Leading International Investment Research, Edison Investment Research

Edison Investment Research

Leading International Investment Research

Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East and AsiaPac. The heart of Edison is our world renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise. At Edison Investment Research, our research is widely read by international investors, advisors and stakeholders. Edison Advisors leverages our core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.

Equity Bottom-Up

Avon Protection PLC designs and specialized protection and defense products. The Company researches, develops, and manufactures ballistic and respiratory protection products such as mask systems, powered and supplied air systems, filters, spares, and accessories. Avon Protection serves customers worldwide.

Avon Technologies’ FY24 results show the continued momentum seen throughout the year, with revenue growth of 12.2% y-o-y ($275m), adjusted operating profit growth of 53.4% y-o-y ($31.6m) and a record closing order book value of $225m, up 64.3% y-o-y. Return on invested capital (ROIC) grew 500bp y-o-y to 13.7%. Given Avon’s record order pipeline, disciplined capital allocation and strong cash generation, management expects the company to achieve both its medium-term operating margin (14–16%) and ROIC (>17%) targets a year ahead of schedule in FY26.

Avon Technologies’ FY24 results show the continued momentum seen throughout the year, with revenue growth of 12.2% y-o-y ($275m), adjusted operating profit growth of 53.4% y-o-y ($31.6m) and a record closing order book value of $225m, up 64.3% y-o-y. Return on invested capital (ROIC) grew 500bp y-o-y to 13.7%. Given Avon’s record order pipeline, disciplined capital allocation and strong cash generation, management expects the company to achieve both its medium-term operating margin (14–16%) and ROIC (>17%) targets a year ahead of schedule in FY26.

Avon Technologies - Record order book driving confident outlook

Games Workshop Group PLC / Equity Bottom-Up

Games Workshop Group Plc manufactures and retails tabletop war-game systems and associated miniatures. The Company operates approximately 250 stores and serves over 350 independent retailers in the United Kingdom. Games Workshop also has stores in North America, Continental Europe and Australia.

Games Workshop Group’s (GAW’s) H125 trading update suggests the company enjoyed a strong Q225 in both its core business (due to the launch of the fourth edition of Age of Sigmar midway through Q125) and licensing (due to the success of the Space Marine 2 video game). These are impressive in the context of the tough comparative from the prior year’s launch of the new edition of Warhammer 40K (40K) and the currency headwinds in the early part of H125. We upgrade our profit estimates for FY25 (by 7%) and FY26 (by 3%) to reflect the outperformance versus our prior expectations.

Games Workshop Group’s (GAW’s) H125 trading update suggests the company enjoyed a strong Q225 in both its core business (due to the launch of the fourth edition of Age of Sigmar midway through Q125) and licensing (due to the success of the Space Marine 2 video game). These are impressive in the context of the tough comparative from the prior year’s launch of the new edition of Warhammer 40K (40K) and the currency headwinds in the early part of H125. We upgrade our profit estimates for FY25 (by 7%) and FY26 (by 3%) to reflect the outperformance versus our prior expectations. 

Games Workshop Group - A notable acceleration in Q225

Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist, Steno Research

Andreas Steno

Head of Research and Global Chief Strategist

Macro and Geopolitical Research House

Steno Research

Steno Research is a new macro and geopolitical research house. We are based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, but have an international team and a strong network of sources and partners around the world. The team is lead by Andreas Steno, previous global head of strategy at Nordea Bank, and Mikkel Rosenvold, former chief consultant in the Danish Ministry of Finance.

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>Hello everyone, and welcome back to our weekly positioning watch.</li><li>Main Takeaways: The energy bet is starting to look compelling. Oil positioning is fairly bearish, and it seems hedge funds are starting to play the oil trade from the short side after months of avoiding energy altogether.</li><li>The risk asset trade is still on, but positioning is stretched. The Santa rally suggests higher equity prices, but year-end position squaring could disrupt the long equities play.</li></ul>

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our weekly positioning watch.Main Takeaways: The energy bet is starting to look compelling. Oil positioning is fairly bearish, and it seems hedge funds are starting to play the oil trade from the short side after months of avoiding energy altogether.The risk asset trade is still on, but positioning is stretched. The Santa rally suggests higher equity prices, but year-end position squaring could disrupt the long equities play.

Positioning Watch – The Herd Behavior Strikes Back!

India Equity Analyst - Fundamental & Thematic, Beat the Street

Sudarshan Bhandari

India Equity Analyst - Fundamental & Thematic

Beat the Street

Beat The Street was founded by Nimish Maheshwari and Sudarshan Bhandari, both of whom are Chartered Accountants by Profession, known for their expert analysis in the fields of Business, Sectoral analysis, and Corporate governance.

With a strong social media presence of 45,000+ Subscribers across various platforms, they are considered trusted voices in the industry. Their insights and analysis have been featured in some of India’s most prominent publications, including the Economic Times, Dalal Street Investment Journal, The Morning Context, and The Ken.

Their analysis on Bankrupt & Insolvent companies has been instrumental in saving investors from significant losses. They have a keen eye for identifying red flags and has identified exclusive redflags earlier in Vedanta, Nykaa, Dhani Services, Adani and many more.

Read Business Not Stock Prices

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Big Tech companies are already generating significant revenue from AI. Microsoft expects to reach $10 billion in AI revenue by the next quarter, making it their fastest-growing area.</li>
<li>In the third quarter of 2024 alone Microsoft, Google, and Meta collectively spent over $42 billion on AI infrastructure, primarily on building data centers and purchasing computing equipment.</li>
<li>Companies are projecting continued high spending on AI into 2025 to meet growing demand. However, challenges remain, including supply constraints for AI chips</li>
</ul>


Big Tech companies are already generating significant revenue from AI. Microsoft expects to reach $10 billion in AI revenue by the next quarter, making it their fastest-growing area.
In the third quarter of 2024 alone Microsoft, Google, and Meta collectively spent over $42 billion on AI infrastructure, primarily on building data centers and purchasing computing equipment.
Companies are projecting continued high spending on AI into 2025 to meet growing demand. However, challenges remain, including supply constraints for AI chips


Thematic Report: AI Wave- Big Tech's Spending Spree

Vietnam Holding Ltd. is a closed-end investment company. The Company invests in sustainable investments in Vietnamese equities. VNH is a value investor, incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors in its investment analysis and decision-making processes.

VietNam Holding (VNH) delivered a 27.3% net asset value (NAV) per share total return over the last 12 months (ending 31 October) in sterling terms. The company outperformed a strongly appreciating market (Vietnam All Share Index (VNAS) at 20.6%), driven by the demand from retail investors. The economy showed robust growth, supported by a surge in exports, and investor confidence was reinforced by good H124 corporate earnings. Meanwhile, VNH executed its first share redemption tender, and investors representing only c 12.6% of total share capital decided to sell their shares at NAV. The strong performance and investors’ vote of confidence contributed to the narrowing of the discount to the current premium of 1.2%.

VietNam Holding (VNH) delivered a 27.3% net asset value (NAV) per share total return over the last 12 months (ending 31 October) in sterling terms. The company outperformed a strongly appreciating market (Vietnam All Share Index (VNAS) at 20.6%), driven by the demand from retail investors. The economy showed robust growth, supported by a surge in exports, and investor confidence was reinforced by good H124 corporate earnings. Meanwhile, VNH executed its first share redemption tender, and investors representing only c 12.6% of total share capital decided to sell their shares at NAV. The strong performance and investors’ vote of confidence contributed to the narrowing of the discount to the current premium of 1.2%.

VietNam Holding - First redemption tender a success