Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</p></div><div><p>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <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>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ping-an-insurance-grp-co-of-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12880:1" rel="noopener">Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wuxi-apptec" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:23679:1" rel="noopener">Wuxi Biologics (2269 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/haier-electronics-group-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4877:1" rel="noopener">Haier Electronics Group Co (1169 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xiaomi-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24409:1" rel="noopener">Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/want-want-china-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:355:1" rel="noopener">Want Want (151 HK)</a>. Shorts increased in Real Estate, Health Care, Communication Services and Financial stocks, and decreased on Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary names.</p></div><div><p>In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/showa-denko-k-k" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1496:1" rel="noopener">Showa Denko K.K. (4004 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pigeon-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3294:1" rel="noopener">Pigeon Corp (7956 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/change-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27414:1" rel="noopener">Change Inc (3962 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-building-fund-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1900:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Building Fund (8951 JP)</a> while shorts decreased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/advantest-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18107:1" rel="noopener">Advantest Corp (6857 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tdk-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18847:1" rel="noopener">TDK Corp (6762 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aozora-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6483:1" rel="noopener">Aozora Bank Ltd (8304 JP)</a>. Sectorally, shorts increased on Materials, Industrials, Real Estate and Consumer Discretionary names.</p></div><div><p>In Korea, the biggest increase in shorts were seen on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-chem-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3583:1" rel="noopener">LG Chem Ltd (051910 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/doosan-infracore-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3982:1" rel="noopener">Doosan Infracore (042670 KS)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/amorepacific-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20854:1" rel="noopener">Amorepacific Corp (090430 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/celltrion-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:991:1" rel="noopener">Celltrion Inc (068270 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-display-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7145:1" rel="noopener">LG Display (034220 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:191:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)</a>. </p></div><div><p>Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/largan-precision-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9126:1" rel="noopener">Largan Precision (3008 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pegatron-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12852:1" rel="noopener">Pegatron Corp (4938 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pan-jit-international-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12501:1" rel="noopener">Pan Jit International (2481 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/elite-semiconductor-memory" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9373:1" rel="noopener">Elite Semiconductor Memory (3006 TT)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/macronix-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3247:1" rel="noopener">Macronix International (2337 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/yageo-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13212:1" rel="noopener">Yageo Corporation (2327 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mediatek-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:772:1" rel="noopener">Mediatek Inc (2454 TT)</a>. </p></div>

The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on Tencent Holdings (700 HK), Ping An Insurance (H) (2318 HK), Wuxi Biologics (2269 HK) and Haier Electronics Group Co (1169 HK) while there was short covering on Alibaba Group (9988 HK), Meituan (3690 HK), Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK) and Want Want (151 HK). Shorts increased in Real Estate, Health Care, Communication Services and Financial stocks, and decreased on Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary names.In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were Showa Denko K.K. (4004 JP), Pigeon Corp (7956 JP), Change Inc (3962 JP) and Nippon Building Fund (8951 JP) while shorts decreased on Fast Retailing (9983 JP), Advantest Corp (6857 JP), TDK Corp (6762 JP) and Aozora Bank Ltd (8304 JP). Sectorally, shorts increased on Materials, Industrials, Real Estate and Consumer Discretionary names.In Korea, the biggest increase in shorts were seen on LG Chem Ltd (051910 KS) and Doosan Infracore (042670 KS) while shorts were covered on Amorepacific Corp (090430 KS), Celltrion Inc (068270 KS), LG Display (034220 KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930 KS). Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were Largan Precision (3008 TT), Pegatron Corp (4938 TT), Pan Jit International (2481 TT) and Elite Semiconductor Memory (3006 TT) while shorts were covered on TSMC (2330 TT), Macronix International (2337 TT), Yageo Corporation (2327 TT) and Mediatek Inc (2454 TT). 

Asia Short Interest Weekly: Tencent, Want Want, Showa Denko, NBF, LG Chem, AmoreCorp, Pegatron

President

Thomas Coughlin

Coughlin Associates

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>High capacity HDDs, particularly nearline drives for enterprise and hyper scale data centers are the one growth area for HDDs going forward.  We project that growth in demand for nearline storage could stop the decline in HDD shipments by 2024-2025.   The growth of capacity-oriented nearline drives will result in more components per drive out to 2025.  We project that total shipments of heads and media will exceed the peak in 2014 by 2024-2025, largely due to the growth of high capacity (many heads and media) hard disk drives.</p>

High capacity HDDs, particularly nearline drives for enterprise and hyper scale data centers are the one growth area for HDDs going forward.  We project that growth in demand for nearline storage could stop the decline in HDD shipments by 2024-2025.   The growth of capacity-oriented nearline drives will result in more components per drive out to 2025.  We project that total shipments of heads and media will exceed the peak in 2014 by 2024-2025, largely due to the growth of high capacity (many heads and media) hard disk drives.

HDD C3Q Results, Continued Decline in Units but Growth in High Capacity HDDs

Equity Bottom-Up

Seagate Technology Holdings PL / Equity Bottom-Up

<p style="text-align: start;">Seagate is seeing a tapering off of the nearline HDD buy to support cloud services during the Covid-19 pandemic.  However, sales of these HDDs and mass storage HDDs for video and related big data applications will be continued drivers for sales into calendar 2021.  The company said that 63% of their HDD revenue in C3Q 2020 was from mass capacity HDDs, including nearline HDDs.  The company also expects some consumer rebound for HDDs in 2021.  In the long run, the conversion to majority mass capacity HDDs will raise ASPs and by 2024-2025 start to increase total HDD unit shipments, further driving revenue and profitability.</p>

Seagate is seeing a tapering off of the nearline HDD buy to support cloud services during the Covid-19 pandemic.  However, sales of these HDDs and mass storage HDDs for video and related big data applications will be continued drivers for sales into calendar 2021.  The company said that 63% of their HDD revenue in C3Q 2020 was from mass capacity HDDs, including nearline HDDs.  The company also expects some consumer rebound for HDDs in 2021.  In the long run, the conversion to majority mass capacity HDDs will raise ASPs and by 2024-2025 start to increase total HDD unit shipments, further driving revenue and profitability.

Seagate:  Long Term Opportunities with Mass Storage HDDs

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<p>There are many reasons why active investors in Japan should be interested in understanding the ownership and shareholder dynamics of passive investors in Japan.</p><p>Some of the places active investors will see this are:</p><ul>
<li>Stories intermittently published about the BOJ's presence in Japanese ETFs (especially the fact that it owns 80+% of the outstanding ETF market),</li>
<li>Relatively constant interest in Nikkei 225 rebalances like the one we saw in July 2020, which helped push up <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-exchange-group-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11266:1" rel="noopener">Japan Exchange Group (8697 JP)</a> by 30+% from May to July, then helped it slide 13% in a week,</li>
<li>The mooted return of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toshiba-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:637:1" rel="noopener">Toshiba Corp (6502 JP)</a> to the TSE First Section, </li>
<li>The relatively recent policy of increased stewardship regarding the passive management portion of the GPIF (the Government Pension Investment Fund) - an investing heavyweight in Japan,</li>
<li>The changes to the TSE's market structure, which appear to be coming sooner than people think,</li>
<li>The changes to the TSE's First Section inclusion rules, which will change the nature of TOPIX inclusion trades - a milestone which is approaching VERY quickly.</li>
</ul><p>When I do analysis of index events or shareholder pressure or ownership on a standalone basis, I fairly regularly get skeptical comments and questions <em>"How do you estimate those numbers?? Those numbers look big to me!"</em></p><div><p>As I said in 2018 in the first version of this piece, my reply is that the data is out there if you are diligent enough to look.</p></div><div><p>And when you do, it tells you a fair bit about the nature of what <em>else</em> is out there.</p></div>

There are many reasons why active investors in Japan should be interested in understanding the ownership and shareholder dynamics of passive investors in Japan.Some of the places active investors will see this are:
Stories intermittently published about the BOJ's presence in Japanese ETFs (especially the fact that it owns 80+% of the outstanding ETF market),
Relatively constant interest in Nikkei 225 rebalances like the one we saw in July 2020, which helped push up Japan Exchange Group (8697 JP) by 30+% from May to July, then helped it slide 13% in a week,
The mooted return of Toshiba Corp (6502 JP) to the TSE First Section, 
The relatively recent policy of increased stewardship regarding the passive management portion of the GPIF (the Government Pension Investment Fund) - an investing heavyweight in Japan,
The changes to the TSE's market structure, which appear to be coming sooner than people think,
The changes to the TSE's First Section inclusion rules, which will change the nature of TOPIX inclusion trades - a milestone which is approaching VERY quickly.
When I do analysis of index events or shareholder pressure or ownership on a standalone basis, I fairly regularly get skeptical comments and questions "How do you estimate those numbers?? Those numbers look big to me!"As I said in 2018 in the first version of this piece, my reply is that the data is out there if you are diligent enough to look.And when you do, it tells you a fair bit about the nature of what else is out there.

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Aqila Ali

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.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiyo-yuden-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9924:1" rel="noopener">Taiyo Yuden (6976 JP)</a>’s 1Q FY03/21 was weak but surpassed market expectations on OP significantly. 1Q revenue and OP declined by 11.9% YoY and  17% YoY respectively. Sales fell below consensus estimates by 3% and our estimate by 10%. However, OP exceeded consensus by 108% and our estimate by 14%. Taiyo also managed to surpass its 1Q FY03/21 guidance. As expected COVID-19 impact in Malaysia and the Philippines affected the company’s 1Q results.</p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/151/651/original/image_56216613341597032376925.png?1597032377" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="151651"></figure><p><em>Source: Company Disclosures, CapIQ, LSR</em></p><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/151/652/original/image_1465125651597032387868.png?1597032391" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="151652"></figure><p><em>Source: Company Disclosures</em></p><p>The company’s 1H FY03/21E guidance looks achievable with 46% of revenue and 53% of the OP target already achieved in 1Q. However the slowdown in consumer and auto demand is likely to affect the company through this FY, That being said, we believe that the company’s increasing focus on auto’s and IT infrastructure than smartphones, is like to give Taiyo a more stable business that is not affected by seasonal demand (smartphones) over the long term. For the short term, however, 5G deployment and recovery in the Auto sector are key growth drivers.</p><p>The company’s share price did not take a significant hit during March 2020 similar to its peers <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tdk-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18847:1" rel="noopener">TDK Corp (6762 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kyocera-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:753:1" rel="noopener">Kyocera Corp (6971 JP)</a>. Also, the share price rebounded quite quickly to reach near pre-COVID 19 levels. The company is currently trading at 14.5x FY2 PE, marginally below its historical average and at a discount to peers. Though <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/murata-manufacturing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11649:1" rel="noopener">Murata Manufacturing (6981 JP)</a> Murata is likely to retain leadership in the MLCC sector, we feel Taiyo has higher potential for growth. Therefore, we recommend owning Taiyo for its long term prospects.</p><p>We go through the details below.</p>

Taiyo Yuden (6976 JP)’s 1Q FY03/21 was weak but surpassed market expectations on OP significantly. 1Q revenue and OP declined by 11.9% YoY and  17% YoY respectively. Sales fell below consensus estimates by 3% and our estimate by 10%. However, OP exceeded consensus by 108% and our estimate by 14%. Taiyo also managed to surpass its 1Q FY03/21 guidance. As expected COVID-19 impact in Malaysia and the Philippines affected the company’s 1Q results.Source: Company Disclosures, CapIQ, LSRSource: Company DisclosuresThe company’s 1H FY03/21E guidance looks achievable with 46% of revenue and 53% of the OP target already achieved in 1Q. However the slowdown in consumer and auto demand is likely to affect the company through this FY, That being said, we believe that the company’s increasing focus on auto’s and IT infrastructure than smartphones, is like to give Taiyo a more stable business that is not affected by seasonal demand (smartphones) over the long term. For the short term, however, 5G deployment and recovery in the Auto sector are key growth drivers.The company’s share price did not take a significant hit during March 2020 similar to its peers TDK Corp (6762 JP) and Kyocera Corp (6971 JP). Also, the share price rebounded quite quickly to reach near pre-COVID 19 levels. The company is currently trading at 14.5x FY2 PE, marginally below its historical average and at a discount to peers. Though Murata Manufacturing (6981 JP) Murata is likely to retain leadership in the MLCC sector, we feel Taiyo has higher potential for growth. Therefore, we recommend owning Taiyo for its long term prospects.We go through the details below.

Taiyo’s OP Outperforms Consensus Amidst COVID-19

Japan

TDK CORPORATION manufactures electronics components such as magnetic tapes and ferrite cores.  The Company also sells power supplies, inductors, transformers, ceramic capacitors, magnets, LAN (Local Area Network) components, sensors, and semiconductors.  TDK markets its products worldwide.

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TDK Corp (6762 JP)

Asia Short Interest Weekly: Tencent, Want Want, Showa Denko, NBF, LG Chem, AmoreCorp, Pegatron

The Asia short report highlights large movements in weekly short interest across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to be used as an input in trading...

Brian Freitas

HDD C3Q Results, Continued Decline in Units but Growth in High Capacity HDDs

HDD Annual Shipments in continued decline, high capacity HDD shipments expected to grow. C3Q benefited from consumer sales and continued capacity...

Thomas Coughlin

Seagate: Long Term Opportunities with Mass Storage HDDs

Seagate Technology quarterly results show 63% of revenue from Mass Capacity HDDs and long term mass capacity HDD growth, demonstrating medium and...

Thomas Coughlin

JAPAN PASSIVE: Who Owns What 2020?

There are many reasons why active investors in Japan should be interested in understanding the ownership and shareholder dynamics of passive...

Travis Lundy

Taiyo’s OP Outperforms Consensus Amidst COVID-19

Taiyo Yuden (6976 JP)’s 1Q FY03/21 was weak but surpassed market expectations on OP significantly. 1Q revenue and OP declined by 11.9% YoY and 17%...

Aqila Ali

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