Daily Brief South Korea: SK Hynix, EcoPro Materials and more

In today’s briefing:

Why HBM is the Hottest Thing in Memory
May Lockup Release & April SSF Listing May Lead to Weird Trading Dynamics for Ecopro Materials
Ecopro Materials: Potential Selling by Second Largest Shareholder Post End of Lockup Period in May

Why HBM is the Hottest Thing in Memory

Investing in semiconductors can be pretty simple if you let it be.
At a high level, I believe you want to invest in the secular at a decent price or invest in places where there are unwarranted dislocations.
Sometimes the entire ecosystem says one thing and the stocks say another. Usually, the ecosystem is right.

May 17th, all eyes on EcoPro Materials for a buzzed-about lockup release. BRV Capital holds 24.5% stake, 17M shares. Lockup ends May 16th; they’re free to sell off without constraints.
Apparently, they’re eager to cash out, with a profit margin around 30 times and 7 years invested. Many at Yeouido bet they’ll sell out once the lockup’s over.
We might start building a shorting position with futures targeting this lockup release from April 22nd. This could stir up some weird backwardation, which could give us another trading opportunity.

We discuss the strong likelihood of potential selling of EcoPro Materials by BRV Capital Management (the second largest shareholder of Ecopro Materials with a 24.7% stake) in May 2024.
BRV Capital Management’s stake in Ecopro Materials is currently worth 3.1 trillion won. In the past seven years, BRV Capital Management has invested about 93 billion won in Ecopro Materials.
On 4 March, Ecopro Materials announced it has entered into a contract to supply precursor to a U.S. auto company. There is some local speculation that this could be Tesla.

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