Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>AI Continues to Grab Investor Interest as Expectations Have It Affecting Nearly Everything AI is in every company now.</li><li>It has been having a major impact on the tech sector for some time, it accelerated in 2024, and is likely to continue driving tech in 2025.</li><li>Every company is now building neutral networks, and this is driving growth in data centers, hardware, and specifically GFP/AI chips. </li></ul>

AI Continues to Grab Investor Interest as Expectations Have It Affecting Nearly Everything AI is in every company now.It has been having a major impact on the tech sector for some time, it accelerated in 2024, and is likely to continue driving tech in 2025.Every company is now building neutral networks, and this is driving growth in data centers, hardware, and specifically GFP/AI chips. 

WTR Small-Cap Spotlight Recap Tech Trends for 2025

New Zealand Professional Investment Services Firm, Forsyth Barr

Forsyth Barr

New Zealand Professional Investment Services Firm

We are proud to be a New Zealand owned firm, with 21 offices throughout the country and over 300 employees. We assist personal, institutional and corporate clients providing a full range of investment services.

Forsyth Barr is a foundation New Zealand Exchange firm (NZX) and accredited market participant. We have been confirmed by the Financial Markets Authority as a Qualifying Financial Entity (QFE).

Research is the cornerstone of our advice. We have one of New Zealand's leading teams of analysts. Our global affiliations ensure comprehensive research coverage of all major investment markets.

Equity Bottom-Up

ikeGPS Group Limited develops and produces location-based measurement devices and accessories to integrate digital camera and laser range finder technologies. The Company offers devices and accessories to capture a GPS location and photo of remote targets, and measures the distance and heights of objects.

<ul><li>ikeGPS (IKE) delivered a solid 1H25 result in revenue terms, which was pre-released in October.</li><li>Group revenue growth of +16% was underpinned by robust growth in Subscriptions, as total enterprise customers rose +21 over the period to 436. </li><li>Gross margin improved from 59% in 1H24 to 67% in 1H25, reflecting: (1) the mix-shift towards higher-margin Subscription products, and (2) productivity gains from IKE Analyze's support centre in Mexico. </li></ul>

ikeGPS (IKE) delivered a solid 1H25 result in revenue terms, which was pre-released in October.Group revenue growth of +16% was underpinned by robust growth in Subscriptions, as total enterprise customers rose +21 over the period to 436. Gross margin improved from 59% in 1H24 to 67% in 1H25, reflecting: (1) the mix-shift towards higher-margin Subscription products, and (2) productivity gains from IKE Analyze's support centre in Mexico. 

Tracking developments across tech supply chains, Tech Supply Chain Tracker

Tech Supply Chain Tracker

Tracking developments across tech supply chains

Inspur Electronic Infmtn Indtry / Equity Bottom-Up

Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd. manufactures and markets computer servers, computer terminal products, electronic products, and telecommunication equipment.  The Company also develops computer software, provides system integration services, and operates in import and export trading.

Inspur Electronic Infmtn Indtry (000977 CH)

<ul><li>India's top player in the industry notes slow passenger EV sales, but sees a boom in commercial EVs.</li><li>Nvidia surpasses revenue estimates with strong data center expansion, leading to mixed analyst reactions.</li><li>China accelerates efforts for chip independence to lessen reliance on US technology in response to potential policies of the new Trump administration.</li></ul>

India's top player in the industry notes slow passenger EV sales, but sees a boom in commercial EVs.Nvidia surpasses revenue estimates with strong data center expansion, leading to mixed analyst reactions.China accelerates efforts for chip independence to lessen reliance on US technology in response to potential policies of the new Trump administration.

Tech Supply Chain Tracker (22-Nov-2024): Commercial EVs thrive despite passenger slowdown.

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Event-Driven

The Hang Seng Index is a free-float capitalization-weighted index of a selection of companies from the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The components of the index are divided into four subindices: Commerce and Industry, Finance, Utilities, and Properties. The index was developed with a base level of 100 as of July 31, 1964.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-hang-seng-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22899:1" rel="noopener"><strong>Hang Seng Index</strong> (HSI INDEX)</a> implied volatility fell across the term structure and skew. The skew displays a smile favoring specific option strategies.</li>
<li>The most traded HKEX traded tailor-made combinations are Call and Put Spreads. Straddles, Strangles and Butterflies have become less popular most recently.</li>
<li>While three quarters of all strategies take a long volatility position, there is a balance in bullish, bearish, and market-neutral strategies.</li>
</ul>



Hang Seng Index (HSI INDEX) implied volatility fell across the term structure and skew. The skew displays a smile favoring specific option strategies.
The most traded HKEX traded tailor-made combinations are Call and Put Spreads. Straddles, Strangles and Butterflies have become less popular most recently.
While three quarters of all strategies take a long volatility position, there is a balance in bullish, bearish, and market-neutral strategies.


EQD | Hang Seng (HSI) – Analysis of Option Strategies Recently Traded on HKEX

Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

QUALCOMM, Inc . manufactures digital wireless communications equipment.  The Company licenses its code division multiple access (CDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access intellectual property to other companies, and produces CDMA-based integrated circuits; and produces equipment and software used to track workers and assets; and software for wireless content enablement.

<ul><li>Qualcomm is aggressively pushing into the PC market, aiming to transform its identity from a mobile chip giant to a diversified computing powerhouse.</li><li>At its recent investor day, Qualcomm announced bold revenue projections of $4 billion from PC chips by 2029, alongside significant strides in automotive, industrial IoT, and XR markets.</li><li>This marks a pivotal moment as Qualcomm ventures beyond its traditional smartphone business, which currently accounts for 75% of its chip revenue.</li></ul>

Qualcomm is aggressively pushing into the PC market, aiming to transform its identity from a mobile chip giant to a diversified computing powerhouse.At its recent investor day, Qualcomm announced bold revenue projections of $4 billion from PC chips by 2029, alongside significant strides in automotive, industrial IoT, and XR markets.This marks a pivotal moment as Qualcomm ventures beyond its traditional smartphone business, which currently accounts for 75% of its chip revenue.

Qualcomm’s $4 Billion PC Chip Bet: Can It Dominate Beyond Smartphones?

Insights in the Information Technology Space

Information Technology
Insights in the Information Technology Space

WTR Small-Cap Spotlight Recap Tech Trends for 2025

AI Continues to Grab Investor Interest as Expectations Have It Affecting Nearly Everything AI is in every company now. It has been having a major...

Water Tower Research

IkeGPS - Pole-Powered Growth in 1H25

Group revenue growth of +16% was underpinned by robust growth in Subscriptions, as total enterprise customers rose +21 over the period to 436.

Forsyth Barr

Tech Supply Chain Tracker (22-Nov-2024): Commercial EVs thrive despite passenger slowdown.

Passenger EV sales lag behind, but commercial EVs thrive; Nvidia surpasses revenue estimates, sparking analyst reactions; China accelerates chip...

Tech Supply Chain Tracker

EQD | Hang Seng (HSI) – Analysis of Option Strategies Recently Traded on HKEX

Hang Seng implied volatility favors option strategies like Call and Put Spreads. Long volatility positions dominate, with a balance of bullish,...

Gaudenz Schneider

Qualcomm’s $4 Billion PC Chip Bet: Can It Dominate Beyond Smartphones?

Qualcomm is aggressively pushing into the PC market, aiming to transform its identity from a mobile chip giant to a diversified computing...

Baptista Research