Daily Brief Equity Bottom-Up: Taiwan Tech Weekly: How Apple Helped TSMC Become #1; Also Morris Chang Comments on TSMC ADR Premium and more

• PC Monitor: Snapdragon’s Surge, AMD’s Gains, Intel’s Test; Long Asus & Dell
• Memory Monitor: Is DeepSeek a Problem for SK Hynix & Micron’s HBM DRAM Growth? 
• TSMC (2330.TT; TSM.US): Earthquake Impact Limited; Setting Newest Production Line Not Viable in US. 

• In recent weeks, Meta stock has mostly been one-way street: up! That continued to be the case after-hours post 4Q’24 earnings.
• Here are my highlights from today’s call. Daily Active People (DAP) across its Family of Apps (FOA) accelerated to 60 mn QoQ in 4Q’24.
• It’s kind of mind boggling that Meta added 1 Billion DAP since 1Q’20.

• ASML reported Q424 revenues of €9.3 billion, marginally above the high end of the guided range, up 24% QoQ and up 28.5% YoY.
• Full year 2024 revenue amounted to €28.3 billion, up 2.7% YoY and a modest improvement on the previously forecasted zero growth
• Guided full year 2025 revenues to be in the $30-$35 billion range, representing a 15% YoY increase at the midpoint.

• API Group, a provider of life, safety, and specialty services to buildings, has seen significant growth under CEO Ross Becker and with involvement from investor Sir Martin Franklin.
• Started as a small plumbing company in the 1960s, now a global leader in fire protection, security, and building services
• Shifted from one-off construction projects to recurring revenue model, with over 55% of revenue now recurring

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• Takeda Pharmaceutical (4502 JP) reported better-than-expected performance in Q3FY25, with 3% revenue growth to ¥1,144B, driven by continued strong momentum from Growth and Launch Products. All key parameters beat estimates.
• Takeda has upgraded its full year outlook for growth, reflecting strong year-to-date product performance and OPEX efficiencies, as well as revised foreign exchange assumptions. Takeda has also announced ¥100B buyback.
• Continued strong performance of its Growth and Launch product portfolio, ripe late-stage pipeline, and expected margin improvement from FY26 envisage long-term growth prospect of the company.  

• AT&T’s latest financial performance in the fourth quarter of 2024 shows a balanced overview of strengths and challenges that shape its investment profile.
• Positively, the company has demonstrated solid growth in its core operations, particularly in the Mobility and Consumer Wireline segments.
• Postpaid phone net additions totaled approximately 1.7 million with a service revenue growth of 3.5% for Mobility, contributing to AT&T likely leading the industry in postpaid phone churn for most of the past sixteen quarters.

• Recent U.S. Market Weakness Appears to Have Been More Focused on Falling Sentiment for Server Businesses, Not PCs
• CES 2025 Showed Qualcomm Chips Gaining Momentum in PCs, While AMD Continued Aggressive Competition — Intel Under Pressure
• PC Maker Universe to Experience Decent Revenue Growth in 2025E — Structural Long Asustek & Dell

• Naver’s CHZZK has been increasing its market share in the Korean live game streaming sector. This improving momentum is likely to continue to positively impact Naver’s share price. 
• CHZZK was the top ranking live streaming platform in Korea in December 2024 with about 2.5 million MAU.
• Naver is currently trading at EV/EBITDA of 11.4x and P/E of 18.3x, which are 50% and 51% lower respectively than its historical average valuation multiples from 2020 to 2023.

• Krishca Strapping Solutions (KRISHCA IN) is India’s first “Lead-Free” and eco-friendly production line for the heat treatment of steel strapping.
• The company is aggressively pursuing growth, aiming for a 25% revenue increase in the current financial year and EBITDA margin is anticipated to stay between 15% and 20%
• The company is investing in a new special steel production plant in Chennai and launching subsidiaries in the UAE and Singapore to tap into new markets

• Nucor Corporation has delivered a mixed performance during its fourth quarter of 2024, marked by safety achievements and strategic growth investments alongside certain operational challenges.
• On the positive front, Nucor reported its safest year in history with a notable reduction in workplace injuries, reflecting a strong corporate culture focusing on safety.
• Financially, the company achieved earnings of $1.22 per share for the fourth quarter, contributing to an annual total of $8.46 per share.