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Smartkarma Daily Briefs

Daily Brief Industrials: HNI Corp, Fortive Corp, NOW Inc and more

By | Daily Briefs, Industrials

In today’s briefing:

  • HNI Announces Acquisition of Kimball International; Focus on Strategic and Cultural Alignment
  • Fortive Corporation: Major Drivers
  • Transformed Fulfillment Model Driving Results

HNI Announces Acquisition of Kimball International; Focus on Strategic and Cultural Alignment

By Water Tower Research

  • Before market open on March 8, HNI announced the acquisition of Kimball International (NASDAQ: KBAL), a smaller competitor of HNI’s Workplace Furnishings segment.
  • HNI will pay about $485 million, consisting of cash ($9/KBAL share), stock (0.1301 HNI/KBAL share), and ~$46 million in KBAL net debt.
  • We see the deal as an excellent fit on strategic and cultural levels. 

Fortive Corporation: Major Drivers

By Baptista Research

  • Fortive delivered its fourth consecutive all-around beat and managed to report core revenue growth, operating margin expansion, adjusted earnings per share growth, and free cash flow growth.
  • IOS grew core revenue, representing its double-digit core revenue growth.
  • In the quarter, strong end-market demand drove revenue growth of double-digit EMEA SaaS.

Transformed Fulfillment Model Driving Results

By Water Tower Research

  • DistributionNOW is reaping the rewards of the steps management began taking a couple of years ago to transform its fulfillment model.
  • A client-focused global technical sales force aims to make DistributionNOW a strategic partner with customers to help them manage their energy supply chain.
  • The fulfillment model, if built around Supercenters, combines multiple business lines into a single location, making it easier to work with both suppliers and customers.

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Daily Brief Industrials: HNI Corp, Fortive Corp, NOW Inc and more

By | Daily Briefs, Industrials

In today’s briefing:

  • HNI Announces Acquisition of Kimball International; Focus on Strategic and Cultural Alignment
  • Fortive Corporation: Major Drivers
  • Transformed Fulfillment Model Driving Results

HNI Announces Acquisition of Kimball International; Focus on Strategic and Cultural Alignment

By Water Tower Research

  • Before market open on March 8, HNI announced the acquisition of Kimball International (NASDAQ: KBAL), a smaller competitor of HNI’s Workplace Furnishings segment.
  • HNI will pay about $485 million, consisting of cash ($9/KBAL share), stock (0.1301 HNI/KBAL share), and ~$46 million in KBAL net debt.
  • We see the deal as an excellent fit on strategic and cultural levels. 

Fortive Corporation: Major Drivers

By Baptista Research

  • Fortive delivered its fourth consecutive all-around beat and managed to report core revenue growth, operating margin expansion, adjusted earnings per share growth, and free cash flow growth.
  • IOS grew core revenue, representing its double-digit core revenue growth.
  • In the quarter, strong end-market demand drove revenue growth of double-digit EMEA SaaS.

Transformed Fulfillment Model Driving Results

By Water Tower Research

  • DistributionNOW is reaping the rewards of the steps management began taking a couple of years ago to transform its fulfillment model.
  • A client-focused global technical sales force aims to make DistributionNOW a strategic partner with customers to help them manage their energy supply chain.
  • The fulfillment model, if built around Supercenters, combines multiple business lines into a single location, making it easier to work with both suppliers and customers.

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Daily Brief Consumer: Sea Ltd, JD Health, DPC Dash and more

By | Consumer, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

  • Sea Ltd’s (SE US) – Through the Looking Glass
  • Sea Ltd 4Q22 Results: Can Profits Hold When Growth Stall?
  • JD Health (6618.HK) – It’s Time to Reassess the Business Prospects and Valuation
  • DPC Dash Pre-IPO – Refiled PHIP Updates – Growth Picking up Again

Sea Ltd’s (SE US) – Through the Looking Glass

By Angus Mackintosh

  • Sea Ltd’s 4Q2022 results were nothing short of spectacular, with the company booking a net profit more than a year ahead of expectations, underlining management’s ability to thrive in adversity.
  • The company cut costs and most notably A&P spend on e-commerce but it still managed to grow GMV and booked positive adjust EBITDA for all its core Asian markets.  
  • Sea Ltd (SE US) now stands out well ahead of its peers on profitability and should trade at a premium but it will have to continue to execute.

Sea Ltd 4Q22 Results: Can Profits Hold When Growth Stall?

By Oshadhi Kumarasiri

  • Sea Ltd (SE US) shares went up by 22% yesterday as the company’s top-line beat consensus by 13% and recorded its first-ever operating profit of $342.9m (consensus: -$344m).
  • Main growth drivers such as GMV, orders, Gaming active users and Gross-Bookings indicate that growth could stall. Meanwhile, competition is heating up, sidelining the importance of cost discipline in e-commerce.
  • Turning unprofitable yet-again could be a hard thing to swallow, even for those firmly believing in Shopee. Therefore, Sea could fall a lot more than the previous-bottom next-time it falls.

JD Health (6618.HK) – It’s Time to Reassess the Business Prospects and Valuation

By Xinyao (Criss) Wang

  • JD Health’s dependence on direct sales business wouldn’t change. But the gross profit of prescription drugs is low. If JD Health increases its revenue proportion, overall gross margin would decline.
  • The business supporting JD Health’s high growth in the future is more dependent on the second growth point, but we haven’t seen any new business with high certainty so far.
  • The essence of JD Health’s business is “product sale e-commerce” rather than “a comprehensive online healthcare platform” at the current stage, which cannot support high valuation in our view.

DPC Dash Pre-IPO – Refiled PHIP Updates – Growth Picking up Again

By Sumeet Singh

  • DPC Dash (1405 HK) aimed to raise around US$75m in its Hong Kong IPO in December. The company is now back with a revised PHIP which incorporates its FY22 performance.
  • The company is the exclusive master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza in China, HK and Macau. DPC operated 562 stores across 13 cities, as of Nov 2022.
  • In this note, we talk about the updates from its refiled PHIP.

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Daily Brief TMT/Internet: HYBE, Carsales.Com Ltd, Digital Turbine, Sea Ltd, Oracle Corp, X2M Connect ltd, Zebra Technologies Corp, Gaia, Guidewire Software, Arlo Technologies Inc and more

By | Daily Briefs, TMT/Internet

In today’s briefing:

  • HYBE: May Be Seeking to Raise As Much as 1 Trillion Won (Will Investors Support This Plan)?
  • Carsales Renounceable Entitlement Offer – Following up on a Decade-Old Acquisition
  • Digital Turbine: A Pivot Is In Sight
  • [Sea Limited (SE US) Target Price Change]: Expect Weak Growth Trend into 2023
  • The Oracle Playbook Goes Mainstream
  • X2M Connect Limited – Solid Operating Leverage Demonstrated in H1 23
  • Zebra Technologies: Improved Offerings For Industrial Automation & Other Drivers
  • Company Appears to Be Back in Growth Mode in 2023 After a Challenging 2022
  • Guidewire Software: Major Drivers
  • ARLO: Profitability Back in View

HYBE: May Be Seeking to Raise As Much as 1 Trillion Won (Will Investors Support This Plan)?

By Douglas Kim

  • In the last few days, there have been local media accounts that mentioned that HYBE may be seeking as much as 1 trillion won (US$760 million) from investors.
  • The more likely scenario is that HYBE encounters a greater backlash from the global investors in its attempts to raise nearly 1 trillion won.
  • We maintain our existing stance of Kakao eventually winning this M&A battle for the controlling stake in SM Entertainment.

Carsales Renounceable Entitlement Offer – Following up on a Decade-Old Acquisition

By Ethan Aw

  • Carsales.Com Ltd (CAR AU) aims to raise around US$330m (A$501m) via a renounceable entitlement offer. The deal is relatively large to digest at 28.2 days of three month ADV. 
  • The use of proceeds will be to acquire 40% of Webmotors SA and strengthen its balance sheet. 
  • In this note, we will talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.

Digital Turbine: A Pivot Is In Sight

By Pearl Gray Equity and Research

  • Digital Turbine, Inc.’s misfortunes are about to pivot, providing ad spending reverts to its average growth trajectory.
  • The company has a novel business model, and constant expansion by integrating growth ideas such as a Shopify-esque platform could yield substantial financial benefits, according to the company.
  • Digital Turbine, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPS) stock has suffered from a trying time during the past year, conveyed by its more than 70% year-over-year drawdown.

[Sea Limited (SE US) Target Price Change]: Expect Weak Growth Trend into 2023

By Shawn Yang

  • SE reported C4Q22 total revenue 10% and 14% higher than our est. and cons., thanks to the improvement in monetization rate of eCommerce segment. 
  • We expect the weak trend to continue into 2023, with intensified competition from eCommerce competitors and weak performance of Free Fire.
  • We raise our TP to US$62, which implies 2.5X PS/6X PE/4X PS for eCommerce/gaming/fintech in 2023. Maintain SELL rating due to challenging growth outlook. 

The Oracle Playbook Goes Mainstream

By Vladimir Dimitrov, CFA

  • Oracle’s strategy is being acknowledged by one of its major peers – Salesforce.
  • Oracle does not appear among the top three cloud infrastructure players, but it doesn’t need to.
  • Oracle is expected to deliver another strong quarter, investors should remain focused on the long-term positioning of the business.

X2M Connect Limited – Solid Operating Leverage Demonstrated in H1 23

By Research as a Service (RaaS)

  • X2M Connect Limited (ASX:X2M) has reported a 23% reduction in RaaS-adjusted EBITDA losses (to $2.4m) for H1 FY23 on the back of operating leverage from 96% sales growth, 135% gross profit growth and just a 14% increase in operating costs.
  • While sales growth was driven by hardware sales (connected devices +100% over the pcp), hardware margins have improved ~500bps and connected devices in the field ultimately drive SaaS/maintenance fees (platform fees).
  • Cash at bank was $3.05m with an additional net $0.5m received in January 2023 from an R&D tax credit. 

Zebra Technologies: Improved Offerings For Industrial Automation & Other Drivers

By Baptista Research

  • Zebra Technologies had a strong finish to the year, with profitability and sales near the high end of the outlook of the company and an all-around beat in the fourth quarter.
  • Latin America sales increased with strong growth in Mexico and Brazil.
  • However, due to an uncertain microenvironment, Zebra Technologies continue to see elongated sales cycles and softening of demand.

Company Appears to Be Back in Growth Mode in 2023 After a Challenging 2022

By Water Tower Research

  • Gaia reported 4Q22 revenues of $19.6 million versus $20.8 million in 4Q21, and 2022 revenues of $82.0 million versus $79.6 million in 2021.
  • Given the small Yoga International acquisition in December 2021, this implies some revenue contraction in the core business for 2022.
  • Despite the top-line challenge, net income was slightly positive for the year after adjusting for one-time legal fees and the anticipated SEC settlement accrual, which confirms the resilience of Gaia’s financial model.

Guidewire Software: Major Drivers

By Baptista Research

  • Guidewire Software is delivered a mixed set of results in the recent quarter with revenues above Wall Street expectations.
  • Both ARR and subscription revenue and particularly subscription and support gross margin, finished ahead of the expectations of the management.
  • In the quarter, Guidewire Software executed several new InsuranceSuite production deployments on the Guidewire Cloud Platform, including DEFINITY Insurance.

ARLO: Profitability Back in View

By Hamed Khorsand

  • ARLO initiated a new marketing strategy based on price and it seems consumers have responded well in an otherwise tough market backdrop.
  • The sell through led to ARLO growing the number of paid subscribers more than we were expecting, and on pace to surpass 2 million paid subscribers in first quarter 2023
  • The revenue achieved in the fourth quarter was approximately $3 million higher than the top end of the guidance range ARLO had previously provided

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Daily Brief Health Care: Sosei Group, Ryman Healthcare, Recce Ltd and more

By | Daily Briefs, Healthcare

In today’s briefing:

  • Sosei Group (4565 JP) TSE Prime Promotion and TOPIX Inclusion… Finally
  • Ryman Healthcare Renounceable Entitlement Offer – Retail Shortfall Manageable
  • Recce Pharmaceuticals – Seeking a breakthrough in sepsis

Sosei Group (4565 JP) TSE Prime Promotion and TOPIX Inclusion… Finally

By Travis Lundy

  • Sosei Group (4565 JP) is a Tokyo-based biopharma group which started small, got big and exciting, and hasn’t grown in market cap in years, while it has grown in ambition.
  • It has strategic relationships with AbbVie, Biohaven, Genentech, GSK, Takeda, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Takeda and a market cap near ¥200bn.
  • It has always had impressive shareholder support. Now after nearly 20 years on TSE Mothers/Growth (the limit was supposed to be 10yrs), it moves to TSE Prime and TOPIX.

Ryman Healthcare Renounceable Entitlement Offer – Retail Shortfall Manageable

By Ethan Aw

  • Ryman Healthcare (RYM NZ) announced a US$569m (NZ$902m) raising via a renounceable entitlement offer to reset the firm’s capital structure and reduce its gearing. 
  • The institutional part of the entitlement offer saw a strong take up and the shares have held up above the entitlement offer price since the deal was announced.
  • In this note, we will talk about the upcoming retail shortfall bookbuild and other updates since our last note.

Recce Pharmaceuticals – Seeking a breakthrough in sepsis

By Edison Investment Research

Recce Pharmaceuticals is developing a novel class of broad-spectrum synthetic anti-infective drugs to which, so far, all tested bacteria have been unable to develop resistance. This could be a very desirable trait given widespread concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The lead indication for Recce’s synthetic polymer antibiotic, Recce 327 (R327), is sepsis, a substantial area of unmet need with significant mortality and high costs of care. A Phase Ib/IIa multiple-dose study of an intravenous (IV) R327 formulation in healthy subjects is planned to start in H1 CY23. The company is also assessing other infection indications, such as complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). A topical (spray-on) formulation of R327 is also being assessed in human trials for burn wound infections, and a new study for diabetic foot infections is expected to start shortly. We value Recce at A$497m, or A$2.79/share.


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Daily Brief Financials: Link REIT, Japan Post Bank, DGB Financial Group, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Sabana Industrial REIT, Shum Yip Property Operations Group, IP Group PLC, Georgia Capital PLC, Seazen (Formerly Future Land) and more

By | Daily Briefs, Financials

In today’s briefing:

  • Link REIT (823) – Nil Paid Rights Start Trading Tomorrow – The Trades
  • Japan Post Bank (7182 JP): The Current Playbook
  • Meritz Merger Approved: Let’s Now Discuss Key Dates & Entry Points For LONG DGB Financial
  • HSCEI Dividend Futures: Fair Value Estimates as Result Season Looms
  • Sabana REIT (SSREIT SP): Volare’s Partial Offer Unconditional
  • Shum Yip Property Operations Group Pre-IPO Tearsheet
  • IP Group – Focus on high-conviction plays to drive returns
  • Georgia Capital – Nearing deleveraging target
  • Morning Views Asia: China SCE, Greentown China, Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust

Link REIT (823) – Nil Paid Rights Start Trading Tomorrow – The Trades

By Travis Lundy

  • In early February, Link REIT (823 HK) announced it would do a 1 for 5 rights offering, with the Exercise Price well below TERP.
  • The REIT units dropped in price as the already unlevered REIT was not seen to be needing further deleverage and early debt repayment in a rising rate environment.
  • Units went ex-Rights on 24 February. The rights start trading tomorrow. That means flows. Of multiple kinds. Worth thinking about.

Japan Post Bank (7182 JP): The Current Playbook

By Arun George

  • Since the offer announcement, Japan Post Bank (7182 JP)/JPB’s shares have risen by 4.4%. On 1 March, JPB completed the ToSTNeT-3 buyback by acquiring 59.5 million shares for JPY70 billion.
  • To understand JPB’s trading pattern, it is instructive to look at Japan Post Insurance (7181 JP)/JPI’s 2019 offering and Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP)/ JPH’s 2021 offering.
  • JPB’s shares should follow the trading pattern playbook of JPI’s 2019 and JPH’s 2021 offerings and start trading below the pre-offer last trading price during the subscription period.

Meritz Merger Approved: Let’s Now Discuss Key Dates & Entry Points For LONG DGB Financial

By Sanghyun Park

  • K200 ad hoc change announcement date should be March 30 as the buyback ends on March 28, and rebalancing trading should occur on March 31.
  • From a juice-level perspective, the entry point and timing for JB Financial showed much better performance from EGM approval rather than the announcement.
  • We should consider gradually building up positions from this point until March 30 announcement or one day after (T-1 effective) while utilizing Kodex Banks ETF to hedge our long positions.

HSCEI Dividend Futures: Fair Value Estimates as Result Season Looms

By Brian Freitas

  • The HSCEI 2023 dividend futures have moved up over the last few months though there was a sharp move lower in the last couple of weeks.
  • With results and dividends scheduled to be announced in the next few weeks, we take a look at the fair value estimate for the 2023 dividend futures.
  • We also list out the things to watch for over the next few weeks and months that could impact the 2023 dividend futures and the 2023/24 dividend steepener.

Sabana REIT (SSREIT SP): Volare’s Partial Offer Unconditional

By Arun George

  • Sabana Industrial REIT (SSREIT SP)’s partial offer from Volare of S$0.4504 per unit (S$0.465 in cash – S$0.0146 2H2022 distribution) is now unconditional. The final closing date is 24 March.
  • On the assumption that ESR Cayman and Quarz Capital did not tender, acceptances representing 16.16% of outstanding units imply current proration is 61.87%.
  • Based on the current proration of 61.87% and at the last close price of S$0.420 per unit, the breakeven price is S$0.373 per unit.

Shum Yip Property Operations Group Pre-IPO Tearsheet

By Clarence Chu

  • Shum Yip Property Operations Group (SYPOG HK) is looking to raise about US$200m in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
  • Shum Yip Property Operations Group (SYPOG) is a property management, commercial operational and city services provider in China.
  • As per Frost & Sullivan (F&S), the firm was eighth among comprehensive property management, commercial operational and city services providers in China as per 2021 revenue.

IP Group – Focus on high-conviction plays to drive returns

By Edison Investment Research

IP Group’s NAV per share came in at 132.9p at end 2022, down 20% year-on-year in total return terms but only 2% below the end-June 2022 level. The NAV decline during 2022 was primarily due to the £428.5m loss from listed holdings (before FX changes, mostly Oxford Nanopore Technologies, ONT), while private holdings contributed gains before FX of c £101.4m (or 5.8% of opening NAV). Excluding ONT, IP Group posted a £25.2m profit in 2022. The company will focus on driving short- to medium-term returns from its more developed holdings and devote resources to its ‘priority companies’, which it believes will underpin its self-sustaining model (its top 20 holdings make up 71% of portfolio value).


Georgia Capital – Nearing deleveraging target

By Edison Investment Research

Georgia Capital’s (GCAP’s) NAV per share total return in Q422 was 14.9% in Georgian lari (GEL) terms (8.5% in sterling), bringing the full year return to 4.0% (33.2% in sterling terms due to the significant appreciation of GEL). The portfolio value uplift in the quarter was mainly driven by the strong share price performance of Bank of Georgia (BoG), up 31% in sterling terms. This allowed GCAP to bring holding leverage closer to its target level, while maintaining a good liquidity position (up 14% y-o-y in US dollar terms). Meanwhile, GCAP shares continue to trade at a wide discount to NAV, currently 61%, based on GCAP’s ‘live’ NAV estimate, implying that the value of BoG shares and the put option on the water utility business is currently higher than GCAP’s market capitalisation.


Morning Views Asia: China SCE, Greentown China, Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust

By Charles Macgregor

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.


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Daily Brief Quantitative Analysis: Hong Kong Connect Flows Monthly: First Monthly Outflows in 12 Months and more

By | Daily Briefs, Quantitative Analysis

In today’s briefing:

  • Hong Kong Connect Flows Monthly: First Monthly Outflows in 12 Months
  • Northbound Flows Monthly (Feb): CATL, Hundsun, Ping An Insurance, Inovance, Xinghuacun Fen Wine

Hong Kong Connect Flows Monthly: First Monthly Outflows in 12 Months

By Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

  • We analyze the monthly Hong Kong Connect flows with our data engine.
  • We tabulate the top stocks by inflows, outlfows, and holding by mainland investors.
  • We highlight inflows into China Mobile, GWM, Sensetime, and outflows from Tencent, HKEx, CCB, Meituan, BYD.

Northbound Flows Monthly (Feb): CATL, Hundsun, Ping An Insurance, Inovance, Xinghuacun Fen Wine

By Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

  • We analyze the monthly Shanghai/Shenzhen northbound Connect flows with our data engine.
  • We estimate that the total inflows were USD 1.5bn last Month. Industrials, Information Technology, Consumer Staples led the inflows.
  • We highlight flows for CATL, Hundsun, Ping An Insurance, Inovance, Xinghuacun Fen Wine, Shaanxi Coal, Midea, Tongwei, BYD, Eve Energy, Industrial Bank.

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Daily Brief Macro: CX Daily: China Plans to Create Vast New Financial Regulator and more

By | Daily Briefs, Macro

In today’s briefing:

  • CX Daily: China Plans to Create Vast New Financial Regulator
  • Money Market Funds – Bank Profitability Pressure and the Great Recession Delay
  • UK: Hawkish Tide Not Turning Yet
  • AFC Iraq Fund February 2023 Update: “Dinar Revalued Upwards by 10%, Strong Gains for the Fund”

CX Daily: China Plans to Create Vast New Financial Regulator

By Caixin Global

  • Regulators / China plans to create vast new financial regulator

  • Foreign policy / China warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’ of U.S. zero-sum strategy

  • Budget / China sees land sales flat at $1.1 trillion this year


Money Market Funds – Bank Profitability Pressure and the Great Recession Delay

By Jeroen Blokland

  • After a massive rise in short-term yields, Money Market Funds compete with both other asset classes and Commercial Bank Deposits. 
  • Commercial banks face a dilemma. Raise interest rates at the cost of profitability. Or lose deposits and face higher risks. The dilemma explains why the Fed is not really tightening.
  • Second, Money Market Fund and Commercial Bank flows are yet another example of how unprecedented stimulus following Covid adds to the ‘Great Recession Delay.’ 

UK: Hawkish Tide Not Turning Yet

By Phil Rush

  • Market participants have renewed their hawkish views of inflation and monetary tightening in 2023. Hopes for a dovish pivot proved premature.
  • Firms’ expected price rises have lost some skew but are converging around 5%, as are wage settlements. Inflation expectations appear to be anchoring at excessive highs.
  • Frontloaded monetary tightening remains necessary with hawkish risks to a 4.5% BoE peak. The dovish turn should be swift and lucratively steep, but it isn’t here yet.

AFC Iraq Fund February 2023 Update: “Dinar Revalued Upwards by 10%, Strong Gains for the Fund”

By Asia Frontier Capital

  • The AFC Iraq Fund, and its benchmark the Rabee Securities RSISX USD Index, “skyrocketed” +23.3%, +24.9% respectively in February.
  • For the year, the AFC Iraq Fund is up 22.6%, outperforming the index’s increase of 18.8%.
  • February’s gain once again illustrates the diversification benefits that the AFC Iraq Fund and Asian frontier markets offer to investors since the performance of the AFC Iraq Fund is already well ahead of global benchmarks two months into the year.

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Daily Brief Credit: Morning Views Asia: China SCE and more

By | Credit, Daily Briefs

In today’s briefing:

  • Morning Views Asia: China SCE, Greentown China, Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust

Morning Views Asia: China SCE, Greentown China, Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust

By Charles Macgregor

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.


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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Smartkarma Webinar | 2023 Top Opportunities in Indian Consumer Discretionary and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Smartkarma Webinar | 2023 Top Opportunities in Indian Consumer Discretionary
  • Artificial Intelligence | How to Play the Thematic in Japan
  • Trip.com Q4/2022 Results: Back to Reality?
  • Good Morning Japan | Softer Tone from Powell; EU EV Shocker; NUGGET: Rakuten Symphony – Wins Coming!
  • [Gaming Sector Update]: Top Picks Are Tencent and NetEase, Positive to Kingsoft, Koei Tecmo, Nexon.
  • China TMT Update(Mar.9):ATAT /BILI/1024.HK/Douyin/(2821.SZ/6821.HK)/(1177.HK/SBHMY)

Smartkarma Webinar | 2023 Top Opportunities in Indian Consumer Discretionary

By Smartkarma Research

In the next installment of our Webinar Wednesdays, we go live with Smartkarma Insight Provider, Devi Subhakesan as she shares more about her thoughts on the Top Opportunities in Indian Consumer Discretionary in the year 2023. From the trends in the industry, to its major players and catalysts, join us in this next installment as we dive deep into the topic alongside Devi.

The webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 22 March 2023, 17:00 SGT/HKT.

Devi Subhakesan  is an Equity Analyst with an Asia Consumer Sector Focus. She has been part of Buy-side and Sell-side Institutions, and has covered Oil, Gas & Coal, Media, Textiles, and Consumer Discretionary sectors across ASEAN, India, and North Asia. 


Artificial Intelligence | How to Play the Thematic in Japan

By Mark Chadwick

  • AI is an exciting area of technology that has the potential to change how industries operate and consumers live their lives
  • There is a huge TAM, but it can be difficult for equity investors to gain meaningful exposure
  • We identify 22 Japanese stocks that are engaged in AI. We have two top picks 

Trip.com Q4/2022 Results: Back to Reality?

By Daniel Hellberg

  • On Monday evening in the US, Trip.com (TCOM US) reported Q422 results that beat low expectations, but shares in the US traded down about 3% in Tuesday’s session
  • As for guidance, management offered few specifics but noted a sharp improvement in booking activity early in 2023, but also highlighted an outbound capacity bottleneck at the airlines
  • Just as Covid’s negative impacts papered over the secular challenges facing Trip.com, the dramatic near-term recovery in travel activity also obscures longstanding threats

Good Morning Japan | Softer Tone from Powell; EU EV Shocker; NUGGET: Rakuten Symphony – Wins Coming!

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. Softer tone from Powell; US equities find support; BUT, Rates extend sell off; Yield Curve -1.08%..screams recession; Shocker from EU as Germany blocks legislation banning ICE sales from 2035.
  • JAPAN. NKY +0.6% vs Cash; USDJPY 137.4;  Japan set to extend rally for 5th day on weaker yen; Asahi Kasei books ¥185bn impairment loss; Another BUY call on Fanuc
  • NUGGET. Rakuten stock has been in the doldrums thanks deep losses in domestic mobile ops. Losses likely peaked. Now, Rakuten Symphony is clearly gaining traction. Time to revisit?

[Gaming Sector Update]: Top Picks Are Tencent and NetEase, Positive to Kingsoft, Koei Tecmo, Nexon.

By Shawn Yang

  • We recently conducted a round of interviews of Chinese start-up gaming companies, and we see an overall loosening in the regulatory environment, although near-term hit titles are still absent.
  • We are positive on Tencent because of the increasing possibility of DNF mobile launch. We raise NetEase’s TP to US$ 99, and it’s one of our top picks now
  • Other gaming companies that have upward trends include Kingsoft, Lingxi Games (under Alibaba), Koei Tecmo, Nexon, and Mihoyo. Companies with a downward trend include BILI and Garena (under SEA).  

China TMT Update(Mar.9):ATAT /BILI/1024.HK/Douyin/(2821.SZ/6821.HK)/(1177.HK/SBHMY)

By Shawn Yang

  • (2821.SZ/6821.HK)/(1177.HK/SBHMY): F-Star cleared CFIUS investigation, suggesting US criteria on China investments (+) 
  • ATAT: Corporate travel demand recover quickly in hotel sector (+)
  • BILI/1024.HK/Douyin: People’s Daily criticizes vulgar internet slangs rampant in short videos. (-/-/-)

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