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

TMT Weekly: 3 Things that Stood Out the Week of September 24, 2021

DoorDash: Why Is Doordash 14x Sales and Uber 4x?

DoorDash 1Q22 Earnings: Are Delivery Platforms More Profitable than Ride Sharing?

DoorDash 4Q20 Earnings: This Is a Business Worth $50B?

DoorDash 1Q21 Earnings: Reopening or Decelerating?

Battle Lines Drawn As BABA Builds Out First/Last-Mile Capacity; But Who Will Fund 75+ Bn CNY CapEx?

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>DoorDash’s had a fairly impressive 2Q21 after a solid 1Q21…the company even raised full year guidance by more than then the second quarter beat. However, they are guiding to deceleration in the backhalf of the year as reopenings pick up and normal seasonality sets in…. the question is when does that happen given how much the delta variant is preventing normalization.  We don’t usually short on valuation alone, you need a fundamental competitive flaw. We think DoorDash appears to be well run and is executing, buts its valuation is nonsensical at 12x forward sales vs. a peer group average of 4x. Grubhub and Postmates get acquired at 6x forward sales a year ago. With limited disclosures on international progress or non-food delivery or its Dashpass subscriber base, we don’t understand how investors can underwrite the valuation. We’d pair a Dash short with a Match long for COVID reopening.</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>

DoorDash’s had a fairly impressive 2Q21 after a solid 1Q21…the company even raised full year guidance by more than then the second quarter beat. However, they are guiding to deceleration in the backhalf of the year as reopenings pick up and normal seasonality sets in…. the question is when does that happen given how much the delta variant is preventing normalization.  We don’t usually short on valuation alone, you need a fundamental competitive flaw. We think DoorDash appears to be well run and is executing, buts its valuation is nonsensical at 12x forward sales vs. a peer group average of 4x. Grubhub and Postmates get acquired at 6x forward sales a year ago. With limited disclosures on international progress or non-food delivery or its Dashpass subscriber base, we don’t understand how investors can underwrite the valuation. We’d pair a Dash short with a Match long for COVID reopening.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.  

DoorDash 2Q21 Earnings: Awaiting Deceleration