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>Roblox initially fell 17% on earnings, but ended the week up 8%... why? Third party data is driving stock price action.</li>
<li>Reacceleration of DAUs, engagement, and bookings is beginning to play out...bullish ST.</li>
<li>LT EBITDA margins are anyone's guess right now, which makes the coming 9/9 Analyst Day an important catalyst to frame up the size and margin impact of TAM extensions.</li>
</ul>


Roblox initially fell 17% on earnings, but ended the week up 8%... why? Third party data is driving stock price action.
Reacceleration of DAUs, engagement, and bookings is beginning to play out...bullish ST.
LT EBITDA margins are anyone's guess right now, which makes the coming 9/9 Analyst Day an important catalyst to frame up the size and margin impact of TAM extensions.


Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

<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

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research, AlphaSituations

Robert Sassoon

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research

AlphaSituations

Since its establishment, AlphaSituations has delivered a track record of outperformance with a hit rate of winners of more than 70% of its portfolio of ideas generating annualized average returns of 20%. In January 2022, AlphaSituations was contracted by Water Tower Research, an investor engagement and stakeholder communication platform to provide coverage of Special Situations

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.</li>
<li>While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. </li>
<li>We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.</li>
</ul>


Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.
While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. 
We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.


MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

<ul>
<li>A blizzard of cost synergies we conservatively estimate at $500MM from lower distribution commissions, hosting costs, and cutting ATVI's highly paid C-Suite.</li>
<li>Multiple strategic benefits: Catalyzes Microsoft's XCloud streaming game service and Game Pass subscription offering....potentially offers greater leverage for app store negotiations with Apple and Google.</li>
<li>Accretive on valuation alone...MSFT is paying a 10% discount to ATVI's 23x average forward PE from last few years. MSFT's 11x forward P/S vs. ATVI's 5.5x revalues ATVI's revenues 2x.</li>
</ul>


A blizzard of cost synergies we conservatively estimate at $500MM from lower distribution commissions, hosting costs, and cutting ATVI's highly paid C-Suite.
Multiple strategic benefits: Catalyzes Microsoft's XCloud streaming game service and Game Pass subscription offering....potentially offers greater leverage for app store negotiations with Apple and Google.
Accretive on valuation alone...MSFT is paying a 10% discount to ATVI's 23x average forward PE from last few years. MSFT's 11x forward P/S vs. ATVI's 5.5x revalues ATVI's revenues 2x.


Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition Is a Stupendous Deal

<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.

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)

Roblox 2Q22: 15% or 35% EBITDA Margins?

Roblox had a largely bullish quarter, with monetization and engagement metrics starting to show promised acceleration. Key will be 9/9/22 analyst...

Aaron Gabin

NCsoft: A Strong Turnaround Play in Korean Game Sector

Three major reasons why NCsoft's share price will turnaround include attractive valuations, better control of labor costs, and strong pipeline of...

Douglas Kim

MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

Why we think that the prospect of earning double-digits annualized returns from this transaction within the next 18 months might not be such a gamble

Robert Sassoon

Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition Is a Stupendous Deal

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision is a homerun by any measure: strategically, financially, and on valuation. We expect the level of synergies...

Aaron Gabin

Roblox 3Q21: 30% Move for THESE Results?

Fine quarter for Roblox, but consensus bookings and revenue estimates for FY22 rose 1% and 3.5% respectively. We would take profits on Roblox and...

Aaron Gabin

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