'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.

Equity Bottom-Up

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/158/135/original/File%202020-09-10%209%2036%2022.jpeg?1599698266" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="158135"></figure><div style="text-align: center;" class="content-caption">Source: Daikin</div><p><strong>GLOBAL LEADER</strong> - Daikin is one of Japan's few global enterprises, and the company is rightly proud of its status as the 'world's No.1 air-conditioning company'. Based on the company's FY21 forecast, Japan represents only 23% of sales - over US$6 billion of revenues are to sourced from the Americas, one of the largest exposures of any non-auto company to that region. Daikin has benefited from its sole focus on A/C and a lack, as yet, of a viable Chinese competitor.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/158/140/original/2020-09-10_10-15-46.png?1599700558" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="158140"></figure><p>In the <strong>DETAIL</strong> section below,  we shall review Daikin's financial performance, returns and valuation. We shall not attempt to forecast the prospects for the A/C industry or assess Daikin's competitive position. Nevertheless, we expect A/C market growth to continue to exceed GDP growth and for Daikin to continue to gain market share globally, including through acquisitions. We expect the company to use the ¥183 billion increase in net debt in the last quarter to expand its global presence further.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/158/139/original/2020-09-10_10-15-08.png?1599700517" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="158139"></figure><p><strong>PERFECTION</strong> - By bidding up Daikin's shares by 50% in the last six months, the market has looked far beyond COVID-19 and has anticipated much of the company's incremental medium-term growth. At a current EV/Peak OP of 20.3 times, Daikin has only been as expensive by this metric in 1996 and 2000.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/158/162/original/2020-09-10_10-34-13.png?1599701664" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="158162"></figure>

Source: DaikinGLOBAL LEADER - Daikin is one of Japan's few global enterprises, and the company is rightly proud of its status as the 'world's No.1 air-conditioning company'. Based on the company's FY21 forecast, Japan represents only 23% of sales - over US$6 billion of revenues are to sourced from the Americas, one of the largest exposures of any non-auto company to that region. Daikin has benefited from its sole focus on A/C and a lack, as yet, of a viable Chinese competitor.In the DETAIL section below,  we shall review Daikin's financial performance, returns and valuation. We shall not attempt to forecast the prospects for the A/C industry or assess Daikin's competitive position. Nevertheless, we expect A/C market growth to continue to exceed GDP growth and for Daikin to continue to gain market share globally, including through acquisitions. We expect the company to use the ¥183 billion increase in net debt in the last quarter to expand its global presence further.PERFECTION - By bidding up Daikin's shares by 50% in the last six months, the market has looked far beyond COVID-19 and has anticipated much of the company's incremental medium-term growth. At a current EV/Peak OP of 20.3 times, Daikin has only been as expensive by this metric in 1996 and 2000.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Daikin (6367 JP) - Perfect Pricing

Managing Director

Elan Gore

TMI Data Science

TMI Data Science utilizes Natural Language Processing to build custom leading indicators using unstructured data sourced from the global financial, trade & traditional media.  Our proprietary software, TMI Machine, is a text-mining platform designed with the buy-side & capital markets professional in mind, text-mining the global media to discern and quantify nuanced qualitative shifts in press coverage as they apply to macroeconomics, equity indexes/ETFs, commodities, currencies, fixed income & individual equities.  TMI provides custom leading indicators and systematic trading strategies, operating at the nexus of linguistics & statistics drawing on vast experience in investment banking and hedge fund settings in senior quantitative and fundamental roles.  

TMI Data Science was founded by Elan Gore, an award-winning Senior Global Basic Materials Equity Analyst & China Economist with 15 years of experience in North American hedge funds & institutional managers; and Alessandro Porrino, Ph.D., an Algorithmic Trading Analyst and Programmer with 10 years of front-office experience ranging from complex FX option pricing to auto-hedging strategies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Standard Chartered.  Mr. Gore holds an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business, and Mr. Porrino holds a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Brunel University London.

Quantitative Analysis

<p>After weather-driven weakness earlier in the summer, TMI's text-mined Machinery Sentiment Indicator recovered to +1.8x STDEV this week, its best reading since January, with our news attribution pointing to China infrastructure as the key catalyst.  Unlike the US, where residential is currently the sole source of construction growth while infrastructure lags (see our <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/tmi-snapshot-sentiment-analysis-suggests-infrastructure-likely-a-drag-on-us-non-res-construction" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:43050" rel="noopener">TMI Snapshot: Sentiment Analysis Suggests Infrastructure Likely A Drag On US Non-Res Construction</a>), our China indicators are showing the exact opposite dynamic as the momentum of the earlier post-COVID residential property boom slows down while infrastructure starts picking up the slack.</p>

After weather-driven weakness earlier in the summer, TMI's text-mined Machinery Sentiment Indicator recovered to +1.8x STDEV this week, its best reading since January, with our news attribution pointing to China infrastructure as the key catalyst.  Unlike the US, where residential is currently the sole source of construction growth while infrastructure lags (see our TMI Snapshot: Sentiment Analysis Suggests Infrastructure Likely A Drag On US Non-Res Construction), our China indicators are showing the exact opposite dynamic as the momentum of the earlier post-COVID residential property boom slows down while infrastructure starts picking up the slack.

TMI Snapshot:  Machinery Sentiment Indicator At 8-Month High on China Infrastructure Push

Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

<p>Komatsu and HCM offer slightly different views on regional recovery paths with Komatsu suggesting developed market demand could recovery earlier while HCM points to regions such as India. China has been the strong point in the Apr-Jun quarter although Komatsu has capitalised on this better than HCM. Meanwhile, the domestic market has been surprisingly resilient. What should reassure investors is that Komatsu’s Komtrax data is pointing to normalisation across numerous countries from Jun onwards.</p>

Komatsu and HCM offer slightly different views on regional recovery paths with Komatsu suggesting developed market demand could recovery earlier while HCM points to regions such as India. China has been the strong point in the Apr-Jun quarter although Komatsu has capitalised on this better than HCM. Meanwhile, the domestic market has been surprisingly resilient. What should reassure investors is that Komatsu’s Komtrax data is pointing to normalisation across numerous countries from Jun onwards.

Komatsu and HCM – Komtrax Suggests Recovery In Store

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

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<div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
<p><strong>THE CASH CONVERSION CYCLE</strong> - Net Working Capital is a measure of how efficiently a company manages its short-term assets and liabilities to generate cash and is also known as the Cash Conversion Cycle. In practice, Net Working Capital is scaled by the number of days of Revenue or Cost of Goods Sold that are 'tied' up in three components - Receivables, Inventory, and Payables.</p>
<p><strong>Net Working Capital Days</strong> varies by industry and the lower the number, the better. Amounts over 210 days are excessive, and a sign of business stress.  Net Working Capital is defined as:-</p>
<ul>
<li>
<strong>+ Receivables/Revenue </strong>- the average number of days required to collect on sales. Businesses usually extend a degree of credit to non-cash customers.  Receivables Days over 100 are excessive.</li>
<li>
<strong>+ Inventory/Cost of Goods Sold -</strong> the average number of days it takes to sell out of Inventory. Amounts vary widely by industry but days over 210 are excessive.</li>
<li>- <strong>Payables/Cost of Goods Sold -</strong>the average number of days the company takes to settle transactions with suppliers. By extending nominally interest-free credit, suppliers provide operating leverage to a business. A larger negative number is better, but days less than -100 are excessive.</li>
</ul>
<p>The relationship between Receivables and Payables should also be considered particularly where the company is giving more generous credit terms to its customers than it receives from its suppliers. The Cash Conversion Cycle for the aggregate of all non-financial currently-listed Japanese companies has averaged 77 days over the last thirty years. However, over the previous twelve months., a fourteen-day rise in Inventory Days during the last four years has pushed Net Working Capital Days to 93.</p>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/143/529/original/2020-06-30_15-09-41.png?1593497395" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="143529"></figure>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/143/530/original/2020-06-30_15-10-32.png?1593497471" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="143530"></figure>
<div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
<div class="content-caption"></div>
<p><strong>NET WORKING CAPITAL DAYS AS A STRESS TEST</strong> - The correlation between Net Working Capital Days and relative performance varies by company and by Sectors. The examples above show how signals can be heeded -  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikon-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7117:1" rel="noopener">Nikon (7731 JP)</a>, or ignored - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/smc-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20866:1" rel="noopener">SMC (6273 JP)</a> since 2018. (For more on SMC working capital issues, please see my colleague <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/scott-foster" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:1134" rel="noopener">Scott Foster</a>'s Insight of last year - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/smc-6273-jp-getting-in-line-with-reality" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:30081" rel="noopener">SMC (6273 JP): Getting in Line with Reality</a>).   </p>
<p>For this Insight, we have limited our review to larger capitalisation manufacturing companies. In the<strong> DETAIL</strong> section below, we shall cover the outliers at both ends of <strong>Receivables Days</strong>, <strong>Inventory Days</strong>, <strong>Payables Days</strong>, and finally <strong>Net Working Capital Days</strong>.</p>


Source • Japan Analytics
THE CASH CONVERSION CYCLE - Net Working Capital is a measure of how efficiently a company manages its short-term assets and liabilities to generate cash and is also known as the Cash Conversion Cycle. In practice, Net Working Capital is scaled by the number of days of Revenue or Cost of Goods Sold that are 'tied' up in three components - Receivables, Inventory, and Payables.
Net Working Capital Days varies by industry and the lower the number, the better. Amounts over 210 days are excessive, and a sign of business stress.  Net Working Capital is defined as:-


+ Receivables/Revenue - the average number of days required to collect on sales. Businesses usually extend a degree of credit to non-cash customers.  Receivables Days over 100 are excessive.

+ Inventory/Cost of Goods Sold - the average number of days it takes to sell out of Inventory. Amounts vary widely by industry but days over 210 are excessive.
- Payables/Cost of Goods Sold -the average number of days the company takes to settle transactions with suppliers. By extending nominally interest-free credit, suppliers provide operating leverage to a business. A larger negative number is better, but days less than -100 are excessive.

The relationship between Receivables and Payables should also be considered particularly where the company is giving more generous credit terms to its customers than it receives from its suppliers. The Cash Conversion Cycle for the aggregate of all non-financial currently-listed Japanese companies has averaged 77 days over the last thirty years. However, over the previous twelve months., a fourteen-day rise in Inventory Days during the last four years has pushed Net Working Capital Days to 93.


Source • Japan Analytics

NET WORKING CAPITAL DAYS AS A STRESS TEST - The correlation between Net Working Capital Days and relative performance varies by company and by Sectors. The examples above show how signals can be heeded -  Nikon (7731 JP), or ignored - SMC (6273 JP) since 2018. (For more on SMC working capital issues, please see my colleague Scott Foster's Insight of last year - SMC (6273 JP): Getting in Line with Reality).   
For this Insight, we have limited our review to larger capitalisation manufacturing companies. In the DETAIL section below, we shall cover the outliers at both ends of Receivables Days, Inventory Days, Payables Days, and finally Net Working Capital Days.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Stress Tests Part 5: Net Working Capital Outliers

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/134/299/original/2020-05-19_06-46-49.png?1589838438" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="134299"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><div><p>As this quarter's results and revisions announcements wind down, 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 <strong>50</strong> results announcements was <strong>23:2:25</strong>. </li>
<li>For the <strong>24</strong> revisions/initial forecasts, the split was <strong>6:0:18</strong>, and the average Revision Score was <strong>-6.1</strong>. </li>
</ul></div>

Source • Japan AnalyticsAs this quarter's results and revisions announcements wind down, in the DETAIL below, we shall review Monday's updates:-
The balance between positive/neutral/negative of the 50 results announcements was 23:2:25. 
For the 24 revisions/initial forecasts, the split was 6:0:18, and the average Revision Score was -6.1. 


🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 18th May - Panasonic, Komatsu, Terumo, Sundrug & The Corona Valley

Japan

KOMATSU LTD. manufactures and sells construction and mining machinery, including excavators, bulldozers, and wheel loaders.  The Company, operating on a global scale, also produces forklift trucks and engineering equipment such as press system.

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Komatsu Ltd (6301 JP)

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Daikin (6367 JP) - Perfect Pricing

GLOBAL LEADER - Daikin is one of Japan's few g

Campbell Gunn

TMI Snapshot: Machinery Sentiment Indicator At 8-Month High on China Infrastructure Push

TMI's Machinery Indicator has surged t

Elan Gore

Komatsu and HCM – Komtrax Suggests Recovery In Store

Komatsu and HCM offer slightly different views on regional recovery paths with Komatsu suggesting developed market demand could recovery earlier...

Mio Kato

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Stress Tests Part 5: Net Working Capital Outliers

THE CASH CONVERSION CYCLE - Net Working Capital is a measure of how efficiently a company manages its short-term assets and liabilities to...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions 18th May - Panasonic, Komatsu, Terumo, Sundrug & The Corona Valley

As this quarter's results and revisions announcements wind down, in the DETAIL below, we shall review Monday's updates:- The balance between...

Campbell Gunn

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