Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Visa Inc.</li><li>has had a solid start to fiscal year 2024, reporting in their latest earnings call a first quarter year-on-year increase in payments volume by 8%.</li><li>Key themes have included consistently providing excellent service to customers, seeking new partnerships, delivering innovative solutions and exploring new ways to amplify their brand to support their partners.</li></ul>

Visa Inc.has had a solid start to fiscal year 2024, reporting in their latest earnings call a first quarter year-on-year increase in payments volume by 8%.Key themes have included consistently providing excellent service to customers, seeking new partnerships, delivering innovative solutions and exploring new ways to amplify their brand to support their partners.

Visa Inc.: Strong Cross-Border Business Performance To Set Off US Slowdown! - Major Drivers

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>Constituent changes to the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-p-500-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22886:1" rel="noopener">S&amp;P 500 INDEX</a> and capping changes will result in a round-trip trade of US$15.9bn across the Select Sector indices and the S&amp;P500 Equal Weight Index.</li>
<li>The Select Sector index trackers and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/invesco-s-p-500-equal-weight-e" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32932:1" rel="noopener">S&amp;P 500 Equal Weight</a> trackers will need to buy <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/apollo-global-management-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28770:1" rel="noopener">Apollo Global Management</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/workday-inc-class-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5660:1" rel="noopener">Workday</a>, adding to the buying from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/s-p-500-index" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22886:1" rel="noopener">S&amp;P 500 INDEX</a> trackers.</li>
<li>The flows will change over the next week as stock prices move around and final capping is done after the close on 13 December.</li>
</ul>


Constituent changes to the S&amp;P 500 INDEX and capping changes will result in a round-trip trade of US$15.9bn across the Select Sector indices and the S&amp;P500 Equal Weight Index.
The Select Sector index trackers and S&amp;P 500 Equal Weight trackers will need to buy Apollo Global Management and Workday, adding to the buying from S&amp;P 500 INDEX trackers.
The flows will change over the next week as stock prices move around and final capping is done after the close on 13 December.


Select Sector Indices and S&P Equal Weight Rebalance: US$16bn Trade; More Buying for APO and WDAY

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>AI boom reflected in record fund ownership in ASML Holding NV (ASML NA), NVIDIA Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) (2330 TT).</li>
<li>The 'Magnificent 7' group of stocks have hit a record underweight of -6.83% below the MSCI ACWI index.  They collectively account for 11.2% of the average Global fund.</li>
<li>Recovery Stocks: The old guard of At&amp;T Inc (T US), International Business Machines (IBM US) and General Electric (GE US) appear to be gathering some support from active Global funds.</li>
</ul>


AI boom reflected in record fund ownership in ASML Holding NV (ASML NA), NVIDIA Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) (2330 TT).
The 'Magnificent 7' group of stocks have hit a record underweight of -6.83% below the MSCI ACWI index.  They collectively account for 11.2% of the average Global fund.
Recovery Stocks: The old guard of At&amp;T Inc (T US), International Business Machines (IBM US) and General Electric (GE US) appear to be gathering some support from active Global funds.


Global Stock Positioning:  MSFT Dominates, Mag7 Record U/W, Apple Inflows, Tobacco Uninvestable?

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

<ul>
<li>Our outlook remains bullish following the S&amp;P 500's multi-month base breakout above 5670, alongside healthy market dynamics which have continued to improve.</li>
<li>Two weeks ago, our election day report (11/5/24) was titled "Buy the Pullback," and with the SPX/QQQ/IWM pulling back to their 20-day MAs, it's time to buy the pullback <em>again</em>.</li>
<li>We continue to expect significant upside into year-end and early 2025, and we expect support at the 20-day MAs on the aforementioned indexes (though support at 50-day MAs is possible).</li>
</ul>


Our outlook remains bullish following the S&amp;P 500's multi-month base breakout above 5670, alongside healthy market dynamics which have continued to improve.
Two weeks ago, our election day report (11/5/24) was titled "Buy the Pullback," and with the SPX/QQQ/IWM pulling back to their 20-day MAs, it's time to buy the pullback again.
We continue to expect significant upside into year-end and early 2025, and we expect support at the 20-day MAs on the aforementioned indexes (though support at 50-day MAs is possible).


Buy the Pullback Again; S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000 Testing Confluence of Support

Global TMT Analyst, Ex-PM, 30 years experience

Neil Campling

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>China M1 and M2 data disappoints and reinforces deflationary risks. Closely watched Consumer Sentiment barometer, new &amp; used prices in top 70 cities, unequivocally weak</li>
<li>. Rise in the dynamic of US auto delinquencies is cause for concern</li>
<li>Corporate caution at investor conferences from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/coca-cola-co-the" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:979:1" rel="noopener">Coca Cola Co (KO US)</a> , <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/visa-inc-class-a-shares" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8707:1" rel="noopener">Visa (V US), </a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mondelez-international-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8111:1" rel="noopener">Mondelez International (MDLZ US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wendy-s-co-the" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2950:1" rel="noopener">Wendy's Co/The (WEN US), </a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dow-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19107:1" rel="noopener">Dow (DOW US)</a>, 3M and Campari</li>
</ul>


China M1 and M2 data disappoints and reinforces deflationary risks. Closely watched Consumer Sentiment barometer, new &amp; used prices in top 70 cities, unequivocally weak
. Rise in the dynamic of US auto delinquencies is cause for concern
Corporate caution at investor conferences from Coca Cola Co (KO US) , Visa (V US), Mondelez International (MDLZ US), Wendy's Co/The (WEN US), Dow (DOW US), 3M and Campari


Consumer Weekly. China Macro, US Auto Data, Visa, Coca-Cola, Wendy's, Mondelez, Campari, Ally

United States

Visa Inc. operates a retail electronic payments network and manages global financial services.  The Company also offers global commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses and government entities.

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Visa (V US)

Visa Inc.: Strong Cross-Border Business Performance To Set Off US Slowdown! - Major Drivers

Visa Inc. has had a solid start to fiscal year 2024, reporting in their latest earnings call a first quarter year-on-year increase in payments...

Baptista Research

Select Sector Indices and S&P Equal Weight Rebalance: US$16bn Trade; More Buying for APO and WDAY

Constituent changes to the SPX and capping changes result in a round-trip trade of US$15.9bn. Apollo Global, Workday, Exxon and McDonald's are...

Brian Freitas

Global Stock Positioning: MSFT Dominates, Mag7 Record U/W, Apple Inflows, Tobacco Uninvestable?

The latest in stock-level investor positioning among over 300 active Global funds. We explore the AI boom, key over/underweights, Tobacco's...

Steven Holden

Buy the Pullback Again; S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000 Testing Confluence of Support

Buy the Pullback Again, Same as Our Election Day Report; S&P 500 $SPX, Nasdaq 100 $QQQ, Russell 2000 $IWM Testing Confluence of Support at 20-day...

Vermilion Research

Consumer Weekly. China Macro, US Auto Data, Visa, Coca-Cola, Wendy's, Mondelez, Campari, Ally

China's weak M1 and M2 data signals deflationary risks, while US auto delinquencies and corporate caution at investor conferences raise concerns.

Neil Campling

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52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

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Dividend (Yield)

Visa Inc.: Strong Cross-Border Business Performance To Set Off US Slowdown! - Major Drivers

Visa Inc. has had a solid start to fiscal year 2024, reporting in their latest earnings call a first quarter year-on-year increase in payments...

Baptista Research

Select Sector Indices and S&P Equal Weight Rebalance: US$16bn Trade; More Buying for APO and WDAY

Constituent changes to the SPX and capping changes result in a round-trip trade of US$15.9bn. Apollo Global, Workday, Exxon and McDonald's are...

Brian Freitas

Global Stock Positioning: MSFT Dominates, Mag7 Record U/W, Apple Inflows, Tobacco Uninvestable?

The latest in stock-level investor positioning among over 300 active Global funds. We explore the AI boom, key over/underweights, Tobacco's...

Steven Holden

Buy the Pullback Again; S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000 Testing Confluence of Support

Buy the Pullback Again, Same as Our Election Day Report; S&P 500 $SPX, Nasdaq 100 $QQQ, Russell 2000 $IWM Testing Confluence of Support at 20-day...

Vermilion Research

Consumer Weekly. China Macro, US Auto Data, Visa, Coca-Cola, Wendy's, Mondelez, Campari, Ally

​China's weak M1 and M2 data signals deflationary risks, while US auto delinquencies and corporate caution at investor conferences raise concerns.

Neil Campling

China's weak M1 and M2 data signals deflationary risks, while US auto delinquencies and corporate caution at investor conferences raise concerns.