Rating Quick Look | Wall Street bullish on Tencent's DNF mobile game performance! Apple, HKEX target prices lowered

Bank of America Securities: Maintains "Buy" rating on Tencent Holdings with a target price of HKD 410

After meetings with management and US investors, the bank believes that Tencent has a strong willingness, ability, and execution capability in terms of shareholder returns. The company plans to repurchase shares worth 100 billion RMB this year, and in January, Tencent accelerated its daily repurchase amount to 1 billion RMB. If this pace continues, the total repurchase amount for the year will exceed 130 billion RMB, in addition to the dividends announced last year, estimating a shareholder return of over 5% this year. Furthermore, Tencent holds a portfolio of over 126 billion USD in major investments, which can also contribute to shareholder returns through its investments.

On the other hand, Tencent's repurchase scale has surpassed the reduction scale of its shareholder Prosus. Assuming Prosus' reduction pace from the second quarter to the fourth quarter is similar to the first quarter, it is estimated that this year's repurchase scale will be equivalent to twice (or more) of Prosus' reduction.

In addition, Tencent's strategic goal is to improve its gaming revenue, not solely relying on new game releases. For example, there have been personnel management changes and increased innovative content for some existing games. The release of the mobile game "Dungeon & Fighter" is earlier than market estimates, reflecting the company's confidence.

Regarding the advertising business, Bank of America believes that this year's advertising performance will continue to outperform other major platforms in mainland China. Improvements in advertising platform infrastructure and other efforts will drive sustained revenue growth in the future.

J.P. Morgan: Maintains "Overweight" rating on Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing with a target price lowered from HKD 335 to HKD 305

Considering the low average daily turnover (ADT) of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the company's earnings per share forecasts for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025 have been reduced by 7% and 3% respectively. The bank also assumes that the ADT for the fiscal years 2024 to 2026 will be HKD 245 billion, HKD 302 billion, and HKD 362 billion respectively. As for the forecasted turnover of derivative products during the same period, they are expected to be HKD 1.625 million, HKD 1.885 million, and HKD 2.186 million respectively.

The bank also expects that the listing expenses and net investment income (NII) of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing will remain at a high level, mainly due to about 60% of the company's investment portfolio being linked to various tenors of HIBOR.

Morgan Stanley: Lowers Apple's target price from USD 220 to USD 210

Citigroup: Raises TSMC's target price to TWD 1030, reiterates "Buy" rating

The report indicates that TSMC's first-quarter profit this year increased by 9% year-on-year to TWD 225.5 billion, with a strong gross margin of 53.1%, surpassing the bank's and market's forecasts. TSMC expects second-quarter revenue to grow by 6% quarter-on-quarter, with gross margin and operating profit margin expected to reach 52% and 41% respectively. Capital expenditure budget and full-year revenue growth expectations remain unchanged, but due to a longer time needed for demand recovery, the management has revised the industry growth expectation from 20% to a dozen percentage points.

Considering the continuous improvement in N2 pricing and cost structure, as well as the company's expansion next year, the accelerated demand for AI and advanced nodes is expected to drive TSMC's continued outperformance in growth. It is anticipated that next year's profit will achieve stronger year-on-year growth, hence the target price for TSMC's stock is raised to TWD 1030