Daily Brief Equity Bottom-Up: Xinyi Glass (868 HK):  Resilient FY23 Results; A Nice Dividend Play and more

• Xinyi Glass Holdings (868 HK) reported FY23 results, with net profit up 5% yoy and sales up 4% yoy. 
• The company announced a final dividend of HKD0.37 per share, resulting in a full year dividend of HKD0.63 per share, which is a yield of 8%. 
• Overall the results look resilient, with auto glass segment a bit weaker than expected and float glass segment stronger than expected. 

• Baidu (BIDU) reported C4Q23 top line, non-GAAP operating profit and GAAP net income inline, 9.4% and (43%) vs. our estimates, and inline, 8.2% and (46%) vs. consensus. 
• We believe LLM is fundamentally an upgrade of search; further, BIDU is a 2B/general AI play in China, a country filled with 2C/specialized AI players;
• We cut our TP for BIDU from US$157 to US$116 and maintain BUY.

• The Wingstop Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings highlighted the company’s substantial progress with its strategies involving same-store sales growth, brand partner returns, and growth acceleration.
• An eye-catching declaration from Wingstop was that 2023 was its strongest financial year on record, demonstrated simultaneously through its industry-leading results and marking its 20th consecutive year of same-store sales growth.
• Furthermore, Wingstop managed to grow to over $3.5 billion in system-wide sales- a growth spurt of 27%- coupled with the opening of a record-breaking 255 net new restaurants..

• Copart, Inc, a leading provider of online vehicle auctions, recently disclosed its second-quarter financial results for the fiscal year 2024.
• The recorded statements offered valuable insights into the company’s operational and financial advancements during the period.
• In the insurance business, the company reported profitable growth despite slight disturbances in the comparison metrics, primarily caused by significant catastrophic events in the previous year, including Hurricane Ian.

• Booking Holdings recently reported solid Q4 and full-year 2023 results due to global leisure travel demand resilience.
• Room nights grew by 9% YoY, and revenue of $4.8 billion alongside adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 billion exceeded expectations.
• Non-GAAP earnings per share also grew by 29% YoY, attributed to a reduced share count from the previous year.

• The fourth quarter results from TRS were not up to our expectations after a recovery in packaging was subdued by an unexpected significant decline in the specialty business
• The specialty business has been a source of sales growth for the past nearly three years without any sign of slowing down until Q4. 
• TRS reported fourth quarter sales of $209.6 million compared to our forecast of $247.4 million. The biggest delta was from specialty where sales missed our estimate by $26 million

• Cheniere Energy, Inc.
• has reported substantial operational and financial attainments for Q4 and the entire year of 2023.
• The company produced a record 637 LNG cargoes, with a total production amounting to 45 million tons, in line with their forecast.

Newly confirmed strong finances (just 0.6x net debt/adjusted EBITDA including convertible loan) and continued Nordic market resilience, allied with multiple growth initiatives, are justifiably reinforcing Scandic’s confidence. Moves into economy (Scandic Go) and Germany mark a widening and accelerating hotel pipeline with clear scope to grow (4% of the estate vs pre-pandemic 11%), while a step-change in digitalisation via the new Oracle OPERA Cloud and enhanced loyalty programme are expected to drive material efficiencies and guest engagement. Financial flexibility should allow the company to address concerns about the maturity of the convertible loan (SEK1.2bn) in October. Consensus FY24 pre-IFRS 16 EBITDA forecast of SEK2.5bn give an EV/EBITDA of c 4.7x.

• Quanta Services, Inc., a provider of specialized contracting services, reported fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2023 reflecting double-digit growth in revenues and earnings, pointing to robust demand and solid execution.
• Total year-end backlog was $30.1 billion, indicative of the company’s enduring client relationships and momentum entering 2024.
• Record revenue was achieved 6 out of the last 7 years along with 6 consecutive years of record-adjusted EBITDA and 7 years of continuous record-adjusted earnings per share, aided by Quanta’s operational and financial platform backed by over 50,000 dedicated employees.

• This is our first report on Moderna, Inc., a renowned biotechnology company utilizing mRNA technology in the development of therapeutics and vaccines.
• The company entered 2024 optimistic despite challenging 2023 results.
• The company’s revenue for 2023 stood at $6.1 billion, with a net loss of $4.7 billion.