Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport, Tracking Traffic

Daniel Hellberg

Asian Equities Analyst, Logistics & Transport

Tracking Traffic

Focusing on Asian logistics, transportation, and travel companies

Equity Bottom-Up

Meta Platforms (Facebook) / Equity Bottom-Up

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and almost four dozen US states and territories have filed antitrust suits against <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/facebook-inc-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:665:1" rel="noopener">Facebook Inc A (FB US)</a>, seeking to force the social giant to divest its Instagram and Whatsapp functions. For the suits against FB to succeed, the plaintiffs must establish that FB a) enjoys monopoly power that it has used to stifle smaller rivals and that b) consumers have been harmed as a result. Proving that consumers have been harmed will likely prove especially, in our opinion. For its part, FB executives have made it clear they view efforts to break up the company as an "existential threat".So how will the suits play out? The US government's case appears to have bi-partisan and popular support, and FB has made it clear they intend to fight. We expect this case to move slowly, perhaps requiring years to resolve. A clear win for the US government is unlikely; a more likely outcome would be a settlement in which FB agrees to limit its expansion in certain areas and/or its commercial use of user data. Increased scrutiny of FB's practices and a potential settlement could slow FB's growth, but is this really a growth stock? In Q320, OP increased by just 12% on 22% revenue growth, and consensus estimates for 2021e call for similar growth. In our view, the suits represent a likely headache for FB, but not much more, and are thus unlikely to have much impact beyond the company, either.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and almost four dozen US states and territories have filed antitrust suits against Facebook Inc A (FB US), seeking to force the social giant to divest its Instagram and Whatsapp functions. For the suits against FB to succeed, the plaintiffs must establish that FB a) enjoys monopoly power that it has used to stifle smaller rivals and that b) consumers have been harmed as a result. Proving that consumers have been harmed will likely prove especially, in our opinion. For its part, FB executives have made it clear they view efforts to break up the company as an "existential threat".So how will the suits play out? The US government's case appears to have bi-partisan and popular support, and FB has made it clear they intend to fight. We expect this case to move slowly, perhaps requiring years to resolve. A clear win for the US government is unlikely; a more likely outcome would be a settlement in which FB agrees to limit its expansion in certain areas and/or its commercial use of user data. Increased scrutiny of FB's practices and a potential settlement could slow FB's growth, but is this really a growth stock? In Q320, OP increased by just 12% on 22% revenue growth, and consensus estimates for 2021e call for similar growth. In our view, the suits represent a likely headache for FB, but not much more, and are thus unlikely to have much impact beyond the company, either. 

US FTC & States' Suits Against Facebook Unlikely to Result in Breakup, but Could Slow Expansion

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.

Equity Capital Markets

Airbnb aims to raise up to US$3.1bn in its US listing. Airbnb is a global short-stay offering platform. To put it simply, it connects hosts, who post available accommodation on Airbnb, with guests, who make bookings for the accommodation. It charges a fee for this service.As of 9M20, it had 4 million hosts in more than 220 countries and regions around the world. Since inception, its hosts have welcomed over 825m guest arrivals and have cumulatively earned over $110bn. In 2019, it had 54m active bookers worldwide, who booked 327m nights and experiences on Airbnb.Over 2017-19, the company reported steady growth in earnings led by an increase in the number of bookings. Its overall number of guests and hosts have been growing as well, with most metrics heading in the right direction. I’ve covered various aspects of the deal in my previous note, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/airbnb-ipo-time-for-a-good-break-even-from-the-share-lock-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Airbnb IPO - Time for a good break - even from the  share lock-up</a>. In this note, I’ll take a look at its peers recent performance and talk about valuations.

Airbnb aims to raise up to US$3.1bn in its US listing. Airbnb is a global short-stay offering platform. To put it simply, it connects hosts, who post available accommodation on Airbnb, with guests, who make bookings for the accommodation. It charges a fee for this service.As of 9M20, it had 4 million hosts in more than 220 countries and regions around the world. Since inception, its hosts have welcomed over 825m guest arrivals and have cumulatively earned over $110bn. In 2019, it had 54m active bookers worldwide, who booked 327m nights and experiences on Airbnb.Over 2017-19, the company reported steady growth in earnings led by an increase in the number of bookings. Its overall number of guests and hosts have been growing as well, with most metrics heading in the right direction. I’ve covered various aspects of the deal in my previous note, Airbnb IPO - Time for a good break - even from the  share lock-up. In this note, I’ll take a look at its peers recent performance and talk about valuations.

Airbnb IPO - Peer Comparison and Valuation - Smaller but Nimbler, Possible COVID Winner

Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Independent Insight Provider

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

*RBA Speech – A Positive For Aussie BNPL: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicated that the status-quo for the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) sector is likely to continue into the foreseeable future – which is a significant positive for Tencent Holding’s (700.HK) [Tencent] Afterpay Touch (APT.AU) [Afterpay]. Specifically, BNPL operators can still prevent merchants from passing on transaction fees;*Strong Momentum As We Head Into Holiday Season: Just as we head into the holiday season, Tencent’s Afterpay provided some strong key metrics in its latest media release as discussed in “Tencent Holdings – Father Christmas” note dated December 3, 2020.  What a magnificent six months this has been for Afterpay, and the next six months look to be even more transformational with operations beginning in the European Union, launches of banking products, and potentially the launch of the business in Asia (likely under the tutelage of Tencent); and*More Magic Fairy Dust: Tencent continues to hit it out of the park with its Afterpay stake. In addition to a superb return on investment of 400% over the past six months since the stake announcement, this alliance with Australia’s premier financial technology Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) company is paying dividends to Tencent in numerous other ways.

*RBA Speech – A Positive For Aussie BNPL: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) indicated that the status-quo for the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) sector is likely to continue into the foreseeable future – which is a significant positive for Tencent Holding’s (700.HK) [Tencent] Afterpay Touch (APT.AU) [Afterpay]. Specifically, BNPL operators can still prevent merchants from passing on transaction fees;*Strong Momentum As We Head Into Holiday Season: Just as we head into the holiday season, Tencent’s Afterpay provided some strong key metrics in its latest media release as discussed in “Tencent Holdings – Father Christmas” note dated December 3, 2020.  What a magnificent six months this has been for Afterpay, and the next six months look to be even more transformational with operations beginning in the European Union, launches of banking products, and potentially the launch of the business in Asia (likely under the tutelage of Tencent); and*More Magic Fairy Dust: Tencent continues to hit it out of the park with its Afterpay stake. In addition to a superb return on investment of 400% over the past six months since the stake announcement, this alliance with Australia’s premier financial technology Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) company is paying dividends to Tencent in numerous other ways.

*Decent Operating Results: Lufax Holdings (LU.US) [Lufax] reported 3Q20 results of CNY 2.2 bn, declining CNY 929 mn (30.1%) on a linked quarter basis. However, when we exclude the CNY 1.3 bn restructuring charge and gains of CNY 144 mn, Lufax’ operating results amounted to CNY 3.3 bn – increasing CNY 228 mn (7.3%) over the same period;  and*Regulatory Risk Is Prevalant: An evolution of the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge to Lufax, and more likely than not will require further business adjustments and ad pressure to the bottom-line, including: lower interest rate caps;  higher capital requirements; improved risk-taking controls; along with other consumer protection measures. That being said, much of the regulatory uncertainty is more from policy window guidance rather than from new regulations themselves.

*Decent Operating Results: Lufax Holdings (LU.US) [Lufax] reported 3Q20 results of CNY 2.2 bn, declining CNY 929 mn (30.1%) on a linked quarter basis. However, when we exclude the CNY 1.3 bn restructuring charge and gains of CNY 144 mn, Lufax’ operating results amounted to CNY 3.3 bn – increasing CNY 228 mn (7.3%) over the same period;  and*Regulatory Risk Is Prevalant: An evolution of the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge to Lufax, and more likely than not will require further business adjustments and ad pressure to the bottom-line, including: lower interest rate caps;  higher capital requirements; improved risk-taking controls; along with other consumer protection measures. That being said, much of the regulatory uncertainty is more from policy window guidance rather than from new regulations themselves. 

Lufax Holdings – Good Number Right Out Of The Gate

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

The long-rumoured replacement of Intel processors by an in-house, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/apple-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:666:1" rel="noopener">Apple</a> designed SOC has finally come to pass. Last month, Apple launched their M1 SOC for the Mac Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13" models. This being a momentous milestone in our view, we decided to see for ourselves what Apple has accomplished, purchased a Mac Mini and put it through its paces. We were seriously impressed. Here's a review of our experience to date and what we think it means for both Apple and Intel.

The long-rumoured replacement of Intel processors by an in-house, Apple designed SOC has finally come to pass. Last month, Apple launched their M1 SOC for the Mac Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13" models. This being a momentous milestone in our view, we decided to see for ourselves what Apple has accomplished, purchased a Mac Mini and put it through its paces. We were seriously impressed. Here's a review of our experience to date and what we think it means for both Apple and Intel. 

The M1 SOC Is A Game Changer For Apple. Not So Much Intel.

United States

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and sells a variety of related accessories. The Company also offers payment, digital content, cloud and advertising services. Apple Inc.'s customers are primarily in consumer, small & mid-sized business, education, enterprise and government markets worldwide.

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Apple (AAPL US)

US FTC & States' Suits Against Facebook Unlikely to Result in Breakup, but Could Slow Expansion

We believe the US government is unlikely to get a clear win against FB. A drawn-out trial may end in a settlement, but this could take two+ years....

Tracking Traffic

Airbnb IPO - Peer Comparison and Valuation - Smaller but Nimbler, Possible COVID Winner

Airbnb aims to raise up to US$3.1bn in its US listing. Even at the revised price range, the stock is still at a discount to booking.com.

Sumeet Singh

Tencent Holdings – After The Speech

TENCENT HOLDINGS: Reserve Bank of Australia indicated that the status-quo for BNPL is likely to continue – which is a significant positive for...

Thomas J. Monaco

Lufax Holdings – Good Number Right Out Of The Gate

LUFAX HOLDINGS: Lufax operating results were solid. However, the regulatory environment remains a significant challenge.

Thomas J. Monaco

The M1 SOC Is A Game Changer For Apple. Not So Much Intel.

After purchasing a Mac Mini with Apple's own M1 SOC, we put it through its paces to see what are the implications for both Apple & Intel. We think...

William Keating

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