TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

Equity Bottom-Up

<div><p>In between earnings seasons, we are trying to catch up on the flurry of TMT IPOs over the past few months that have caught our eye. Why AppLovin? As we talk about often, we are interested in unique business models, and AppLovin qualifies. Its choice to build up its own mobile game portfolio as a means of turbocharging the value of its software is highly differentiated. We've been tracking winners and losers from Apple's privacy changes this year and think a growing mobile app ecosystem with proprietary 1st party data is very interesting. Valuation seems reasonable. We will continue to track this one on the long side.</p></div><div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div></div></div>

In between earnings seasons, we are trying to catch up on the flurry of TMT IPOs over the past few months that have caught our eye. Why AppLovin? As we talk about often, we are interested in unique business models, and AppLovin qualifies. Its choice to build up its own mobile game portfolio as a means of turbocharging the value of its software is highly differentiated. We've been tracking winners and losers from Apple's privacy changes this year and think a growing mobile app ecosystem with proprietary 1st party data is very interesting. Valuation seems reasonable. We will continue to track this one on the long side.Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

Japan/Asia Long-Short, LightStream Research

Mio Kato

Japan/Asia Long-Short

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>We said a couple of weeks ago that the restrictions on the gaming sector imposed by China were far more severe than the market reaction indicated. However, our view was mostly a call on the long-term impact of the gaming time restrictions on minors. The latest updates suggest that even the short-term outlook could get dire fast.</p>

We said a couple of weeks ago that the restrictions on the gaming sector imposed by China were far more severe than the market reaction indicated. However, our view was mostly a call on the long-term impact of the gaming time restrictions on minors. The latest updates suggest that even the short-term outlook could get dire fast.

China Gaming Restrictions Redux – Market Seems to Be in Denial

Latest News from the World’s Leading Innovators

Granite Bay Capital

An innovation focussed investment company

Granite Bay Capital is an innovation focussed investment company with a deep focus on the companies at the leading edge of innovation across major themes such as AI, ubiquitous computing, sustainability, automation and longevity.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Headline Developments On the back of the Epic v Apple case, documents were released highlighting that Google (GOOG) had considered buying Epic outright.  During the case, Epic Games outlined Google’s plans to develop “a series of internal projects to address the ‘contagion’ it perceived from efforts by Epic and others to offer consumers and developers competitive alternatives and has even contemplated buying some or all of Epic to squelch this threat”.</p>

Headline Developments On the back of the Epic v Apple case, documents were released highlighting that Google (GOOG) had considered buying Epic outright.  During the case, Epic Games outlined Google’s plans to develop “a series of internal projects to address the ‘contagion’ it perceived from efforts by Epic and others to offer consumers and developers competitive alternatives and has even contemplated buying some or all of Epic to squelch this threat”.

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Capital Markets

<div class="content-highlight"><p>AppLovin announced its IPO price range of $75 to $85 per share. The company is selling 25 million shares and at the high end of the IPO price range, the company is aiming to raise $2.1 billion. At the high end of the IPO price range ($85 per share), AppLovin would be valued at $30.4 billion. </p></div><p>Our base case valuation of AppLovin is EV of $35.1 billion, implied market cap of $35.7 billion, and implied target price per share of $99.8. This represents 17% higher than the high end of the IPO price range of $85. We have a POSITIVE view of the AppLovin IPO. Our base case valuation of AppLovin is based on a 16x EV/S multiple (using 2021 sales estimate), which represents a 10% higher than the average EV/S multiple of the comps. It is also below the EV/S multiple of Unity Software and Roblox which trade at EV/S multiple of 26.8x and 19.2x, respectively. </p><p>We estimate AppLovin to generate sales of $2.2 billion (up 51% YoY) and an operating profit of $65.2 million in 2021. From 2020 to 2025, we have assumed the company's sales to grow at a CAGR of 28.6%.</p>

AppLovin announced its IPO price range of $75 to $85 per share. The company is selling 25 million shares and at the high end of the IPO price range, the company is aiming to raise $2.1 billion. At the high end of the IPO price range ($85 per share), AppLovin would be valued at $30.4 billion. Our base case valuation of AppLovin is EV of $35.1 billion, implied market cap of $35.7 billion, and implied target price per share of $99.8. This represents 17% higher than the high end of the IPO price range of $85. We have a POSITIVE view of the AppLovin IPO. Our base case valuation of AppLovin is based on a 16x EV/S multiple (using 2021 sales estimate), which represents a 10% higher than the average EV/S multiple of the comps. It is also below the EV/S multiple of Unity Software and Roblox which trade at EV/S multiple of 26.8x and 19.2x, respectively. We estimate AppLovin to generate sales of $2.2 billion (up 51% YoY) and an operating profit of $65.2 million in 2021. From 2020 to 2025, we have assumed the company's sales to grow at a CAGR of 28.6%.

<ul>
<li>Founded in 2011, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/applovin-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32989:1" rel="noopener">AppLovin Corp (APP US)</a> is getting ready to complete its IPO in 2Q 2021. The company is aiming to raise about $1 billion in this IPO. KKR purchased a minority stake in the company in 2018 at about $2 billion valuation. The IPO valuation is likely to be much higher.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.cityindex.co.uk/market-analysis/applovin-ipo-background-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> originally started its business helping customers to improve the smartphone customer experiences for all the users. In recent years, the company has become a much bigger player in the mobile gaming segment and it also helps developers to grow their users and improve monetization of their apps. </li>
<li>AppLovin's income statement shows strong sales growth in the past three years but declining profit margins. AppLovin generated sales of $1,451.1 million and an operating loss of $62.1 million in 2020. The company's sales have nearly tripled from 2018 to 2020. Despite the company's strong sales growth, one of the things that is not so clear in the prospectus is what percentage of the company's sales growth in the past three years has been driven by organic growth versus acquisitions.</li>
</ul>


Founded in 2011, AppLovin Corp (APP US) is getting ready to complete its IPO in 2Q 2021. The company is aiming to raise about $1 billion in this IPO. KKR purchased a minority stake in the company in 2018 at about $2 billion valuation. The IPO valuation is likely to be much higher.
The company originally started its business helping customers to improve the smartphone customer experiences for all the users. In recent years, the company has become a much bigger player in the mobile gaming segment and it also helps developers to grow their users and improve monetization of their apps. 
AppLovin's income statement shows strong sales growth in the past three years but declining profit margins. AppLovin generated sales of $1,451.1 million and an operating loss of $62.1 million in 2020. The company's sales have nearly tripled from 2018 to 2020. Despite the company's strong sales growth, one of the things that is not so clear in the prospectus is what percentage of the company's sales growth in the past three years has been driven by organic growth versus acquisitions.


United States

Unity Software Inc. provides software solutions. The Company offers graphic tools to create, run, and monetize real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. Unity Software serves customers worldwide.

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Unity Software (U US)

Recent IPO Insights: AppLovin

AppLovin's choice to build up its own mobile game portfolio as a means of turbocharging the value of its software is highly differentiated. A...

Aaron Gabin

China Gaming Restrictions Redux – Market Seems to Be in Denial

While we felt the market overlooked the long-term implications of previous gaming restrictions the latest updates on China's crackdown suggest that...

Mio Kato

Weekly Innovation Review (WIRE) #44

Headline Developments On the back of the Epic v Apple case, documents were released highlighting that Google (GOOG) had considered buying Epic...

Granite Bay Capital

AppLovin IPO Valuation Analysis

Our base case valuation of AppLovin is implied market cap of $35.7 billion and target price per share of $99.8. This represents 17% higher than the...

Douglas Kim

AppLovin IPO Preview

AppLovin Corp (APP US) is getting ready to complete its IPO in 2Q 2021. The company is aiming to raise about $1 billion in this IPO.

Douglas Kim

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