In today’s briefing:
- Horizon Robotics (9660 HK): Global Index Inclusion After April & October Lock-Ups
- Samsung SDI Rights Trade Period & Short Ban: Quick Clarity
- Is Huawei New AI Chip Is Bad for Nvidia? New US Export Licensing Is the Real Issue (Part 2)
- Huawei New AI Processor Ascend 910C and the Long History Behind It (Part 1)
- Samsung Electronics: Global Funds Hit Rock Bottom
- United Microelectronics: Heavy Exodus
- PERF: Perfect Corp. Reports a Solid Quarter
- Memory Monitor: SK Hynix Signals Resilient AI Demand Ahead; Nanya More Exposed to Global Downturn
- NVX: CEO Transition Expected to be Smooth
- Krafton: Acquisition of Controlling Stake in Neptune from Kakao Games
Horizon Robotics (9660 HK): Global Index Inclusion After April & October Lock-Ups
- Free float is expected to increase from 10% to 70% on 24 April for Global-F and on 24 October for Global-M. The delayed increase is due to undisclosed shareholders.
- Horizon Robotics (9660 HK) is forecasted to be added to global all-world in June 2025 following the 6-month lock-up expiry of most shareholders.
- Horizon Robotics (9660 HK) is forecasted to be added to global standard in February 2026 following the 12-month lock-up expiry of undisclosed shareholders.
Samsung SDI Rights Trade Period & Short Ban: Quick Clarity
- Samsung SDI kept the trading window open until May 12, not May 9 — so stock rights will trade for a total of six sessions.
- If all shorts are closed by May 16, we can still subscribe. Spot hedging isn’t allowed, but outright shorts for pricing plays are fine.
- Entry cost is effectively capped at 146,200 won, and it’s still very unlikely the final price exceeds that, so using it as the rights entry cap still makes sense.
Is Huawei New AI Chip Is Bad for Nvidia? New US Export Licensing Is the Real Issue (Part 2)
- Apparently, on news of this new Huawei chip in WSJ, Nvidia’s stock decline -2% yesterday. That’s strange – not new news, the real issue is new US export license requirements.
- Nvidia’s problem is not Huawei, but US restrictions on selling GPU to China. Nvidia announced writing off US$5.5bn on 9 April 2025 (for H20). AMD estimates US$800m (for MI308).
- Assume that Nvidia and AMD will not sell any AI chips to China. Same for HBM memory.
Huawei New AI Processor Ascend 910C and the Long History Behind It (Part 1)
- China was ahead of the US in AI semiconductor and applications in 2015-20. Huawei had a complete AI processor and software platform. Losing access to TSMC froze Huawei’s progress.
- Most likely, Huawei new AI processor Ascend 910C is made by SMIC on 6nm. Power Efficiency of Ascend 910C is poor versus the latest Nvidia GPU, but similar to N-2.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK) 7-6nm and access to HBM memory are major limiting factor to the chip volumes and performance.
Samsung Electronics: Global Funds Hit Rock Bottom
- Global equity fund ownership in Samsung Electronics has dropped to the bottom of its 10-year range.
- The percentage of global funds invested has fallen from 32.6% to 23.5% over the past 12-months.
- Key Growth investors from Schroders to Templeton exit the stock, leaving an investor base largely comprised of Value oriented funds.
United Microelectronics: Heavy Exodus
- Collapse in EM fund positioning as ownership levels approach record lows.
- Over the past six months, there has been a heavy sell-side bias, with Fisher, BNP, and Quilter among those exiting the stock.
- UMC falls to the 13th most widely owned company in the Semiconductor sector.
PERF: Perfect Corp. Reports a Solid Quarter
- Perfect Corp. provides an AI and machine learning based B2B SaaS platform for virtual try on and marketing of beauty and fashion products as well as seven mobile apps sold B2C for makeup suggestions, try-on, tutorials, photo and video editing, Gen AI creation and editing and AI Chat.
- It is expanding its offering to new verticals and has strong IP as well as the largest database for AI training in the industry.
- This year it bought the leading fashion tryon provider to expand to that vertical.
Memory Monitor: SK Hynix Signals Resilient AI Demand Ahead; Nanya More Exposed to Global Downturn
- SK Hynix expects continued AI/server memory strength despite global uncertainty — Expects 2025E HBM revenue to double YoY.
- PC and smartphone memory demand experienced moderate recovery — Supported by China stimulus and AI-featured product cycles.
- Continue to view SK Hynix shares in more favorable position vs. Nana Tech shares — Especially in a scenario of global economic weakness.
NVX: CEO Transition Expected to be Smooth
- Zacks Small-Cap Research Note for Novonix Ltd (NVX)
Krafton: Acquisition of Controlling Stake in Neptune from Kakao Games
- On 29 April, Krafton announced that it plans to acquire a 39.37% controlling stake in Neptune Company from Kakao Games for 165 billion won ($114.9 million).
- Prior to this deal, Krafton owned a 3.2% stake in Neptune. After this deal is completed, Krafton will own a 42.53% stake (19.86 million shares) of Neptune.
- Krafton reported excellent results in 1Q 2025. The company beat its sales, operating profit, and net profit by 10.1%, 18.3%, and 13.8%, respectively in 1Q 2025.
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