In this briefing:
- ASML. Safe Harbor In A Semi Storm.
- Spotify: Playbook for Online Platforms to Turn Profitable – Implications for Meituan Dianping
- U.S. Equity Strategy: Nearing Short-Term Overbought Extremes
- A Trading Strategy for EcoproBM Post IPO
- Delta Thailand’s Tender Offer: Updated Timetable
1. ASML. Safe Harbor In A Semi Storm.
Dutch lithography bellwether ASML is unique among its WFE peers in forecasting 2019 as yet another growth year for the company, making it eight such years in a row. While the likes of Applied Materials and Lam Research anticipate YoY revenue declines in the mid-to-high teens, ASML is sheltered from the worst excesses of the downturn by virtue of its technological moat, namely its EUV lithography tools. Customers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics and Intel are critically depending on ASML to deliver thirty of those tools in 2019 in order to ramp their latest process nodes.
On the latest earnings call, ASML underscored its confidence in the company’s prospects by proposing a 50% increase in dividends to €2.10 per share. Currently trading at a 17% discount to its 52-week high, ASML is a safe harbor in the current semiconductor storm.
2. Spotify: Playbook for Online Platforms to Turn Profitable – Implications for Meituan Dianping
- Our analysis of how Spotify Technology Sa (SPOT US) turned profitable in 4Q18 reveals three key ingredients: critical mass in sales, GM progression, and core business diversification.
- With sales reaching critical mass, this would allow fixed costs to be spread out in such a way that opex/unit is lower than GP/unit.
- Progression in GM and core business diversification strategy are worth monitoring.
- Implication: Meituan Dianping’s (3690 HK) core business is ahead of iQIYI Inc (IQ US) in terms of profitability inflection point timeline.
3. U.S. Equity Strategy: Nearing Short-Term Overbought Extremes
Positive news surrounding trade and dovish Fed rhetoric has continued to flow, resulting in a reversal from December’s oversold extremes to our current, overbought extremes according to the S&P 500’s percentage of stocks above their 50-day moving average (see chart below). We continue to believe the market is going through a bottoming process, and we prefer to be on the cautious side at current levels considering how far and how quickly the market has risen.
In today’s report we highlight attractive stocks within Materials and Technology: large- and small-cap gold, silver, platinum, and optical equipment companies.
4. A Trading Strategy for EcoproBM Post IPO
- In this report, we provide a trading strategy for Ecopro BM Co Ltd (247540 KS) IPO, which is expected to start trading on March 5th. The IPO price has been determined at 48,000 won, which is 19% higher than the mid-point of the original IPO price range of 37,500 won to 42,900 won. The institutional investors’ demand for the Ecopro BM IPO was extremely strong at 988 to 1.
- In our previous report Ecopro BM IPO: Valuation Analysis, we proposed the base case to high end of the company’s value to be between 56,000 won and 67,800 won. Given the enormous institutional demand for this IPO, it appears that our base case valuation (56,000 won), which is 17% higher than the IPO price, may be too conservative.
- A more likely scenario now is that the stock reaches about 65,000 won to 70,000 won in the first few hours of trading on the first day, overshooting its intrinsic value and sells off a bit for a few days/weeks, enters a consolidation phase and then resumes its higher share price again.
5. Delta Thailand’s Tender Offer: Updated Timetable
With Form 247-3 (Intention to Make a Tender Offer) and the FY18 dividend (Bt2.30/share) for Delta Electronics Thai (DELTA TB) having been announced, this insight briefly provides an updated indicative timetable for investors.
The next key date is the submission of Form 247-4, the Tender Offer for Securities, which will provide full details of the Offer.
Date | Data in the Date | Comment |
1-Aug-18 | Announcement | |
13-Jan-19 | Pre-approvals fulfilled | |
18-Feb-19 | Form 247-3 submitted | |
18-Feb-19 | FY18 dividend announced | |
22-Feb-19 | Form 247-4 to be submitted | As per announcement |
25-Feb-19 | Tender Offer open | Assume 1 business day after 247-4 is submitted |
28-Feb-19 | Last day to buy to be on the 4 Mar register | T+2 settlement |
1-Mar-19 | Ex-date for dividend | As announced |
4-Mar-19 | Date to be on the registry to receive full-year dividend | As announced |
22-Mar-19 | Last day for revocation of shares | 20th day of Tender Offer1 |
29-Mar-19 | Close of Offer | Assuming 25 business days tender period |
2-Apr-19 | AGM | As announced |
3-Apr-19 | Consideration paid under the Offer | Assume 3 business days after close of Offer |
11-Apr-19 | Payment of FY18 dividend | As announced2 |
1 assuming the shareholder has not forfeited the right to revoke
2 the dividend is subject to a 10% WHT for non-residents.
This above indicative timetable assumes a conditional offer based on a minimum acceptance level of at least 50%. Payment under the offer may indeed be earlier, as explained below, which also ties in with a shareholders’ right to revoke shares tendered.
In addition, investors should not tender once the offer opens – assuming the tender period commences on the 25 February – but wait until their shares are on the registry as at 4 March to receive the FY18 dividend.
Currently trading at a 2.2%/22% gross/annualised spread. Bear in mind the dividend is subject to 10% tax.
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