Brief TMT & Internet: China Telecom Mobile Business Recovered in 4Q. Broadly in Line with Expectations and more

In this briefing:

1. China Telecom Mobile Business Recovered in 4Q. Broadly in Line with Expectations
2. China Unicom Weak 4Q18 Mobile Results Offset by Strength in Fixed Line Business
3. SEC 47k Rejection Targets Base Case Support
4. Yunji IPO Preview: Balance Sheet Points to Waning Engagement
5. Micron. Things May Be Getting Worse But They Are Still Remarkably Good.

1. China Telecom Mobile Business Recovered in 4Q. Broadly in Line with Expectations

China Telecom (728 HK), having delivered strong revenue growth but weak margins in 3Q18, delivered better 4Q numbers. Like its peers however, the business is under some pressure with ARPUs weak despite strong data growth.  We see the Chinese Telcos as vulnerable to policy demands for accelerated 5G spending. While the market may like the look of a joint roll-out of 5G with China Unicom (762 HK), that may be simplistic. Chris Hoare thinks the cost of a combined roll-out is likely to be even higher than China Mobile (941 HK). Recent price strength makes our Reduce recommendation clearer.

2. China Unicom Weak 4Q18 Mobile Results Offset by Strength in Fixed Line Business

China Unicom’s (762 HK) recent 4Q18 results were not great. The overall figures look ok due to strength in the fixed line business which offset weakness in mobile. However, they were the weakest of the three operators and the stock, which has had a strong run, now looks due for a pause. We have turned more cautious on the Chinese telcos on concerns that 5G spending could be higher than expected. Chris Hoare believes a major reason for the Chinese telcos outperforming in the past year has come from declining capex spending expectations. That trend may now start to reverse. While China Unicom has guided for only modest 5G capex in 2019 the focus will turn to 2020 where it is a much bigger issue and while we expect China Unicom to do a joint roll-out with China Telecom (728 HK) we expect the scale of the spending to be larger than an individual build. 

3. SEC 47k Rejection Targets Base Case Support

Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) met our rally target outlined in 28 January insight SEC and SK Hynix Breakouts at 70.3k. In that insight we outlined the tactical rise would give way to a pullback toward ideal pocket support that would offer a better risk to reward intermediate entry point for SEC.

Multiple rejection at that 47.2-5k barrier call for fresh lows toward preferred pocket and buy support. Only external pressures would adjust our downside bias to lower pattern support that comes in at 35k.

MACD basing support is expected to create a solid support for price on weakness. Risk lies with the MACD slipping back within the pattern range.

4. Yunji IPO Preview: Balance Sheet Points to Waning Engagement

Yunji Inc. (YJ US) is a leading membership-based social e-commerce platform in China which primarily sells merchandise through its Yunji app. Yunji is also referred to as a multi-level revenue sharing platform as the business model is based on providing incentives to members to promote products and invite new members through their social networks. Yunji is seeking to raise $200 million through a Nasdaq IPO.

5. Micron. Things May Be Getting Worse But They Are Still Remarkably Good.

On Thursday March 21’st 2019, Micron announced latest quarter (Q2FY19) revenues of $5.8 billion, at the bottom end of their forecast range and down 26% sequentially. The midrange of their forecast for the current quarter (Q3FY19) will see revenues drop another 17% sequentially to $4.8 billion, roughly equivalent to the same quarter two years ago. On the earnings call, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra stated that the company would be cutting back both DRAM and NAND production by ~5% in response to a further deterioration in the CY2019 demand outlook. Furthermore, he refused to be drawn as to whether or not the current quarter would be the downturn trough despite reiterating his belief in the widely anticipated 2H CY2019 recovery thesis.

The challenging environment notwithstanding, there were some key positives also from the earnings call. The company is taking decisive and unprecedented actions to reduce their bit supply, actions we believe will be matched by Samsung Electronics  and SK Hynix. Gross margin coming into this downturn was a historic high at 61% and NAND gross margins have remained in the high 30% range despite ASP’s falling for five of the past six quarters. Furthermore, as forecasted three months ago, Micron still expects DRAM bit shipments to increase in the current quarter.

Integrating the latest updates from company, we now model Micron revenues declining for two further quarters to reach a trough at $4.5 billion in the company’s Q4FY19. We further model net income in the trough quarter at $1 billion. Thereafter we model a return to modest, sustained growth in the following quarters. Yes, things may be getting worse for Micron but they are still remarkably good.