In today’s briefing:
- HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 15 Aug 2025); Big Swing Into ETFs Likely Means Swing to Tech This Wk
- [Japan M&A] NTT Docomo and Dentsu Squeeze Out Minorities in Carta (3688 JP) Cheap. Tender Starts Now
- Top 10 Korean Stock Picks and Key Catalysts Bi-Weekly (15 to 29 August 2025)
- Coherent Sells $400 Million Unit To Advent—What Are They Hiding?
- Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: TSMC ADR Premium Sees Small Breakdown; ASE Discount Long Opportunity
- (Mostly) Asia-Pac M&A: Kangji Medical, Ashimori, Carenet, Rezil, HKBN, Toyo Cons., Shibaura Elect.
- Palantir Secures $10 Billion Army Deal and Shatters Revenue Records—Can the Rally Keep Going?
- EchoStar Corporation: Initiation Of Coverage- Betting Big on LEO Satellites – Will Direct-to-Device Services Capture the Market First?
- TELUS Corporation: Initiation of Coverage- Reintroducing 5G To Koodo – Will Flanker Strategy Disrupt the Market?
- Chunghwa Telecom: Initiation of Coverage- Riding The AI
HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 15 Aug 2025); Big Swing Into ETFs Likely Means Swing to Tech This Wk
- Gross SOUTHBOUND volumes over US$19+bn a day this past 5-day week. Net buying OK at just under +US$1bn/day. Significantly, there was huge net buying of ETFs.
- Last week’s reco Guangzhou Automobile Group (2238 HK) was up 4.4% on the week, +3.1% from Monday’s close to Friday. +3.9% gain on the H/A pair.
- The data tables below update on a daily basis in the Tools section of Smartkarma. The SOUTHBOUND Flow Monitor and AH Pairs Monitor are both there free for SK readers.
[Japan M&A] NTT Docomo and Dentsu Squeeze Out Minorities in Carta (3688 JP) Cheap. Tender Starts Now
- On 16 June 2025, NTT (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone) (9432 JP) sub NTT Docomo and Dentsu Inc (4324 JP) announced Docomo would buy out minorities in Dentsu sub Carta Holdings.
- The price for minorities is OK, not great. The Board talks up synergies not included in fair value considerations, and Dentsu+Docomo are actually buying it 15% cheaper.
- That comes out to a net price below the bottom end of the DCF range. Aaargh. But Dentsu+irrevocables+ large individuals likely gets this over the line cleanly.
Top 10 Korean Stock Picks and Key Catalysts Bi-Weekly (15 to 29 August 2025)
- In this insight, we provide the top 10 stock picks and key catalysts in the Korean stock market for the two weeks (15 to 29 August 2025).
- Shipbuilding and rechargeable battery were two of the best performing sectors in the past two weeks.
- Top 10 picks in this bi-weekly include Samsung Electronics, LG Uplus, Hyundai Elevator, KT&G, KEPCO E&C, Dentium, NCsoft, JYP Entertainment, LG Chem, and Ecopro BM.
Coherent Sells $400 Million Unit To Advent—What Are They Hiding?
- Coherent Corp has announced a strategic divestiture, selling its Aerospace and Defense (A&D) business unit to private equity firm Advent International for $400 million.
- The transaction, disclosed on August 13, 2025, marks a critical pivot in Coherent’s broader portfolio optimization initiative.
- As part of this deal, Coherent will relinquish approximately 550 employees and 10 global operational sites tied to the A&D division.
Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: TSMC ADR Premium Sees Small Breakdown; ASE Discount Long Opportunity
- TSMC: +21.5% Premium; Historically High Short Interest in the Local Begins to Drop?
- ASE: -0.4% Discount; Opportunity to Go Long the ADR Premium
- UMC: +0.2% Premium; Wait for More Extreme Levels Before Going Long or Short the Spread
(Mostly) Asia-Pac M&A: Kangji Medical, Ashimori, Carenet, Rezil, HKBN, Toyo Cons., Shibaura Elect.
- I tally 41 – mostly firm, mostly Asia-Pac – arb transactions currently being discussed and analysed on Smartkarma.
- Four new deal was discussed on Smartkarma this week: Hangzhou Kangji Medical Instrument Co., Ltd. (9997 HK), Ashimori Industry (3526 JP), Rezil (176A JP), and Carenet Inc (2150 JP).
- Key updates/news took place on HKBN Ltd (1310 HK), Toyo Construction (1890 JP), Shibaura Electronics (6957 JP), and Kolon Mobility Group (450140 KS).
Palantir Secures $10 Billion Army Deal and Shatters Revenue Records—Can the Rally Keep Going?
- Palantir Technologies delivered a record-breaking performance in the second quarter of 2025, surpassing $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time and marking a 48% year-over-year increase.
- The results were powered by exceptional growth in the U.S., which accounted for 68% of total revenue, reflecting the company’s deliberate focus on domestic markets.
- The standout segment was U.S. commercial, which posted a staggering 93% revenue increase from a year earlier and a 20% sequential rise, driven by the rapid adoption of Palantir’s AIpowered platforms such as Ontology and Foundry.
EchoStar Corporation: Initiation Of Coverage- Betting Big on LEO Satellites – Will Direct-to-Device Services Capture the Market First?
- EchoStar Corporation’s second quarter 2025 financial performance reflects a combination of strategic initiatives and significant challenges, particularly in its interaction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the communications market.
- The company’s overarching ambition is to maintain leadership in global communications through spectrum rights and technological advances, yet it is navigating regulatory complexities that impact these plans.
- The company’s primary setback stems from an FCC review of its spectrum licenses, including obligations related to 5G broadband service and its AWS-4 band rights.
TELUS Corporation: Initiation of Coverage- Reintroducing 5G To Koodo – Will Flanker Strategy Disrupt the Market?
- TELUS Corporation’s Q2 2025 performance demonstrates a blend of strategic investments and operational execution, contributing to both growth and challenges amidst a competitive landscape.
- The company’s notable achievements include incremental customer growth in mobile and fixed segments, as it added 198,000 net new customers overall.
- This growth was driven by mobile phone and connected device additions totaling 167,000 and fixed customer additions of 31,000.
Chunghwa Telecom: Initiation of Coverage- Riding The AI
- Chunghwa Telecom reported strong financial results for the second quarter of 2025, with a significant increase in revenue, operating income, net income, and earnings per share, all surpassing the upper end of their forecasts.
- Revenue for the quarter reached a 10-year high, primarily driven by growth in the company’s core business and expanding ICT segment.
- Notably, ICT revenue set a record for any second quarter since 2021, demonstrating Chunghwa Telecom’s commitment to innovation and operational excellence.
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