Mostly Borrowed Ideas Deep Dives, MBI Deep Dives

MBI Deep Dives

Mostly Borrowed Ideas Deep Dives

MBI is the abbreviation for “Mostly Borrowed Ideas”. Why “Mostly Borrowed Ideas?” As a generalist, I do not have a background in any particular sector. I enjoy navigating across industries, businesses, and countries to learn, understand, and connect the dots. In any case, most ideas and innovations are incremental in nature. Very few of us are smart enough to come up with truly original or groundbreaking ideas. I am Abdullah Al-Rezwan. I was born and brought up in Bangladesh. I went to University of Dhaka for my undergrad and majored in Finance. After working three and half years in Equity Research (Sell-side) covering Financial Sector in Bangladesh, I left Bangladesh to pursue my MBA in the US. I graduated within top 10% of the class from Cornell University's two-year MBA program and worked on the buy-side following my graduation. During my time at Cornell, I won two stock pitch competitions and also became finalists in four other competitions. I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a generalist in the US large cap team at Madison Investments and covered a wide range of companies from UnitedHealth to Amazon and Boeing before US immigration reality paused my career in investment management. As my work authorization expired, I moved to Canada in January, 2021. Then in early 2022, I was able to return to the US.

Equity Bottom-Up

lululemon athletica Inc. designs and retails athletic clothing.  The Company produces fitness pants, shorts, tops and jackets for yoga, dance, running, and general fitness. lululemon serves customers throughout the world.

<ul><li>Lulu is again back to LSD growth in the US; what makes it more disappointing is they actually had a somewhat easier comparison since 1Q’24 growth was just 2%.</li><li>Canada, despite a low double digit growth in 1Q’24, again had higher growth than the US this quarter.</li><li>China and Rest of the World (RoW) maintained healthy growth rates but growth has materially decelerated. </li></ul>

Lulu is again back to LSD growth in the US; what makes it more disappointing is they actually had a somewhat easier comparison since 1Q’24 growth was just 2%.Canada, despite a low double digit growth in 1Q’24, again had higher growth than the US this quarter.China and Rest of the World (RoW) maintained healthy growth rates but growth has materially decelerated. 

Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company's products include books, music, videotapes, computers, electronics, home and garden, and numerous other products.  Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers.

<ul><li>While Amazon’s 3P business usually grows faster than 1P, both 1P and 3P retail business grew at similar rate in 1Q’25.</li><li>Ads revenue continued its momentum at 19% growth YoY which was higher than both Google and Meta.</li><li>After growing at ~19% YoY for the last three consecutive quarters, AWS growth decelerated this quarter to 17%.</li></ul>

While Amazon’s 3P business usually grows faster than 1P, both 1P and 3P retail business grew at similar rate in 1Q’25.Ads revenue continued its momentum at 19% growth YoY which was higher than both Google and Meta.After growing at ~19% YoY for the last three consecutive quarters, AWS growth decelerated this quarter to 17%.

Meta Platforms Inc. operates as a social technology company. The Company builds applications and technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. meta Platform is also involved in advertisements, augmented and virtual reality.

<ul><li>Digital advertising has surpassed the days of “Mad Men” a while ago and thanks to AI, it seems even better positioned to unlock new markets and more opportunities.</li><li>Meta is, of course, one of the companies leading this march.</li><li>Here are my highlights from today’s call. Daily Active People (DAP) across its Family of Apps (FOA) accelerated to 80 mn QoQ in 1Q’25.</li></ul>

Digital advertising has surpassed the days of “Mad Men” a while ago and thanks to AI, it seems even better positioned to unlock new markets and more opportunities.Meta is, of course, one of the companies leading this march.Here are my highlights from today’s call. Daily Active People (DAP) across its Family of Apps (FOA) accelerated to 80 mn QoQ in 1Q’25.

Synopsys, Inc. supplies electronic design automation solutions to the global electronics market.  The Company provides design technologies to creators of advanced integrated circuits, electronic systems, and systems on a chip. Synopsys also provides consulting services and support to its customers to streamline the overall design process and accelerate time to market.

<ul><li>Chip design has long been a paradoxical craft.</li><li>On one hand, engineers must trust sophisticated software to help them craft circuits of mind-boggling complexity; on the other, they maintain a healthy skepticism, knowing a single flaw can doom a chip.</li><li>The old mantra "trust, but verify" could well have been coined for this process. </li></ul>

Chip design has long been a paradoxical craft.On one hand, engineers must trust sophisticated software to help them craft circuits of mind-boggling complexity; on the other, they maintain a healthy skepticism, knowing a single flaw can doom a chip.The old mantra "trust, but verify" could well have been coined for this process. 

Alphabet, Inc. operates as a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides web-based search, advertisements, maps, software applications, mobile operating systems, consumer content, enterprise solutions, commerce, and hardware products.

<ul><li>On an FX adjusted basis, Alphabet increased its revenue by 14% in 1Q’25 (~200 bps headwind from FX).</li><li>For the <strong>11th</strong> consecutive quarters, Google network’s revenue went down.</li><li>Just when regulators are lambasting Google for their network business in court, it keeps dwindling to oblivion. </li></ul>

On an FX adjusted basis, Alphabet increased its revenue by 14% in 1Q’25 (~200 bps headwind from FX).For the 11th consecutive quarters, Google network’s revenue went down.Just when regulators are lambasting Google for their network business in court, it keeps dwindling to oblivion. 

MBI is the abbreviation for “Mostly Borrowed Ideas”. 

Why “Mostly Borrowed Ideas?”

As a generalist, I do not have a background in any particular sector. I enjoy navigating across industries, businesses, and countries to learn, understand, and connect the dots. In any case, most ideas and innovations are incremental in nature. Very few of us are smart enough to come up with truly original or groundbreaking ideas.

I am Abdullah Al-Rezwan. I was born and brought up in Bangladesh. I went to University of Dhaka for my undergrad and majored in Finance. After working three and half years in Equity Research (Sell-side) covering Financial Sector in Bangladesh, I left Bangladesh to pursue my MBA in the US. I graduated within top 10% of the class from Cornell University's two-year MBA program and worked on the buy-side following my graduation. During my time at Cornell, I won two stock pitch competitions and also became finalists in four other competitions. I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a generalist in the US large cap team at Madison Investments and covered a wide range of companies from UnitedHealth to Amazon and Boeing before US immigration reality paused my career in investment management. As my work authorization expired, I moved to Canada in January, 2021. Then in early 2022, I was able to return to the US.