Alpha-Centric ESG Research

Kyle Rudden

<p>Well, that sure escalated quickly.</p><p>Early last week, in the Insight <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/pre-ipo-esg-analysis-didi-s-exemplary-esg-achievements-eclipsed-by-regulatory-risks-and-uncertainty" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:53687" rel="noopener">Pre-IPO ESG Analysis: DiDi's Exemplary ESG Achievements Eclipsed By Regulatory Risks and Uncertainty</a>, I juxtaposed <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi's (DIDI US)</a> relatively strong ESG results in areas under its control with serious concerns about regulatory risk outside of its direct control.</p><p>Late last week, days after DiDi's successful US$4.4 billion initial public offering, Chinese regulators ordered the removal of DiDi's business-critical ride-hailing apps from online app markets, until the company rectifies "serious violations" pertaining to collection and use of customer data.</p><p>DiDi is down 5.3% so far (delayed open today).</p><p>Regulatory risk was central to my thesis in the first Insight. I hardly anticipated this, but I referred to regulatory risk as real, near-term, tangible investment risk; not just some fuzzy ESG risk. Given that, I felt obliged to follow up. At the same time, however, this news is covered <em>ad nauseam.</em></p><p>No sense in beating a dead horse with a broken record.</p><p>So, I decided to do something different. That statement about regulatory risk being a real tangible investment risk is primarily based on anecdotal evidence – i.e., when regulators flex their muscle, stocks go down, not up. But "anecdotal" isn't good enough.</p><p>Which is why I took this opportunity to quantify the impacts of adverse regulatory events in China. Specifically, with event studies measuring abnormal returns around major regulatory events across four broad categories. That's what most of this Insight is about. But back to DiDi for a moment.</p><p>Regulatory risk and uncertainty for DiDi is much worse today than it was last week. Typically, the opposite would be true; a negative event out in the open is better than a possible event lurking in the shadows. But not this time. Barring an immediate change of heart by the PRC, this is bad.</p><p>Therefore, downgrading to bearish.</p>

Well, that sure escalated quickly.Early last week, in the Insight Pre-IPO ESG Analysis: DiDi's Exemplary ESG Achievements Eclipsed By Regulatory Risks and Uncertainty, I juxtaposed DiDi's (DIDI US) relatively strong ESG results in areas under its control with serious concerns about regulatory risk outside of its direct control.Late last week, days after DiDi's successful US$4.4 billion initial public offering, Chinese regulators ordered the removal of DiDi's business-critical ride-hailing apps from online app markets, until the company rectifies "serious violations" pertaining to collection and use of customer data.DiDi is down 5.3% so far (delayed open today).Regulatory risk was central to my thesis in the first Insight. I hardly anticipated this, but I referred to regulatory risk as real, near-term, tangible investment risk; not just some fuzzy ESG risk. Given that, I felt obliged to follow up. At the same time, however, this news is covered ad nauseam.No sense in beating a dead horse with a broken record.So, I decided to do something different. That statement about regulatory risk being a real tangible investment risk is primarily based on anecdotal evidence – i.e., when regulators flex their muscle, stocks go down, not up. But "anecdotal" isn't good enough.Which is why I took this opportunity to quantify the impacts of adverse regulatory events in China. Specifically, with event studies measuring abnormal returns around major regulatory events across four broad categories. That's what most of this Insight is about. But back to DiDi for a moment.Regulatory risk and uncertainty for DiDi is much worse today than it was last week. Typically, the opposite would be true; a negative event out in the open is better than a possible event lurking in the shadows. But not this time. Barring an immediate change of heart by the PRC, this is bad.Therefore, downgrading to bearish.

PRC Shows DiDi Who's Boss: An Analysis of Adverse Regulatory Events on Stock Prices

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a> is the largest online audio platform in China as measured by average MAUs (monthly active users), total mobile listening time, and total revenues in 2020, according to CIC. Ximalaya also has the largest audio content library and the most audio content creators in China. <br>Ximalaya is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (5.4% of outstanding shares), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tal-education-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1124:1" rel="noopener">TAL Education (TAL US)</a>, Sony Music Entertainment and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/china-literature-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24388:1" rel="noopener">China Literature (772 HK)</a>. Ximalaya has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise proceeds of $0.5-1.0 billion, according to press reports.   </p></div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-ipo-initiation-out-of-tune" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:51169" rel="noopener">Ximalaya IPO Initiation: Out of Tune</a>, we stated that Ximalaya is well-positioned to benefit from this sizeable China online audio market opportunity. The strong user engagement, fast-paced revenue growth and declining loss margin suggest that Ximalaya is heading in the right direction. However, a closer look reveals concerning developments on several fronts. We concluded that the negatives in the Ximalaya story warrant a pass. In this note, we present our forecasts and take the first look at Ximalaya's potential valuation range. </p></div></div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US) is the largest online audio platform in China as measured by average MAUs (monthly active users), total mobile listening time, and total revenues in 2020, according to CIC. Ximalaya also has the largest audio content library and the most audio content creators in China.  Ximalaya is backed by Tencent (700 HK) (5.4% of outstanding shares), TAL Education (TAL US), Sony Music Entertainment and China Literature (772 HK). Ximalaya has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise proceeds of $0.5-1.0 billion, according to press reports.   In Ximalaya IPO Initiation: Out of Tune, we stated that Ximalaya is well-positioned to benefit from this sizeable China online audio market opportunity. The strong user engagement, fast-paced revenue growth and declining loss margin suggest that Ximalaya is heading in the right direction. However, a closer look reveals concerning developments on several fronts. We concluded that the negatives in the Ximalaya story warrant a pass. In this note, we present our forecasts and take the first look at Ximalaya's potential valuation range. 

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a>, the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. </p></div><div><p>As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.</p></div><div>
<p>We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening</a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>
</li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-peer-comparison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-xima-has-large-market-share-but-small-competitors-have-big-bosses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA): Has Large Market Share, But Small Competitors Have Big Bosses</a></li>
</ul>
</div><div><p>In this note, we will talk about earnings and valuation.</p></div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.
We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes:


 Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives
Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison
Ximalaya (XIMA): Has Large Market Share, But Small Competitors Have Big Bosses

In this note, we will talk about earnings and valuation.

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a>, the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. </p></div><div><p>As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.</p></div><div><p>In our previous notes,<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-positives-a-whole-lot-of-listening" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening</a>, and  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/ximalaya-pre-ipo-the-negatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives</a> we have covered the positive and negative aspects of the deal.</p></div><div><p>In this note, we will compare Ximalaya with some of its listed peers.</p></div>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.In our previous notes, Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening, and  Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Negatives we have covered the positive and negative aspects of the deal.In this note, we will compare Ximalaya with some of its listed peers.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ximalaya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33232:1" rel="noopener">Ximalaya (XIMA US)</a>, the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. </p><p>As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.</p><p>In this note, we will talk about the positive aspects of the deal.</p>

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m average MAUs, which included 104m mobile MAUs through its apps and 146m MAUs through internet-of-things (IoT) and other third-party platforms. As per CIC, it accounted for 75% of total mobile listening time among all online audio platforms in China. It had 5.2m active content creators in 2020.In this note, we will talk about the positive aspects of the deal.

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening

China

China Literature is the largest online literature platform in China

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China Literature (772 HK)

PRC Shows DiDi Who's Boss: An Analysis of Adverse Regulatory Events on Stock Prices

Last week, I wrote about DiDi's regulatory risk. This week, it's worse. Hence the downgrade. But this is mostly an analysis of how regulatory...

Kyle Rudden

Ximalaya IPO: Valuation First-Look

Ximalaya has filed for an NYSE IPO to raise proceeds of $0.5-1.0 billion. In this note, we present our forecasts and take the first look at...

Arun George

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Earnings Forecast and Valuation

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m...

Sumeet Singh

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. As of 1Q21, it had 250m MAUs...

Sumeet Singh

Ximalaya Pre-IPO - The Positives - A Whole Lot of Listening

Ximalaya (XIMA US), the largest online audio platform in China, is looking to raise around US$1bn in its US listing. In this note, we'll talk about...

Sumeet Singh

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