Category

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Intel’s Data Center & AI Investor Webinar Key Takeaways and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Intel’s Data Center & AI Investor Webinar Key Takeaways
  • India Channel Insight #50 | Commercial Vehicles – Discounts & Market Share
  • Japan Weekly | Mitsui & Co, Toyota Industries, Equities Up

Intel’s Data Center & AI Investor Webinar Key Takeaways

By William Keating

  • Intel recently hosted a webinar on the company’s Data Center & AI group strategy
  • Intel has the broadest range of compute processor types on the market including CPU, GPU, FPGA, ASIC etc, but has lost its competitive edge to AMD on the server side
  • Regaining server leadership will require home runs on both Granite Rapids and Intel 3 in 2025

India Channel Insight #50 | Commercial Vehicles – Discounts & Market Share

By Pranav Bhavsar

  • Commercial vehicle industry in India facing challenges due to increasing discounting trend, implementation of new regulations, and economic slowdown.
  • Possibility of Tata Motors Ltd (TTMT IN) regaining lost market share at the cost of Ashok Leyland (AL IN), but industry highly competitive.
  • Finance Ministry warns of El Niño conditions, leading to weaker monsoon in India, dampening auto sales.

Japan Weekly | Mitsui & Co, Toyota Industries, Equities Up

By Mark Chadwick

  • The Nikkei and Topix finished the week around 2.5% higher. That’s the second week in a row,
  • Equity markets buoyed by positive Chinese macro data, especially the Non-Manufacturing PMI, pointing to the highest reading since May 2011
  • The Tokyo Stock Exchange is focused on stocks that are trading below book value. So is the market….the leading gainers were all low-PB stocks

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Good Morning Japan |Tech Bid; Trump Indicated; NUGGET: BayCurrent-Japan’s Digital/Salary Gap Winner and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Good Morning Japan |Tech Bid; Trump Indicated; NUGGET: BayCurrent-Japan’s Digital/Salary Gap Winner
  • SenseTime to Roll Out Its Own ChatGPT Rival in Mid-2023
  • China TMT Update(Mar.31) – Baba/ 700HK/1024HK/BILI/BIDU/ATAT: Baba Management’s Call

Good Morning Japan |Tech Bid; Trump Indicated; NUGGET: BayCurrent-Japan’s Digital/Salary Gap Winner

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. SPX Rally continues with further Tech gains; White House call for tighter Bank regulations; Trump indicated for hush money payment;  US SEC seeking to ramp up Cryto oversight
  • JAPAN. NKY Futs +0.6% vs Cash; USDJPY 132.7; JP Equities to close quarter with >6% gains; TSE ramps up rhetoric againsts low PBR stocks; GIC lifts JP investment; Citadel Back
  • NUGGET.  BayCurrent, – exploiting Japan’s Digital and Salary Gaps. With inflation rising in Japan, we expect increased DX spending and more skilled IT professionals to join BayCurrent. We remain bullish.

SenseTime to Roll Out Its Own ChatGPT Rival in Mid-2023

By Caixin Global

  • Chinese artificial intelligence leader SenseTime plans to launch its own chatbot model in mid-2023, the company said, becoming the latest tech company to join the global rush sparked by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
  • Hong Kong-traded SenseTime said it made major progress in natural language processing and successfully developed a large pretrained model which will be rolled out in the middle of this year.
  • The model has been trained with more than 100 billion parameters to improve the performance of text generation and human-computer dialogue, SenseTime said Tuesday during its earnings call.

China TMT Update(Mar.31) – Baba/ 700HK/1024HK/BILI/BIDU/ATAT: Baba Management’s Call

By Shawn Yang

  • Baba: Baba management holds a call with investors to explain recent movements. 
  • 700HK/ 1024HK/ BILI/ BIDU:Wechat Open Class is held, more features are announced(+/-/-/-)
  • ATAT:Accor formed alliance with Douyin to further explore independent growth (+)

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Good Morning Japan |Choppy Equities; Weak Tech; NUGGET: Panasonic-New US Tax Credit Opportunity? and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Good Morning Japan |Choppy Equities; Weak Tech; NUGGET: Panasonic-New US Tax Credit Opportunity?
  • China Tourists Coming Back: Transport
  • China TMT Update (Mar.29): Baba/BIDU/ATAT: Alibaba Is to Establish 6 Business Units

Good Morning Japan |Choppy Equities; Weak Tech; NUGGET: Panasonic-New US Tax Credit Opportunity?

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS.  Choppy Session with SPX closing -0.2%;  Tech down again as reversal continues;  US 2Yr yield back above 4%, Alibaba +14% split to unlock value; Micron after hours-worst over?
  • JAPAN. NKY Futs -1.0% vs Cash; USDJPY 130.9; US-Japan strikes deal on EV battery materials Under IRA; Japan’s FTA fine with MSFT-ATVI, -ve Sony; Alibaba Split +ve Softbank
  • NUGGET. Panasonic – Potential beneficiary of new IRA related deal with the US. Could see IRA EV tax credit rise from ¥172bn/year to ¥228bn/year.

China Tourists Coming Back: Transport

By Henry Soediarko


China TMT Update (Mar.29): Baba/BIDU/ATAT: Alibaba Is to Establish 6 Business Units

By Shawn Yang

  • Baba: Alibaba is to establish 6 business units and could pursue independent listings(+)
  • BIDU: Baidu release large-scale model “Wen Xin Qian Fan” for enterprise(+)
  • ATAT: Atour Lifestyle: Huazhu reported 4Q22 financial results and operating performance(+); Accor striking on its own following departure from Huazhu and Jinjiang, opening new possiblities for collaboration(+)

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Good Morning Japan |More Bank Relief as SPX Gains 0.2%; NUGGET: Softbank- Just Can’t Catch a Break and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Good Morning Japan |More Bank Relief as SPX Gains 0.2%; NUGGET: Softbank- Just Can’t Catch a Break
  • HK Equity: 1) Strong Capital Inflow, 2) Pro-Growth Policy, 3) Better Macro Outlook to Drive Rerating
  • Weekly Stock Bullfinder – Week of 3/27
  • China TMT Update (Mar. 28)- XPEV / LKNCY/BABA : Jack Ma Appears in Hangzhou
  • Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor: Week Ended March 24, 2023

Good Morning Japan |More Bank Relief as SPX Gains 0.2%; NUGGET: Softbank- Just Can’t Catch a Break

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. SPX carve out gains on relief Bank rally; Energy leads on Oil supply distruptions; Tech lags on profit taking; Crypto in spotlight as US cracks down on Binance/CEO CZ
  • JAPAN. Nikkei Futs -0.5% vs Cash; USDJPY 131.6;  Diplomatic Row btw Japan-China brewing on arrest of Japanese national for spying; SMFG expands in Vietnam; Bullish Toray MTP
  • NUGGET. Softbank just cannot catch a break. Son-san ARM IPO to be wildly successful. $70bn IPO Valuation seem a tall ask. Can Son-san pull this one off ?

HK Equity: 1) Strong Capital Inflow, 2) Pro-Growth Policy, 3) Better Macro Outlook to Drive Rerating

By Jacob Cheng

  • While most HK equities are still trading at attractive valuation, it does not mean they can re-rate and many of them can remain value traps
  • However with the banking crisis, asset owners are moving their capital to Asia.  Hong Kong gov is doing everything to attract family office business
  • This, along with improving macro outlook, can drive re-rating.  BUY SHKP 16 HK and NWD 17 HK

Weekly Stock Bullfinder – Week of 3/27

By Weekly Stock Bull Finder

  • Tech Heavyweights Shouldering the Load- Caution Flags Waving Since the end of 2022, few and fewer big cap tech names are now carrying the overall S&P 500 index performance.
  • As of last Friday’s close, the S&P 500 is up about 2% YTD. However, without the contribution of chip maker Nvidia (NVDA) it would be flat YTD.
  • Since the end of 2022, few and fewer big cap tech names are now carrying the overall S&P 500 index performance.

China TMT Update (Mar. 28)- XPEV / LKNCY/BABA : Jack Ma Appears in Hangzhou

By Shawn Yang

  • BABA: Jack Ma appears in Hangzhou on heels of State Council’s China Development Forum (+)
  • XPEV: Xpeng P7i’s lead time extends to 8 weeks on its APP
  • LKNCY / BABA: Starbucks and Amap collaborate on “Drive-Thru” service(//+)

Weekly Sustainable Investing Surveyor: Week Ended March 24, 2023

By Water Tower Research

  • The WTR Sustainable Index outperformed the broader market, rising 4.0% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (up 1.4%), the Russell 2000 Index (up 0.5%), and the Nasdaq Composite Index (up 1.7%).
  • Advanced Transportation Solutions (70.3% of the index) drove the index performance, rising 5.5%, while Industrial Climate and Ag Technology (22.1% of the index) was up 0.5% and Energy Technology was up 0.7%.
  • Top 10 Performers: PSIX, BRDS, PTRA, NGPHF, TGEN, GVP, VIHD, ENG, NIO, EFOI

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Good Morning Japan |SPX Rallies but Uncertainties Remain; NUGGET: 7&I-ValueAct Goes Full John Wick and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Good Morning Japan |SPX Rallies but Uncertainties Remain; NUGGET: 7&I-ValueAct Goes Full John Wick
  • Investors Return to Tobacco Stocks After Multi-Year Decline
  • China TMT Update (Mar.27) – BABA/JD/ PDD/VIPS/LI/700HK/NTES/BILI/ – Tmall Outlines Upcoming Changes

Good Morning Japan |SPX Rallies but Uncertainties Remain; NUGGET: 7&I-ValueAct Goes Full John Wick

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS.  SPX +0.6% on intraday bounce; Defensives led w/Utilities; Financials lag as Banking fears persist; Rates down on recession view WHILE Fed signals more hikes; MSFT-ATVI deal closer to approval
  • JAPAN. NKY Futs -0.9% vs Cash; Weaker USDJPY 130.7 ;  Kishida Approval Rating Rises; Feb Inflation 3.1%;  ValueAct takes off gloves with 7&i; Shippers in focus with ex-div this week.
  • NUGGET. 7&i: Activist ValueAct goes Full John Wick calling for removal of 4 Directors, including Chairman/CEO Isaka. 2023 could be the year of accelerated reforms.  Stock looks attractive post sell-off.

Investors Return to Tobacco Stocks After Multi-Year Decline

By Steven Holden

  • After a multi-year drop in ownership, Global EM fund exposure in the Tobacco sector is on the rise.
  • Tobacco remains heavily under-owned, but key EM funds are raising allocations, led by GQG Partners, Virtus, BNY Mellon and Allianz. 
  • ITC Limited has been a key beneficiary of inflows and stands as the most widely owned stock in the sector, followed by KT&G Corp.

China TMT Update (Mar.27) – BABA/JD/ PDD/VIPS/LI/700HK/NTES/BILI/ – Tmall Outlines Upcoming Changes

By Shawn Yang

  • BABA/ JD/ PDD/ VIPS: Tmall outlines upcoming changes to its platform (-/-/-/-)
  • LI: Li Auto CEO reveals six pure EVs in pipeline(+)
  • 700HK/NTES/BILI/: Game industry in general:  Domestic game codes published by NPPA(+)

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Manila Politicians Weigh Ban on Pogo Gaming to Quell Beijing Threats and Improve National Image and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Manila Politicians Weigh Ban on Pogo Gaming to Quell Beijing Threats and Improve National Image
  • China Healthcare Weekly (Mar24)-Medical Device New Policy,Reassess Me-Too Strategy,TCM Is Core Asset

Manila Politicians Weigh Ban on Pogo Gaming to Quell Beijing Threats and Improve National Image

By Howard J Klein

  • If Pogos are ultimately banned, Macau and Philippine brick and mortar casinos could see considerable revenue benefits intermediate and long term.
  • There is little chance online gaming will ever be legal in mainland China, but demand continues to grow as citizens support a huge online industry in the Philippines.
  • Now politicans are questioning the risk/reward of inaction on curbing Chinese participation as both operators and customers of online casinos.

China Healthcare Weekly (Mar24)-Medical Device New Policy,Reassess Me-Too Strategy,TCM Is Core Asset

By Xinyao (Criss) Wang

  • The National Health Commission issued a new document, aiming to relax the approval of large medical equipment configuration, which would be a significant benefit for the industry.
  • Whether the “Me-Better” strategy of pharmaceutical enterprises is reasonable or not depends on the understanding level of disease/molecule of the followers and the basis for early clinical project establishment.
  • Unlike overseas markets, the core asset of China pharmaceutical industry isn’t innovative drugs but TCM considering policy environment.We recommend investors leave a place in portfolio to invest in TCM companies.

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): LatAm Banks – Liquidity and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • LatAm Banks – Liquidity, Solvency and Credit Quality in Focus in a Crisis
  • Japan Weekly | Financials Still a Concern, Recruit, Toyota Industries

LatAm Banks – Liquidity, Solvency and Credit Quality in Focus in a Crisis

By Victor Galliano

  • We examine key balance sheet ratios of the Latam banks looking into liquidity, credit quality and capital adequacy, at a time of investor nervousness and concern
  • Based on our screening, our positive value picks are Bradesco and BanColombia, with Banco de Chile, BanBajio and BanRegio composing our positive high quality picks
  • Our bearish picks are Banorte and BCI; Banorte is strong in terms of capital adequacy and credit quality, but is exposed in terms of its big securities portfolio

Japan Weekly | Financials Still a Concern, Recruit, Toyota Industries

By Mark Chadwick

  • Japanese equities were marginally higher on the week as global markets continued to focus on problems in the banking system
  • The Fed, The Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank continued to fight the war on inflation.
  • In Japan, Recruit was the standout performer after the company announced a hefty cut to its workforce (in a bad news is good news kinda way)

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Anatomy Of A Semiconductor Downturn and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Anatomy Of A Semiconductor Downturn
  • Good Morning Japan |Dot Plot Says 5.1%; Tech Leads Gains; NUGGET: Japan’s Hay Fever Hell-Few Winners
  • Pagcor’s New Priority to Sell Its Casinos Could Be a Catalyst for Key Sector Stocks

Anatomy Of A Semiconductor Downturn

By William Keating

  • The current semiconductor downturn is largely attributable to the reversion of PC and Smartphone unit shipments to their pre-pandemic norms
  • There are good reasons to believe that the trough for PC unit shipments will be Q1 2023. 
  • Server shipments will decline sequentially in H1 and this may further prolong the impact on memory players, Intel and to a lesser extent, AMD & NVIDIA

Good Morning Japan |Dot Plot Says 5.1%; Tech Leads Gains; NUGGET: Japan’s Hay Fever Hell-Few Winners

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. SPX ekes out +0.3% gains; Only Tech & Telcos Positive while other 9 sectors in the Red; Fed’s dot plot says 5.1%;  Hinderburg takes aim at BLOCK (Square)
  • JAPAN.  NKY Futs -1.2% vs Cash; USDJPY 130.9 as US Rate hike fears wane;  Japan ends export restrictions on semi materials to S. Korea; Softbank’s ARM to change pricing rules
  • NUGGET. Japan’s Hay Fever Hell: Few Winners, Many Losers. Winners: drugstores, pharmacists, e-commerce; Losers: everyone related to Outdoor activities !

Pagcor’s New Priority to Sell Its Casinos Could Be a Catalyst for Key Sector Stocks

By Howard J Klein

  • The government’s policy shift to sell its casinos is the latest in a long line of flip flops regarding the future of its presence in the industry.
  • The timing is right. Philippine casinos are on a post-pandemic run even before the return of Chine tourism. Bloomberry, operators of Manila’s Solaire has scored a record quarter.
  • Leading possibility beside Bloomberry is Las Vegas Sands long on the hunt to expand its Asian footprin to a third nation.

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): Good Morning Japan |Yellen/Powell Rattles Markets; NUGGET: NIKON – Riding the DigiCam Renaissance and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • Good Morning Japan |Yellen/Powell Rattles Markets; NUGGET: NIKON – Riding the DigiCam Renaissance
  • Intel’s GPU Guru Departs. Very Abruptly.
  • Intel Foundry Chief Announcement Spells Trouble For The Tower Semi Acquisition
  • China SOEs – Waiting for Core Asset Valuation to Take Off
  • Ecognosis Advisory Ltd – ECONOTE No. 111 Investing in the Defence Sector
  • Key Takeaways from IRENA’s Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2023 Report
  • Tech Talk: Digital Transformation
  • China TMT Update(Mar.23): 3690HK/PDD/BABA – Surplus Meituan Delivery Riders Could Improve Margins

Good Morning Japan |Yellen/Powell Rattles Markets; NUGGET: NIKON – Riding the DigiCam Renaissance

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. Fed Chair Powell delivers expected +25bps;  Hawkish pledge on inflation + Yellen’s testimony rattles markets; Safety trade reasserts; Seems like more volatility ahead for all markets.
  • JAPAN. NKY Futs -1.7% vs Cash; USDJPY strengthens to 131.4 n rush to safety; Monetary nomalization on course in Japan – solid Land price gains + continued wage hikes.
  • NUGGET. NIKON – Riding the Digital Camera Renaissance.  Camera demand has stabilizes and is recovering as consumers shift to high end models.

Intel’s GPU Guru Departs. Very Abruptly.

By William Keating

  • While his hiring back in 2017 was heralded with a corporate press release, his abrupt departure yesterday was communicated via a rather succinct tweet from the CEO. 
  • Intel’s GPU/DPU data center roadmap was already “simplified” in back in January. Will what remains survive the ongoing cuts across the company?
  • Should Intel still really be trying to break into the gaming PC market? How is that strategically important? 

Intel Foundry Chief Announcement Spells Trouble For The Tower Semi Acquisition

By William Keating

  • The role has been vacant for > 3 months. Why wait till now to chose an obvious in-situ candidate?
  • Closure date for the Tower acquisition has been pushed out to H1 2023 from Q1 2023 according to an Intel filing on January 27 last
  • Intel’s fortunes have changed dramatically for the worse over the past year. It’s debatable whether the Tower acquisition makes sense any more. 

China SOEs – Waiting for Core Asset Valuation to Take Off

By Xinyao (Criss) Wang

  • In most industries, SOEs have valuation discounts compared to non-SOEs, and the degree of PB discount is more obvious than P/E ratio. A prominent problem is the uneven valuation structure.
  • Valuation reflects expectations for future fundamentals. The improvement in SOE performance with limited valuation boost may be due to investors’ consideration of growth potential, governance mechanisms, and information asymmetry.
  • With the further deepening of SOE reform and the formation of the concept of building a modern capital market with Chinese characteristics, it’s expected to see improvement in SOE’s valuation.

Ecognosis Advisory Ltd – ECONOTE No. 111 Investing in the Defence Sector

By VRS (Valuation & Research Specialists)

  • In Econote No. 110 ( Nov.Dec 2022) we broached the topic of investing in the Defence sectors of various West and Asian economies.
  • The reasons for this were very simple: First, the war in the Ukraine resulted to a sharp rise in defence spending in western countries and, second, this rise would not cease with the end of the war but presented a pivot to higher defence spending, not only in western countries, but also in areas such as Asia.
  • Hence the outlook for Defence stocks was, and is very bright, as witnessed by their persistent outperformance of the S&P 500 and still reasonable valuations.

Key Takeaways from IRENA’s Global Landscape of Renewable Energy Finance 2023 Report

By Water Tower Research

  • We have made our best efforts to summarize the content published in the most recent IRENA report on renewable energy financing.
  • This report provides a quick summary of key facts from the 120-plus-page report. 
  • While worldwide investment in renewable energy reached a record high of US$0.5 trillion in 2022, it represented less than 40% average expenditure required under IRENA’s 1.5°C Scenario between 2021 and 2030.

Tech Talk: Digital Transformation

By Water Tower Research

  • The digital transformation services market is big, at more than $2 trillion this year, and growing at a 23% CAGR. 
  • According to Gartner, 91% of organizations have a digital initiative currently ongoing and 67% of senior executives believe their organizations must become significantly more digitized.
  • The reason digital transformation is growing is the benefits of a true digital transformation are significant, including improved operations, time-to-market, and customer experience, and COVID-19 just accelerated the trend. 

China TMT Update(Mar.23): 3690HK/PDD/BABA – Surplus Meituan Delivery Riders Could Improve Margins

By Shawn Yang

  • 3690HK: Surplus Meituan delivery riders could improve margins beginning in 1Q23 (+)
  • PDD: Temu temporarily suspended inventory intake at Guangzhou warehouse because of  shortage in labor and warehouse storage capacity (-)
  • BABA:Taobao is testing “price comparison” feature, which might impact its take rate(-)

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Daily Brief Thematic (Sector/Industry): AMD Versus Intel. Spot The Differences? and more

By | Daily Briefs, Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In today’s briefing:

  • AMD Versus Intel. Spot The Differences?
  • Good Morning Japan |SPX Reclaims 4000! NUGGET: Asahi Kasei-M&A Gone Bad, Writedown, Struggles Remain
  • Japan Healthcare: Currency Benefit Seems to Be Fading; Focus Will Be on Underlying Business Strength
  • Discount Drugstores Challenging Japanese Supermarkets
  • MQG – Funding Squeeze?
  • Banks Vs. Market: A Closer Look at Equity Risk Premia and Other Valuation Measures
  • China TMT Update(Mar.22): 700HK/NTES/BILI/IQ/3659.JP /BGNE/9995HK/ZLAB – Foreign Game Codes(+)

AMD Versus Intel. Spot The Differences?

By William Keating

  • AMD Q4 2022 revenues amounted to $5.6 billion, $100 million above the midpoint of the guided range, flat sequentially but an increase of 16% YoY. 
  • Intel Q4 2022 revenue amounted to $14 billion, at the very bottom of the guided range down 8% sequentially and down 28% YoY.
  • Facing the same macro headwinds, AMD significantly outperformed Intel across a wide range of key metrics in 2022

Good Morning Japan |SPX Reclaims 4000! NUGGET: Asahi Kasei-M&A Gone Bad, Writedown, Struggles Remain

By Mark Chadwick

  • OVERSEAS. SPX reclaims 4000 level with 2nd day of gains; 8/11 SPX sectors up as VIX collapses; Fed Decision Day on Wed-Expect No surprises; INTEL headwinds on China curbs
  • JAPAN.  NKY Futs +0.6% vs Cash; USDJPY 132. 4; Japan set to rally after the Spring  transition break;US accepts Japan’s EV subsidy appeal=+ve auto parts; More inflation support from govt.
  • NUGGET. Asahi Kasai – M&A Gone Bad, Writedown, Struggles Remain. Future profitability of the LiB Separator business in question.

Japan Healthcare: Currency Benefit Seems to Be Fading; Focus Will Be on Underlying Business Strength

By Tina Banerjee

  • In 2022, JPY depreciated against USD to the lowest level in more than 30 years. This benefitted healthcare companies in Japan, which earn significant portion of revenues from the U.S.
  • This year, Yen has started reversing its course and began to strengthen. With benefit of favorable Forex gradually fading, investors need to be selective in picking healthcare bets in Japan.
  • We have discussed about five top picks from Japan healthcare sector. Domestic focused business, favorable industry tailwinds, and COVID recovery are the main investment thesis for the top picks.

Discount Drugstores Challenging Japanese Supermarkets

By Michael Causton

  • Drugstores were already the fastest growing format before Covid and the health scare only improved their performance further.
  • Several of the largest chains are now powerful players in food, using their non-food base to shake up the supermarket sector in ways that Japan has never seen before.
  • Being price-led, inflation is only helping them along, with a much greater capacity to hold down prices than mainstream supermarkets.

MQG – Funding Squeeze?

By Daniel Tabbush

  • Funding squeeze evident in HK’s HIBOR market and reported in Australia too
  • Even where not visible, this must be expected globally, as banks reign in risk
  • MQG has low levels of deposits and high levels of securities

Banks Vs. Market: A Closer Look at Equity Risk Premia and Other Valuation Measures

By Jeroen Blokland

  • Unsurprisingly, the (required) equity risk premium on bank stocks has increased, but especially in the case of US banks, it is not at extreme levels. 
  • The forward P/E ratio of European bank stocks has dropped to distressed/recessionary levels, while the forward P/E of US bank stocks is ‘seriously low’ at 8.
  • However, based on the Price-to-Book ratio, bank valuation is average.  Given elevated contagion risks and increased regulatory scrutiny, bank stock valuation alone is insufficient to overweight the sector.

China TMT Update(Mar.22): 700HK/NTES/BILI/IQ/3659.JP /BGNE/9995HK/ZLAB – Foreign Game Codes(+)

By Shawn Yang

  • 700HK/NTES/BILI/IQ/3659.JP: The latest Foreign game codes released by NPPA, positive to gaming companies(+)
  • BGNE/9995HK:Daiichi and Zymeworks end antibody pact after seven years (-)
  • ZLAB:ZaiLab’s partner Karua’s Schizophrenia drug obtained positive Phase 3 data (+)

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