In today’s briefing:
- [JAPAN Activism] Murakami Buying Mitsui Matshima (1518 JP) BIGLY – Now At 38% Aiming at Control?
- Orient Overseas Intl (316 HK): Initial Warning Signs?
- Geek+ IPO Preview: Extending Leadership in Warehouse Automation Sector, New Robotic IPO in Hong Kong
- Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia
- CBAT: Positive year-end news countered by continued tariff concerns for battery companies.
[JAPAN Activism] Murakami Buying Mitsui Matshima (1518 JP) BIGLY – Now At 38% Aiming at Control?
- I wrote about this stock in May 2024. At the time, Japan activist Murakami-san had gone from 5% to 20% in a hurry. Shortly after, he was at 29%.
- Then he fiddled/sold/bought/waited/sold. The stock fell in late 2024 as a quant fund sold. Murakami-san started buying again. In 3 weeks to 7 January bought from 27.02% to 34.51%.
- By my calculation, as of last week he has 38.4% of votes. This is worth a closer look again. It’s a discount to BVPS but ask yourself why this big.
Orient Overseas Intl (316 HK): Initial Warning Signs?
- Lower average freight rate momentum and deceleration in 4Q24 load factor expansions for Orient Overseas International (316 HK) have raised alarm for a weaker industry outlook.
- Spot freight rate has come down by 6.8% in the last two weeks. The potential ease of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may induce a capacity return.
- The consensus forecasts for FY25-26 have been downgraded by 5-9%, suggesting caution in the market. Its dividend yield will lower from 14.0% in FY24 to just 4.3% in FY26.
Geek+ IPO Preview: Extending Leadership in Warehouse Automation Sector, New Robotic IPO in Hong Kong
- Geek+, a Beijing-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) unicorn with focus on smart logistics, filed to go public in Hong Kong.
- The AI & robotics company was backed by Warburg Pincus, GGV Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Intel Capital, Vertex Ventures, and Gaorong Capital, among others.
- Beijing Geekplus IPO comes after another robotics unicorn, a leading manufacturer of collaborative robots Shenzhen Dobot, raised ~HK$681M in its HK IPO in December.
Lucror Analytics – Morning Views Asia
- In the US, the PPI for final demand unexpectedly eased to 0.2% m-o-m in December 2024 (0.4% e / 0.4% p) and came in below estimates at 3.3% y-o-y (3.5% e / 3.0% p).
- Excluding food and energy, the PPI was flat m-o-m (0.3% e / 0.2% p) and 3.5% y-o-y (3.8% e / 3.5% revised p).
- In the US, the PPI for final demand unexpectedly eased to 0.2% m-o-m in December 2024 (0.4% e / 0.4% p) and came in below estimates at 3.3% y-o-y (3.5% e / 3.0% p).
CBAT: Positive year-end news countered by continued tariff concerns for battery companies.
- CBAK Energy Technology’ has announced new battery cell supply agreements with Anker Innovations and Ather Energy in the past month.
- CBAK continues to form new relationships and enter new markets which bodes well for the company as it adds a significant amount of new manufacturing capacity in the coming years.
- On December 30th, the company announced that it was accelerating the planned expansion at its Nanjing facility.
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