In today’s briefing:
- Korea Small Cap Gem #35: Aurora World
- CSI All Share Real Estate Sector Index Rebalance: Sector Reclassification Drives Changes
- Expedia Group: Diverse B2B Growth Opportunities As a Significant Growth Lever!
- Installed Building Products (IBP): Its Efforts Towards Expansion in Heavy Commercial Business & Other Major Drivers!
- Nexstar Media Group’s Bold Play on Political Ads & Digital Power Could Shock the Industry; What Lies Ahead?
- Tapestry Inc.: An Insight Into its Direct-to-Consumer Model
- US Foods Holding Corp.: A Tale of Health Care & Hospitality Sector Expansion!
- Crocs Inc. Accelerates Global Expansion With Aggressive Market Penetration in China
- HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 30 May 2025); Volumes OK, Big Net Buying on SOEs/Financials
Korea Small Cap Gem #35: Aurora World
- Aurora World is best known for its plush toys (Palm Pals and YooHoo & Friends). It is increasingly trying to leverage its toy character brands to expand into digital contents.
- What makes Aurora World so interesting is its excellent fundamentals and deeply discounted valuations relative to The Pinkfong Company (IPO in 2H25) and SAMG Entertainment.
- Aurora World generated more than 80% of its sales in overseas markets including the United States, U.K., and Hong Kong.
CSI All Share Real Estate Sector Index Rebalance: Sector Reclassification Drives Changes
- There are 3 adds and 4 deletes for the CSI All Share Real Estate Sector Index in June. There are changes driven by changes to the sector classification for stocks.
- Passive trackers will need to buy between 0.2-0.65x ADV in the adds and sell between 0.15-1.75x ADV in the deletes.
- The deletes have outperformed the adds over the last few months and some of that could dissipate over the next couple of weeks.
Expedia Group: Diverse B2B Growth Opportunities As a Significant Growth Lever!
- Expedia Group’s recent financial results for Q1 2025 present a complex blend of performance metrics that reveal both strengths and areas of concern.
- The company’s gross bookings climbed by 4% to $31.5 billion, while revenue increased by 3% to $3 billion, aligning with expectations but reflecting a modest growth trajectory.
- The growth has been hampered by weaker travel demand within and into the U.S., despite strong performances elsewhere.
Installed Building Products (IBP): Its Efforts Towards Expansion in Heavy Commercial Business & Other Major Drivers!
- Installed Building Products (IBP) reported its first quarter 2025 financial results, reflecting mixed performance amidst a challenging macroeconomic landscape affecting the construction industry.
- The company’s performance was impacted by housing market dynamics and adverse weather conditions, although strategic initiatives and a strong operating framework provided some balance.
- On the positive side, IBP maintained a solid financial base with significant cash flow, highlighting its capacity for growth via acquisitions.
Nexstar Media Group’s Bold Play on Political Ads & Digital Power Could Shock the Industry; What Lies Ahead?
- Nexstar Media Group, a significant player in the broadcast television industry, delivered record financial results in the fourth quarter of 2024.
- The company reported $5.4 billion in total net revenue for the year, marking the highest in its 28-year history.
- This performance was primarily driven by a strong political advertising cycle and growth in distribution revenue, alongside the company’s strategic positioning in nearly 85% of competitive election markets.
Tapestry Inc.: An Insight Into its Direct-to-Consumer Model
- Tapestry, Inc. has recently released its third-quarter results, which exceeded market expectations, highlighting the company’s strong positioning and operational momentum across its brands.
- The quarter saw accelerated revenue growth of 8% on a constant currency basis, driven primarily by the performance of its flagship brand, Coach, which achieved a 15% revenue increase.
- Geographic performance was varied, with Europe seeing a 35% increase, substantial gains in the Asia-Pacific region, and steady growth in North America.
US Foods Holding Corp.: A Tale of Health Care & Hospitality Sector Expansion!
- US Foods Holding Corp.’s latest earnings report for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 presents a mixed yet cautiously optimistic outlook.
- The company reported strong profitability, with adjusted EBITDA growing more than 9% and adjusted diluted EPS increasing by 26%.
- Notably, this performance was achieved despite adverse weather conditions and an overall challenging operating environment, highlighting the company’s effective execution of its strategic initiatives.
Crocs Inc. Accelerates Global Expansion With Aggressive Market Penetration in China
- Crocs, Inc. reported a relatively stable first quarter of 2025 despite facing a volatile macroeconomic environment, mainly due to evolving global trade policies.
- The company’s total revenues grew by 1% to $937 million, exceeding their guidance of a potential 1.5% decline.
- This growth was driven by the Crocs brand, which saw revenues increase by 4% to $762 million.
HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 30 May 2025); Volumes OK, Big Net Buying on SOEs/Financials
- Gross SOUTHBOUND volumes back below US$12bn a day this past week, but net buying was nearly US$700mm a day, which was decent.
- Among the top buys as a percentage of volume, FINANCIALS, ENERGY, TELECOMS stand out, dramatically. Among top sells, it is CONSUMER and INFO TECH dominating the top 20. Again.
- The data tables below update on a daily basis in the Tools section of Smartkarma. The SOUTHBOUND Flow Monitor and AH Monitor are both there free for SK readers.
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