Ai Weiwei’s Coronation documents the pandemic from its beginnings in Wuhan
Anger rises in this film by the artist and activist
History will no doubt be littered with hundreds of documentaries chronicling the 2020 pandemic. Ai Weiwei’s self-distributed film may be one of the first but it already has the air of a document from another era. Coronation takes us back to Wuhan and to the genesis of the crisis, the strictures of that first lockdown and a time when the concept still seemed alien to the rest of the world. Assembled by Ai in his European exile from a reported 500 hours of footage, much of it shot clandestinely and smuggled out of China, it offers no guiding voiceover or ready-made conclusions but is grimly fascinating all the same.
Both Ais are here: the artist and the activist. At times his eye is drawn to images that could be mistaken for video art: neglected pet fish floating lifelessly in a tank like Damien Hirst sharks; hospital staff seen repetitively going about their PPE preparations to the point of abstraction; heavily suited workers wielding thermometer guns or lost in clouds of disinfectant as if in a sci-fi fantasy.
But as the film wears on, the activist Ai takes over and the sense of anger swells. The pro-Party convictions of a stoic elderly woman, amusing at first, start to sound dangerously delusional. Later, the indignant despair of a woman unable to accompany a dying relative is palpable as she declares: “For our generation that witnessed this pandemic, its shadow will darken our hearts for ever.” You fear for the safety of all those on screen; you fear doubly for those who dare speak out against the state.
Towards the end comes the film’s most haunting image, one that combines the poetic and the political. A bereaved woman wails heartbreakingly from behind a mask in the middle of a seemingly indifferent street. Her face may be obscured, but no amount of protective layering can obscure the shattering force of her grief.
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- PSTG -9.9%, JWN -4.8%, ADSK -1.6%, HEI -1.3%
Other news:
- GTX -16.4% (announces with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors, it is exploring alternatives for addressing its previously disclosed balance sheet concerns)
- IMBI -8.7% (priced an underwritten public offering of 2,400,000 shares of its common stock, at a public offering price of $6.25/share)
- LAD -5.1% (to join S&P MidCap 400)
- SMCI -3.4% (announces settlement with SEC fully resolving previously disclosed investigation)
- LRN -2.4% (convertible notes offering)
- TEVA -1.9% (US business has been indicted on price fixing charges, according to WSJ)
- SIBN -1.9% (Medica publishes iFuse coverage policy)
- CCL -1.9% (cancels two cruises)
- CDAY -1.5% (prices secondary offering)
- BBBY -1.1% (announces major realignment of organizational structure, includes 2,800 job cuts)
Analyst comments:
- LSTR -6.2% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel)
- PINC -1.1% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at The Benchmark Company)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- URBN +17.5%, CRM +14.7%, PLAN +13.4%, DKS +11.5%, INTU +7%, HPE +6.8%, TOL +2.4%, DY +2.3%, RY +1.3%, CHS +0.8%
Other news:
- FLDM +22.1% (receives Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for saliva-based Advanta Dx SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assay for COVID-19)
- BKU +10.7% (to join S&P SmallCap 600)
- TRUP +9.2% (to join S&P SmallCap 600)
- WDAY +2.9% (in sympathy with strong earnings report from CRM)
- OII +2.6% (announces contract with Dynetics)
- VNET +2.2% (prices follow-on offering of 17 mln ADSs at $20.75 per ADS)
- TRVN +1.9% (announced two publications of the respiratory safety data from the OLINVYK development program)
- BRO +1.7% (terminates previously-announced agreement to acquire the assets of HAUSER)
- RDFN +1.1% (publishes positive industry report on website)
- IMVT +0.9% (LGND says partner IMVT announced positive top-line results for Phase 2a trial of IMVT-1401)
Analyst comments:
- NIO +6.4% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
- ROKU +3.4% (initiated with a Buy at Citigroup)
- NBLX +2.4% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler)
- HAIN +1.8% (upgraded to Outperform from In-line at Evercore ISI)
- KDP +1.6% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
- POR +1.6% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Siebert Williams Shank)
Ant Group’s $200 Billion Hill Could Soon Become Mountainous
Ant’s IPO looks enormous but less so in the context of other, even pricier payment firms like Square and PayPal
Chinese financial-technology company Ant Group may sound small, but it could ride China’s technology-investment wave to grow into a market behemoth.
The company, controlled by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, has filed for concurrent initial public offerings in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Ant is expected to fetch a valuation above $200 billion. With the company selling at least 10% of share capital, the IPOs could together amount to one of the largest listings ever.
Ant, a third owned by Alibaba, is perhaps best-known for its Alipay app, one of the two dominant mobile-payment systems in China. For the 12 months ended June, Ant recorded 118 trillion yuan ($17 trillion) of payment transactions. That includes Venmo-like personal transfers between users and payments to both online and bricks-and-mortar shops.
Yet while Ant is part of an effective duopoly in China’s mobile-payment market, that probably isn’t what investors are most interested in. Ant’s revenue from payment accounted for about a third of the total in the first half of this year, but that is equal to only 0.05% of Ant’s transaction volume. A big part of those transactions are personal transfers, which are mostly free, and Ant also charges very low take rates for merchants.
Ant likely isn’t making much profit from this segment but such cheap cost is part of the reasons why digital payment has become ubiquitous in China. Alipay had 711 million monthly active users as of June.
Instead, Ant’s user base in payment allows it to act as a platform to sell financial services including loans and insurance. Such businesses have been growing extremely fast: They accounted for 63% of Ant’s total revenue in the first half, compared with 44% in 2017. The company has a total outstanding consumer credit balance of $250 billion, for example.
In the past few years, Ant has switched from being a provider of such services to acting merely as a platform in most of these transactions. Ninety-eight percent of the loans originated on the platform are now either underwritten by partner banks or securitized. That allows Ant to earn higher margins and makes it easier to grow its business. The biggest risk remains tougher regulations should Beijing act more decisively to control the pace of debt growth at households and small businesses, which are Ant’s key customers.
At $200 billion, Ant will be valued at 37 times its earnings for the 12 months ended June. There will be plenty of investor appetite. Visa and Mastercard have an average price-earnings ratio of 44 while new fintech challengers like Square and PayPal trade at even higher multiples.
The buoyant Chinese stock market will no doubt give further help. A cool $200 billion might be just the beginning of Ant’s hill.
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- FLDM +30.3%, URBN +16.6%, CRM +13.3%, BKU +11.8%, IMVT +9.5%, TRUP +9.1%, HPE +6.6%, OII +6.3%, INTU +5.9%, OOMA +4.4%, BRO +3.4%, WDAY +3.1%, TOL +2.1%, VNET +1%
- Gapping down:
- PSTG -11.2%, JWN -6%, LRN -4.2%, SMCI -3.4%, LAD -3.1%, CDAY -3%, TEVA -2.2%, SIBN -1.9%, DY -1.6%, CCL -1.5%, HEI -1.3%, ADSK -0.9%
>>> Up
* Avance Gas Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 45 kroner
* Better Collective Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 170 kronor
* Bunzl PT Raised to 3,000 pence from 2,900 pence at Jefferies
* Endur ASA Raised to Buy at Norne Securities; PT 1.80 kroner (+)
* Fastighets AB Trianon Raised to Buy at Handelsbanken
* Genmab PT Raised to 2,800 kroner from 2,400 kroner at Jefferies
* Inchcape Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 594.70 pence
* Philips Raised to Hold at LBBW; PT 45 euros (+)
* Qiagen Raised to Buy at Commerzbank; PT $66
* Repsol Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 10 euros
* RWE PT Raised to 45 euros from 42.30 euros at Bankhaus Metzler
* Salvatore Ferragamo Raised to Buy at Jefferies; PT 15 euros
* Stadler Rail Raised to Buy at Oddo BHF; PT 47 Swiss francs (+)
>>> Down
* Equinor Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays; PT 165 kroner
* Norway Royal Salmon Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 232 kroner (+)
* Pihlajalinna Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 16 euros
* Shell Cut to Underweight at Barclays; PT 1,500 pence
* Signature Aviation Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; PT 266.70 pence
* VAT Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan; PT 165 Swiss francs
>>> Initiation
* Aviva Resumed Buy at Shore Capital
* Kid ASA Reinstated Buy at Arctic Securities; PT 110 kroner (+)
* WH Smith Reinstated Buy at Goldman; PT 1,500 pence
>>> Call
* ASR Nederland 1H Looks Strong Across the Board, Citi Says (+)
* Ferragamo Upgraded to Buy, Retains Strong Brand Value: Jefferies
* Genmab Gets Street-High PT at Jefferies on Strong Pipeline
* H&M Pre-Covid Recovery Encouraging, Inditex Preferred: Jefferies (+)
* Qiagen Up To Buy at Commerzbank; to See Sales Boost From Covid (+)
* RWE Balance Sheet Underestimated, Metzler Ups PT to Street-High (+)
* Shell Cut to Underweight by Barclays on Expensive Valuation (+)
* Stadler Rail PT Raised at Citi on Better-Than-Expected Outlook (+)
- Carnival Plc (POH1 TH) +2.2%
-
Aroundtown (AT1 TH) +2.1%
- Aroundtown Sees Full Year FFO I EU460 Mln to EU485 Mln
- Signify (G14 TH) +1.6%
- AstraZeneca (ZEG TH) +1.2%
- Thyssenkrupp (TKA TH) +1%
-
SAP (SAP TH) +0.9%
- Watch Software Stocks After Salesforce Blows Past Expectations
-
Qiagen (QIA TH) +0.7%
- Qiagen Raised to Buy at Commerzbank; PT $66
- Vestas (VWS TH) -0.8%
- Verbund (OEWA TH) -0.8%
- Delivery Hero (DHER TH) -1%
- Ryanair (RY4C TH) -1.1%
-
Mowi (PND TH) -2.1%
- Mowi Second Quarter Net Income Misses Lowest Estimate
DAX:
- SAP (SAP TH) +1.2%
- Watch Software Stocks After Salesforce Blows Past Expectations
MDAX:
- Aroundtown (AT1 TH) +3.7%
- Aroundtown Sees Full Year FFO I EU460 Mln to EU485 Mln
SDAX:
- Schaeffler (SHA TH) +2.8%
- Steinhoff (SNH TH) +2%
- Encavis (CAP TH) -1%
- Encavis Maintains FY Revenue Above EU280 Mln, Est. EU284.3 Mln
A rally in global stocks stalled within a whisker of February’s all-time high as investors mulled the pace of the recent gains and expectations for loose monetary policy. Treasuries edged lower.
Shares slipped in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai on low volumes, while Australian equities underperformed. S&P 500 futures were steady after both the benchmark and the Nasdaq Composite climbed to fresh records, helped by gains in Facebook Inc. Crude oil traded near the highest in five months as Hurricane Laura bore down on key refining facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The dollar edged up.
US After Hours CRM +13.4%, URBN +12.7%, INTU +6.1% up big on earnings; PSTG -11.2%, ADSK -2.6% weak on earnings
Nikkei -0.03% Hang Seng -0.01% CSI -0.76% Shanghai -0.77% Shenzen -1.22%
Eur$ 1.1813 CNH 6.8991 CNY 6.9036 JPY 106.39 GBP 1.3134 CHF 0.9097 RUB 75.3723 WTI$43.36 +0.02%
S&P +0.02% Nasdaq +0.17% EuroStoxx +0.03% FTSE +0.16% Dax +0.00% SMI -0.14%
Macro :
- *GERMANY TO EXTEND WAGE SUPPORT PROGRAM THROUGH END OF 2021
- Germany to Extend Suspension of Insolvency Rule: Boersen Zeitung
Keep an eye on :
- AGFB BB : Agfa-Gevaert Second Quarter Adjusted Ebit EU16 Mln, -45% Y/y
- ALFEN NA : Alfen Sees Full Year Revenue EU180 Mln to EU200 Mln
- ALV GY : Pimco to Liquidate an Emerging Markets Mutual Fund: FT
- ALLN SW : Allreal First Half Net Income CHF63.0 Mln, -6.5% Y/y
- AMBUB DC : Ambu 3Q Ebit Beats Estimates; Outlook Cut to Low End of Range
- AT1 GY : Aroundtown Sees Full Year FFO I EU460 Mln to EU485 Mln
- ASRNL NA : ASR Nederland First Half Operating Profit Beats Estimates
- ATL IM : *ATLANTIA BOARD ON SEPT. 3 MAY CALL EGM ON ASPI SPINOFF: SOLE
- BAVA DC : Bavarian Keeps FY Rev, Ebitda Outlooks; Raises Cash Forecast (1)
- DANSKE DC : Danske CEO Hints at Ongoing Shake-Up After Merging Bank’s Units
- EKTAB SS : Elekta First Quarter Operating Profit Beats Highest Estimate
- EMMN SW : Emmi Sees Full Year Ebit Low End Of CHF255 Mln to CHF265 Mln
- CAP GY : Encavis Maintains FY Revenue Above EU280 Mln, Est. EU284.3 Mln
- FGR FP : Eiffage Wins Contract Worth Around EU40m for RTBF Brussels HQ
- GUNN SS : Gunnebo Reports ‘Well Organized’ IT Attack to Sweden Authorities
- HIQ SS : HiQ Gets Cash Offer From Triton at SEK70 per Share
- ILD FP : Mediapro, Iliad Agree Deal for Free to Carry Telefoot Channel
- MOWI NO : Mowi Second Quarter Net Income Misses Lowest Estimate
- NEL NO : NEL Second Quarter Revenue Beats Highest Estimate
- RAYB SS : Raysearch 2Q Net Loss SEK9.2 Mln Vs. Profit SEK21.8 Mln Y/y
- SAN FP : Principia Holder Biotech Value Says Sanofi Buyout Suboptimal
- SIE GY : Siemens to Remain Minority Shareholder in Flender After Spinoff
- SAZ GY : Stada Revenue Jumps on Acquisitions Despite Corona Setbacks
- SAZ GY : Stada Eyes More Deals to Follow Up $1.8 Billion Spending Spree
- SRAIL SW : Stadler Rail Gets German Order Worth Around EU92m
- TIT IM : Italy Unlikely to Block Telecom Italia Deal With KKR: Repubblica
- VLK NA : Van Lanschot Kempen First Half Net Income EU9.5 Mln
- VOW3 GY : VW Begins Offering Virus Test With German Infections on the Rise