Daily Brief Consumer: WH Group, TSE Tokyo Price Index TOPIX, Amer Sports , Lands’ End Inc, Shimojima, Guess? Inc, JAKKS Pacific , GFT International, Cable One Inc and more

• On 17 November 2024, WH Group (288 HK)  announced an EGM to approve the spin-off and separately list subsidiary Smithfield Foods on the NYSE or NASDAQ. 
• WHG, the world’s largest pork producer, announced on the 6th December the spin-off overwhelmingly gained shareholder approval. 
• Yesterday, the Smithfield NASDAQ IPO doc was made public. As per the filing: “the number and dollar amount of Smithfield Shares to be offered and sold have not been determined“.

• The problem with cross-held shares is that management facing shareholders tends to be neglected if they remain protected by a defensive wall rather than a lower return on capital.
• The start of mandatory disclosure of policy shareholding policies from FY3/2025 will also help reduce policy shareholdings, which are expected to decrease gradually, but may remain as deemed shareholdings.
• To improve capital profitability, profit margins must increase, so restructuring the business portfolio and investing for growth are key. Management changes are required to implement these changes.

• Amer Sports, owned by ANTA Sports, is focusing on expanding in the Chinese market, particularly through the Arc’teryx brand
• New store openings in China are expected to drive revenue and EBIT growth for Amer Sports
• Arc’teryx faces stiff competition in the outdoor apparel market, with its technical attributes not standing out as much as expected, despite surpassing Canada Goose in revenue and having a strong presence in China

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.

• We are reiterating our Buy rating, $20 price target and projections for Lands’ End as we look forward to 2025.
• We believe, after an impressive return to profitability in FY24, Lands’ End management is poised to continue to build on their winning business model drivers (improved product, marketing and customer reach, Outfitters, international and licensing) to drive further upside into FY25 and amply demonstrate the power of Lands’ End to leverage a quintessential and trusted American brand to drive compelling returns.
• As such, we reiterate our Buy rating and $20 price target for LE.

• Founded over a century ago in 1920 as a wholesaler of packaging materials, SHIMOJIMA is a leading trading company specialized in providing comprehensive packaging materials, products and supplies, offering over 1,000,000 items, through its unique wholesale and retail omnichannel distribution structure.
• The Company’s nationwide omnichannel distribution network includes 16 regional sales offices, 18 SHIMOJIMA stores, 20 directly managed Package Plaza stores, and roughly 220 Package Plaza FC stores nationwide, the largest chain of packaging supplies specialty stores in Japan, in addition to the EC site ‘SHIMOJIMA Online Shop,’ as well as sales by Group companies with the ultimate benefit of building an easily identifiable brand image.
• SIR believes this will be a competitive advantage in capturing the upside opportunity from the four simultaneous growth drivers examined in this report.

• We are reiterating our Buy rating, $23 price target and projections for Guess?
• as we look forward to 2025.
• We believe, after their first acquisition, continued European expansion and investor worries over weak domestic performance in 2024, 2025 will a year for the company to begin to leverage their prior investments and shift the investment thesis forward to top line and margin expansion.

• We are reiterating our Buy rating, $40 price target and projections for JAKKS Pacific, as we believe, driven by strong Holiday movie content and among the easiest comparisons in recent history, the company is poised to register strong 1H25 results.
• More importantly, we believe, potential China tariffs excluded, JAKKS is building a base of key core items/categories (i.e. The Simpsons, Sonic, skateboards and Spring outdoor products) and international expansion, which will create the ability for JAKKS to register visible and impressive overall top and bottom line returns.
• Further, we also believe in 2025, given the company’s impressive financial position (no debt, approximately $2 per share in cash), JAKKS will begin to return capital to shareholders.

• EAF’s 9.875% note due in 2028 is trading at around 75, offering a potential return of over 25% in a 2-year timeframe
• Downside risk is protected with a cushion of under $550 million, while potential upside could reach up to 42% returns in just one year
• Despite past issues and cyclical headwinds, EAF has valuable assets like the Seadrift facility to cover its debt stack, making the credit situation particularly interesting at current levels

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.

• CABO’s stock has dropped by 45% since the previous writeup due to declining revenue and EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2022
• Financial leverage and a large short interest have contributed to investor loss of confidence in CABO
• The writer suggests that the decreased stock price presents a better investment opportunity in CABO now

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only. This article was originally published 3 months ago on Value Investors Club.