Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>Things took a dramatic turn for the worse at <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel</a> last week with the publication of a letter from activist hedge fund Third Point to Intel's board chairman, Dr Omar Ishrak. Having taken a significant stake in the company, Third Point is now setting out to drive sweeping changes at Intel. What are the implications for Intel and how is the company likely to respond to this challenge? Here's our thoughts on the matter.</p>

Things took a dramatic turn for the worse at Intel last week with the publication of a letter from activist hedge fund Third Point to Intel's board chairman, Dr Omar Ishrak. Having taken a significant stake in the company, Third Point is now setting out to drive sweeping changes at Intel. What are the implications for Intel and how is the company likely to respond to this challenge? Here's our thoughts on the matter.

Intel Beware ! The Vultures Are Circling.

President

Thomas Coughlin

Coughlin Associates

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Solid state storage is now primary storage in many applications, driven by the wide-spread use of NAND flash.  NVMe is now the dominant SSD interface, enabling new network and storage architectures.  MRAM and 3D XPoint memory are appearing in many storage/memory products and the slow-down in NOR, SRAM and DRAM scaling are opening opportunities for RRAM and FRAM memories as well.  All these memory technologies are enabling established and startup companies.</p>

Solid state storage is now primary storage in many applications, driven by the wide-spread use of NAND flash.  NVMe is now the dominant SSD interface, enabling new network and storage architectures.  MRAM and 3D XPoint memory are appearing in many storage/memory products and the slow-down in NOR, SRAM and DRAM scaling are opening opportunities for RRAM and FRAM memories as well.  All these memory technologies are enabling established and startup companies.

Solid State Storage and Memory in 2021:  New Opportunities for Leaders and Startups

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

Meta Platforms (Facebook) / Equity Bottom-Up

<p>Sheesh! The media pays attention to the faux antitrust lawsuits that have been sprouting the past month against the tech platforms…none of which will actually alter the respective competitive positions for Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple.</p><p>However, Apple’s once delayed but now imminent rollout of “opt-in” for ad-tracking seems to be an actual near term threat for Facebook given Facebook’s vociferous responses over the past week or two. Or is it?</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div>

Sheesh! The media pays attention to the faux antitrust lawsuits that have been sprouting the past month against the tech platforms…none of which will actually alter the respective competitive positions for Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple.However, Apple’s once delayed but now imminent rollout of “opt-in” for ad-tracking seems to be an actual near term threat for Facebook given Facebook’s vociferous responses over the past week or two. Or is it?Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel'</a>s share price is currently down some 26% from its 52 week high, almost exactly where it was three years ago. Meanwhile, competitors <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/advanced-micro-devices-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19009:1" rel="noopener">Advanced Micro Devices</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nvidia-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5891:1" rel="noopener">NVIDIA'</a>s share prices have more than doubled over the same time period. Paradoxically, demand for Intel's products has never been stronger and the company will likely deliver 5% YoY revenue growth compared to the 2% forecasted back in January. How did Intel find itself in this situation and where is the company heading from here? Here's our thoughts on the matter...</p>

Intel's share price is currently down some 26% from its 52 week high, almost exactly where it was three years ago. Meanwhile, competitors Advanced Micro Devices and NVIDIA's share prices have more than doubled over the same time period. Paradoxically, demand for Intel's products has never been stronger and the company will likely deliver 5% YoY revenue growth compared to the 2% forecasted back in January. How did Intel find itself in this situation and where is the company heading from here? Here's our thoughts on the matter...

Intel. How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas, CrossASEAN Research

Henry Soediarko

Asian Insight Provider - Actionable ideas

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

<p>The tech break up is not happening soon but the regulators have been more vocal and active in penalizing the Big Tech companies. In the US, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/facebook-inc-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:665:1" rel="noopener">Facebook Inc A (FB US)</a> was sued over monopoly concern and the EU has issued Digital Services Act that aims to create better chances for smaller developers to compete in the Apple and Google ecosystem. In China, the regulator has also been more stringent on the Big Tech, starting with the cancelation of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ant-financial-services-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24240:1" rel="noopener">Ant Group (6688 HK)</a> IPO and now potentially to ask <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a> to divest some of their investments. </p>
<p>The smaller tech companies in China also have issues that their revenue growth rate has started to slow down considerably, therefore, reducing the potential to reach break-even unless they do a massive cost-cutting exercise. </p>
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/178/884/original/image_39996483941608095760408.png?1608095759" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="178884"></figure>
<div class="content-remarks">
<p>source: Capital IQ</p>
</div>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p>If the Big Tech backer such as Tencent and Alibaba are told to reduce their holdings in the above shares, while the investees also do not much cash lying around in the balance sheet and trading at expensive valuation, there are two outcome possible - <strong>either a further capital raising that will send the shares multiples down or investors to start rotating into other sectors that also will send share price down. </strong></p>
</div>

The tech break up is not happening soon but the regulators have been more vocal and active in penalizing the Big Tech companies. In the US, Facebook Inc A (FB US) was sued over monopoly concern and the EU has issued Digital Services Act that aims to create better chances for smaller developers to compete in the Apple and Google ecosystem. In China, the regulator has also been more stringent on the Big Tech, starting with the cancelation of Ant Group (6688 HK) IPO and now potentially to ask Tencent Holdings (700 HK) and Alibaba Group (9988 HK) to divest some of their investments. 
The smaller tech companies in China also have issues that their revenue growth rate has started to slow down considerably, therefore, reducing the potential to reach break-even unless they do a massive cost-cutting exercise. 


source: Capital IQ


If the Big Tech backer such as Tencent and Alibaba are told to reduce their holdings in the above shares, while the investees also do not much cash lying around in the balance sheet and trading at expensive valuation, there are two outcome possible - either a further capital raising that will send the shares multiples down or investors to start rotating into other sectors that also will send share price down. 


United States

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.

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Apple (AAPL US)

Intel Beware ! The Vultures Are Circling.

Intel has been targeted by activist hedge fund Third Point. Do the charges they lay against Intel have merit and if so, how serious are they?

William Keating

Solid State Storage and Memory in 2021: New Opportunities for Leaders and Startups

Solid State Storage/Memory enables new applications in 2021, fueling storage systems and embedded device established and startup companies.

Thomas Coughlin

Facebook: Apple Threat Fact or Fiction?

Facebook has been complaining publicly the past two weeks about how Apple's impending privacy restrictions will hurt small businesses. We doubt it...

Aaron Gabin

Intel. How Did We Get Here And Where Are We Going?

Despite unprecedented demand for their products and record revenues, Intel's share price is bouncing off its March pandemic lows, close to where it...

William Keating

Tech Sell-Off - Progress

Although the US and China are at so to say war, it is not too impossible that the Chinese and the US regulator will work together in order to curb...

Henry Soediarko

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