In today’s briefing:
- HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 9 May 2025); Tech Selling in a Quiet Week
- TSMC (2330.TT; TSM.US): Intel Appears to Have Delayed the Foundry Competition to 14A.
- Imagica (6879 JP): MBO Tender Offer at JPY795
- TOPIX Inclusions: Who Is Ready (May 2025)
- Spotify Bets Big on Audiobooks—Is This the Platform’s Most Disruptive Move Yet?
- Nihon Denkei (9908 JP): Full-year FY03/25 flash update
- Teradyne’s Robot Revolution & AI Synergy Make It a Must-Buy for 2025!
- E2open Surging Amid Takeover Chatter—Here’s Why It’s on Wisetech’s Radar
- PayPal Holdings: Product & Geographic Diversification To Upsurge Global Transaction Footprint Amid Competition & Geopolitical Changes!
- First Solar’s Flexible Production Strategy Is a Game-Changer—These 4 Elements Are Propelling The Company Forward!
HK Connect SOUTHBOUND Flows (To 9 May 2025); Tech Selling in a Quiet Week
- Q1 saw record quarterly inflows by SOUTHBOUND investors at HK$435bn, beating the previous 2021Q1 record by >HK$100bn. Five weeks into Q2 we are at HK$175bn.
- 3 weeks ago saw SOEs sold quite heavily in somewhat weaker volume. last week it was tech. This week it was again tech sold (ETFs bought) suggesting risk-off.
- The data tables below update on a daily basis in the Tools section of Smartkarma. The SOUTHBOUND Flow Monitor and AH Monitor are both there free for SK readers.
TSMC (2330.TT; TSM.US): Intel Appears to Have Delayed the Foundry Competition to 14A.
- Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) – ADR (TSM US)’s 2nm process is said to be comparable to Intel Corp (INTC US)’s 18A technology.
- It is reported that Intel has placed orders for TSMC’s 2nm capacity, as we previously highlighted, due to its timely availability.
- Nonetheless, Intel continues to invest in its own manufacturing roadmap, targeting risk production of the 14A node around 2027.
Imagica (6879 JP): MBO Tender Offer at JPY795
- Imagica Robot Holdings (6879 JP) has recommended a MBO tender offer from Shunjiro Nagase (President) at JPY795 per share, a 43.0% premium to the undisturbed price.
- The offer is reasonable compared to historical trading ranges and is above the midpoint of the IFA DCF valuation range.
- Irrevocables (55.40% ownership ratio) pave the way for deal completion. The tender runs from 12 May to 20 June (30 business days).
TOPIX Inclusions: Who Is Ready (May 2025)
- Quiddity’s “Who is Ready” series of insights aims to objectively identify names listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that are potential additions to the TOPIX Index in future.
- TOPIX Inclusions of Baudroie (4413 JP) and JX Advanced Metals (5016 JP) took place at the end of April 2025.
- Core Concept Technologies Inc (4371 JP) continues to be in our watchlist as a potential TOPIX Inclusion candidate.
Spotify Bets Big on Audiobooks—Is This the Platform’s Most Disruptive Move Yet?
- Spotify reported its first-quarter 2025 results with decent metrics, yet the numbers failed to satisfy market expectations, leading to a sharp drop in its stock price.
- Despite posting a 12% year-over-year increase in premium subscribers to 268 million—exceeding analyst estimates of 265 million—Spotify shares fell 8.7% in early trading to $545.77.
- The company also registered 678 million monthly active users, up 10%, broadly meeting expectations.
Nihon Denkei (9908 JP): Full-year FY03/25 flash update
- Nihon Denkei’s FY03/25 consolidated sales grew 11.7% YoY, with a gross profit of JPY16.9bn and operating profit up 6.9% YoY.
- The company announced FY03/26 earnings forecast with sales at JPY124.0bn, operating profit at JPY4.5bn, and EPS of JPY263.21.
- INNOVATION2030 Ver.2.0 aims for growth by expanding into growth markets and enhancing global business amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
Teradyne’s Robot Revolution & AI Synergy Make It a Must-Buy for 2025!
- Teradyne, Inc. reported a mixed financial performance for the first quarter of 2025.
- The company achieved revenue of $686 million, which was towards the high end of their guidance, and non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $0.75, surpassing their guidance of $0.68.
- The gross margin of 60.6% also exceeded expectations due to a favorable product mix.
E2open Surging Amid Takeover Chatter—Here’s Why It’s on Wisetech’s Radar
- E2open’s latest earnings presentation paints a nuanced picture of their fiscal performance and outlook.
- In the fiscal fourth quarter and overall for 2025, E2open achieved subscription revenues of $133 million, ultimately landing within their guidance, yet the company experienced a slight year-over-year decline of 1%.
- Constant currency adjustments reflected a 0.5% marginal improvement nearing flat growth.
PayPal Holdings: Product & Geographic Diversification To Upsurge Global Transaction Footprint Amid Competition & Geopolitical Changes!
- PayPal Holdings Inc. has demonstrated a sound performance in the first quarter of 2025, indicating positive momentum in its strategic execution and financial outcomes.
- The company’s ongoing transformation from a traditional payments processor to a comprehensive commerce platform appears to be progressing effectively.
- This is underscored by the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of profitable growth, highlighted by an 8% growth in transaction margin dollars when adjusted for leap year considerations.
First Solar’s Flexible Production Strategy Is a Game-Changer—These 4 Elements Are Propelling The Company Forward!
- First Solar’s first-quarter 2025 earnings highlighted a mix of opportunities and challenges for the company.
- The company achieved net bookings of 0.6 gigawatts and now holds a sizeable contracted backlog of 66.3 gigawatts.
- First Solar’s module sales for the quarter amounted to 2.9 gigawatts, aligning with its previous forecasts.
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