Brief Consumer: Baidu: Time to Swoop In, with NAV Discount Widening Substantially and more

In this briefing:

1. Baidu: Time to Swoop In, with NAV Discount Widening Substantially
2. Aisin Takes a 50% Cut in OP This Quarter; A Downward Revision in FY03/19E Target
3. Denso Revises Earnings Guidance Downwards After a 22% YoY Decline in OP as of 3QFY03/19
4. Pinduoduo (PDD US): Follow-On Offering Is a Smart Move for the Company, Rather than for Investors
5. Wilmar: China Listing at ~20x Might Prove Too Optimistic.

1. Baidu: Time to Swoop In, with NAV Discount Widening Substantially

• Our stub valuation analysis reveals that Baidu Inc (ADR) (BIDU US) attractively trades at near 2 SD below its 3-yr average of NAV discount.
• Fundamentally, BIDU’s core business (Baidu Core) has grown healthily, with strong cash flows generation.
• China consumption slowdown is likely to mean modest sales growth deceleration (not a “sales falling off the cliff” scenario) for BIDU in 2019E.
• Implied in the current ADR price, the market is unjustifiably valuing Baidu Core (11.2x 2019E PE) as an “Old economy” company with little to no growth prospect, in our opinion.
• Our PT for next 3-6 mo, assuming 10% holdco discount to NAV, works out to be US$224/ADR, representing a 27% upside potential.   

2. Aisin Takes a 50% Cut in OP This Quarter; A Downward Revision in FY03/19E Target

On Friday, Aisin Seiki (7259 JP) reported 3QFY03/19 results posting a slight decline in revenue by -0.5% YoY, below our estimates by -5.6%, although above consensus estimates by +1.4%. On profitability, Aisin failed to meet market expectations, posting OP significantly down by almost -51% YoY falling below market expectations by a significant -33%. However, the results for the nine-months ended FY03/19 reported revenue up by +4.7% YoY supported by the increase in AT and Brake and Body parts sales. OP, however, was still disappointing, declining by nearly -13% YoY for the period, on the back of increasing depreciation costs for advanced investments alongside the rising R&D costs.

Following the quite significant decline in OP this quarter, Aisin has revised its guidance for FY03/19E revenue and OP downwards. Aisin now expects FY03/19E revenue to increase by only +1.3% YoY (cf. previous guidance of +2.3% YoY) and OP to decline by -17.3% YoY (cf. previous guidance of -7.8% YoY), expecting an OPM pf 5.3%. This downward revision is despite the fact that the company has achieved almost 76% of its revised revenue target and 77% of the revised OP target as of 3Q FY03/19. Aisin could be expecting its depreciation on investments and R&D costs to increase further over the last quarter and may also the quarters in the next financial year, for the company to be on track to compete with leading players like Denso in the competitive automotive field. However, we feel that Aisin is being quite conservative by revising its revenue guidance downwards this quarter and we still believe that the company’s steady revenue growth could continue over the last quarter, alongside its business restructuring efforts driving margins to about at least 6% for FY03/19E cf. 6.1% for FY03/18. Following the release, Aisin closed 3.0% down on Friday from Thursday’s close, however, rallied up almost 6% on Monday’s open.

3. Denso Revises Earnings Guidance Downwards After a 22% YoY Decline in OP as of 3QFY03/19

Denso Corp (6902 JP) failed to deliver as strong growth in revenue during its 3QFY03/19, compared to the first two-quarters of FY03/19. Denso reported a growth of only +1% YoY during 3QFY19, -1% below both consensus and our own estimate. Profitability of the company seemed more disappointing witnessing a decline of -17% YoY, falling below market expectations by -24%. The nine months ended cumulative figures for the company also looked depressing on the OP front, with Denso experiencing a -22% YoY decline, delivering an OPM of 6.1% (down from 8.1% during the same period last year).

However, Denso’s nine-month revenue looked relatively steady at 7.6% YoY growth. Denso has managed to make steady growth in revenue during the period despite the market slowdown in its key business regions, especially Europe and China. Revenue across all regions increased over the nine-months, supported by the overall increase in global car production and sales expansion from its recently consolidated subsidiaries (DENSO TEN and TD mobile). However, Denso’s OP over the current financial year has been on a downtrend citing its investments for future growth as the key reason. As we have previously mentioned, we consider this to be consistent with the company’s recent moves, having witnessed the company’s investment in companies such as Renesas, Metawave, Tohoku Pioneer, JOLED, ThinCI (Denso Prepares for the Future; Investments in Tohoku Pioneer EG Following JOLED and ThinCI). The stock moved down 5% from pre-release to post-release low.

4. Pinduoduo (PDD US): Follow-On Offering Is a Smart Move for the Company, Rather than for Investors

With the shares hitting all-time highs, Pinduoduo (PDD US) announced a follow-on public offering to raise net proceeds (potentially of $1.1 billion) from the sale of 37 million ADS along with the placing of 14.8 million ADS from existing shareholders (post-lockup expiry).

5. Wilmar: China Listing at ~20x Might Prove Too Optimistic.

INVESTMENT VIEW:  Management sounded confident that they could list its China operations at ~20x PER and unlock value in Wilmar International (WIL SP) shares by 1) paying a special dividend from the listing proceeds, and 2) investors using the SOTP valuation to see deep value in the ex-China portion of the business.  However, our review of Wilmar-China’s listed A-share peers highlights significant vulnerability in management’s key assumption on its potential listing multiple.  We recommend investors take profits from the recent rally in the shares and expect them to trade back towards the lower end of its recent trading range.