Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>DearU's acquisition of NCSoft's Universe K-Pop fandom platform will expand DearU Bubble's number one position in the K-Pop fandom platform in Korea.</li>
<li>The sale of Universe by NCSoft is a win-win situation for both DearU and NCsoft.</li>
<li>Applying a 25x P/E to an estimated net profit of 50 billion won in 2024 would suggest an market cap of 1.25 trillion won for DearU, representing a 52% upside. </li>
</ul>


DearU's acquisition of NCSoft's Universe K-Pop fandom platform will expand DearU Bubble's number one position in the K-Pop fandom platform in Korea.
The sale of Universe by NCSoft is a win-win situation for both DearU and NCsoft.
Applying a 25x P/E to an estimated net profit of 50 billion won in 2024 would suggest an market cap of 1.25 trillion won for DearU, representing a 52% upside. 


DearU' Bubble + NCsoft's Universe = The Largest K-Pop Fandom Platform in Korea

<ul>
<li>On 11 January, it was announced that Kakao Entertainment (103260 KS) has attracted large scale investments from Saudi Arabia's Sovereign Fund (Public Investment Fund - PIF) and GIC (Singapore).</li>
<li>Maekyung Business Daily reported that PIF and GIC combined invested about 1.1 trillion won to 1.2 trillion won in Kakao Entertainment, valuing the company at about 10 trillion won.</li>
<li>This major investment in Kakao Entertainment by PIF and GIC should have a positive impact on Kakao Corp (035720 KS), the controlling shareholder of the company.</li>
</ul>


On 11 January, it was announced that Kakao Entertainment (103260 KS) has attracted large scale investments from Saudi Arabia's Sovereign Fund (Public Investment Fund - PIF) and GIC (Singapore).
Maekyung Business Daily reported that PIF and GIC combined invested about 1.1 trillion won to 1.2 trillion won in Kakao Entertainment, valuing the company at about 10 trillion won.
This major investment in Kakao Entertainment by PIF and GIC should have a positive impact on Kakao Corp (035720 KS), the controlling shareholder of the company.


PIF and GIC Combined Invest About 1.2 Trillion Won in Kakao Entertainment

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>On 28 December, the Chinese regulators announced that it will allow import of 45 foreign video games in China, among which seven are Korean video games.</li>
<li>Now that the Chinese authorities have allowed greater imports of foreign games, this will act as a significant positive catalyst to boost share prices of Korean game companies.</li>
<li>Among the major Korean game companies, we believe that NCsoft and Netmarble are best positioned to capitalize on this catalyst.</li>
</ul>


On 28 December, the Chinese regulators announced that it will allow import of 45 foreign video games in China, among which seven are Korean video games.
Now that the Chinese authorities have allowed greater imports of foreign games, this will act as a significant positive catalyst to boost share prices of Korean game companies.
Among the major Korean game companies, we believe that NCsoft and Netmarble are best positioned to capitalize on this catalyst.


China Allows Import of 45 Foreign Video Games Including 7 Korean Games

Global Emerging Market Equities, Propitious Research

Wium Malan, CFA

Global Emerging Market Equities

Independent, Fundamental Quantitative Research

Propitious Research

Fully independent, fundamental and quantitative equity research, focused on companies in the Telecommunication, Media, Technology, Internet and Healthcare sectors in the Global Emerging Markets. Idea generation focused on Quality stocks, trading below their intrinsic Value, with sound Corporate Governance.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>The 200 largest weighted companies in the GEM index reported average EPS growth of +12.8%y/y for 3Q22-to-date, a significant slowdown from what was reported for 2Q22.</li>
<li>60% of companies delivered positive sales surprise, same as in 2Q22, whilst 65% delivered positive EPS surprise, up from 56% in 2Q22.</li>
<li>Historically, there has been a significant difference in relative share price performance between the largest positive versus negative surprise generators, for 3 months after the reporting date.</li>
</ul>


The 200 largest weighted companies in the GEM index reported average EPS growth of +12.8%y/y for 3Q22-to-date, a significant slowdown from what was reported for 2Q22.
60% of companies delivered positive sales surprise, same as in 2Q22, whilst 65% delivered positive EPS surprise, up from 56% in 2Q22.
Historically, there has been a significant difference in relative share price performance between the largest positive versus negative surprise generators, for 3 months after the reporting date.


Global Emerging Markets: Reporting Season Summary, 3Q2022

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Taiwan Stock Exchange Weighted Index / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>The bear market rally that we have discussed since our Sept. 29 Int'l Compass has managed to surpass our price targets, which were YTD downtrends on the ACWX-US and EFA-US.</li>
<li>As a result of these bullish reversals and breakdowns on the US dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield, we are upgrading our outlook to neutral.</li>
<li>Buy ideas on a pullback in: Consumer Discretionary, Energy, and Technology/Tech Services</li>
</ul>


The bear market rally that we have discussed since our Sept. 29 Int'l Compass has managed to surpass our price targets, which were YTD downtrends on the ACWX-US and EFA-US.
As a result of these bullish reversals and breakdowns on the US dollar (DXY) and 10-year Treasury yield, we are upgrading our outlook to neutral.
Buy ideas on a pullback in: Consumer Discretionary, Energy, and Technology/Tech Services


Bullish Reversals Continue: TAIEX, KOSPI, AEX, Hang Seng, CSI 300. Buy Cyclicals/Growth on Pullbacks

South Korea

NCSOFT Corporation develops and markets on-line games that enable users to play over the Internet and computer software, such as web editing software.  The Company also designs and constructs databases, Intranet, and commercial Internet access systems.

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NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS)

DearU' Bubble + NCsoft's Universe = The Largest K-Pop Fandom Platform in Korea

DearU's acquisition of NCSoft's Universe K-Pop fandom platform will expand DearU Bubble's number one position in the K-Pop fandom platform in Korea.

Douglas Kim

PIF and GIC Combined Invest About 1.2 Trillion Won in Kakao Entertainment

Maekyung Business Daily reported on 11 January that PIF (Saudi Arabia) and GIC combined invested about 1.2 trillion won in Kakao Entertainment,...

Douglas Kim

China Allows Import of 45 Foreign Video Games Including 7 Korean Games

On 28 December, the Chinese regulators announced that it will allow import of 45 foreign video games in China, among which seven are Korean video...

Douglas Kim

Global Emerging Markets: Reporting Season Summary, 3Q2022

In this quarterly insight, we analyse recent GEM reporting trends with reference to Sales- and EPS growth, size and percentage of positive...

Wium Malan, CFA

Bullish Reversals Continue: TAIEX, KOSPI, AEX, Hang Seng, CSI 300. Buy Cyclicals/Growth on Pullbacks

Bullish reversals: Taiwan $TAIEX, Korea $KOSPI, Netherlands' $AEX reversing YTD downtrends, while Hang Seng $HSI and China's CSI 300 are reversing...

Vermilion Research

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