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It was that week in the quarter again, when the household names from Southeast Asia’s tech industry revealed their GDP-sized earnings results, along with guidance on their near to medium-term financial prospects.

Usually, these events signal the strength of tech businesses in the region, but this time around, it left investors wanting more, way more.

These closely watched reports not only provide an insightful view into the current state of a company’s operations but also often send investors either scampering to buy or sell stock and, generally, form the basis of ratings and price target recommendations by Wall Street analysts.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

It’s only fitting to kick off discussions on the recent earnings reports with that of the poster child of Southeast Asian tech businesses: Grab (GRAB, NDAQ). Founded in 2012, the super app has experienced something of a fall from grace since its market debut in December.

A sudden surge of investor optimism heading into its Q4 earnings report quickly went up in smoke, with the Singapore-headquartered firm’s shares plunging well over a third of its value, or roughly 37%, after posting its results.

Grab’s Q4 results hardly paint a pretty picture and, perhaps, has justified investor skepticism over its stock in recent months.

It may be the case that CEO Anthony Tan’s grand plan for Grab needs more time to bear fruit, but the market has no patience under the current macro environment. Grab’s share price has fallen about 70% in the last three months. You can find an in-depth review of Grab’s financial health here.

Another company with a strong claim to being the face of Southeast Asian tech firms’ rapid rise is Sea Group (SE, NYSE), which fared mildly better than its counterpart. This is hardly conciliatory, given that the firm has trimmed over US$130 billion in market value from its peak last November, while its share price hit new 52-week lows last week.

Sea shed about US$10.4 billion in market value after slashing its year-on-year booking guidance for its digital entertainment unit Garena for the first time. India’s ban on Free Fire has been a thorn in Sea’s share price, but as my colleague Simon reports in this premium story, there are glimmers of hope that Sea can pull itself out of a deep hole.

Over in China, Baidu’s (BIDU, NDAQ) investors would be forgiven for fearing the worst after Alibaba’s (BABA, NDAQ) disappointing earnings last month.

However, the search engine, whose stock price has shown resilience in the face of China’s big tech crackdown, bucked the trend. Its rise in quarterly revenue was warmly embraced by the market. Baidu’s share price rose immediately following results, but eventually succumbed to broad market-wide weakness to end the week down nearly 4%.

-- Shravanth

4 STOCKS TO WATCH

NIO ES6 electric SUV semi-autonomous car on display / Photo credit: 123rf.com
 

🇨🇳 Nio Inc (NIO, NYSE)

The Chinese electric vehicle maker plans to carry out secondary listings by introduction in Hong Kong and Singapore. The firm has received preliminary approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where its shares are due to trade on March 10, and the Singapore Exchange is reviewing its application.

Concerns over being forced off the US exchanges amid China's tech crackdown likely stoked these moves. Nio's primary listing will remain in New York for now. Additionally, the company reported 6,131 vehicle deliveries in February, up 9.9% year over year but down 36% sequentially. The stock has more than halved in value over the last six months.
 

🇮🇩 Bukalapak (BUKA, IDX)

This ecommerce giant became the first Indonesian unicorn to list on the country’s stock exchange last year. However, since its market debut, the company’s shares have fallen nearly 70%.

In an attempt to reverse its fortunes, Bukalapak looks to launch its e-grocery business, AlloFresh. The new venture will launch with around US$69.7 million from Bukalapak, Growtheum Capital Partners, and Trans Retail Indonesia – a local offline retailer owned by conglomerate CT Corp Group.
 

🇲🇾 Capital A (CAPITALA, KLSE)

When AirAsia rebranded itself as Capital A in January, it was a statement by the company that it was seeking to expand its services beyond its core airline and cargo delivery businesses. From unveiling AirAsia Ride to launching its food delivery service in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, Capital A has made significant leaps in realizing its super-app ambitions.

Now, it is taking its financial product marketplace, AirAsia Money, to Indonesia. It has partnered with local insurance startup PasarPolis, investment app Bareksa, donation platform Rumah Zakat, and payment service Wise in the release of the new service.
 

🇯🇵 Panasonic Corp (6752, TYO)

A long-time supplier for Tesla Inc (TSLA, NDAQ), the electric vehicle (EV) battery maker plans to begin mass-producing a new type of lithium-ion battery for Tesla before the end of March 2024 with two new production lines at its western Japanese plant in Wakayama.

Panasonic is looking to double down on its partnership with Tesla, which stretches back over a decade, as it looks to invest several billions of dollars to build a mega factory in the US to support the US EV behemoth.

3 MARKET WHISPERS

Photo credit: Timmy Loen
 

1️⃣ No IPO pain, no IPO gain

China’s most popular fitness app, Keep Inc, has filed for an IPO in Hong Kong after it reportedly pulled the plug on a US$500 million listing on US stock exchanges. The pricing and size of the IPO are yet to be determined.

Keep becomes the latest high-profile Chinese firm to have its IPO plans disrupted after Beijing’s rising scrutiny of overseas listings pushed social networking platform Soul and podcasting app Ximalaya to shelve their US listing plans.
 

2️⃣ Musk brothers in hot water

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his brother, Kimbal Musk, are being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on whether their recent stock sales violated the commission’s insider-trading rules.

The SEC’s investigation began last year after Kimbal sold shares of Tesla, valued at US$108 million, one day before Elon polled Twitter users asking whether he should unload 10% of his stake in the electric car maker and pledging to abide by the vote’s results. The company’s shares fell sharply in the wake of Elon’s poll, with 58% of voters saying he should sell.
 

3️⃣ A truce on the offing?

For over a year, Amazon (AMZN, NDAQ) and Future Retail (FRETAIL, NSE) have been in an intense legal tussle that has stalled Future's US$3.4 billion sale of assets to Reliance Industries (RELIANCE, NSE). In fact, the stand-off showed no signs of abating with reports claiming Amazon planned to launch criminal court proceedings against Future Retail.

However, in what appears to be a dramatic U-turn by both parties, there are now ongoing talks over an out-of-court settlement proposal. The two parties have until March 15 to explore a settlement via negotiations.

2 EYE-POPPING FACTS

• US$31 billion - That is the minimum market value at which GoTo Group plans to go public. The Indonesian tech giant has fixed an upper limit of US$42.7 billion in market value and is looking to raise around US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion through an IPO.

• US$16 billion - That’s how much South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (005380, KRX) plans to invest in electric vehicle-related businesses through 2030. However this number pales in comparison to the other big automakers around the world. For instance, Toyota (7203, TYO) plans to invest US$35 billion by 2030 in its EV business, and General Motors (GM, NYSE) aims to put in US$35 billion through 2025.

THE 1 YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING

Photo credit: 123rf.com
 

Feng Shui master foresaw 1MDB misery

There has been something about spirituality and finance in the world off late. After the news that the former National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO regularly consulted a yogi to help run India’s largest stock exchange took the internet by storm, a former Goldman Sachs (GS, NYSE) banker, closely tied to the 1MDB scandal, admitted to consulting a feng shui master to see if more trouble lay ahead over the next decade.

Tim Leissner, the US government’s key witness in the trial of former Goldman colleague Roger Ng over the multibillion-dollar scam to loot Malaysia’s wealth fund, said the feng shui master’s report predicted that “I would have an issue with authorities for the first half of the 10 years but then it would be resolved.”

The ex-banker would also consult the master on a range of matters, from the women in his life to the arrangement of his offices in Asia.

For those readers looking to jump from a weird story to a wholesome one, maybe the tale of this extraordinary centenarian will help you overcome your Monday blues.

That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it!

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Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.