Independent Insight Provider, Japanese equities, LightStream Research

Scott Foster

Independent Insight Provider, Japanese equities

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.

Equity Bottom-Up

Hamamatsu Photonics Kk / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Guidance was cut after disappointing 1H results, but management's new forecast for FY Sep-20 does not include the impact of COVID-19.</li>
<li>Instead, management notes that the pandemic could reduce 2H sales by another 10% - 15%. In our estimation, this would lead to a 25% - 34% decline in FY Sep-20 net profit.</li>
<li>Management's plan for the following two years remains unchanged. It implies a sharp rebound taking operating profit well above its FY Sep-18 peak.</li>
<li>This plan is based on capacity expansion and demand forecasts made before the outbreak of COVID-19. But capital spending is now being postponed.</li>
<li>The share price has rebounded by 47% since March. The projected P/E ratios implied by management's plan are 33x for FY Sep-22 and 28x for FY Sep-23. The 5-year historical P/E range is 22x - 38x. </li>
<li>As infections continue to rise and lockdowns are reimposed, management's plan looks over-optimistic, at least for the coming syear.</li>
<li>3Q results should be announced in early August.</li>
</ul>


Guidance was cut after disappointing 1H results, but management's new forecast for FY Sep-20 does not include the impact of COVID-19.
Instead, management notes that the pandemic could reduce 2H sales by another 10% - 15%. In our estimation, this would lead to a 25% - 34% decline in FY Sep-20 net profit.
Management's plan for the following two years remains unchanged. It implies a sharp rebound taking operating profit well above its FY Sep-18 peak.
This plan is based on capacity expansion and demand forecasts made before the outbreak of COVID-19. But capital spending is now being postponed.
The share price has rebounded by 47% since March. The projected P/E ratios implied by management's plan are 33x for FY Sep-22 and 28x for FY Sep-23. The 5-year historical P/E range is 22x - 38x. 
As infections continue to rise and lockdowns are reimposed, management's plan looks over-optimistic, at least for the coming syear.
3Q results should be announced in early August.


Hamamatsu Photonics (6965 JP): Set Up for Disappointment

'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. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/118/403/original/2020-02-18_08-44-22.png?1581983074" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="118403"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/118/404/original/2020-02-18_08-42-56.png?1581983098" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="118404"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>THREE-YEAR LOW - With <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bridgestone-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8914:1" rel="noopener">Bridgestone (5108 JP)</a>'s results and revision now added, our final tally for this season is a 196 basis point decline in our Results Sore - the lowest since March 2017.  In contrast, the Forecast/Revision Score reached a three-month high as the 470 companies with December year-ends put an optimistic gloss on their medium-term outlook. As we have noted in our recent daily roundups, a normal precondition for a cycle low is for the Forecast/Revision Score to rise above the Results Score. Forecast/Revision Score peaks and troughs usually occur one to two quarters ahead of those for the Results Score.  Covid-19's impact will likely see the 2016 'playbook' repeated next quarter with a lower Results Score and a 'sideways' Forecast/Results Score. The Results Score cycle low point will be reached with the mostly-interim results to be released in six months. <figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/118/405/original/2020-02-18_09-29-28.png?1581985792" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="118405"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>LEADING INDICATOR - By including several momentum factors into our Scoring (see below), we can provide a better indication of future business conditions. Indeed there is a 0.83 correlation between the Cabinet Office's Business Condition Leading Indicator and the Forecast/Revision Score. Reported earnings, as well as company forecasts, are lagging indicators and, as shown in Part 1 of this Insight. Both data series peaked one year after our Scores and the market peaked in early 2018. SCORING METHODOLOGY - For those new to these Insights, we briefly recap our scoring methodology below:-<ul>
<li>Results Scores are calculated using the most recent eight quarters of company data for Revenues, Operating Income and Operating Margin and, for each, measure the rate, degree and consistency of change. The Results Score has a maximum of +30 and a minimum of -30 for each period. Our data series commences from the time a particular company issues quarterly results. The sample size becomes significant from March 2005.</li>
<li>The Forecast/Revision Score is based on both Annual and Interim period company forecasts and compares changes from previous forecasts as well as against the trailing twelve-month (TTM) or previous first-half results, with annual forecasts being double-weighted. This Score also has a maximum of +30 and a minimum of -30 for each period.  For this series, our data samples start from August 2008.</li>
<li>The combined Results &amp; Revision Score (RRS) is the average of the Results Score and the Forecasts/Revision Score.</li>
<li>
All company Scores are then cap-weight-aggregated into Sector, Peer Group and Market Composite Scores for which the seventeen-year monthly and two-year daily track records are shown above. Only currently listed-companies are covered in the aggregate Scores, and the Total Market Capitalisation excludes delisted entities. REITs are not included.
<hr>
• SECTOR SCORES •
<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/118/410/original/2020-02-18_09-55-29.png?1581987489" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="118410"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>
In the DETAIL Section below, we provide a detailed breakdown of our RRS Scoring for Sectors, Peer Groups and individual companies, highlighting this quarter's 'winners' and 'losers'. The chart above shows a  seventeen-year 'timeline' of the cap-weight-aggregated Sector RRS Scores and the ebbs and flows around the business cycles. The Metals Sector is the most volatile on the downside and has yet to 'bottom' this cycle. Technology Hardware appears to have already rebounded; however, Covid-19 suggests this Sector may relapse. On the upside, the Information Technology Sector has replaced the Internet and Telecoms Sectors as the contra-cyclical 'champion'. 
</li>
</ul>

Source • Japan AnalyticsTHREE-YEAR LOW - With Bridgestone (5108 JP)'s results and revision now added, our final tally for this season is a 196 basis point decline in our Results Sore - the lowest since March 2017.  In contrast, the Forecast/Revision Score reached a three-month high as the 470 companies with December year-ends put an optimistic gloss on their medium-term outlook. As we have noted in our recent daily roundups, a normal precondition for a cycle low is for the Forecast/Revision Score to rise above the Results Score. Forecast/Revision Score peaks and troughs usually occur one to two quarters ahead of those for the Results Score.  Covid-19's impact will likely see the 2016 'playbook' repeated next quarter with a lower Results Score and a 'sideways' Forecast/Results Score. The Results Score cycle low point will be reached with the mostly-interim results to be released in six months. Source • Japan AnalyticsLEADING INDICATOR - By including several momentum factors into our Scoring (see below), we can provide a better indication of future business conditions. Indeed there is a 0.83 correlation between the Cabinet Office's Business Condition Leading Indicator and the Forecast/Revision Score. Reported earnings, as well as company forecasts, are lagging indicators and, as shown in Part 1 of this Insight. Both data series peaked one year after our Scores and the market peaked in early 2018. SCORING METHODOLOGY - For those new to these Insights, we briefly recap our scoring methodology below:-
Results Scores are calculated using the most recent eight quarters of company data for Revenues, Operating Income and Operating Margin and, for each, measure the rate, degree and consistency of change. The Results Score has a maximum of +30 and a minimum of -30 for each period. Our data series commences from the time a particular company issues quarterly results. The sample size becomes significant from March 2005.
The Forecast/Revision Score is based on both Annual and Interim period company forecasts and compares changes from previous forecasts as well as against the trailing twelve-month (TTM) or previous first-half results, with annual forecasts being double-weighted. This Score also has a maximum of +30 and a minimum of -30 for each period.  For this series, our data samples start from August 2008.
The combined Results &amp; Revision Score (RRS) is the average of the Results Score and the Forecasts/Revision Score.

All company Scores are then cap-weight-aggregated into Sector, Peer Group and Market Composite Scores for which the seventeen-year monthly and two-year daily track records are shown above. Only currently listed-companies are covered in the aggregate Scores, and the Total Market Capitalisation excludes delisted entities. REITs are not included.

• SECTOR SCORES •
Source • Japan Analytics
In the DETAIL Section below, we provide a detailed breakdown of our RRS Scoring for Sectors, Peer Groups and individual companies, highlighting this quarter's 'winners' and 'losers'. The chart above shows a  seventeen-year 'timeline' of the cap-weight-aggregated Sector RRS Scores and the ebbs and flows around the business cycles. The Metals Sector is the most volatile on the downside and has yet to 'bottom' this cycle. Technology Hardware appears to have already rebounded; however, Covid-19 suggests this Sector may relapse. On the upside, the Information Technology Sector has replaced the Internet and Telecoms Sectors as the contra-cyclical 'champion'. 



🇯🇵 JAPAN • IT’S A WRAP! Part 2: 2020-Q1 Results & Revision Scores

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/117/227/original/2020-02-11_05-05-13.png?1581376613" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="117227"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>10TH FEBRUARY ROUNDUP - 189 results and 93 revision announcements had little impact on our aggregate Scores, although decliners still outweighed improvers by a factor of two times. Amongst larger caps, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mitsubishi-estate-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:566:1" rel="noopener">Mitsubishi Estate (8802 JP)</a> produced the best quarter-on-quarter change in Score, with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sundrug-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12615:1" rel="noopener">Sundrug (9989 JP)</a> being one of the worst. Today is a public holiday (kenkoku kinen no hi), and so the next roundup will appear on Wednesday morning. <hr>• SECTOR TIMELINE •<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/117/228/original/2020-02-11_05-08-14.png?1581377317" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="117228"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source • Japan Analytics</div>SECTOR TIMELINE - Monday's main moves were upwards for Real Estate and Media (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hakuhodo-dy-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8736:1" rel="noopener">Hakuhodo DY (2433 JP)</a>) and downwards (again) for Other Commercial Products (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hamamatsu-photonics-kk" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14074:1" rel="noopener">Hamamatsu Photonics (6965 JP)</a>) and Building Materials (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nichias-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14674:1" rel="noopener">Nichias (5393 JP)</a>).

Source • Japan Analytics10TH FEBRUARY ROUNDUP - 189 results and 93 revision announcements had little impact on our aggregate Scores, although decliners still outweighed improvers by a factor of two times. Amongst larger caps, Mitsubishi Estate (8802 JP) produced the best quarter-on-quarter change in Score, with Sundrug (9989 JP) being one of the worst. Today is a public holiday (kenkoku kinen no hi), and so the next roundup will appear on Wednesday morning. • SECTOR TIMELINE •Source • Japan AnalyticsSECTOR TIMELINE - Monday's main moves were upwards for Real Estate and Media (Hakuhodo DY (2433 JP)) and downwards (again) for Other Commercial Products (Hamamatsu Photonics (6965 JP)) and Building Materials (Nichias (5393 JP)). 

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions Daily Roundup - 10th February ▲7003 8802 2433 ▼6965 9989 6324

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

The whitelist lifting means that Japan is now able to export restrict about 1,200 materials/products to Korea. It is expected that Japan will unveil more details of the next measures on Aug 8. Until then, it's only a guessing game. Even after Aug 8, it is very possible that we won't have any clearer visual on the situation. Probably, this is what the Japanese government wants: creating uncertainties one after another. Nonetheless, we are not short of local speculations about which specific products or materials to be export restricted in the next round. Here are the 4 strong candidates being speculated by local media and industry experts.<ol>
<li>Silicon wafer</li>
<li>Shadow mask (FMM: fine metal mask)</li>
<li>Image sensor</li>
<li>Li-ion battery separator</li>
</ol>

The whitelist lifting means that Japan is now able to export restrict about 1,200 materials/products to Korea. It is expected that Japan will unveil more details of the next measures on Aug 8. Until then, it's only a guessing game. Even after Aug 8, it is very possible that we won't have any clearer visual on the situation. Probably, this is what the Japanese government wants: creating uncertainties one after another. Nonetheless, we are not short of local speculations about which specific products or materials to be export restricted in the next round. Here are the 4 strong candidates being speculated by local media and industry experts.
Silicon wafer
Shadow mask (FMM: fine metal mask)
Image sensor
Li-ion battery separator


Japan's Second Round of Export Restrictions Against Korea: 4 Candidate Products

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

We view weakness in global equity markets over the past week as correcting a significant amount of the excess optimism. We recommend taking advantage of the pullback by adding exposure to our favorite areas - namely Technology. Our overall outlook on global equities (both the MSCI ACWI and ACWI ex-US) remains positive and we continue to expect higher equity prices going forward.  In today’s report we provide a technical appraisal of all major markets and highlight actionable stocks throughout the int’l Technology and Communications sectors.

We view weakness in global equity markets over the past week as correcting a significant amount of the excess optimism. We recommend taking advantage of the pullback by adding exposure to our favorite areas - namely Technology. Our overall outlook on global equities (both the MSCI ACWI and ACWI ex-US) remains positive and we continue to expect higher equity prices going forward.  In today’s report we provide a technical appraisal of all major markets and highlight actionable stocks throughout the int’l Technology and Communications sectors.

Global-Ex-U.S. Equity Strategy: Add Exposure To Technology, Communications

Japan

Azbil Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets total automation equipment used in industrial and commercial buildings. The Company's products include sensors, switches, recording meters, security systems, air conditioners, pressure transmitters, and flow meters.

Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. manufactures and markets electronic components such as, ceramic capacitors, inductors, hybrid integrated circuits (IC), and ferrite. The Company's products include power supplies, inverters, optical disks, filters, coils, and thermistors.

HIROSE ELECTRIC CO., LTD. develops and sells electronic equipment, specializing in connectors.  The Company's products include circular, rectangular and ribbon cables, printed circuit boards, integrated circuits, PC cards, nylon boards, and board connectors.

HORIBA, Ltd., manufactures and markets measuring instruments and analyzers.  The Company's main product lines are scientific analyzers, environment monitoring, medical analyzers, engine emission analyzers, and semiconductor test equipment. Horiba operates worldwide.

Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. manufactures a wide range of glass related products.  The Company's products include fluorescent light tubes, lenses for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), ceramic integrated circuits (IC) packages, bulbs for cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, and precision sheet glass for liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

Amano Corporation manufactures electric time recorders and information systems. The Company also produces time stamps and parking lot traffic and fee collection management systems.  The Company produces environment related systems such as dust collectors, air filters, and gas/water cleaning equipment.

Alps Alpine Co., Ltd. manufactures and markets electronic parts used for car electronics, computer peripheral equipment, and communications and broadcasting related equipment. The Company's products include printers, switches, ceramic trimmer capacitors, sensors, transceiver units for cellular phones, drives, and magnetic heads. Alps Alpine also operates logistics businesses.

YOKOGAWA ELECTRIC CORPORATION develops, manufactures, and markets information technology (IT) solutions, measuring and control equipment, semiconductors, and electronic components.  The Company's products include IT controllers, flowmeters, pressure transmitters, analyzers, data recorder, switching power supplies, and AC (alternating current) adaptors.

MARUWA CO., LTD. develops, manufactures, and sells electronic ceramic components, resistors, and hybrid integrated circuits (IC).  The Company operates production facilities in Malaysia.

OMRON Corporation manufactures electronic components, equipment and systems used for factory automation. The Company provides products and services in a variety of fields including industrial automation, electronic components, automotive electronics, social systems such as ticket gate machines and traffic control, and healthcare.

Jentech Precision Industrial Company Ltd. provides tooling, precision metal stamping, custom insert molding, injection molding, and assembly solutions for medical, consumer electronics, semiconductor, automotive, appliance, and micro electronic markets to a wide variety of industries.

Nan Ya Printed Circuit Board Corporation manufactures and markets printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuit (IC) substrates.

Zhejiang Crystal-Optech Co., Ltd. researches, manufactures and markets photoelectric parts. The key products are OLPF, IR Cut Filter, IR Filter Housing Assembly, Thermal Diffusion Panel and Cover Glass.

Huagong Tech Co., Ltd. manufactures laser equipment, laser false-proof products, sensitive electronic components, optical telecommunication products, and biopharmaceuticals.  The Company also develops computer software and provides computer system integration services.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. manufactures a broad line of passive and discreet active electronic components, particularly resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, and transistors.  The Company's products are utilized in computers, telephones, televisions, automobiles, household appliance, medical equipment, satellites, and military and aerospace equipment.

Shenzhen Sunlord Electronics Co.,Ltd. manufactures and markets chip passive components including chip inductor, chip ferrite bead, chip varistor, NTC thermistor and chip common mode choke coil.

Shenzhen Sunlord Electronics Co, Ltd. (002138 CH)

Innolux Corporation manufactures TFT-LCD, LCD models and LCD monitors. The company also provides research, development, manufacturing and retails business.

LOTES Co., Ltd specialize in design and manufacture of connectors, CPU Socket, Coolers and Antenna for Notebook Computer, Personal Computer, Mobile electronic device and Ditial Video.

Synnex Technology International Corporation markets personal computers, computer peripherals, multi-media products, network products, computer application software, electronic parts, and telecommunication products.

Synnex Technology International (2347 TT)

AAC Technologies Holdings Inc designs, develops and manufactures a broad range of miniaturized components that include speakers, receivers and microphones in the acoustic segment and others such as haptics vibrators, RF and antennas, and optical lenses. AAC's products are found in mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, ultrabooks, notebooks and electronic book-readers.

HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K. manufactures electron tubes, semiconductors, and image processors.  The Company's products include photosensitive electronic tubes, optical/image sensors, X-ray related products, laser related products, photodiodes, light-emitting diodes (LED) and video camera used for measuring equipment.

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Hamamatsu Photonics Kk (6965 JP)

Hamamatsu Photonics (6965 JP): Set Up for Disappointment

Guidance was cut after disappointing 1H results, but management's new forecast for FY Sep-20 does not include the impact of COVID-19. Instead,...

Scott Foster

🇯🇵 JAPAN • IT’S A WRAP! Part 2: 2020-Q1 Results & Revision Scores

THREE-YEAR LOW - With Bridgestone (5108 JP)'s results and revision now added, our final tally for this season is a 196 basis point decline in our...

Campbell Gunn

🇯🇵 JAPAN • Results & Revisions Daily Roundup - 10th February ▲7003 8802 2433 ▼6965 9989 6324

10TH FEBRUARY ROUNDUP - 189 results and 93 revision announcements had little impact on our aggregate Scores, although decliners still outweighed...

Campbell Gunn

Japan's Second Round of Export Restrictions Against Korea: 4 Candidate Products

The whitelist lifting means that Japan is now able to export restrict about 1,200 materials/products to Korea. It is expected that Japan will...

Sanghyun Park

Global-Ex-U.S. Equity Strategy: Add Exposure To Technology, Communications

We view weakness in global equity markets over the past week as correcting a significant amount of the excess optimism. We recommend taking...

Vermilion Research

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