,280 shares in this direct listing. In January 2021, the company sold about 12 million shares of convertible preferred stock in a private placement at $45 per share, valuing the company at<a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/roblox-sets-date-to-go-public-through-a-direct-listing-51614036401" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> $29.5 billion. </a></p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Our revised valuation of Roblox is an implied market cap of $49.4 billion and implied price of $75.3 per share. Our valuation of the company has been slightly lowered by 1.2% versus our previous estimate. <strong>At a valuation of $49.4 billion, this would represent 67% higher levels than the last private market value of $29.5 billion.</strong></p></div>

In this insight, we provide an updated valuation analysis on the ROBLOX Corp (RBLX US) direct public listing. The company has provided a guidance that it plans to complete its direct listing on or near March 10th. The company has also provided the full year results in 2020. Roblox plans to sell 198,917,280 shares in this direct listing. In January 2021, the company sold about 12 million shares of convertible preferred stock in a private placement at $45 per share, valuing the company at $29.5 billion. Our revised valuation of Roblox is an implied market cap of $49.4 billion and implied price of $75.3 per share. Our valuation of the company has been slightly lowered by 1.2% versus our previous estimate. At a valuation of $49.4 billion, this would represent 67% higher levels than the last private market value of $29.5 billion.

Roblox Direct Public Listing Valuation Update

United States

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. develops, markets, distributes, and publishes interactive entertainment software games and accessories.  The Company's products are for console systems, handheld gaming systems and personal computers (including smartphones and tablets) and are delivered through physical retail, digital download, online and cloud streaming services.

Take Two Interactive Software, Inc (TTWO US)

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Take Two Interactive Software, Inc (TTWO US)

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Aaron Gabin

Roblox Direct Public Listing Valuation Update

Our revised valuation of Roblox is a market cap of $49.4 billion and implied price of $75.3 per share which would represent 67% higher levels than...

Douglas Kim

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