In today’s briefing:
- Next Target After Hanwha for Regime Change Momentum Play: SK Inc’s Share Cancellation
- Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: TSMC ADR Short Interest New Highs; Chunghwa Telecom Short Spike
- Indirect Beneficiaries of the Smash Hit Movie “King of Kings” In the Korean Stock Market
- Tencent (700 HK): Volatility Smile Signals Strategic Opportunities in Options Trading
- Is IBM the Dark Horse of AI? $6 Billion in Bookings Signal a New Era!
- Lam Research Is Dominating Advanced Packaging & NAND Upgrades But Does This Create A Prime Buy Opportunity?
- Delta Taiwan Vs. Thailand Monitor: Delta Thai Rally Looks Overdone; Taiwan Remains Better Value
- Taiwan Tech Weekly: Taiwan’s Big Earnings Week and Apple’s High-Stakes Shift to India
- PT Metrodata Electronics (MTDL IJ) – Cybersecurity and AI to Be Future Drivers
- Texas Instruments: Expansion of Industrial And Automotive Markets & Key Forces Driving Growth!
Next Target After Hanwha for Regime Change Momentum Play: SK Inc’s Share Cancellation
- Local traders are betting SK Inc will preemptively announce a treasury share cancellation before the June election, positioning it as the center of the regime change momentum play.
- From a trading perspective, SK Inc could rally as a “buyback stock” and offer NAV gap trading opportunities.
- Another option could be an event-driven hedge strategy: go long on SK and short index futures post-election. If Lee Jae-myung wins, SK could outperform, but the broader market may drop.
Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: TSMC ADR Short Interest New Highs; Chunghwa Telecom Short Spike
- TSMC: +19.5% Premium; Short Interest in ADRs Jumps to New Highs; Open Fresh Short of Spread at 20% or Higher
- ASE: +3.8% Premium; Wait for Higher Premium Before Opening New Short
- CHT: -1.0% Discount; Consider Going Long the Spread; ADR Short Interest Rises to New Highs
Indirect Beneficiaries of the Smash Hit Movie “King of Kings” In the Korean Stock Market
- In this insight, we discuss the indirect beneficiaries of the global hit movie “King of Kings” in the Korean stock market.
- The King of Kings is a 3D animation movie produced by a Korean company called Mofac Studio (unlisted). This film made $45mn in N. American box office in 10 days.
- Dexter Studios, Wysiwyg Studios, and GiantStep (listed competitors to Mofac Studios) are up on average 17% in the past one month.
Tencent (700 HK): Volatility Smile Signals Strategic Opportunities in Options Trading
- Implied Volatility Trends: One-month implied volatility for Tencent (700 HK) has declined from recent peaks, aligning near its 3-year median, indicating a potential stabilization in market expectations.
- Skew and Term Structure Dynamics: The term structure is largely flat with a slight uplift due to the upcoming earnings on 14 May 2025. A pronounced volatility smile favors spreads.
- Open Interest Distribution: Liquidity is concentrated in near-term (April, May) and quarterly expiries, with call open interest slightly outweighing puts (48-60%).
Is IBM the Dark Horse of AI? $6 Billion in Bookings Signal a New Era!
- International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) delivered solid performance in its first-quarter 2025 results, exhibiting a combination of strengths and challenges as it continues to pursue its strategic focus on hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).
- IBM reported a total revenue of $14.5 billion for the quarter, marking a 2% increase at constant currency from the previous year.
- This growth was primarily driven by robust performance in the Software segment which rose by 9% thanks to advancements across Red Hat, Automation, Data, and Transaction Processing.
Lam Research Is Dominating Advanced Packaging & NAND Upgrades But Does This Create A Prime Buy Opportunity?
- Lam Research reported a strong performance in the March 2025 quarter, exceeding the midpoint of guidance across key financial metrics such as revenue, gross margin, operating margin, and EPS.
- The company achieved record foundry revenues, attributing much of this success to robust execution and strategic investments in manufacturing and operations, leading to improved gross margins post-Novellus merger.
- Baptista Research looks to evaluate the different factors that could influence the company’s price in the near future and attempts to carry out an independent valuation of the company using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology.
Delta Taiwan Vs. Thailand Monitor: Delta Thai Rally Looks Overdone; Taiwan Remains Better Value
- Delta Thailand’s rally looks sentiment-driven, not fundamental: 1Q25 results were decent but not a major beat.
- Valuation gap widened to unjustifiable levels: Delta Thailand trades at 52x trailing PER vs. Delta Taiwan at 25x.
- Delta Taiwan remains the structurally stronger,cheaper exposure to the group’s long-term growth themes.
Taiwan Tech Weekly: Taiwan’s Big Earnings Week and Apple’s High-Stakes Shift to India
- Major earnings week ahead: Taiwan names like Macronix, Lite-On, Delta, Mediatek report, while global tech giants Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Apple headline a critical week of results.
- Apple’s India shift faces hurdles: Apple plans to move most U.S. iPhone assembly to India by 2026E, but analysts caution full supply chain relocation from China will be difficult.
- UMC and Intel: Strategy and Uncertainty in Focus: Recent updates from UMC and Intel reveal supply chain adaptations and market visibility challenges for 2025E and beyond.
PT Metrodata Electronics (MTDL IJ) – Cybersecurity and AI to Be Future Drivers
- PT Metrodata Electronics finished FY2024 on a high note, booking a record net profit, driven by growth in its ICT distribution business and increased profitability in Solutions & Consulting.
- The distribution segment was driven by rapid growth from telco products, especially the Infinix brand, as well as networking and storage hardware for the corporate segment.
- Solutions&Consulting saw strong performance from financial services, and with 52% of revenues coming from recurrent income from areas like cloud services and software. AI and Cybersecurity are becoming key drivers.
Texas Instruments: Expansion of Industrial And Automotive Markets & Key Forces Driving Growth!
- Texas Instruments (TI) reported its first-quarter 2025 results, showcasing a moderate revenue growth trajectory, yet in an environment fraught with external challenges.
- Revenue for the quarter was $4.1 billion, marking a 2% sequential increase and an 11% increase year-over-year.
- This growth was primarily driven by a 13% year-overyear increase in Analog revenue, while Embedded Processing remained relatively unchanged.
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