Thematic (Sector/Industry)

• OVERSEAS. SPX Flat after Memorial Day; AI/Tech still strong, but momentum fading; Debt Ceiling Vote on Tap – as Republication far right protests deal; Crude -4% on OPEC/USD Debt Uncertainty
• JAPAN. NKY Futs -0.6% Discount vs Cash;  Yen weakness a concern-Officials vow to act;  Toyota gives Up on Hino – Welcomes the Germans
• NUGGET. The New JPX150 Index-Interesting Concept. We are hopeful that it will incentivize the numerous low PBR companies to take proactive steps to join the “elite” group of value creators.

• NTES: NetEase testing a new magic academy simulation game in Japan (+)
• PDD: PDD officially launches 6.18 event, but there aren’t many surprises (-)
• NIO/LI: NIO announces pricing details of all-new ES6 (- / +)

• Going into a third week after Thailand’s general election on May 14th, the Thai stock market softened and the bond yields rose on uncertainty over the government coalition.
• We believe the Move Forward Party (MFP)’s victory signifies a movement to reform, not just a political campaign.
• The muddle-through scenario could see Thailand without the new government until May 2024

• According to data, the accumulated balance of medical insurance fund has increased significantly. The core reason of China’s medical insurance fee control is to leave room for upcoming difficult period.
• The NHSA believes that even under fee control policy, pharmaceutical companies should still be able to achieve good performance. Perhaps companies should review their own problems more than blame policies.
• The pricing system in NRDL negotiation has its logical, and the total size of drug market in China reaches several trillion yuan, which is quite large.Why should we be pessimistic?

• OVERSEAS. US Closed for Memorial Day; SPX Futs rise on Debt Deal prospects; Republican Right Wing opposition emerging; NVIDIA annc partnerships/new chip release that CEO says is “A Big Deal”
• JAPAN. NKY Futs +0.2% vs Cash; Likely further follow through to the Upside for Japan stocks on weak yen/debt deal prospects; Softbank share px +8% on ARM new chip rollout
• NUGGET.  [Another] Wake-Up Call for Japanese OEMs.  The impact of rapid EV transition is starting with Toyota at the forefront. If this is happening to Toyota NOW, then the rest…

• OVERSEAS. AI Driven Tech Rally Continues; Debt Deal Close(r) as Biden-McCarthy Agree, Vote still to come;More Hikes to Come as Inflation Picks UP; (Another) Massive Boeing order in the works
• JAPAN. NKY Futs 1.9% Prem  vs Cash; US Tech(AI) Driven Rally continues;Yen Shorts Accummulate as USDJPY pass 140; Tokyo Inflation Slows;Toyota Loses crown of top selling car to TESLA
• NUGGET. Drone Delivery in Japan – within Sight; Japan Post(6178) leading the way aiming for 2023 commercialization.

• Semiconductors- “Big Money” Rabid Buying Spree Continues NVIDIA’s (NVDA) and Marvell’s (MRVL) earnings calls and forward guidance delivered this week resulted in earthquake shock re-rating to all things semiconductors on Thursday and Friday.
• On Thursday, NVIDIA’s $198B market cap gain was the largest market cap gain in market history.
• In the first quarter of this year, Microsoft gave clues that artificial intelligence would emerge as the next great computing platform and then this quarter it appears that Wall St. has woken up to the degree of significant data center retooling and infrastructure spending which will be required to support emerging artificial intelligence computing demand.

• Among active Global equity funds, exposure to Banking stocks is at the lower end of the decade long range
• Over the last 6-months, Banks experienced the largest drop in average fund weight of -0.4%, suffered fund outflows of $-1.98bn and had 40 more sellers than buyers over the period.
• The failure of SVB Financial, First Republic and Signature Bank has effected sentiment in US Banks, but elsewhere we see strong momentum in Singaporean Banks, Indonesian Banks and Indian Banks.  

• It was a relatively quiet week for the broader index. However, there was a big sector shift towards tech and AI winners.
• Japanese Heavy Equipment makers have technologies that will be in demand for decades. KHI trades below book. 
• As we head into AGM season, we take a look at interesting activist campaigns. 

• The recovery in Energy allocations among Asia Ex-Japan funds has stalled, and has started to reverse
• Selling in Reliance Industries (RIL IN), Offshore Oil Engineering A (600583 CH) and CNOOC Ltd (883 HK) were the key drivers behind the move
• Versus the iShares MSCI AAJX ETF, Energy is the largest sector underweight alongside Materials and Utilities, with managers overweight the Consumer sectors and Information Technology.  

• OVERSEAS. NDIVIA scores leading Tech to drive SPX +0.9% into the green; Closer to a Debt Limit Deal;  Marvell Tech reports – Bullish On AI
• JAPAN.  NKY Futs 0.9% vs Cash; USDJPY weakens to 140 on dovish Ueda comments; NVIDIA drives Japan AI supply chain gains; Foreigners continue to pour into Japan for 8th week.
• NUGGET. Calbee, worth a 2nd look after the recent share price sell-off given their very credible medium term business plan.

• Domestic and outbound Chinese air traffic continued to recover in April, but aircraft deployed on international routes continued to operate far below capacity
• Headline numbers from the recent Labor Day holiday period show an increase in domestic travel activity to above 2019 levels, but spending per trip remains depressed
• Tourism activity has increased dramatically compared to 2022, but five months after most Covid-19 restrictions were lifted there are few signs of stong demand for leisure travel

• OVERSEAS. SPX -0.7%, down again on inability to get a debt deal; Yellen’s warnings keep coming; Fed Minutes – Officials mixed on hikes/pause; NVIDIA-BLOW OUT AI DRIVEN GUIDANCE
• JAPAN. NKY Futs -0.3% Discount to Cash; US debt limit weighs on Japans;  Fujitsu MTP – to return ¥600bn to shareholders over 3 yrs; Watch Advantest today on NVIDIA’s guidance
• NUGGET. Next Gen drinks development takes off as Sapporo Holdings(2501 JP) seeks competitive edge in drinks development by using AI

• The steep part of the chip collapse has run its course, and prices are now following cost
• Revenues will rise once demand growth fully offsets price decreases, probably in the fourth quarter
• The market will regain profitability only after a new shortage develops, which may be the middle of 2024

• At the risk of sounding monotonous, while the SPAC IPO market remains pretty much comatose, there continues to be solid flow of liquidations.
• The number of SPACs electing to liquidate their trust funds has risen to 19 for May and scheduled for June thus far.
• YTD, 107 SPACs have thrown in the towel and elected to liquidate.

• OVERSEAS. SPX Closed -1.1% as US Debt Default risks rise; Democrats and Republicans still far apart;  STRONG US new home Sales; Boeing says Supply Chain Resolution will take Time
• JAPAN. NKY Futs -0.9% vs Cash; Japan likely falls 2nd day ; JP Real Wages Fall most in 8 years; S&P Cuts Softbank’s Debt in deeper Junk – Company protests
• NUGGET. Japanese Automaker face massive R&D and Capex spend for years to come as they transition to EVs. Free Cash Flow likely turn negative, and profits stagnate.

In the next installment of our Webinar Wednesdays, we go live with Smartkarma Insight Provider, Alexis Dwek, as he will be sharing with us his insights on the opportunities in Europe equities. Join us, as Alexis shares with us the developing trends in Europe, the opportunities that lie ahead and what’s next for equities in Europe.

The webinar will be hosted on Wednesday, 31 May 2023, 17:00 SGT/HKT.

Alexis Dwek has been covering pan-European companies for close to a decade. With experience in three hedge funds, an underlying emphasis has always been placed on meeting the management teams of companies. Alex is passionate about equities and has been since a young age – ever since he started reading books from investors like Charles Munger, Benjamin Graham, and Warren Buffet.

• 700.HK/NTES/BILI: Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili receive game code approvals (+)
• ZLAB：First generic version of Olaparib approved in China but impact on Nariparib should be small（/）
• MNSO: Miniso opened its global flagship store in NY Times Square with 78k sales in first day

• Restaurant royalties’ same-store-sales growth continues to outpace food inflation in Canada which we believe to be persistent
• The full-service and limited-service restaurant industries have proven to have resilient growth through all economic conditions
• The group outperformed the TSX by 450 bps since our last note, yet valuations still remain at trough levels

• On the 19 May, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) released a 145-page consultation paper on proposed amendments to the Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs.
• The paper proposes amendments to various provisions of the Codes together with the reasons for such changes.
• The consultation will last for five weeks until 23 June 2023.

• OVERSEAS.  SPX Flat as Debt Limit talks Weight; Fed’s Bullard sees 2 more hikes; China Ban’s Micron’s Chips; Ford Moves to secure Lithium supplies. CEO sees Auto prices falling 5%
• JAPAN. NKY Futs +0.4% premium vs Cash; Japan to tighten rules on Semi exports to China; Kansai Elect,  CyrusOne set up Japan JV to invest in DataCenters
• NUGGET.  Japan passed the GX Promotion Law that will support 150 trillion of investment over the next 10 years. Decarbonization boom in Japan is just beginning..

• The three companies we write about this week are Raytheon Technologies (RTX US)Beiersdorf AG (BEI GR) and King Slide Works (2059 TT) 
• For the twenty-six weeks since inception ended 19 May the combined innovation portfolio was +2.5%, versus DJIA-0.9%, S&P500+5.7%, Nasdaq+13.6%, Russell2000 -4.1%, MSCI-ACWI-ETF+6.9%, S&P midcap 400 -2.2%, all in US$ terms
• Small-Cap (+4.1%) versus Russell2000 (-4.1%) and midcap (+1.9%) versus S&P400 (-2.2%) continues to outperform benchmarks, but the omission of mega-tech names has hurt large-cap portfolio (+2.6%) versus S&P500 (+5.7%) . 

• Columbia Care (NEO: CCHW, OTCQX: CCHWF) reported 1Q revenue of $124.5 million, down 1.3% Q/Q and up 1.2% Y/Y.
• This beat consensus of $123.0 million. The revenue increase was driven by three new stores and strength in its New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia operations.
• 1Q adjusted EBITDA declined to $16.4 million from $17.4 million in 4Q. This was below consensus of $17.4 million.

• WTR Sustainable Index: During the week ended May 19, 2023, the WTR Sustainable Index outperformed the broader market, rising 4.4% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (up 1.6%), the Russell 2000 Index (up 1.9%), and the Nasdaq Composite Index (up 3.0%).
• Advanced Transportation Solutions (69.0% of the index) drove the index’s outperformance, rising 6.2%, while Energy Technology (7.9% of the index) was up 0.1% and Industrial Climate and Ag Technology was up 0.9%.
• Valuation: Based on forward 12-month consensus estimates, the current P/E ratio of the WTR Sustainable index is 25.9x versus 19.5x for the S&P 500.

• OVERSEAS.  SPX -0.1% fails to make it 3 in a row; Talks paused, now resumed but deal distant; Powell set to pause hikes in June; More worries in US Regionals
• JAPAN. NKY Futs flat vs Cash; Kishida hosts a successful G7 summit; April Core Inflation hits 4.1% – Gov Ueda says no early exit; More Japanese are job hopping=>+ve Wages
• NUGGET. Panasonic – Found Battery Religion (Finally!) – A more aggressive stance

• Gross margin compression in China’s express industry has been going on for years and predates the Covid crisis. But margins have enjoyed a modest recovery since late 2021
• Since 2019, margins have fallen and the distribution of profits among China’s listed express companies has changed dramatically, with two clear-cut losers
• Even though two listed express companies have seen their profitability compressed dramatically, there are no signs of industry consolidation — and some parties like it that way

• Sector allocations in 2023 have been highlighted by big money rapidly leaving the “inflation trade” of 2022 (dominated by all things oil and gas, coal, ag commodities, etc.) and plowing money in full force to the “disinflation trade” headlined by sectors exposed to technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, automation/robotics, and software.
• In fact, the following sector ETFs are making new 6-month relative strength line highs this week compared to S&P 500 index and are quickly emerging as new market leadership groups:
• Technology: BOTZ, TECL, IXN, IYW, XLK, IGV, VGT; Homebuilders: NAIL, XHB, XL