'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/136/651/original/2020-05-29_06-37-52.png?1590701909" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="136651"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>LIMPING HOME</strong> - 42 companies reported results on Thursday of which 32 were for the full-year. Of these, 38% made FY2021 forecasts of which only three scored positively. Seventy more companies will announce today, including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/olympus-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:356:1" rel="noopener">Olympus Corp (7733 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yamaha-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7411:1" rel="noopener">Yamaha Motor (7272 JP)</a>, leaving only <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba (6502 JP)</a> from the 'trillion yen club' for next week. </p>

Source • Japan AnalyticsLIMPING HOME - 42 companies reported results on Thursday of which 32 were for the full-year. Of these, 38% made FY2021 forecasts of which only three scored positively. Seventy more companies will announce today, including Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP), Olympus Corp (7733 JP), and Yamaha Motor (7272 JP), leaving only Toshiba (6502 JP) from the 'trillion yen club' for next week. 

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 28th May - Nissan, Nikon & Toray

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/136/350/original/2020-05-28_06-43-04.png?1590615802" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="136350"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>ALL GOOD</strong> - Japan has had a 'good' COVID-19 relative to many countries. With a little help from the Bank of Japan, Japanese equities are only 11% below the December peak, despite a ten-year low in corporate earnings and the prospect of much worse in that regard in the coming months. Companies have retained staff, and consumer confidence has fallen less than in other developed economies. Production lines were not shut down, resulting in a GFC-like spike in the inventory ratio. The stable Yen will make it harder for exporters to the developing world to clear the stockpiles. Accordingly, the alphabetic 'shape' of Japan's post-COVID recovery will between "V" and "L" and will be more prolonged.</p><p><strong>SLIM TAILS</strong> - We are now in the slim tail of the earnings 'season' with only seven larger caps reporting yesterday of which just two made forecasts for the current year.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/136/353/original/2020-05-28_07-10-35.png?1590617452" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="136353"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>INTERNAL DEFICIENCIES -</strong> Another 42 companies will announce results today. The largest of these by market cap will be <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/otsuka-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12292:1" rel="noopener">Otsuka (4578 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nissan-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:72:1" rel="noopener">Nissan (7201 JP)</a> (finally), and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toray-industries-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:625:1" rel="noopener">Toray (3402 JP)</a>.  Of the companies with a market capitalisation of over ¥1 trillion, only <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/olympus-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:356:1" rel="noopener">Olympus (7733 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba (6502 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi (6501 JP)</a> remain after which this series of Insights will be brought to close. That these three companies required an extra month to prepare their accounts suggests severe deficiencies in the internal reporting structures of these companies.</p>

Source • Japan AnalyticsALL GOOD - Japan has had a 'good' COVID-19 relative to many countries. With a little help from the Bank of Japan, Japanese equities are only 11% below the December peak, despite a ten-year low in corporate earnings and the prospect of much worse in that regard in the coming months. Companies have retained staff, and consumer confidence has fallen less than in other developed economies. Production lines were not shut down, resulting in a GFC-like spike in the inventory ratio. The stable Yen will make it harder for exporters to the developing world to clear the stockpiles. Accordingly, the alphabetic 'shape' of Japan's post-COVID recovery will between "V" and "L" and will be more prolonged.SLIM TAILS - We are now in the slim tail of the earnings 'season' with only seven larger caps reporting yesterday of which just two made forecasts for the current year.Source • Japan AnalyticsINTERNAL DEFICIENCIES - Another 42 companies will announce results today. The largest of these by market cap will be Otsuka (4578 JP), Nissan (7201 JP) (finally), and Toray (3402 JP).  Of the companies with a market capitalisation of over ¥1 trillion, only Olympus (7733 JP), Toshiba (6502 JP), and Hitachi (6501 JP) remain after which this series of Insights will be brought to close. That these three companies required an extra month to prepare their accounts suggests severe deficiencies in the internal reporting structures of these companies.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 27th May - Recruit, DNP & Dentsu

<div>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/135/544/original/2020-05-25_05-06-24.png?1590350813" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="135544"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
</div><p><strong>CLOSURE</strong> - As the fashion amongst Japanese companies is not to make any full-year forecasts, there has been little change in our forecast-based metrics over the last week. Trailing-twelve-month (TTM) profits declined by ¥3 trillion and ¥2.5 trillion at the operating and net levels, respectively, over the week - closing the 'gap' to forecast considerably. There is still some upside to the market multiple from the numerator. For the time being, however, liquidity rules.</p><div><p>In the <strong>DETAIL </strong>section below, we shall review Friday's announcements:-</p></div><div><ul>
<li>The balance between positive/neutral/negative of the 106 results announcements was 52:4:50. The average change in Results Score was -1.2.</li>
<li>For the 49 revisions/initial forecasts, the split was 10:1:38, and the average Forecast/Revision Score was -10.0. Again, only one-third of companies reporting full-year results chose to make current year forecasts. </li>
<li>As this highly-unusual disclosure period slowly winds down (7% of market cap has yet to report almost two months after books closed), 57 companies will announce results on Monday. The largest of these by market cap will be <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ajinomoto-co-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8911:1" rel="noopener">Ajinomoto (2802 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi (6501 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shimizu-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8530:1" rel="noopener">Shimizu (1803 JP)</a>. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nissan-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:72:1" rel="noopener">Nissan Motor (7201 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba (6502 JP)</a> will, hopefully, follow later in the week but may well be the 'sting in the trail'. </li>
</ul></div>


Source • Japan Analytics
CLOSURE - As the fashion amongst Japanese companies is not to make any full-year forecasts, there has been little change in our forecast-based metrics over the last week. Trailing-twelve-month (TTM) profits declined by ¥3 trillion and ¥2.5 trillion at the operating and net levels, respectively, over the week - closing the 'gap' to forecast considerably. There is still some upside to the market multiple from the numerator. For the time being, however, liquidity rules.In the DETAIL section below, we shall review Friday's announcements:-
The balance between positive/neutral/negative of the 106 results announcements was 52:4:50. The average change in Results Score was -1.2.
For the 49 revisions/initial forecasts, the split was 10:1:38, and the average Forecast/Revision Score was -10.0. Again, only one-third of companies reporting full-year results chose to make current year forecasts. 
As this highly-unusual disclosure period slowly winds down (7% of market cap has yet to report almost two months after books closed), 57 companies will announce results on Monday. The largest of these by market cap will be Ajinomoto (2802 JP), Hitachi (6501 JP), and Shimizu (1803 JP). Nissan Motor (7201 JP) and Toshiba (6502 JP) will, hopefully, follow later in the week but may well be the 'sting in the trail'. 


🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 22nd May - FUJIFILM, ASICS, Benesse

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/134/507/original/2020-05-20_06-42-32.png?1589924596" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="134507"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>STRAGGLERS</strong> - As we wind down this series of Insights, the 'gap' between our proxies for earnings and Total Market Cap is now the largest in fifteen years, courtesy of central bank liquidity injections. Our lagging Results Score has yet to breach the 2016 'low', a creditable outcome but will do so by August. We still await annual results for 'stragglers' <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/recruit-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15070:1" rel="noopener">Recruit (6098 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tokio-marine-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7591:1" rel="noopener">Tokio Marine (8766 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nissan-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:72:1" rel="noopener">Nissan Motor (7201 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi (6501 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fujifilm-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16353:1" rel="noopener">Fujifilm (4901 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba (6502 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hikari-tsushin-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4909:1" rel="noopener">Hikari Tsushin (9435 JP)</a>. </p><div><p>in the <strong>DETAIL</strong> below, we shall review Monday's updates:-</p></div><div><ul>
<li>The balance between positive/neutral/negative of the 51 results announcements was 21:3:27. The average change in Results Score was -1.1.</li>
<li>For the 24 revisions/initial forecasts, the split was 8:1:15, and the average Forecast/Revision Score was -5.4. Again less than 50% of companies reporting full-year results chose to make current year forecasts.</li>
</ul></div>

Source • Japan AnalyticsSTRAGGLERS - As we wind down this series of Insights, the 'gap' between our proxies for earnings and Total Market Cap is now the largest in fifteen years, courtesy of central bank liquidity injections. Our lagging Results Score has yet to breach the 2016 'low', a creditable outcome but will do so by August. We still await annual results for 'stragglers' Recruit (6098 JP), Tokio Marine (8766 JP), Nissan Motor (7201 JP), Hitachi (6501 JP), Fujifilm (4901 JP), Toshiba (6502 JP), and Hikari Tsushin (9435 JP). in the DETAIL below, we shall review Monday's updates:-
The balance between positive/neutral/negative of the 51 results announcements was 21:3:27. The average change in Results Score was -1.1.
For the 24 revisions/initial forecasts, the split was 8:1:15, and the average Forecast/Revision Score was -5.4. Again less than 50% of companies reporting full-year results chose to make current year forecasts.


🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 19th May - SEI, Kotobuki Spirits, Autobacs Seven

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<p>On April 7, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7797:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)</a> announced the <a href="https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2020/04/f_200407.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">results</a> of its Tender Offer for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hitachi-high-technologies-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7046:1" rel="noopener">Hitachi High Technologies Co (8036 JP)</a> which was that Hitachi had lifted its position to 124.525mm shares or 90.55% of voting rights. </p><p>That means that Hitachi has cleared the required 90% to commence (once settlement has occurred) the procedures for delisting and fast-track squeezeout.</p><p>The residual 9.45% is the largest squeezeout residual I can remember at ¥103.3bn. </p>

On April 7, Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP) announced the results of its Tender Offer for Hitachi High Technologies Co (8036 JP) which was that Hitachi had lifted its position to 124.525mm shares or 90.55% of voting rights. That means that Hitachi has cleared the required 90% to commence (once settlement has occurred) the procedures for delisting and fast-track squeezeout.The residual 9.45% is the largest squeezeout residual I can remember at ¥103.3bn. 

Hitachi Hi-Tech : Largest Japan Squeezeout Ever?

Japan

Hitachi, Ltd. manufactures communications and electronic equipment, heavy electrical and industrial machinery, and consumer electronics.  The Company's diverse product line ranges from nuclear power systems to kitchen appliances. Hitachi also operates subsidiaries in the wire and cable, metal, and chemical industries.

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Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 28th May - Nissan, Nikon & Toray

LIMPING HOME - 42 companies reported results on Thursday of which 32 were for the full-year. Of these, 38% made FY2021 forecasts of which only...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 27th May - Recruit, DNP & Dentsu

ALL GOOD - Japan has had a 'good' COVID-19 relative to many countries. With a little help from the Bank of Japan, Japanese equities are only 11%...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 22nd May - FUJIFILM, ASICS, Benesse

CLOSURE - As the fashion amongst Japanese companies is not to make any full-year forecasts, there has been little change in our forecast-based...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 19th May - SEI, Kotobuki Spirits, Autobacs Seven

STRAGGLERS - As we wind down this series of Insights, the 'gap' between our proxies for earnings and Total Market Cap is now the largest in fifteen...

Campbell Gunn

Hitachi Hi-Tech : Largest Japan Squeezeout Ever?

On April 7, Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP) announced the results of its Tender Offer for Hitachi High Technologies Co (8036 JP) which was that Hitachi had...

Travis Lundy

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