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 6/11/​​​​​​2021

ANGI Homeservices (ANGI): Fixed Price Will Fix the Price I (Fundamentals).

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>We have always enjoyed following IAC because we share a worldview with management about investing behind THE major secular trend in the world today…offline to online transition of massive TAMs. Even the largest TAMs in the world – groceries, entertainment, autos, commerce, finance, real estate, etc. are still incredibly early in the long term replatforming of how the global economy functions.</p><p>What’s interesting this quarter is Covid’s impact, which was a tailwind for both ANGI and IAC for most of the year has morphed, and become a serious headwind for ANGI in the short term…but really only the short term. We view this pullback as a great entry point on ANGI for a longer term investor, because it is set up for an ongoing reacceleration throughout 2021 as the quirky supply/demand environment normalizes.</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>

We have always enjoyed following IAC because we share a worldview with management about investing behind THE major secular trend in the world today…offline to online transition of massive TAMs. Even the largest TAMs in the world – groceries, entertainment, autos, commerce, finance, real estate, etc. are still incredibly early in the long term replatforming of how the global economy functions.What’s interesting this quarter is Covid’s impact, which was a tailwind for both ANGI and IAC for most of the year has morphed, and become a serious headwind for ANGI in the short term…but really only the short term. We view this pullback as a great entry point on ANGI for a longer term investor, because it is set up for an ongoing reacceleration throughout 2021 as the quirky supply/demand environment normalizes.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.

ANGI Homeservices

IAC / ANGI 3Q20: A Tale of Two Cities