Telco/Internet specialist

Kirk Boodry

Redex Research

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><a target="_blank"></a>Coupang is by far the leader in one of the most compelling markets for eCommerce globally and one of the most attractive of the Vision Fund portfolio companies. But it is expensive: the $30 max offer price implies a 5x appreciation in value from its last private funding round in 2018 and a FY21 EV/sales multiple of 2.6x almost on par with Amazon which is a global leader in both eCommerce and cloud.  We value Coupang below the range at $26 using a 9-year DCF driven by 17% revenue CAGR and an 8% terminal OP margin.    </p><p>This report includes our initial forecasts, valuation, a summary of the investment highlights and a list of questions we would ask on the roadshow.</p><h2><strong>Highlights</strong></h2><p><strong>Coupang dominates a very attractive eCommerce market. </strong> Korea scores high on two measures of eCommerce predictive success, Internet penetration and population density and Coupang is by-far the leading provider. It helps that global competition has been unable to gain traction whilst traditional retailers are smaller scale relative to other markets.</p><p><strong>eCommerce demand has accelerated as Covid-19 accelerates augments a secular shift in retail sales to online platforms. </strong> Revenue growth expanded from 71% in Q4 19 to 100% in Q4 20 but expanding growth was a feature through 2019 as well. eCommerce penetration of c. 25% may have nearly doubled in FY20 although some of that demand shift may revert as the impact of Covid-19 fades.</p><p><strong>The company is flirting with profitability. </strong>Operating margins have moved from -30% in FY16 to -4% in FY20 with corresponding improvement in EBITDA (-30% to -3%).  In our model, we assume Coupang breaks even in FY21 although higher share-based compensation and/or higher spending as it puts IPO proceeds to work could extend that.</p><p><strong>But it is still burning a lot of cash.  </strong>Coupang might be close to break-even operationally but it has largely spent the money it received from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/softbank-group-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:315:1" rel="noopener">Softbank Group (9984 JP)</a>  in 2018. Over the last three years, $2.7bn has gone out the door including c. $800mn in FY20 alone (our measure of operating cash flow).</p><p><strong>Comparable valuations and relative changes to valuation highlight the premium valuation. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/coupang" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28425:1" rel="noopener">Coupang (CPNG US)</a> </strong> max offer price values the company similarly to Amazon on FY21 EV/sales (2.7x v 2.8x) but the latter is a global leader and not just in eCommerce but cloud too. Similarly, Coupang’s value appreciation from its last private funding and March 2020 lows has outpaced peer group, sometimes significantly.</p>

Coupang is by far the leader in one of the most compelling markets for eCommerce globally and one of the most attractive of the Vision Fund portfolio companies. But it is expensive: the $30 max offer price implies a 5x appreciation in value from its last private funding round in 2018 and a FY21 EV/sales multiple of 2.6x almost on par with Amazon which is a global leader in both eCommerce and cloud.  We value Coupang below the range at $26 using a 9-year DCF driven by 17% revenue CAGR and an 8% terminal OP margin.    This report includes our initial forecasts, valuation, a summary of the investment highlights and a list of questions we would ask on the roadshow.HighlightsCoupang dominates a very attractive eCommerce market.  Korea scores high on two measures of eCommerce predictive success, Internet penetration and population density and Coupang is by-far the leading provider. It helps that global competition has been unable to gain traction whilst traditional retailers are smaller scale relative to other markets.eCommerce demand has accelerated as Covid-19 accelerates augments a secular shift in retail sales to online platforms.  Revenue growth expanded from 71% in Q4 19 to 100% in Q4 20 but expanding growth was a feature through 2019 as well. eCommerce penetration of c. 25% may have nearly doubled in FY20 although some of that demand shift may revert as the impact of Covid-19 fades.The company is flirting with profitability. Operating margins have moved from -30% in FY16 to -4% in FY20 with corresponding improvement in EBITDA (-30% to -3%).  In our model, we assume Coupang breaks even in FY21 although higher share-based compensation and/or higher spending as it puts IPO proceeds to work could extend that.But it is still burning a lot of cash.  Coupang might be close to break-even operationally but it has largely spent the money it received from Softbank Group (9984 JP)  in 2018. Over the last three years, $2.7bn has gone out the door including c. $800mn in FY20 alone (our measure of operating cash flow).Comparable valuations and relative changes to valuation highlight the premium valuation. Coupang (CPNG US)  max offer price values the company similarly to Amazon on FY21 EV/sales (2.7x v 2.8x) but the latter is a global leader and not just in eCommerce but cloud too. Similarly, Coupang’s value appreciation from its last private funding and March 2020 lows has outpaced peer group, sometimes significantly.

Coupang IPO and Softbank Group - A Vision Fund Jewel Emerges but It Is Pricey

ASEAN Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Angus Mackintosh

ASEAN Insight Provider

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

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<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> released a set of what can be described as blowout 4Q2020 and FY2020 results, with +103% growth YoY in total GAAP revenues in 4Q2020, +111% growth in total GAAP Digital Entertainment Revenues, and a spectacular +178% YoY growth in e-commerce revenues for 4Q2020. What was also highly encouraging was the company's guidance for FY2021, which seems well-ahead of analyst expectations, which will likely need to play catch up.</p>
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<p>The digital entertainment business saw a continued growth of its user base both in terms of quarterly active users and quarterly paying active users.</p>
<p>Bookings for the digital entertainment business were US$1bn, up +111% whilst adjusted EBITDA came in at US$663.5m, up by +149.1% YoY.</p>
<p>The company's self-developed game <em>Free Fire </em>was the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2020, maintaining its pole position for the second year running.</p>
<p>In the e-commerce business, the company registered a +135% growth in gross orders to 1,0233.2m and +113% growth in gross merchandise orders (GMV) to US$11.9bn.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> is also seeing increasing adoption of its Sea Money offerings with its mobile wallet generating US$2.9bn in transaction value in 4Q2020 and 23.2m quarterly paying users.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sea-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8509:1" rel="noopener">Sea Ltd (SE US)</a> has also acquired a 100% stake in Composite Capital Management, a Hong Kong licensed global investment management firm founded and led by David Ma. This will effectively become an incubator for the company's investments.</p>
<p>The company has also recently appointed Dr Yan Shuicheng as its Chief Science Officer to build and lead Sea AI Labs. He is a leading expert in developing artificial intelligence, with a key focus on computer vision, machine learning, and multimedia analysis.</p>
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<section class="figure">For FY2021 guidance, the company is expecting significant sales growth for both digital entertainment and e-commerce, which suggests numbers significantly above current analyst expectations.</section>


Sea Ltd (SE US) released a set of what can be described as blowout 4Q2020 and FY2020 results, with +103% growth YoY in total GAAP revenues in 4Q2020, +111% growth in total GAAP Digital Entertainment Revenues, and a spectacular +178% YoY growth in e-commerce revenues for 4Q2020. What was also highly encouraging was the company's guidance for FY2021, which seems well-ahead of analyst expectations, which will likely need to play catch up.

The digital entertainment business saw a continued growth of its user base both in terms of quarterly active users and quarterly paying active users.
Bookings for the digital entertainment business were US$1bn, up +111% whilst adjusted EBITDA came in at US$663.5m, up by +149.1% YoY.
The company's self-developed game Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2020, maintaining its pole position for the second year running.
In the e-commerce business, the company registered a +135% growth in gross orders to 1,0233.2m and +113% growth in gross merchandise orders (GMV) to US$11.9bn.
Sea Ltd (SE US) is also seeing increasing adoption of its Sea Money offerings with its mobile wallet generating US$2.9bn in transaction value in 4Q2020 and 23.2m quarterly paying users.
Sea Ltd (SE US) has also acquired a 100% stake in Composite Capital Management, a Hong Kong licensed global investment management firm founded and led by David Ma. This will effectively become an incubator for the company's investments.
The company has also recently appointed Dr Yan Shuicheng as its Chief Science Officer to build and lead Sea AI Labs. He is a leading expert in developing artificial intelligence, with a key focus on computer vision, machine learning, and multimedia analysis.



For FY2021 guidance, the company is expecting significant sales growth for both digital entertainment and e-commerce, which suggests numbers significantly above current analyst expectations.

Sea Ltd (SE US) - Metamorphosis in Motion

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Capital Markets

<p><strong>Tuya</strong> is one of the global leaders in the IoT based software products and solutions. In 2020, Tuya powered over 116.5 million smart devices, making Tuya the largest IoT PaaS business in the global market of IoT PaaS in terms of the volume of smart devices powered.</p><p>Established in 2014, the Hangzhou, China based Tuya plans to list on the NYSE. Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, and CICC are the joint bookrunners in this IPO. The company has put the IPO placeholder at $100 million but this could be raised to as much as <a href="http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/aafn-news/NOW.1075476/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1 billion. </a></p><p>Similar to how smartphones and mobile connectivity has changed the world in the past decade, there is a huge amount of interest in<strong> IoT (Internet of Things)</strong> driven technology which is just starting to get penetrated in businesses around the world. Similar to how smartphones have allowed millions of people to be better "connected", the IoT technology will now enable the "machines to be connected" to the network, enabling greater business efficiencies and new revenue opportunities. </p><p>The company generated revenue of $179.9 million (up 70% YoY) and gross profit of $61.9 million (up 122.8% YoY) in 2020. Gross margin of the company improved from 26.3% in 2019 to 34.4% in 2020. Loss from operations as a percentage of revenue improved from -69.4% in 2019 to -38.8% in 2020.</p>

Tuya is one of the global leaders in the IoT based software products and solutions. In 2020, Tuya powered over 116.5 million smart devices, making Tuya the largest IoT PaaS business in the global market of IoT PaaS in terms of the volume of smart devices powered.Established in 2014, the Hangzhou, China based Tuya plans to list on the NYSE. Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, and CICC are the joint bookrunners in this IPO. The company has put the IPO placeholder at $100 million but this could be raised to as much as $1 billion. Similar to how smartphones and mobile connectivity has changed the world in the past decade, there is a huge amount of interest in IoT (Internet of Things) driven technology which is just starting to get penetrated in businesses around the world. Similar to how smartphones have allowed millions of people to be better "connected", the IoT technology will now enable the "machines to be connected" to the network, enabling greater business efficiencies and new revenue opportunities. The company generated revenue of $179.9 million (up 70% YoY) and gross profit of $61.9 million (up 122.8% YoY) in 2020. Gross margin of the company improved from 26.3% in 2019 to 34.4% in 2020. Loss from operations as a percentage of revenue improved from -69.4% in 2019 to -38.8% in 2020.

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.

Autohome Inc (Adr) / Equity Capital Markets

<p>Autohome plans to raise around US$864m in its secondary listing in Hong Kong. Unlike the prior secondary listing, this one contains a sell down as well</p>
<p>I have covered most aspects of the deal in my earlier note, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/autohome-secondary-listing-doesn-t-need-the-cash-at-all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Autohome Secondary Listing - Doesn’t Need the Cash at All. </a>In this note, I'll only touch upon the updates since my last note.</p>

Autohome plans to raise around US$864m in its secondary listing in Hong Kong. Unlike the prior secondary listing, this one contains a sell down as well
I have covered most aspects of the deal in my earlier note, Autohome Secondary Listing - Doesn’t Need the Cash at All. In this note, I'll only touch upon the updates since my last note.

Autohome Secondary Listing - Going Down a Different Route

<p>Coupang, one of the largest product e-commerce players in Korea, aims to raise up to US$3.6bn in its US listing via a mix of selling primary and secondary shares. In this note, we’ll talk about the lock-up, index inclusion and run the deal through our framework.</p><div><p>Coupang offers its 14.8m customers a wide range of owned-inventory selection. In addition, on its marketplace it also offers millions of SKUs sourced from over 200,000 merchants. Apart from normal e-commerce operation, it also provides its customers with: grocery offering, Rocket Fresh; logistics food delivery offering, Coupang Eats; and digital financial services, Coupang Pay.</p></div><div><p>I've covered various aspects of the deal in my earlier insights: </p></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/coupang-pre-ipo-the-positives-fast-growth-sticky-customers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coupang Pre-IPO - The Positives - Fast Growth, Sticky Customers</a>, </li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/coupang-pre-ipo-the-negatives-horrendous-data-disclosures-including-no-mention-of-ott-launch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coupang Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Horrendous Data Disclosures, Including No Mention of OTT Launch</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/coupang-pre-ipo-fair-bit-of-competition-but-it-s-doing-better-than-most-local-peers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coupang Pre-IPO - Fair Bit of Competition but It’s Doing Better than Most Local Peers</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/coupang-pre-ipo-earnings-forecast-and-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coupang Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation</a></li>
</ul></div>

Coupang, one of the largest product e-commerce players in Korea, aims to raise up to US$3.6bn in its US listing via a mix of selling primary and secondary shares. In this note, we’ll talk about the lock-up, index inclusion and run the deal through our framework.Coupang offers its 14.8m customers a wide range of owned-inventory selection. In addition, on its marketplace it also offers millions of SKUs sourced from over 200,000 merchants. Apart from normal e-commerce operation, it also provides its customers with: grocery offering, Rocket Fresh; logistics food delivery offering, Coupang Eats; and digital financial services, Coupang Pay.I've covered various aspects of the deal in my earlier insights: 

Coupang Pre-IPO - The Positives - Fast Growth, Sticky Customers, 
Coupang Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Horrendous Data Disclosures, Including No Mention of OTT Launch
Coupang Pre-IPO - Fair Bit of Competition but It’s Doing Better than Most Local Peers
Coupang Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation


Coupang IPO - Momentum Play, Unequal Lock-Up, Index Inclusion

China

Alibaba Group Holding Limited provides online sales services. The Company provides internet infrastructure, electronic commerce, online financial, and internet content services through its subsidiaries. Alibaba Group Holding offers its products and services worldwide.

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Alibaba Group Holding (BABA US)

Coupang IPO and Softbank Group - A Vision Fund Jewel Emerges but It Is Pricey

Coupang's IPO is a win for the company and its largest holder Softbank but the max offer price of $30 is too pricey - we think it is worth closer...

Kirk Boodry

Sea Ltd (SE US) - Metamorphosis in Motion

Sea Ltd continues to achieve higher than expected rates of growth both for its digital entertainment and e-commerce business, with digital...

Angus Mackintosh

Tuya IPO Preview - An IoT Powerhouse

Tuya is one of the global leaders in the IoT based software products and services. This IPO could be in hot demand, especially among investors that...

Douglas Kim

Autohome Secondary Listing - Going Down a Different Route

Autohome plans to raise around US$864m in its secondary listing in Hong Kong. Unlike the prior secondary listing, this one contains a sell down as...

Sumeet Singh

Coupang IPO - Momentum Play, Unequal Lock-Up, Index Inclusion

Coupang aims to raise up to US$3.6bn in its US listing via selling primary and secondary shares. In this note, we’ll talk about the lock-up, index...

Sumeet Singh

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