Independent Research, US Dominant Players, Investment Talk

Investment Talk

Independent Research, US Dominant Players

Investment Talk is for readers who wish to learn about companies that are potentially outside of their own circle of research, as well as those who are longing to become part of a community of like-minded investors and learn more about investment research. I would describe myself as a long-term investor who typically takes a 3Y to 5Y outlook, before reassessing once that period matures. I follow the adage that one should research, reach a conclusion, and then verify and continue to hold so long as the thesis remains intact. My own investing style is one that seeks to find dominant players within their respective market who have shown signs of monopoly or oligopolistic behaviour, unlikely to be disrupted, in tandem with discovering market disruptors who have a high likelihood of disrupting their respective market. Equally (and weighted accordingly) I seek to discover more nuanced, misunderstood, situations with a shorter time frame.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>Beanie Babies, Tamagotchis, fidget spinners, heelys, silly bandz, pogs, pet rocks, mood rings, cabbage patch kids…</li><li>Every generation has its share of fad products, fashion statements, and hairstyles.</li><li>But what separates a fad from a sustainable trend? Understanding the difference between the two can be challenging.</li></ul>

Beanie Babies, Tamagotchis, fidget spinners, heelys, silly bandz, pogs, pet rocks, mood rings, cabbage patch kids…Every generation has its share of fad products, fashion statements, and hairstyles.But what separates a fad from a sustainable trend? Understanding the difference between the two can be challenging.

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

<ul><li>Microsoft unveiled two major custom-designed chips for cloud computing at its Ignite developer conference on 15 Nov 2023, Maia 100 AI accelerator and Cobalt 100 CPU.</li><li>Maia 100 was specifically designed with consideration of Azure hardware. It will be mainly used for AI tasks and generative AI for maximized utilization of hardware.</li><li>It will power some of Microsoft’s largest internal AI workloads running on Azure. </li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Microsoft unveiled two major custom-designed chips for cloud computing at its Ignite developer conference on 15 Nov 2023, Maia 100 AI accelerator and Cobalt 100 CPU.Maia 100 was specifically designed with consideration of Azure hardware. It will be mainly used for AI tasks and generative AI for maximized utilization of hardware.It will power some of Microsoft’s largest internal AI workloads running on Azure. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

<ul><li>Post 3Q earnings, investors have regained confidence in AI capital spending for the next few quarters. Amazon/Microsoft/Alphabet/Meta (“CSP3 &amp; Meta”) all announced QoQ increases in their 3Q capex.</li><li>The aggregate number topped US$37bn, representing the fourth highest quarterly spending in history.</li><li>These companies are committed to ramping up spending to remain competitive at the AI front line</li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Post 3Q earnings, investors have regained confidence in AI capital spending for the next few quarters. Amazon/Microsoft/Alphabet/Meta (“CSP3 &amp; Meta”) all announced QoQ increases in their 3Q capex.The aggregate number topped US$37bn, representing the fourth highest quarterly spending in history.These companies are committed to ramping up spending to remain competitive at the AI front lineContent is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Technology (Hardware/Semi): CSP3 & Meta Ramp up Spending to Stay at the AI Front Line

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Since our downgrade report on 14 Aug, we have seen a continuous decline on Innolight’s share price by more than 23%.</li><li>Our current view on the stock is becoming increasingly favourable, driven by: 1) continuous strong momentum observed in building up AI infrastructure globally; and 2) quick uptake seen in downstream application market (e.g., AI-powered Ads adopted by Meta, Google and Amazon, GitHub copilot by Microsoft).</li><li>In addition, companies within the AI hardware value chain start to report strong earnings. </li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Since our downgrade report on 14 Aug, we have seen a continuous decline on Innolight’s share price by more than 23%.Our current view on the stock is becoming increasingly favourable, driven by: 1) continuous strong momentum observed in building up AI infrastructure globally; and 2) quick uptake seen in downstream application market (e.g., AI-powered Ads adopted by Meta, Google and Amazon, GitHub copilot by Microsoft).In addition, companies within the AI hardware value chain start to report strong earnings. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Innolight (300308 CH) – Expect Higher Contribution from AI Revenue in 3Q

Mostly Borrowed Ideas Deep Dives, MBI Deep Dives

MBI Deep Dives

Mostly Borrowed Ideas Deep Dives

MBI is the abbreviation for “Mostly Borrowed Ideas”. Why “Mostly Borrowed Ideas?” As a generalist, I do not have a background in any particular sector. I enjoy navigating across industries, businesses, and countries to learn, understand, and connect the dots. In any case, most ideas and innovations are incremental in nature. Very few of us are smart enough to come up with truly original or groundbreaking ideas. I am Abdullah Al-Rezwan. I was born and brought up in Bangladesh. I went to University of Dhaka for my undergrad and majored in Finance. After working three and half years in Equity Research (Sell-side) covering Financial Sector in Bangladesh, I left Bangladesh to pursue my MBA in the US. I graduated within top 10% of the class from Cornell University's two-year MBA program and worked on the buy-side following my graduation. During my time at Cornell, I won two stock pitch competitions and also became finalists in four other competitions. I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as a generalist in the US large cap team at Madison Investments and covered a wide range of companies from UnitedHealth to Amazon and Boeing before US immigration reality paused my career in investment management. As my work authorization expired, I moved to Canada in January, 2021. Then in early 2022, I was able to return to the US.

<ul><li>In aggregate, Big Tech was worth $1.1 Tn at the end of 2012.</li><li>Over the last ten years (2013-2022), Big Tech collectively generated $2.3 Tn Operating Cash Flow (OCF), slightly more than double their aggregate market cap ten years ago!</li><li>To say it differently, Big Tech was a form of deep value investing that was deeply underappreciated even though they are all widely followed companies at that time!</li></ul>

In aggregate, Big Tech was worth $1.1 Tn at the end of 2012.Over the last ten years (2013-2022), Big Tech collectively generated $2.3 Tn Operating Cash Flow (OCF), slightly more than double their aggregate market cap ten years ago!To say it differently, Big Tech was a form of deep value investing that was deeply underappreciated even though they are all widely followed companies at that time!

United States

Makemytrip Ltd. offers travel services over the Internet.  The Company operates websites that allow travelers to research and plan trips and book airline tickets, hotels, packages, rail tickets, bus tickets, and rental cars. Makemytrip also offers access to travel insurance.

The RealReal, Inc. owns and operates a members-only consignment marketplace for luxury goods. The Company specializes in curating and authenticating a full range of previously owned luxury products such as clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry that are sold on consignment. The RealReal markets its products and services throughout the United States.

Applied Materials, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and services semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment and related spare parts for the worldwide semiconductor industry.  The Company's customers include semiconductor wafer and integrated circuit manufacturers, flat panel liquid crystal displays, solar photovoltaic cells and modules and other electronic devices manufacturers.

Meta Platforms Inc. operates as a social technology company. The Company builds applications and technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. meta Platform is also involved in advertisements, augmented and virtual reality.

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and sells a variety of related accessories. The Company also offers payment, digital content, cloud and advertising services. Apple Inc.'s customers are primarily in consumer, small & mid-sized business, education, enterprise and government markets worldwide.

VMware, Inc. provides virtualization solutions from the desktop to the data center. The Company's solution products addresses a range of IT problems, which includes cost and operational inefficiencies, business continuity, software lifecycle management and desktop management.

QUALCOMM, Inc . manufactures digital wireless communications equipment.  The Company licenses its code division multiple access (CDMA) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access intellectual property to other companies, and produces CDMA-based integrated circuits; and produces equipment and software used to track workers and assets; and software for wireless content enablement.

Broadcom Inc. designs, develops, and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. The Company offers storage adapters, controllers, networking processors, motion control encoders, and optical sensors, as well as infrastructure and security software to modernize, optimize, and secure the most complex hybrid environments. Broadcom serves customers worldwide.

Cisco Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry and provide services associated with these products and their use. The Company provides products for transporting data, voice, and video within buildings, across campuses, and globally.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides computer solutions through the use of advanced information technology. The Company's solutions include technologies, systems, products, services, software, and financing. IBM offers its products through its global sales and distribution organization, as well as through a variety of third party distributors and resellers.

Besttone Holdings Co Ltd is involved in hotel management, catering and travel arrangement.  The Company is based in China.

Canon Inc. is a professional and consumer imaging solutions company and patent-holder of digital imaging technologies. The Company's products include networked multifunction devices, digital and analog copiers, computer peripherals, facsimile machines, image filing systems, camcorders, cameras and lenses, semiconductor, and broadcast and medical equipment.

Tencent Holdings Limited operates as an investment holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, provides Internet and mobile value-added services (VAS), online advertising, and e-commerce transactions. Tencent Holdings offers services to users worldwide.

Baidu, Inc. operates an Internet search engine. The Company offers algorithmic search, enterprise search, news, MP3, and image searches, voice assistance, online storage, and navigation services. Baidu serves clients globally.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. manufactures a wide range of consumer and industrial electronic equipment and products such as semiconductors, personal computers, peripherals, monitors, televisions, and home appliances including air conditioners and microwave ovens. The Company also produces Internet access network systems and telecommunications equipment including mobile phones.

Infosys Limited provides IT consulting and software services, including e-business, program management and supply chain solutions. The Group's services include application development, product co-development, and system implementation and system engineering. Infosys targets businesses specializing in the insurance, banking, telecommunication and manufacturing sectors.

Tokyo Electron Limited manufactures and sells industrial electronics products, such as semiconductor manufacturing machines, computer system, and electronic components.  The Company products are sold in US, Taiwan, and others as well as in Japan.

ASE Technology Holding Co., Ltd. offers assembly and testing services. The Company provides outsourced assembly, semiconductor testing, semiconductor packaging, and other related services. ASE Technology Holding operates in Taiwan.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. provides electronic manufacturing services for computers, communications, and consumer electronic products.  The Company's business operations include desktop and notebook PC assembly, connector production, cable assembly, PCB assembly, handset manufacturing, networking equipment, and other consumer electronic devices manufacturing.

MediaTek Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions. The company provides SOC system solutions for wireless communications, high-definition TV, optical storage, DVD and Blu-ray products.

Amazon.com, Inc. is an online retailer that offers a wide range of products. The Company's products include books, music, videotapes, computers, electronics, home and garden, and numerous other products.  Amazon offers personalized shopping services, Web-based credit card payment, and direct shipping to customers.

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Amazon.com Inc (AMZN US)

Fads and Second Acts

Beanie Babies, Tamagotchis, fidget spinners, heelys, silly bandz, pogs, pet rocks, mood rings, cabbage patch kids… Every generation has its share...

Investment Talk

Technology (Hardware/Semi)

Microsoft unveiled two major custom-designed chips for cloud computing at its Ignite developer conference on 15 Nov 2023, Maia 100 AI accelerator...

CMB International

Technology (Hardware/Semi): CSP3 & Meta Ramp up Spending to Stay at the AI Front Line

Post 3Q earnings, investors have regained confidence in AI capital spending for the next few quarters. Amazon/Microsoft/Alphabet/Meta (“CSP3 &...

CMB International

Innolight (300308 CH) – Expect Higher Contribution from AI Revenue in 3Q

Our current view on the stock is becoming increasingly favourable, driven by: 1) continuous strong momentum observed in building up AI...

CMB International

The Curious Case of Big Tech

Over the last ten years (2013-2022), Big Tech collectively generated $2.3 Tn Operating Cash Flow (OCF), slightly more than double their aggregate...

MBI Deep Dives

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