Internet

Corona Capital: Lyft, Vaccine minefield, Peru

11 Nov 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The U.S. ride-hailing company is tempted by food delivery; Pfizer could face high demand for its coronavirus vaccine; and Peru gets another leadership shuffle just as Covid-19 cases soar.

Jeff Bezos and Margrethe Vestager can get along

10 Nov 2020

The Amazon CEO may balk at charges from Europe’s antitrust tsar that his company distorts retail competition. Possible remedies, like sharing data or erecting internal firewalls, will hurt. Still, Vestager is trying to cope with Amazon’s dominance, not end it. That’s something.

Crushed Ant is just the start of China techlash

5 Nov 2020

An abrupt regulatory halt to the company’s $37 bln IPO speaks to Beijing's waning tolerance for the clout wielded by online titans. Alibaba, Tencent and others have avoided the competition and privacy concerns dogging their Western counterparts. That could all be about to change.

Naspers finds one bargain internet stock: its own

30 Oct 2020

The $82 bln South African group and its Amsterdam-listed offshoot have lagged behind a surge in big technology stocks this year. A $5 bln buyback highlights the discount to its stake in China’s Tencent and shows it won’t chase overpriced deals. Other investors should take notice.

Corona Capital: Utah Jazz, Comcast, Kraft

29 Oct 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Utah Jazz’s owners sign off with a respectable return; Comcast shoots the light out on broadband; and Kraft rides the stay-at-home wave.

Ant’s $312 bln valuation puts faith in fast growth

27 Oct 2020

Both the Hong Kong and Shanghai shares priced with a lucky number eight. To achieve the symbolised prosperity, the Chinese fintech giant’s profit would have to double by 2022 based on the conservative 24 times multiple. Much rides on winning over customers and regulators alike.

OneWeb is flying into a financial asteroid field

19 Oct 2020

The UK government and India’s Bharti bought the space startup out of bankruptcy for $1 bln. Launching broadband-beaming satellites requires more cash with potentially slim rewards. A future GPS-style location service, meanwhile, may suit Britain more than its commercial owners.

ZTO digs deep trench in China’s logistics war

18 Sep 2020

Competition has crushed the courier’s margins and with reduced forecast earnings it trades on a valuation multiple higher than its investor and customer, Alibaba. Proceeds from a $1.6 bln Hong Kong secondary listing will help ZTO triumph in a price war and any consolidation.

Big Tech eases Ant’s march into public markets

15 Sep 2020

A long who’s who list, including Thailand’s richest man and China’s national pension fund, stand to clean up from Jack Ma’s fintech titan. Not long ago, a $200 bln IPO might have made public investors look like suckers. This number is less scary thanks to Apple and others.

TikTok-Oracle deal leaves room for surprises

13 Sep 2020

ByteDance has chosen Larry Ellison’s firm as the “tech partner” for its video-app unit but any deal that stops short of a full sale will raise national security worries. With raging anti-China rhetoric and elections, Oracle’s ties to U.S. President Donald Trump are no cure-all.

China sabotages its own internet idealism

8 Sep 2020

Beijing’s new internet governance contract, a counter to Washington’s Sinophobic “Clean Network” programme, includes a pledge for nations not to use technology firms to spy on each other. The language is high-minded, but its effect will only further split the worldwide web.

Yum China adds spice to its tech credentials

7 Sep 2020

The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut has raised $2.2 bln in Hong Kong at a valuation above Alibaba. The secondary listing was permitted as digital orders dominate sales. But the hot badge has downside too: volatility in internet stocks risks a not-so-finger-lickin’ good debut.

Fintech payment pioneers face war on two fronts

3 Sep 2020

Afterpay’s shares fell 10% after PayPal said it would offer a “buy now pay later” product. Unlike the Australian group, the U.S. money transfer giant is giving its version for free. Competition will aggravate the regulatory risk Afterpay and Swedish rival Klarna already face.

Rocket’s $3 bln delisting leaves investors adrift

1 Sep 2020

Even as tech stocks surge, Oliver Samwer’s German investment vehicle has concluded it doesn’t belong on the public market. His plan to take Rocket Internet private gives small shareholders two unappealing options: cash out with no premium or hang on with little hope of liquidity.

Ant’s big reveal is cost of financial disruption

27 Aug 2020

The Chinese fintech giant's IPO filings show its core consumer lending unit was hit by new rules in 2018, forcing it to upend its business model. Swapping margins for fees has paid well so far. It’s less risky too. Ant survived and thrived, but Beijing is keeping watch.

India Insight: Ambani, a maverick Rockefeller

25 Aug 2020

Data is the new oil for the tycoon who wants his $185 bln Reliance to serve all the needs of Indian consumers. He’s backed by America’s tech monopolists. Just as the Standard Oil energy cartel birthed U.S. antitrust law, Mukesh Ambani will amass power until told to stop.

Pinduoduo gets stung by its own shopping hype

24 Aug 2020

Investors erased $16 bln in market value from the Chinese company as orders on its e-commerce app disappointed. “Gross merchandise value” is a confusing metric and much more so when consumer sentiment is volatile. Boss Chen Lei has had a costly lesson in why hard numbers rule.

Hong Kong speculators should read China Literature

19 Aug 2020

The fan-fiction startup leaped 86% on its first trading day in 2017, but is now underwater, alongside peers that enjoyed similarly oversubscribed floats. Low interest rates have the city’s retail investors back at playing IPOs, so another round of unsustainable pops is underway.

JD is having its self-sufficient star moment

17 Aug 2020

Adjusted earnings at the $97 bln e-commerce giant rose 66%. The mooted listings of its health and fintech units have helped shares rise 76% year-to-date, outpacing Alibaba. Boss Richard Liu’s costlier inventory-led model and domestic focus are finally starting to pay off.

Ballad of China’s Robinhood has familiar refrain

14 Aug 2020

Like the hot U.S. e-brokerage startup, $4.2 bln Futu is capitalising on stock market frenzy. Quarterly net profit more than quadrupled thanks to a boom in offshore trading by mom-and-pop investors. A premium valuation over rivals, though, overlooks new competitive threats.