In this briefing:
- ByteDance (字节跳动) IPO: Tiktok the No.1 Short Video App for a Good Reason (Part 2)
- Global Solar Energy Stocks Are Bottoming
- Trade War Uncertainty Bites into Investment Spending and Production
- Facebook Inc. – Is Consensus Overly Cautious?
- Oslo Børs, Euronext and Nasdaq – Shootout at the NOK Corral
1. ByteDance (字节跳动) IPO: Tiktok the No.1 Short Video App for a Good Reason (Part 2)
In our first insight (link here) covering ByteDance, we discuss ByteDance’s app matrix, the differentiating factors of ByteDance and the key difference between its Jinri Toutiao app and Tencent News.
In this insight, we will discuss in details its next blockbuster app, Tiktok. Similar to Jinri Toutiao, it is utilizing AI technology for content curation. In addition to that, the app also uses AI technology to beautify content producers. Compared to text-based content, the short-video content is more viral.
In the next insight, we will look at the company’s overseas expansion, past series of financing and valuation.
2. Global Solar Energy Stocks Are Bottoming
In today’s report we highlight the following actionable solar energy names: First Solar (FSLR), SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG), GCL-Poly Energy (3800-HK), Meyer Burger Technology AG (MBTN-CH), Enphase Energy (ENPH), JinkoSolar Sponsored ADR (JKS), TerraForm Power (TERP), Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group (1250-HK), GCL New Energy (451-HK), and Viatron Technologies (141000-KR).
3. Trade War Uncertainty Bites into Investment Spending and Production
Import elasticities. Ease of transferring business between countries. Reliability of alternative supply chains. Time taken to relocate production. The list of unknowns on how easily companies could relocate production from China goes on and on but the bottom line is that uncertainty has been raised and that is bad news for global growth.
In Reality Check: China and the US Trade War, we wrote “Even if the Trade War ends tomorrow, the damage has already been done”.
4. Facebook Inc. – Is Consensus Overly Cautious?
Facebook Inc A (FB US) is a bellwether stock for the equity markets. Although the market capitalisation is approaching $475 billion, the Company is still considered a growth stock. In our view, 2019 could be a pivotal year for the Company after a lack lustre 2018, when FB, although volatile, underperformed the NASDAQ. We believe that investors are underestimating revenue growth for 2019 and that FB is likely to surprise to the upside in Q1-19.
5. Oslo Børs, Euronext and Nasdaq – Shootout at the NOK Corral
Oslo Bors VPS Holding ASA (OSLO NS) based in Oslo, Norway, is an owner and operator of marketplaces for the trading of financial instruments as well as settlement, securities registration and information services. It includes Oslo Børs, the central marketplace for the listing and trading of equities, equity certificates, ETPs, fixed income instruments and derivative products in the Norwegian market, and VPS, the only central securities depository in Norway.
OSLO NS is the target of competing tender offers from Euronext NV (ENX FP) and Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ US). Euronext owns 5.3% and has irrevocables for 45.2% of OSLO NS shares, for 50.5% total. It launched an Offer to acquire all shares at NOK 145, and just raised that to NOK 158 on February 11, 2019. Nasdaq has irrevocables for 35.2% of OSLO NS shares and has launched an Offer to acquire all OSLO NS shares at NOK 152 per share. Nasdaq’s Offer received the unanimous recommendation of Oslo Børs VPS’s Board when it was announced. As things stand there are two deep-pocketed bidders, each with a large slug of shares in their corner at loggerheads.
Has this contest for a Norwegian company reached a Mexican standoff[i] between an American powerhouse and a Franco/Dutch European champion? Or will the dust clear after pistols at dawn, providing a clear view of a winner? Read on for the Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
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[i] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Mexican standoff is “A deadlock, stalemate, impasse; a roughly equal (and frequently unsatisfactory) outcome to a conflict in which there is no clear winner or loser; (also formerly) a massacre in cold blood.”
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