Covering IPOs, Healthcare and Technology Stocks

Andrei Zakharov

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Rubrik, a leading VC-backed security software company, filed for a long-awaited IPO in the United States, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays and Wells Fargo leading the offering. </li>
<li>The technology company is focused on data protection and helps organizations to protect their data and recover it in case of cyberattacks.</li>
<li>Rubrik was founded by Bipul Sinha, Arvind Nithrakashyap, Arvind Jain and Soham Mazumdar, and backed by VC investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners and Khosla Ventures.</li>
</ul>


Rubrik, a leading VC-backed security software company, filed for a long-awaited IPO in the United States, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays and Wells Fargo leading the offering. 
The technology company is focused on data protection and helps organizations to protect their data and recover it in case of cyberattacks.
Rubrik was founded by Bipul Sinha, Arvind Nithrakashyap, Arvind Jain and Soham Mazumdar, and backed by VC investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners and Khosla Ventures.


Rubrik IPO Preview and Valuation Analysis: 2024’s Hottest SaaS Investment Opportunity

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Tata Consultancy Svcs / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tata-sons-private-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:25999:1" rel="noopener">Tata Sons</a>, holding company of Tata Group, is looking to raise around US$1.1bn via selling a 0.65% stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tata-consultancy-svcs-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18708:1" rel="noopener">Tata Consultancy Svcs (TCS IN)</a>.</li>
<li>The deal doesn’t appear to be well-flagged although it could be part of Tata Sons’ recent moves to avoid an RBI mandated listing next year.</li>
<li>In this note, we talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>



Tata Sons, holding company of Tata Group, is looking to raise around US$1.1bn via selling a 0.65% stake in Tata Consultancy Svcs (TCS IN).
The deal doesn’t appear to be well-flagged although it could be part of Tata Sons’ recent moves to avoid an RBI mandated listing next year.
In this note, we talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.


TCS US$1.1bn Placement - Relatively Small but Isn’t Well Flagged, Could Have Implications for Others

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>The global Smart Cities market size was valued at $1.5 trillion in 2020 and is projected to grow to $11 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of more than 20%.</li><li>While North America is currently the largest market, Asia-Pacific is projected to overtake it in a few years.</li><li>Smart Cities are urban areas that utilize digital infrastructure and interconnected systems, most likely using artificial intelligence (AI). </li></ul>

The global Smart Cities market size was valued at $1.5 trillion in 2020 and is projected to grow to $11 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of more than 20%.While North America is currently the largest market, Asia-Pacific is projected to overtake it in a few years.Smart Cities are urban areas that utilize digital infrastructure and interconnected systems, most likely using artificial intelligence (AI). 

Tech Talk: Smart Cities Delivering on the Promise

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

Since its emergence as the technology underpinning Bitcoin over a decade ago, blockchain has captured the imagination of technologists, investors and charlatans in roughly equal measure. Blockchain has been portrayed by its advocates as the solution to some of the most fundamental challenges facing modern-day society including free and fair elections, the protection of identity records and title deeds, supply chain integrity and, of course, enabling all manner of exotic cryptocurrencies. Little wonder then that we experienced a wave of blockchain mania which coincided with a similar level of cryptocurrency mania in late 2017. During that time, companies were adding "Blockchain" to their names and seeing their share prices soar by many multiples within weeks. Just as the crypto bubble burst in early 2018, so too did the blockchain bubble. Share prices of so-called blockchain companies collapsed just as quickly as they had risen. Testifying before a US senate committee in October 2018, professor of economics Nouriel Roubini was scathing in his criticism of blockchain <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Roubini%20Testimony%2010-11-18.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referring</a> to it as  “The most over-hyped technology ever, no better than a spreadsheet/database”.
 Now, as the dust settles and the mania fades, we witness the emergence of a new class of enterprise-grade blockchain implementations led by the likes Hyperledger, Corda and various customisations of Ethereum. While the blockchain technologies supporting the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum are public in so far as the data they contain is accessible by anybody who wishes to view it, these enterprise blockchain implementations are private, a necessary prerequisite for their potential deployment at major corporations and financial institutions. This distinction, along with a number of other important differences, means that enterprise blockchain represents a significant departure from the original public blockchain concept.
Today, enterprise blockchain is being deployed to tackle challenges across a swathe of verticals thanks to the likes of the Big Four consulting firms striving to position it at the heart of their business process reengineering practices. From Maersk to Walmart, they are convincing some of the world's biggest conglomerates to tackle age-old issues relating to outdated, inefficient, labor intensive business practices, all in the name of  blockchain.
It's not just the Big Four that are cashing in on enterprise blockchain. Professional services firm Accenture is investing heavily in its blockchain consulting practice. Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) solutions are available from enterprise software giants <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intl-business-machines-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1064:1" rel="noopener">Intl Business Machines</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/oracle-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1065:1" rel="noopener">Oracle</a>,  <a href="https://www.sap.com/hk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SAP</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/microsoft-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15273:1" rel="noopener">Microsoft </a>and more recently from China’s <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:787:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba </a>and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu</a>. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel </a>wants to ensure that enterprise blockchains runs best on its servers while Microsoft and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/amazon-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:409:1" rel="noopener">Amazon </a>want to host them on their clouds. It's little surprise then that enterprise and government spending on blockchain is expected to reach $2.9 billion in 2019, an increase of 89% over the previous year according to <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44898819" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDC</a>. Furthermore, they predict that spending on enterprise blockchain will reach $$ja12.4 billion by 2022.
In common with Roubini, our belief has long been that blockchain as a technology offers little that was not already available elsewhere and before. Enterprise blockchains bear little resemblance to the technical ingenuity that gave us Bitcoin, but which is otherwise largely useless. The populist mantra that enterprise blockchain has the ability to transform the business processes of major corporations, key industry verticals and governments is a largely a delusion in our opinion. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/blockchains-occam-problem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This</a> recent report from McKinsey further supports our perspective, noting that blockchain has yet to become the game-changer some expected and recommending that it should only be considered when it is the simplest solution available.
Paradoxically, if the allure of blockchain can be leveraged as the motivating factor to undertake the much-needed digital transformation and business process re-engineering required to modernize outdated, legacy practices and procedures, then it may indeed have some inherent, albeit unintended, value. Furthermore, our interviews with the CEOs of two small, privately held startups clearly indicated that they are actually finding important, albeit niche, use cases for blockchain technologies in their solution stacks.  In this context, it makes sense to view blockchain as an emerging technology actively seeking real-world use cases and likely to be strongly promoted by its proponents in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, how should investors think about the investment opportunities for blockchain? For starters, venture capital interest grew significantly in 2018 with some $5.4 billion invested in blockchain related startups, up from $1.5 billion the previous year according to <a href="https://next.autonomous.com/thoughts/crypto-blockchain-lands-at-24b-in-2018-funding-1b-in-stos-coming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Autonomous Research</a>. Nonetheless, our analysis of multiple categories of companies with blockchain exposure reveals a harsh reality. Neither their blockchain related revenues nor any cost savings directly attributable to the technology are significant enough to have any meaningful impact on their valuations from a fundamentals perspective, a situation we do not expect to change any time soon. The same holds true for the blockchain-related ETFs and hedge funds we examined.
On a more positive note, there are some excellent companies doing exciting things with blockchain and related technologies. Privately held GuardTime and Digital Assets should be on investors watch lists for funding rounds and IPOs. We expect publicly listed <a href="https://www.garage.co.jp/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Garage</a> and <a href="https://www.broadridge.com/intl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Broadridge Financial Solutions</a> to continue to perform well and feel that they should be considered as part of a broader fintech portfolio. By the same token, we are positive on the growth opportunities of blockchain-associated multinationals such as <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-hk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a>, <a href="https://www.ibm.com/hk-en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IBM</a>, <a href="https://www.visa.com.hk/en_HK" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visa</a>, <a href="https://www.mastercard.us/en-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mastercard</a> etc, albeit for reasons that have little to do with blockchain.

Since its emergence as the technology underpinning Bitcoin over a decade ago, blockchain has captured the imagination of technologists, investors and charlatans in roughly equal measure. Blockchain has been portrayed by its advocates as the solution to some of the most fundamental challenges facing modern-day society including free and fair elections, the protection of identity records and title deeds, supply chain integrity and, of course, enabling all manner of exotic cryptocurrencies. Little wonder then that we experienced a wave of blockchain mania which coincided with a similar level of cryptocurrency mania in late 2017. During that time, companies were adding "Blockchain" to their names and seeing their share prices soar by many multiples within weeks. Just as the crypto bubble burst in early 2018, so too did the blockchain bubble. Share prices of so-called blockchain companies collapsed just as quickly as they had risen. Testifying before a US senate committee in October 2018, professor of economics Nouriel Roubini was scathing in his criticism of blockchain referring to it as  “The most over-hyped technology ever, no better than a spreadsheet/database”.
 Now, as the dust settles and the mania fades, we witness the emergence of a new class of enterprise-grade blockchain implementations led by the likes Hyperledger, Corda and various customisations of Ethereum. While the blockchain technologies supporting the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum are public in so far as the data they contain is accessible by anybody who wishes to view it, these enterprise blockchain implementations are private, a necessary prerequisite for their potential deployment at major corporations and financial institutions. This distinction, along with a number of other important differences, means that enterprise blockchain represents a significant departure from the original public blockchain concept.
Today, enterprise blockchain is being deployed to tackle challenges across a swathe of verticals thanks to the likes of the Big Four consulting firms striving to position it at the heart of their business process reengineering practices. From Maersk to Walmart, they are convincing some of the world's biggest conglomerates to tackle age-old issues relating to outdated, inefficient, labor intensive business practices, all in the name of  blockchain.
It's not just the Big Four that are cashing in on enterprise blockchain. Professional services firm Accenture is investing heavily in its blockchain consulting practice. Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) solutions are available from enterprise software giants Intl Business Machines, Oracle,  SAP and Microsoft and more recently from China’s Alibaba and Baidu. Intel wants to ensure that enterprise blockchains runs best on its servers while Microsoft and Amazon want to host them on their clouds. It's little surprise then that enterprise and government spending on blockchain is expected to reach $2.9 billion in 2019, an increase of 89% over the previous year according to IDC. Furthermore, they predict that spending on enterprise blockchain will reach $$ja12.4 billion by 2022.
In common with Roubini, our belief has long been that blockchain as a technology offers little that was not already available elsewhere and before. Enterprise blockchains bear little resemblance to the technical ingenuity that gave us Bitcoin, but which is otherwise largely useless. The populist mantra that enterprise blockchain has the ability to transform the business processes of major corporations, key industry verticals and governments is a largely a delusion in our opinion. This recent report from McKinsey further supports our perspective, noting that blockchain has yet to become the game-changer some expected and recommending that it should only be considered when it is the simplest solution available.
Paradoxically, if the allure of blockchain can be leveraged as the motivating factor to undertake the much-needed digital transformation and business process re-engineering required to modernize outdated, legacy practices and procedures, then it may indeed have some inherent, albeit unintended, value. Furthermore, our interviews with the CEOs of two small, privately held startups clearly indicated that they are actually finding important, albeit niche, use cases for blockchain technologies in their solution stacks.  In this context, it makes sense to view blockchain as an emerging technology actively seeking real-world use cases and likely to be strongly promoted by its proponents in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, how should investors think about the investment opportunities for blockchain? For starters, venture capital interest grew significantly in 2018 with some $5.4 billion invested in blockchain related startups, up from $1.5 billion the previous year according to Autonomous Research. Nonetheless, our analysis of multiple categories of companies with blockchain exposure reveals a harsh reality. Neither their blockchain related revenues nor any cost savings directly attributable to the technology are significant enough to have any meaningful impact on their valuations from a fundamentals perspective, a situation we do not expect to change any time soon. The same holds true for the blockchain-related ETFs and hedge funds we examined.
On a more positive note, there are some excellent companies doing exciting things with blockchain and related technologies. Privately held GuardTime and Digital Assets should be on investors watch lists for funding rounds and IPOs. We expect publicly listed Digital Garage and Broadridge Financial Solutions to continue to perform well and feel that they should be considered as part of a broader fintech portfolio. By the same token, we are positive on the growth opportunities of blockchain-associated multinationals such as Microsoft, IBM, Visa, Mastercard etc, albeit for reasons that have little to do with blockchain.
  

The Blockchain Delusion. A (Mostly) Bearish Investment Thesis.

<ul><li>Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already having a major impact on the tech sector, and this is only going to accelerate in 2024.</li><li>With an estimated market size of $137 billion in 2022, AI is projected to grow significantly to $1.8 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of 38%.</li><li>We can expect to see more sophisticated AI applications and algorithms that can perform complex tasks and make decisions with human-like accuracy. </li></ul>

Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already having a major impact on the tech sector, and this is only going to accelerate in 2024.With an estimated market size of $137 billion in 2022, AI is projected to grow significantly to $1.8 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of 38%.We can expect to see more sophisticated AI applications and algorithms that can perform complex tasks and make decisions with human-like accuracy. 

Top 10 Tech Trends in 2024 - What's Likely to Drive Tech Next Year

United States

Paychex, Inc. provides comprehensive payroll and integrated human resource and employee benefits outsourcing solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The Company's services range from calculating payroll and filing tax payments to administering retirement plans and workers' compensation.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation provides custom Information Technology (IT) consulting and technology services as well as outsourcing services. The Company's core competencies include technology strategy consulting, complex systems development, enterprise software package implementation and maintenance, data warehousing and business intelligence.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a technology platform company that enables digital and mobile payments on behalf of consumers and merchants. The Company offers online payment solutions. PayPal Holdings serves customers worldwide.

Fiserv, Inc. provides integrated information management and electronic commerce systems and services. The Company's solutions include transaction processing, electronic bill payment and presentment, business process outsourcing, document distribution services, and software and systems solutions.

Global Payments Inc. provides electronic transaction processing, information systems, and services.  The Company serves the financial, corporate, government, and merchant communities on a worldwide basis.  Global Payments provides funds transfer, merchant services, merchant accounting, Internet services, and other services.

Gartner, Inc. provides research and analysis on the computer hardware, software, communications, and related information technology industries.  The Company's business segments include research, consulting, measurement, events and executive programs.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. provides management and technology consulting services to the U.S. government in the defense, intelligence and civil markets. The Company offers economic and business analysis, information technology, intelligence and operations analysis, modeling and simulation, organization and other consulting services.

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. is a payment services provider. The Company provides credit and debit card processing, electronic banking services, check risk management, check cashing, and merchant card processing services to financial institutions and merchants.

Corpay, Inc. operates as a business payments company. The Company offers global payment, currency risk management, and invoice automation solutions which help businesses to control, simplify, and secure payment for vehicle related expenses, general payables, tolls, insurance, and lodging expenses. Corpay serves customers worldwide.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. is a global provider of business outsourcing solutions.  The Company's services include a wide range of human resource, payroll, tax and benefits administration solutions.  Automatic Data also provides solutions to auto, truck, motorcycle, marine and recreational vehicle dealers.

Infosys Limited provides IT consulting and software services, including e-business, program management and supply chain solutions. The Group's services include application development, product co-development, and system implementation and system engineering. Infosys targets businesses specializing in the insurance, banking, telecommunication and manufacturing sectors.

Tech Mahindra Ltd. develops and markets computer software.  The Company markets software for telecommunications equipment manufacturers, telecom service providers, software vendors, and systems integrators.

NTT Data Corporation mainly provides large scale system integration and networking system services. System integration involves data transmission system design, sales, leasing, and services.  Network System Services include internet related and linked computer networks, and data provision and management of data. The Company is a subsidiary of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation.

Accenture PLC provides management and technology consulting services and solutions.  The Company delivers a range of specialized capabilities and solutions to clients across all industries on a worldwide basis.  Accenture's network of businesses provides consulting, technology, outsourcing, and alliances.

Wipro Limited specializes in IT and computer related technologies. The Group's services encompass a number of areas, including software architecture, business intelligence systems, e-commerce, data warehousing, Internet access devices, network management, system administration, messaging systems, IT consulting and design. Wipro also has a presence in niche markets of consumer products.

Fujitsu Ltd manufactures semiconductor, computer, and communication equipment. The Company provides comprehensive information technology, network and telecommunication solutions, and Internet services.

Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. provides information technology, research, consulting, and analyzing for business strategy decision-making.  The Company also provides application software for system operation services.

Tata Consultancy Services, a division of Tata Sons Limited, is a global IT services organization that provides a comprehensive range of IT services to its clients in diverse industries. The Company, caters to finance and banking, insurance, telecommunication, transportation, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and utility industries.

HCL Technologies Limited provides software development and related engineering services.  The Group's technologies utilize a variety of technologies, including Internet and e-commerce, networking, internet telephony, embedded software, ASIC/VLSI design and testing, satellite and wireless communications, and component based object technologies, including COM, DCOM and COBRA.

Amadeus IT Holding SA processes transactions for the global travel and tourism industry.  The Company processes transactions for airlines, hotels, rail operators, cruise lines and ferry operators, car rental companies, and tour operators.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides computer solutions through the use of advanced information technology. The Company's solutions include technologies, systems, products, services, software, and financing. IBM offers its products through its global sales and distribution organization, as well as through a variety of third party distributors and resellers.

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International Business Machines (IBM US)

Rubrik IPO Preview and Valuation Analysis: 2024’s Hottest SaaS Investment Opportunity

In my in-depth insight, I highlight Rubrik's potential as a top investment opportunity in the software IPO market this year

Andrei Zakharov

TCS US$1.1bn Placement - Relatively Small but Isn’t Well Flagged, Could Have Implications for Others

Tata Sons, holding company of Tata Group, is looking to raise around US$1.1bn via selling a 0.65% stake in Tata Consultancy Svcs (TCS IN).

Sumeet Singh

Tech Talk: Smart Cities Delivering on the Promise

The global Smart Cities market size was valued at $1.5 trillion in 2020 and is projected to grow to $11 trillion by 2030, a CAGR of more than 20%.

Water Tower Research

The Blockchain Delusion. A (Mostly) Bearish Investment Thesis.

Back when I wrote this, Blockchain was all the rage, but I struggled to see the true value proposition, felt there was a huge amount of hype...

William Keating

Top 10 Tech Trends in 2024 - What's Likely to Drive Tech Next Year

Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already having a major impact on the tech sector, and this is only going to accelerate in 2024.

Water Tower Research

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