Daily Brief Credit: Elon Musk’s Latest X-Ceptionally Bad Idea and more

• Elon Musk has killed Twitter’s last and greatest value by renaming it X. As in, fill in whatever the heck it is now. 
• Twitter’s strong, globally recognized brand worth had been worth much as $20 billion—its last and only valuable asset.
• Incredibly, it gets worse. Hundreds of other companies already own rights to the X name and logo—including META and Microsoft. 

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.

• Sands China
• Sino-Ocean Service
• SK Hynix
• O-Net Technologies (Group)
• Yuexiu Property

The Asia HY Trade Book for July 2023 includes a summary of our recommendations, as well as our high-conviction ideas. The report also features relative-value charts and lists of the bonds across Asia (ex-Japan) HY and crossover credits.

Tata Motors Limited (TML) has reported stronger Q1/23-24 results than expected, thanks to Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) impressive performance. Specifically, this business delivered much higher sales volumes, revenue, profits and FCF. In addition, better selling prices and lower raw material costs drove exceptional improvement in profitability. The financial risk profile continued to strengthen, with lower net debt and higher earnings. Liquidity remains sound.

We expect the company to continue performing well for the rest of the year. JLR’s performance in the prior year was constrained by the semiconductor supply shortage, which continues to ease. JLR also demonstrated that demand for its products is still strong. The order book remains high, providing visibility on demand. In addition, we anticipate that JLR’s re-organisation with three separate brands will enhance brand image. We see Range Rover moving up to the luxury segment from the premium segment, with an increase in selling prices and higher margins. We believe that the financial risk profile of the group and JLR will continue improving.