Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Relx had a decent financial performance in the recent quarter and is being driven by a continued shift in the business mix toward higher-growth analytics and decision tools that provide increased value to their clients across market categories.</li>
<li>The underlying adjusted operating profit increased by 16%.</li>
<li>All four business segments expanded well, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth matching or exceeding underlying sales growth.</li>
</ul>


Relx had a decent financial performance in the recent quarter and is being driven by a continued shift in the business mix toward higher-growth analytics and decision tools that provide increased value to their clients across market categories.
The underlying adjusted operating profit increased by 16%.
All four business segments expanded well, with underlying adjusted operating profit growth matching or exceeding underlying sales growth.


Relx Plc: Diving Deep into Their Growth Strategies! – Key Drivers

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

<ul>
<li>UK Fund exposure in Softcat PLC has reached new highs.  The percentage of UK funds invested in Softcat now stands at a record 17.3% with average holding weights of 0.21%</li>
<li>Softcat PLC moves to the 5th most widely held Technology stock in the UK, sharing similar ownership characteristics to Spirent Communications, Halma PLC and Oxford Instruments.</li>
<li>With Softcat approaching the boundaries of FTSE 100 inclusion, it’s not hard to envisage investment levels moving higher from here.</li>
</ul>


UK Fund exposure in Softcat PLC has reached new highs.  The percentage of UK funds invested in Softcat now stands at a record 17.3% with average holding weights of 0.21%
Softcat PLC moves to the 5th most widely held Technology stock in the UK, sharing similar ownership characteristics to Spirent Communications, Halma PLC and Oxford Instruments.
With Softcat approaching the boundaries of FTSE 100 inclusion, it’s not hard to envisage investment levels moving higher from here.


Softcat PLC: Record Overweight as UK Managers Buy In

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

Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund / Technical Analysis

Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund

<ul>
<li>In our January 10th Compass, we discussed a break above 3910 on SPX would signal a tradable rally, with 4100-4165 our target, the top-end of our expected 2023 trading range.</li>
<li>We believe equities are still in the midst of a rally/short squeeze, but that the rally is likely to fizzle in the 4100-4165 area.</li>
<li>After being underweight Communications (XLC) since Nov 2021, sidestepping 20% underperformance vs. SPX, we now see signs of price and RS bottoms, and we are upgrading to market weight. Buy.</li>
</ul>


In our January 10th Compass, we discussed a break above 3910 on SPX would signal a tradable rally, with 4100-4165 our target, the top-end of our expected 2023 trading range.
We believe equities are still in the midst of a rally/short squeeze, but that the rally is likely to fizzle in the 4100-4165 area.
After being underweight Communications (XLC) since Nov 2021, sidestepping 20% underperformance vs. SPX, we now see signs of price and RS bottoms, and we are upgrading to market weight. Buy.


Upgrading Communications, Downgrading Staples - Both to Market Weight; US Dollar Major Top

<ul>
<li>Market dynamics have mildly deteriorated in recent weeks on concerns over less accommodative monetary policy and the Omicron variant.</li>
<li>Despite recent deterioration, critical supports are holding on the broad global indexes, and our global outlook remains neutral as we continue to expect more consolidation and mixed markets.</li>
<li>Growth continues to outperform relative to value. Actionable Themes: Services, Technology, and Consumer Discretionary.</li>
</ul>


Market dynamics have mildly deteriorated in recent weeks on concerns over less accommodative monetary policy and the Omicron variant.
Despite recent deterioration, critical supports are holding on the broad global indexes, and our global outlook remains neutral as we continue to expect more consolidation and mixed markets.
Growth continues to outperform relative to value. Actionable Themes: Services, Technology, and Consumer Discretionary.


Add To Growth On This Pullback; Actionable Themes: Services, Technology, and Consumer Discretionary

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Among active Global investors, EMEA Industrials are the 6th largest regional sector allocation and the largest in the EMEA region, with a 4.80% holding weight on average.  This allocation places EMEA Industrials as the largest regional sector overweight at +2.05% above benchmark (vs MSCI ACWI) with 72.9% of funds holding more than the benchmark weight.Over the last 6-months, cash flows have been among the highest across all Regional Sector groups, with $1bn in net inflows, more buyers than sellers and a marginal uptick in absolute and relative weights.Over the last 6-months, German Industrials stand out as the key recipient of increased levels of positioning, with 4.2% of funds moving to overweight and 3.4% of funds buying in to the sector.Ownership in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/deutsche-post-ag" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21608:1" rel="noopener">Deutsche Post AG (DPW GR)</a> more than doubled from 9.2% in July 2020 to 20.8% today, with every month in between seeing new funds enter the name.  Key holders are RBC, Artemis and Nuveen, all of whom hold north of a 3% allocation.  Over the last 6-months, no closures were registered and instead 2.9% of funds opened positions, led by Cambriar's Global Equity Fund (1.88%) and John Hancock's Global Equity Fund (1.81%).The analysis looks at the positioning of 380 active Global investors with combined AUM of $1.1tr.

Among active Global investors, EMEA Industrials are the 6th largest regional sector allocation and the largest in the EMEA region, with a 4.80% holding weight on average.  This allocation places EMEA Industrials as the largest regional sector overweight at +2.05% above benchmark (vs MSCI ACWI) with 72.9% of funds holding more than the benchmark weight.Over the last 6-months, cash flows have been among the highest across all Regional Sector groups, with $1bn in net inflows, more buyers than sellers and a marginal uptick in absolute and relative weights.Over the last 6-months, German Industrials stand out as the key recipient of increased levels of positioning, with 4.2% of funds moving to overweight and 3.4% of funds buying in to the sector.Ownership in Deutsche Post AG (DPW GR) more than doubled from 9.2% in July 2020 to 20.8% today, with every month in between seeing new funds enter the name.  Key holders are RBC, Artemis and Nuveen, all of whom hold north of a 3% allocation.  Over the last 6-months, no closures were registered and instead 2.9% of funds opened positions, led by Cambriar's Global Equity Fund (1.88%) and John Hancock's Global Equity Fund (1.81%).The analysis looks at the positioning of 380 active Global investors with combined AUM of $1.1tr.

EMEA Industrials: Global Consensus Overweight

United Kingdom

Relx PLC provides information solutions for professional customers across industries. The Company publishes information for the scientific, medical, legal, and business sectors. Relx serves customers worldwide. Dually-listed company with REN NA.

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RELX PLC (REL LN)

Relx Plc: Diving Deep into Their Growth Strategies! – Key Drivers

Relx had a decent financial performance in the recent quarter and is being driven by a continued shift in the business mix toward higher-growth...

Baptista Research

Softcat PLC: Record Overweight as UK Managers Buy In

UK active long-only fund exposure in Softcat PLC has hit record highs as it approaches the boundaries of FTSE 100 inclusion.

Steven Holden

Upgrading Communications, Downgrading Staples - Both to Market Weight; US Dollar Major Top

We believe equities are still in the midst of a rally/short squeeze, but that the rally is likely to fizzle in the $SPX 4100-4165 area. Upgrading...

Vermilion Research

Add To Growth On This Pullback; Actionable Themes: Services, Technology, and Consumer Discretionary

Growth continues to outperform relative to value, shown by the intact uptrend on the MSCI ACWI ex-US Growth vs. Value ratio. We highlight...

Vermilion Research

EMEA Industrials: Global Consensus Overweight

Over the last 6-months, cash flows into EMEA Industrials have been among the highest across all sectors, with inflows of $1bn, more buyers than...

Steven Holden

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