Equity L/S Analyst | Forensic Accounting | India, Yellowstone Equity

Ankit Agrawal, CFA

I possess investment research experience across asset classes and geographies, acquired at Investcorp (New York) and Howe & Rusling (Rochester). At Investcorp, an alternative asset manager, I was part of an investment team managing >$1bn in discretionary client assets. I was also a member of investment recommendation, monitoring, cross-asset strategy and macro outlook committees that met periodically for investment decisions and top-down views. At Howe & Rusling, a long-only asset manager, I helped cover US large-cap equity investments across sectors for growth and income focused portfolios as well as assisted in managing a US small-cap growth focused equity portfolio. I possess an MBA in finance and corporate accounting from University of Rochester in US, a CFA Charter, and an Engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in India.  

My current focus is L/S equity fundamental research across market cap and sectors with an eye on corporate governance and forensic accounting. I am currently based in India and my current coverage universe is biased towards India.

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Regulatory Disclosure: Note that Ankit Agrawal (Proprietor of Yellowstone Equity) is a SEBI registered Research Analyst (Registration No.: INH000007216). Registration granted by SEBI and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors. Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.

Research Analyst Contact Details -
Address: A-602, Titanium Business Park, Makarba, Ahmedabad - 380051 |
Email: services@yellowstoneequity.com |
Mobile: +91-7575817289

Compliance/Grievance Officer -
Name: Ankit Agrawal |
Email: services@yellowstoneequity.com |
Mobile: +91-7575817289
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Equity L/S Analyst | Forensic Accounting | India

Bajaj Finance: Muted Performance in Q1FY22

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bajaj-finance-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8950:1" rel="noopener">Bajaj Finance Ltd (BAF IN)</a> reported weaker than expected Q1FY22 earnings led by weakening asset quality and subdued growth due to adverse impact from the second wave of COVID. On the other hand, it reported strong advancement in its next phase transformation of becoming an app based fintech ecosystem. With this app based ecosystem, we think BAF is gearing up to be the next big fintech in the country. If all goes well, we won’t be surprised to see BAF getting bigger than Paytm, PhonePe, etc. over time. BAF has an inherent advantage over its peers in the form of a large vetted and wealthy customer base as well as in-house products that can be tailored as per customer requirements. BAF’s fintech peers, on the other hand, acquire customers through significant discounts and cash burn. Also, these peers have limited in-house products and have to rely mostly on third-party products that provide limited leeway for customization. While, BAF’s current valuations are around fair at 65-70x on a normalized profit base (i.e. ex of COVID impact), we think BAF still has potential to surprise on earnings growth led by its new Fintech avatar. </p>

Bajaj Finance Ltd (BAF IN) reported weaker than expected Q1FY22 earnings led by weakening asset quality and subdued growth due to adverse impact from the second wave of COVID. On the other hand, it reported strong advancement in its next phase transformation of becoming an app based fintech ecosystem. With this app based ecosystem, we think BAF is gearing up to be the next big fintech in the country. If all goes well, we won’t be surprised to see BAF getting bigger than Paytm, PhonePe, etc. over time. BAF has an inherent advantage over its peers in the form of a large vetted and wealthy customer base as well as in-house products that can be tailored as per customer requirements. BAF’s fintech peers, on the other hand, acquire customers through significant discounts and cash burn. Also, these peers have limited in-house products and have to rely mostly on third-party products that provide limited leeway for customization. While, BAF’s current valuations are around fair at 65-70x on a normalized profit base (i.e. ex of COVID impact), we think BAF still has potential to surprise on earnings growth led by its new Fintech avatar. 

Bajaj Finance: Undergoing Major Transformation Towards Becoming a Fintech Company