This Week in Asia #43

Japanese watchmaker Casio declined 14% as the yen strengthened ahead of the 18 September Bank of Japan decision. Thai cinema operator Major Cineplex retired 10% of its share count. And Altay Capital wrote a post on the Japanese IT company Applied Co, which trades at 5.5x P/E and has more than half of its market cap in net cash.

Watchlist update

• Malaysian glove stocks rebounded last week, led by industry stalwarts Top Glove and Hartalega. The main driver was crude oil prices pushing above the US$100 mark, which prompted China's Intco to raise its prices to Malaysian levels. Though I would argue that the price shock will also hit the bottom line through higher input prices.
• In Japan, watchmaker Casio fell 14% as the Japanese yen strengthened. Competitors Seiko and Citizen suffered similar fates. All of them have benefited from a translation effect and inbound tourism to Japan, both of which are threatened by a now-stronger yen.
• HR-tech company Visional reported a decent FY2026 result, with revenue up 24% year on year and operating profit up 15%. However, the forward guidance was on the weaker side, with net profit guided flat. In management's own words, "we plan to continue proactive investments for three years starting FY2027". Not ideal.
• Thai cinema operator Major Cineplex canceled 76 million shares, equivalent to 10% of shares outstanding. This follows last year's share buyback. And it increases the likelihood that a new share buyback program will be initiated in the next few months.
• The insider buying in Bangkok Chain Hospital continues. Founding family member and Chief Financial Officer Pornsuda Harnphanich bought US$135,000 worth of shares on 8 September 2026. Profits improved sequentially in the second quarter of 2026, driven by stronger medical tourism. The stock trades at 20x forward P/E, which doesn't seem low, however.

Worth your time

• Macro Hive's Bilal Hafeez recorded a video describing how he's using generative AI tools. He recommends using prompts that follow the CLEAR (Context-Length-Examples-Ask-Role) framework. He uses Claude skills to streamline repetitive workflows. Once a week, he asks Claude to summarize all interactions and store them in memory. And finally, he uses Claude Cowork to schedule daily tasks.
• East72's Andrew Brown argued that SoftBank has become a bellwether AI stock due to its 13% stake in OpenAI, data centers, and ARM. For what it's worth, SoftBank's stock price is now down -36% from its peak on 2 June 2026, partly due to fears that OpenAI will not pursue an IPO this year after all.
• Mallard's Substack wrote about Korean net-net automotive supplier Motonic, which makes fuel injection systems and LPG components. The stock trades at 8x trailing P/E with an almost 8% dividend yield. The market seems to view the company as a melting ice cube. Mallard argues otherwise, pointing to South Korea's ban on new diesel 1-ton truck registrations as a driver of LPG replacements demand. He also reads the recent leadership change and the +70% dividend hike as signs that the company's governance is now improving.
• Finally, Altay Capital wrote about the Japanese IT company Applied Co. The company runs a regional computer retailer called "Applied", but it also has a business providing customized high-performance computers to universities, government agencies, and corporations. The latter business is highly profitable and growing. The stock trades at 5.5x P/E and has more than half of its market cap in net cash. Unfortunately, it's very illiquid.

Photosynth

Yesterday, I published a deep-dive on Japanese nano-cap smart lock SaaS company Photosynth. If you're interested, you can check it out here ($):

Photosynth (4379 JP)

Japanese smart-lock SaaS company at 1.3x trailing EV/Sales

Asian Century StocksMichael Fritzell

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