Independent Asian Credit Research, Bondcritic

Warut Promboon

Independent Asian Credit Research

Asian Fixed Income/Frontier Market Research

Bondcritic

Bondcritic, established in 2009, is designed to be an independent credit research voice that helps investors gain insights and unbiased analyses on Asian fixed income market. Our mission is to discover deep-value Asian high-yield and distressed bonds with a bottom-up approach, together with the help of our proprietary ESG (Environmental, Social Development, and Governance) model. At the same time, we focus on bringing investment cases of unrated and unloved issuers to the general public.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p style="text-align: justify;">A month after we pointed out the risk emanating from the new strain of a Corona virus (COVID-19) to the global economic recovery, the market still cannot fathom how bad this crisis will be. We were worried on the local outbreak outside China and here we are, the outbreaks in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Iran; away from Asia where it all started.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Though we heard it could take anywhere from 12-18 months to develop the vaccine and the situation in China is improving, the situation in the western hemisphere is no nowhere near the peak. Assuming China has gone over the peak in 2 months (mid-January to mid-March) and it will take the western hemisphere and Iran to go over the peak in exactly the same duration, 2 months is a long time and anything can happen, in our view. Then after mid-May when the “carpet bombing” will have finished, we still need to re-assess the damage which could take months to know factually. The two unknowns are (1) how bad the infection would be in the US and Europe, given the level of unpreparedness, and (2) how much damage this virus will be on the global economy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We are of the opinion that the damage will be very difficult to gauge as the proportion of the virus infection has never happened in recent history. We are of the opinion that COVID-19 fears will be here to stay until the vaccine is successfully developed. The return of COVID-19 in September after the summer in northern hemisphere cannot be ruled out.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We believe central banks are seeing what we see and will come out with more quantitative easing measures and fiscal stimulus in such a large scale, following the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England’s recent 50-bp cut. A failure to stimulate the global economy at the scale of Lehman default crisis in September 2008 could see a further adjustment, in our view. What makes it harder for central banks this time around is that consumer confidence is affected by the fear of infection and death caused by COVID-19 which money cannot help alleviate. As a result, the failure to reassure public safety will make the QE or the fiscal stimulus package ineffective, in our judgment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>We are bracing for a global recession this year and expect volatility to persist for another 2 months as a result of pandemic conditions in the US and Europe. We do not believe risky assets should be accumulated at the time of this report on too many uncertainties.</strong> In the longer run, lower oil prices on Saudi-Russia conflict will benefit Asia as a net oil importer. We expect further spread widening for emerging markets bonds as defaults are expected to rise significantly.</p>

A month after we pointed out the risk emanating from the new strain of a Corona virus (COVID-19) to the global economic recovery, the market still cannot fathom how bad this crisis will be. We were worried on the local outbreak outside China and here we are, the outbreaks in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Iran; away from Asia where it all started.
Though we heard it could take anywhere from 12-18 months to develop the vaccine and the situation in China is improving, the situation in the western hemisphere is no nowhere near the peak. Assuming China has gone over the peak in 2 months (mid-January to mid-March) and it will take the western hemisphere and Iran to go over the peak in exactly the same duration, 2 months is a long time and anything can happen, in our view. Then after mid-May when the “carpet bombing” will have finished, we still need to re-assess the damage which could take months to know factually. The two unknowns are (1) how bad the infection would be in the US and Europe, given the level of unpreparedness, and (2) how much damage this virus will be on the global economy.
We are of the opinion that the damage will be very difficult to gauge as the proportion of the virus infection has never happened in recent history. We are of the opinion that COVID-19 fears will be here to stay until the vaccine is successfully developed. The return of COVID-19 in September after the summer in northern hemisphere cannot be ruled out.
We believe central banks are seeing what we see and will come out with more quantitative easing measures and fiscal stimulus in such a large scale, following the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England’s recent 50-bp cut. A failure to stimulate the global economy at the scale of Lehman default crisis in September 2008 could see a further adjustment, in our view. What makes it harder for central banks this time around is that consumer confidence is affected by the fear of infection and death caused by COVID-19 which money cannot help alleviate. As a result, the failure to reassure public safety will make the QE or the fiscal stimulus package ineffective, in our judgment.
We are bracing for a global recession this year and expect volatility to persist for another 2 months as a result of pandemic conditions in the US and Europe. We do not believe risky assets should be accumulated at the time of this report on too many uncertainties. In the longer run, lower oil prices on Saudi-Russia conflict will benefit Asia as a net oil importer. We expect further spread widening for emerging markets bonds as defaults are expected to rise significantly.

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

ja research

ja research is an independent research platform focused exclusively on Japanese equities. Leveraging data and graphic analysis provided by Japan Analytics, we provide insights on small and medium-sized companies that have been ignored by the sell-side as well as challenging conventional wisdom on larger companies. We also offer analyst and corporate access, the latter with translation if required. 

Quantitative Analysis

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/122/342/original/2020-03-11_11-02-32.png?1583892183" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="122342"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/122/590/original/2020-03-12_07-42-03.png?1583966536" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="122590"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>CUMULATIVE CASH FLOWS</strong> - In this third and final of our series on Japanese companies that might be compromised as the <em>Covid-19 recession</em> unfolds,  we shall look at <strong>Cumulative Cash Flows</strong>. Our cash flow model is derived from the disclosed Balance Sheets and Statements of Comprehensive Income and balances to zero for every company for every comparable period. Variations in disclosure between the audited annual <em>yuho</em> and unaudited quarterly <em>kessan tanshin</em> reports, notably when the company is reporting under the weaker IFRS standard can result in unavoidable quarter-to-quarter variations. Consequently, our analysis will focus on year-on-year changes as of the most recent quarterly disclosure irrespective of fiscal year-end.  Our review will cover six principal cash flow metrics:-</p><ul>
<li>
<strong>Operating Cash Flow</strong> - Operating Cash Flow comprises all cash flow items relating to transactions with customers and suppliers except inventory cash flows.</li>
<li>
<strong>Investing Cash Flow</strong> - Investing Cash Flow comprises cash flow to or from Fixed Assets and Inventories. Unlike GAAP Cash Flows Statements, It does not include investments in financial assets.</li>
<li>
<strong>Inventory Cash Flow</strong> - A sub-set of Investing Cash Flow, inventory Cash Flow is the change in Inventory on the Balance Sheet. </li>
<li>
<strong>Free Cash Flow</strong> - Free Cash Flow the sum of Operating Cash Flow, Fixed Asset Cash Flow and Inventory Cash Flow.</li>
<li>
<strong>Financing Cash Flow</strong> - Financing Cash Flow comprises Debt &amp; Lease Liabilities, Investments and the taxation that is allocated to Financing Cash Flow. Debt &amp; Lease Liabilities includes changes in Short and Long-Term Debt and Lease Liabilities and Interest and Bond Issuance Expenses.' Investments' includes Interest &amp; Dividend Income, Purchases and Sales of Securities, Loans, Gains and Losses on Marketable Securities and Equity Earnings.</li>
<li><p><strong>Change in Cash - </strong>Change in Cash is the sum of Free Cash Flow, Financing Cash Flow and Shareholder Cash Flow after including Minorities &amp; Adjustments. </p></li>
</ul><p><strong>EXCLUDED</strong> - Four companies have been excluded from our review as they have substantial financial subsidiaries - <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/z-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19603:1" rel="noopener">Z Holdings (4689 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten (4755 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sony-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:563:1" rel="noopener">Sony (6758 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:359:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post (6178 JP)</a> which distort their balance sheets. We have also excluded companies with a current market cap below ¥50b, although some exceptions have been made for abnormally large movements, such as those in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-display-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8280:1" rel="noopener">Japan Display (6740 JP).</a></p><p><strong><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba (6502 JP)</a></strong>-  As an example of our analysis, Toshiba has seen the largest reduction in Cash as a percentage of market value over the last twelve months of any large-cap Japanese company. Toshiba's cash balance has declined by ¥1.4 trillion since peaking in 2019-Q2 - 114% of the current market cap. 70% of the cash generated between 2018-Q4 and 2019-Q2 has been allocated to share repurchases, dividends and cash reduction. The company's net cash remains at a healthy 51% of market value and 43% of Shareholders' Equity; however, Cumulative Operating Cash Flow will fall below zero in the current quarter. There are few additional reductions in Fixed Assets and Inventories that can be sustained without irreparable damage. <strong>The logic of buying back shares in an entity that has negative residual returns is not clear to us. Despite the potential for a TOPIX re-inclusion 'bounce', fundamentally the stock should be avoided.</strong></p><div class="content-highlight"><p>In the <strong>DETAIL </strong>Section below, we shall look at the top (or bottom) thirty large-cap companies on each of the metric above scaled by market capitalisation. </p></div>

Source • Japan AnalyticsCUMULATIVE CASH FLOWS - In this third and final of our series on Japanese companies that might be compromised as the Covid-19 recession unfolds,  we shall look at Cumulative Cash Flows. Our cash flow model is derived from the disclosed Balance Sheets and Statements of Comprehensive Income and balances to zero for every company for every comparable period. Variations in disclosure between the audited annual yuho and unaudited quarterly kessan tanshin reports, notably when the company is reporting under the weaker IFRS standard can result in unavoidable quarter-to-quarter variations. Consequently, our analysis will focus on year-on-year changes as of the most recent quarterly disclosure irrespective of fiscal year-end.  Our review will cover six principal cash flow metrics:-

Operating Cash Flow - Operating Cash Flow comprises all cash flow items relating to transactions with customers and suppliers except inventory cash flows.

Investing Cash Flow - Investing Cash Flow comprises cash flow to or from Fixed Assets and Inventories. Unlike GAAP Cash Flows Statements, It does not include investments in financial assets.

Inventory Cash Flow - A sub-set of Investing Cash Flow, inventory Cash Flow is the change in Inventory on the Balance Sheet. 

Free Cash Flow - Free Cash Flow the sum of Operating Cash Flow, Fixed Asset Cash Flow and Inventory Cash Flow.

Financing Cash Flow - Financing Cash Flow comprises Debt &amp; Lease Liabilities, Investments and the taxation that is allocated to Financing Cash Flow. Debt &amp; Lease Liabilities includes changes in Short and Long-Term Debt and Lease Liabilities and Interest and Bond Issuance Expenses.' Investments' includes Interest &amp; Dividend Income, Purchases and Sales of Securities, Loans, Gains and Losses on Marketable Securities and Equity Earnings.
Change in Cash - Change in Cash is the sum of Free Cash Flow, Financing Cash Flow and Shareholder Cash Flow after including Minorities &amp; Adjustments. 
EXCLUDED - Four companies have been excluded from our review as they have substantial financial subsidiaries - Z Holdings (4689 JP), Rakuten (4755 JP), Sony (6758 JP), Japan Post (6178 JP) which distort their balance sheets. We have also excluded companies with a current market cap below ¥50b, although some exceptions have been made for abnormally large movements, such as those in Japan Display (6740 JP).Toshiba (6502 JP)-  As an example of our analysis, Toshiba has seen the largest reduction in Cash as a percentage of market value over the last twelve months of any large-cap Japanese company. Toshiba's cash balance has declined by ¥1.4 trillion since peaking in 2019-Q2 - 114% of the current market cap. 70% of the cash generated between 2018-Q4 and 2019-Q2 has been allocated to share repurchases, dividends and cash reduction. The company's net cash remains at a healthy 51% of market value and 43% of Shareholders' Equity; however, Cumulative Operating Cash Flow will fall below zero in the current quarter. There are few additional reductions in Fixed Assets and Inventories that can be sustained without irreparable damage. The logic of buying back shares in an entity that has negative residual returns is not clear to us. Despite the potential for a TOPIX re-inclusion 'bounce', fundamentally the stock should be avoided.In the DETAIL Section below, we shall look at the top (or bottom) thirty large-cap companies on each of the metric above scaled by market capitalisation. 

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Who’s Swimming Naked? > Part 3: Cumulative Cash Flow

<div><p style="text-align: center;"><strong> • RELATIVE PRICE SCORE - COMPANIES •</strong></p></div><div>
<strong>RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS </strong>- The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months.</div><div></div><div>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/120/886/original/2020-03-02_09-36-07.png?1583109407" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="120886"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
<p><strong>OVERBOUGHT MEAN REVERSION</strong> - Examples of larger-cap companies that have reverted from being Overbought in the last quarter are <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/systena-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20438:1" rel="noopener">Systena (2317 JP)</a> which was Very Overbought two quarters ago, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kotobuki-spirits-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20062:1" rel="noopener">Kotobuki Spirits (2222 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toei-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15379:1" rel="noopener">Toei (9605 JP)</a>, and the amusement park operator <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fuji-kyuko-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1305:1" rel="noopener">Fuji Kyuko (9010 JP)</a>, which began to mean-revert well before the emergence of Covid-19. The average decline from their peak of these stocks is 34%, which compares with an 11% decline for the market overall.</p>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/120/887/original/2020-03-02_09-42-41.png?1583109791" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="120887"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
<p><strong>OVERSOLD MEAN REVERSION</strong> - The four large caps that have reverted from being Oversold have outperformed by over 20% on average, led by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mercari-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27149:1" rel="noopener">Mercari (4385 JP)</a> which we suggested was <em>'due for another bounce</em>' in our December Insight. Otherwise, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-bank-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:838:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post Bank (7182 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chugoku-electric-power-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16243:1" rel="noopener">Chugoku Electric Power (9504 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tv-asahi-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8830:1" rel="noopener">Tv Asahi (9409 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/suntory-beverage-food-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8218:1" rel="noopener">Suntory Beverage &amp; Food (2587 JP)</a> all saw substantial recoveries.</p>
</div><div></div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>Following on from our previous Insight <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/japan-march-sector-peer-group-relative-price-scores" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:36972" rel="noopener">March Sector &amp; Peer Group Relative Price Scores -</a>  which covered Sectors and Peer Groups, in the<strong> DETAIL </strong>section below, we update our list of Overbought and Oversold large-cap companies (market capitalisation over ¥100b) with the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4.5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) companies, as well as the largest positive and negative 3-month Changes in RPS adding some stock-specific comments in each category.</p></div></div>

 • RELATIVE PRICE SCORE - COMPANIES •
RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities. Company outlier thresholds are set at +4 &amp; -2 and equate to the top and bottom first-to-second percentiles of historical observations from which mean reversion takes a matter of months.
Source • Japan Analytics
OVERBOUGHT MEAN REVERSION - Examples of larger-cap companies that have reverted from being Overbought in the last quarter are Systena (2317 JP) which was Very Overbought two quarters ago, Kotobuki Spirits (2222 JP), Toei (9605 JP), and the amusement park operator Fuji Kyuko (9010 JP), which began to mean-revert well before the emergence of Covid-19. The average decline from their peak of these stocks is 34%, which compares with an 11% decline for the market overall.
Source • Japan Analytics
OVERSOLD MEAN REVERSION - The four large caps that have reverted from being Oversold have outperformed by over 20% on average, led by Mercari (4385 JP) which we suggested was 'due for another bounce' in our December Insight. Otherwise, Japan Post Bank (7182 JP), Chugoku Electric Power (9504 JP), Tv Asahi (9409 JP), and Suntory Beverage &amp; Food (2587 JP) all saw substantial recoveries.
Following on from our previous Insight March Sector &amp; Peer Group Relative Price Scores -  which covered Sectors and Peer Groups, in the DETAIL section below, we update our list of Overbought and Oversold large-cap companies (market capitalisation over ¥100b) with the current Very Overbought (RPS&gt;5), Too-Late-To-Buy (RPS &gt;4.5) and Oversold (RPS &lt;-2) companies, as well as the largest positive and negative 3-month Changes in RPS adding some stock-specific comments in each category.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • March Company Relative Price Scores - Playing the Extremes

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/116/923/original/2020-02-08_18-15-45.png?1581196263" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="116923"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/116/924/original/2020-02-09_06-34-51.png?1581197706" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="116924"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><div class="content-caption"></div><p><strong>OOOPS!</strong> - The 480 quarterly results announced on Friday subtracted a further 20 basis points from our Results Score. If the remaining 38% of companies continue this trend, the current quarter will equal CQ2019-1 and CQ2018-2 in seeing a 200 basis point Results Score decline. 169 forecasts or revision announcements added  5bps to the Forecast/Revision Score, supported by slight upward revisions from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/softbank-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27445:1" rel="noopener">Softbank Corp (9434 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/honda-motor-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:154:1" rel="noopener">Honda Motor (7267 JP)</a>.  The Results Score has dipped below the Forecast/Revision Score for the first time since July 2016 and is a necessary precursor of the bottoming of the cycle. Japan is now in a recession and could see a decline in GDP for the calendar year. The market's current optimism (aided by the Bank of Japan's buy-the-dips support programme) is more appropriate to the middle of the cycle and, with two further poor earnings quarters ahead, suggests limited further upside. </p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/116/925/original/2020-02-08_10-48-19.png?1581199859" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="116925"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>18x EARNINGS</strong> - Trailing-twelve-month (TTM) Operating Income for the composite of listed companies has declined to ¥57.4t, 10% below the peak of early 2019. TTM Net Income has declined by 20% over the same period, resulting in a 6.1 point increase in the market price-earnings ratio to 17.6 times.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/116/927/original/2020-02-08_10-55-21.png?1581200256" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="116927"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p style="text-align: left;"><strong>TTM RESULTS</strong> - TTM Operating Profits have been declining quarter-on-quarter for five straight quarters, and are 8.1% lower year-on-year. The Operating Margin has declined from 7.45% to 6.80%. TTM Revenues are now also falling and have only increased by 0.7% year-on-year.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/116/928/original/2020-02-08_10-59-00.png?1581200533" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="116928"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div><p><strong>FORECASTS</strong> - The year-on-year Operating Profit decline using current forecasts is 8.5%, while Revenues are flat. Revenue forecasts have been falling quarter-on-quarter for three quarters in a row. The 'uplift' from TTM to Forecast is just ¥3t for sales and ¥0.3t for OP. </p>

Source • Japan AnalyticsOOOPS! - The 480 quarterly results announced on Friday subtracted a further 20 basis points from our Results Score. If the remaining 38% of companies continue this trend, the current quarter will equal CQ2019-1 and CQ2018-2 in seeing a 200 basis point Results Score decline. 169 forecasts or revision announcements added  5bps to the Forecast/Revision Score, supported by slight upward revisions from Softbank Corp (9434 JP) and Honda Motor (7267 JP).  The Results Score has dipped below the Forecast/Revision Score for the first time since July 2016 and is a necessary precursor of the bottoming of the cycle. Japan is now in a recession and could see a decline in GDP for the calendar year. The market's current optimism (aided by the Bank of Japan's buy-the-dips support programme) is more appropriate to the middle of the cycle and, with two further poor earnings quarters ahead, suggests limited further upside. Source • Japan Analytics18x EARNINGS - Trailing-twelve-month (TTM) Operating Income for the composite of listed companies has declined to ¥57.4t, 10% below the peak of early 2019. TTM Net Income has declined by 20% over the same period, resulting in a 6.1 point increase in the market price-earnings ratio to 17.6 times.Source • Japan AnalyticsTTM RESULTS - TTM Operating Profits have been declining quarter-on-quarter for five straight quarters, and are 8.1% lower year-on-year. The Operating Margin has declined from 7.45% to 6.80%. TTM Revenues are now also falling and have only increased by 0.7% year-on-year.Source • Japan AnalyticsFORECASTS - The year-on-year Operating Profit decline using current forecasts is 8.5%, while Revenues are flat. Revenue forecasts have been falling quarter-on-quarter for three quarters in a row. The 'uplift' from TTM to Forecast is just ¥3t for sales and ¥0.3t for OP. 

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions Daily Roundup - 7th February ▲2121 7267 5713 ▼ 5401 9616 3407

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE •</strong></p><p><strong>RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS</strong> - The<strong> Relative Price Score (RPS)</strong> is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, <strong>'Overbought'</strong> and<strong> 'Oversold'</strong> outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities.</p><div>
<p>The data for all <strong>3,860</strong><strong>Companies</strong> is cap-weight-aggregated into Relative Price Scores for our <strong>328</strong><strong>Peer Groups</strong> and <strong>30 Sectors</strong>. The Overbought and Oversold outlier 'thresholds are set' at +4 &amp; -2 for Companies, +3 &amp; -1.5 for Peer Groups and +2 and -1 for Sectors, respectively. These thresholds equate with the top and bottom percentiles of historical observations.</p>
<p>With a few exceptions, mean reversion from these extreme outlying states occurs typically in a matter of weeks or months. It often coincides with the peak of market interest in a theme or investment fashion.</p>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/110/440/original/2019-12-15_05-25-54.png?1576355187" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="110440"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>
<p><strong>OVERBOUGHT MEAN REVERSION</strong> -  Some examples of large-cap RPS mean reversion from being Overbought in the last three months include <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/house-foods-group-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5964:1" rel="noopener">House Foods (2810 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/oriental-land-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13517:1" rel="noopener">Oriental Land (4661 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bandai-namco-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13435:1" rel="noopener">Bandai Namco (7832 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nomura-research-institute-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18129:1" rel="noopener">Nomura Research Institute (4307 JP)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/invesco-office-j-reit-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7414:1" rel="noopener">Invesco Office JREIT (3298 JP)</a> - all five are domestically-orientated non-manufacturing companies.</p>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/110/459/original/2019-12-15_05-51-43.png?1576356720" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="110459"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>
<p><strong>OVERSOLD MEAN REVERSION</strong> - Some examples of large-cap RPS mean reversion from being Oversold in the last three months include <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fujikura-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10768:1" rel="noopener">Fujikura (5803 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nishi-nippon-financial-holdi" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26192:1" rel="noopener">Nishi-Nippon Financial (7189 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tv-asahi-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8830:1" rel="noopener">TV Asahi (9409 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/uacj-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5330:1" rel="noopener">UACJ (5741 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/agc-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2167:1" rel="noopener">AGC (5201 JP)</a> - one bank and three deep cyclical manufacturers. </p>
</div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>In the <strong>DETAIL</strong> section below, we provide an update on  Sector and Peer Group trends, over the last three months and adds some stock-specific comments. <span>A separate Insight to follow in the next few days will cover the Relative Price Scores for individual companies.</span></p></div></div>

• RELATIVE PRICE SCORE •RELATIVE PRICE SCORE OUTLIERS - The Relative Price Score (RPS) is a measure of price performance relative to TOPIX calculated by comparing the current deviation with the mean absolute deviation of monthly and daily relative share prices over the last 28 years and 24 months, respectively. As all companies are put on a comparable scale, 'Overbought' and 'Oversold' outliers and short-term changes in scoring can reveal attractive trading opportunities.
The data for all 3,860Companies is cap-weight-aggregated into Relative Price Scores for our 328Peer Groups and 30 Sectors. The Overbought and Oversold outlier 'thresholds are set' at +4 &amp; -2 for Companies, +3 &amp; -1.5 for Peer Groups and +2 and -1 for Sectors, respectively. These thresholds equate with the top and bottom percentiles of historical observations.
With a few exceptions, mean reversion from these extreme outlying states occurs typically in a matter of weeks or months. It often coincides with the peak of market interest in a theme or investment fashion.
Source: Japan Analytics
OVERBOUGHT MEAN REVERSION -  Some examples of large-cap RPS mean reversion from being Overbought in the last three months include House Foods (2810 JP), Oriental Land (4661 JP), Bandai Namco (7832 JP), Nomura Research Institute (4307 JP), and Invesco Office JREIT (3298 JP) - all five are domestically-orientated non-manufacturing companies.
Source: Japan Analytics
OVERSOLD MEAN REVERSION - Some examples of large-cap RPS mean reversion from being Oversold in the last three months include Fujikura (5803 JP), Nishi-Nippon Financial (7189 JP), TV Asahi (9409 JP), UACJ (5741 JP), AGC (5201 JP) - one bank and three deep cyclical manufacturers. 
In the DETAIL section below, we provide an update on  Sector and Peer Group trends, over the last three months and adds some stock-specific comments. A separate Insight to follow in the next few days will cover the Relative Price Scores for individual companies.

🇯🇵 JAPAN • December Sector & Peer Group Relative Price Scores - From Defensives to Cylicals

Japan

Nippon Steel Corp is an integrated steel maker. The Company produces various types of steel products used for industrial machinery & equipment and exports them worldwide.  Nippon Steel provides plant construction and urban development and also develops new businesses such as chemicals, ceramics, electronic equipment and information & communication systems.

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Nippon Steel Corporation (5401 JP)

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🇯🇵 JAPAN • December Sector & Peer Group Relative Price Scores - From Defensives to Cylicals

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Campbell Gunn

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