Japan Specialist

Mark Chadwick

Equity Bottom-Up

A wrong hire, skills mismatch, and inadequate training equals low efficiency and lost productivity. Companies pay a significant price for not correctly managing talent. It does not stop there. Low transparency, missed opportunities, and weak management lead to frustration and dissatisfaction for employees. The result is a lack of motivation and employee exits. Both companies and employees suffer when talent is not adequately managed. Companies can scarcely afford to lose or misallocate the right people as the costs are enormous - lost productivity, lost business, and a dysfunctional environment that hurts from the top to bottom line. Talent management plays a critical role in the modern company, and in many cases, it can mean the difference between a successful culture and going out of business. Enter <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kaonavi-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29703:1" rel="noopener">Kaonavi Inc (4435 JP)</a> 
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/166/617/original/image_9811369031603321138858.png?1603321148" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="166617"></figure>

A wrong hire, skills mismatch, and inadequate training equals low efficiency and lost productivity. Companies pay a significant price for not correctly managing talent. It does not stop there. Low transparency, missed opportunities, and weak management lead to frustration and dissatisfaction for employees. The result is a lack of motivation and employee exits. Both companies and employees suffer when talent is not adequately managed. Companies can scarcely afford to lose or misallocate the right people as the costs are enormous - lost productivity, lost business, and a dysfunctional environment that hurts from the top to bottom line. Talent management plays a critical role in the modern company, and in many cases, it can mean the difference between a successful culture and going out of business. Enter Kaonavi Inc (4435 JP) 


Small Cap Growth: Kaonavi (4435) – Turning Talent into Teams

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Supun Walpola

Equity Analyst

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

In our previous report, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/a-reality-check-for-money-forward-3994-jp-key-takeaways-from-our-recent-visit" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:28861" rel="noopener">A Reality Check for Money Forward (3994 JP): Key Takeaways from Our Recent Visit</a>, we suggested that <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/money-forward-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:25919:1" rel="noopener">Money Forward (3994 JP)</a> (MF)’s FY11/19E revenue guidance (+55%-65% YoY growth) and medium-term profit targets (positive EBITDA by FY11/21E) are slightly aggressive and needs to be toned down. MF’s share price, which was trading at around ¥4,400 at that time (March 2019), has fallen to around ¥3,500, reinforcing our bearish view.MF reported its 1H FY11/19E financial results last week. MF’s revenue was up 53% YoY in 1H FY11/19, slightly below the bottom end of the guidance, and EBITDA worsened to ¥1,466m in 1H FY11/19 compared to ¥160m in 1H FY11/19.This was the company’s first financial results briefing after deploying a new price plan for its cloud-based enterprise SaaS business, MF Cloud, in May 2019. In this note, we take a closer look at the new price plan and what it means for MF going forward.

In our previous report, A Reality Check for Money Forward (3994 JP): Key Takeaways from Our Recent Visit, we suggested that Money Forward (3994 JP) (MF)’s FY11/19E revenue guidance (+55%-65% YoY growth) and medium-term profit targets (positive EBITDA by FY11/21E) are slightly aggressive and needs to be toned down. MF’s share price, which was trading at around ¥4,400 at that time (March 2019), has fallen to around ¥3,500, reinforcing our bearish view.MF reported its 1H FY11/19E financial results last week. MF’s revenue was up 53% YoY in 1H FY11/19, slightly below the bottom end of the guidance, and EBITDA worsened to ¥1,466m in 1H FY11/19 compared to ¥160m in 1H FY11/19.This was the company’s first financial results briefing after deploying a new price plan for its cloud-based enterprise SaaS business, MF Cloud, in May 2019. In this note, we take a closer look at the new price plan and what it means for MF going forward.

Money Forward’s New Pricing Plan Could Be Its First Step in the Path to Profitability

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

The S&amp;P 500 has paused just below logical resistance at the downtrend, and we believe the equity market is in wait-and-see mode for incremental information on a variety of issues including trade talks, Fed action and earnings.  Meanwhile, We are upgrading equal-weighted Technology to overweight. Our equal-weighted Tech Sector has surged to the top of our RSR ranks due to broad-based strength in semiconductors last week. Solar stocks are another Group that is emerging as leadership. In today’s report we highlight attractive small-cap Technology stocks, as well as selection of key stocks (MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL, V, NFLX, and ADBE) and subsectors (semis, biotech, and homebuilders) which are all up against logical price resistance.

The S&amp;P 500 has paused just below logical resistance at the downtrend, and we believe the equity market is in wait-and-see mode for incremental information on a variety of issues including trade talks, Fed action and earnings.  Meanwhile, We are upgrading equal-weighted Technology to overweight. Our equal-weighted Tech Sector has surged to the top of our RSR ranks due to broad-based strength in semiconductors last week. Solar stocks are another Group that is emerging as leadership. In today’s report we highlight attractive small-cap Technology stocks, as well as selection of key stocks (MSFT, AMZN, GOOGL, V, NFLX, and ADBE) and subsectors (semis, biotech, and homebuilders) which are all up against logical price resistance.

U.S. Equity Strategy: Market in Wait-And-See Mode; Upgrading Tech

United States

Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. develops and markets on demand employee development computer software. The Company's software includes learning management, enterprise social networking, performance management, and succession management. Cornerstone markets to multi-national corporations, large domestic enterprises, midmarket companies, state and local public sector organizations, and colleges.

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Cornerstone Ondemand (CSOD US)

Small Cap Growth: Kaonavi (4435) – Turning Talent into Teams

Talent management plays a critical role in the modern company, and in many cases, it can mean the difference between a successful culture and going...

Mark Chadwick

Money Forward’s New Pricing Plan Could Be Its First Step in the Path to Profitability

In our previous report, A Reality Check for Money Forward (3994 JP): Key Takeaways from Our Recent Visit, we suggested that Money Forward (3994 JP)...

Supun Walpola

U.S. Equity Strategy: Market in Wait-And-See Mode; Upgrading Tech

The S&P 500 has paused just below logical resistance at the downtrend, and we believe the equity market is in wait-and-see mode for incremental...

Vermilion Research

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