TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

I have over 20 years’ experience investing in the TMT and Consumer sectors, almost entirely on the buyside. Started at Bernstein covering software in 2001, moved to the buyside at Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) in 2003, covering hardware, software, and media. 

After getting an MBA at NYU in 2008 and a CFA, I spent 8 years at Coburn Ventures (a market neutral TMT/Consumer hedge fund). In 2015, I joined Deimos Asset Management, a low net multi-strat, where I managed a  TMT/Consumer portfolio.

I've spent the past few years at Obex Capital Management providing independent investment research to TMT and Consumer investors.

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

Crowdstrike 3Q21: Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Coupa Software: Entry Point on an Expensive SaaS Compounder.

Slack 2Q21 Earnings Recap: Too Much Slack in Billings

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>As a reminder, we advocated buying Coupa around the bottom back in early April as it was a good entry point for a permanently expensive Adobe/ServiceNow like compounder (15x back then). We decided to step to the sidelines last quarter as the company didn’t offer much new disclosures around Pay and an oddly conservative guidance for this quarter….which not so shockingly they blew out. This quarters’ guidance for 4Q21 is equally conservative, and if you strip out its Llamasoft acquisition, you get the same sandbagged guidance as last quarter.</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.</p></div>

As a reminder, we advocated buying Coupa around the bottom back in early April as it was a good entry point for a permanently expensive Adobe/ServiceNow like compounder (15x back then). We decided to step to the sidelines last quarter as the company didn’t offer much new disclosures around Pay and an oddly conservative guidance for this quarter….which not so shockingly they blew out. This quarters’ guidance for 4Q21 is equally conservative, and if you strip out its Llamasoft acquisition, you get the same sandbagged guidance as last quarter.Obex’s fundamental research process is focused on secular change in the TMT and Consumer sectors. We seek to differentiate between fundamental business analysis and security analysis. Before deciding if a security’s pricing and positioning merit a long or short position, we analyze the four pillars of business fundamentals (Secular Factors, TAM, Competitive Advantage, Business Model) in order to determine if this is a “good” or “not so good” opportunity.

Coupa 3Q21 Earnings: The Boy Who Cried Wolf