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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Mar 19th 2015
Short Report: Anta’s Weaker Sneaker
China’s leading brand of basketball sneaker has spent tens of millions of dollars on NBA endorsements, and now two NBA stars have switched to other brands to avoid foot injuries caused by shoddy shoes.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Mar 16th 2015
Short Report: Qihoo Is Hot For Coolpad
Qihoo’s acquisition of a mobile-phone handset maker looks expensive, and Qihoo has a history of failed cooperation with handset makers.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Mar 02nd 2015
Project A: Fuyao Glass Industry Group
Fuyao Glass is China’s biggest maker of glass for automobile windows and windshields. The family-controlled company has been run since its inception by its charismatic chairman, Cao Dewang. The upcoming transition from the 69-year-old Cao to his oldest son is the single biggest question mark hanging over the company.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Mar 02nd 2015
Project A: Nari Technology Development
Nari Technology Development (“Nari”) provides software that lets machines communicate with each other over long distances. Nari’s bread and butter is software to help run electricity grids. It also provides software to railway systems, including the Beijing subway. Nari is part of a massive state-run company, State Grid, that provides electricity to most homes and businesses in China. State Grid is by far Nari’s biggest customer, which may...
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Mar 01st 2015
Profile: Hanergy
Hanergy Thin Film Power Group (“HTF”) is a much maligned company owned by China’s richest man. It produces equipment that makes thin-film solar panels. HTF sells nearly all its equipment to its parent company, Hanergy Holding Group (“Hanergy Holding”), which makes solar panels and sells them back to HTF for use on rooftops or solar farms. Such circular dealings leave many questions, including whether either company produces in quantities that it...
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Feb 15th 2015
Short Report: Communist Party Hits SOEs
The Communist Party has targeted top state-owned enterprises, many of which are listed overseas, for anti-corruption investigations.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Feb 13th 2015
Short Report: Alibaba Faces Down The Government
Alibaba seems to have been the victim of a regulator’s overreach but the company’s subsequent angry, high-profile dispute with key officials will likely hurt its future prospects.
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jan 23rd 2015
Short Report: VIE Rule Changes Spell Headaches
China is proposing rule changes that will affect foreign companies using a tricky corporate structure, called a variable-interest entity (VIE), to evade bans on investment in protected industries, including the Internet and education. The new rules should be good for Alibaba Group and Baidu, and bad for just about every other company using a VIE.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jan 21st 2015
Short Report: Bosideng Suffers Down Times
China’s largest down-feather apparel company has shut down thousands of retail outlets amid a difficult executive handover.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jan 12th 2015
Short Report: JD Chairman’s Messy Romantic Life
The chairman of China’s second-biggest e-commerce company is embroiled in tabloid-like scandals thanks to his high-profile breakup with a much younger woman.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jan 08th 2015
Short Report: Rumor: Jumei Covers Up Smuggling
Summary
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jan 01st 2015
Profile: Youku Tudou
Youku Tudou (Cayman) (“Youku”) is China’s best-known online video site. Do not confuse its services with those of YouTube, which provides mostly user-generated content like home videos. Youku is more like Netflix in emphasizing TV shows and movies. Youku faces serious new challenges. Increased competition has bid up the cost for premium content that viewers demand. Its most formidable competitors are part of big, rich conglomerates, whereas...
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 18th 2014
Short Report: Dangerous Bacteria In Yurun Meat
China’s most scandal-plagued butcher contends with evidence that its meat contains dangerous levels of harmful bacteria.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 12th 2014
Short Report: Qihoo Audit Chair Quits
China’s most scandal-plagued butcher contends with evidence that its meat contains dangerous levels of harmful bacteria.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 12th 2014
Short Report: Xunlei Ad Service Shut For Porn
China’s Internet watchdog has shut a key advertising service for racy content, including naming the pop singer who most likes sex in cars.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 06th 2014
Short Report: Rumor: Kaisa Group Chair Implicated In Graft
Chinese regulators have blocked the sales of more than 1,500 housing units built by a leading property developer amid rumors that the company’s chairman has been implicated in a bribery scandal.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 04th 2014
Short Report: Game Over For Shanda Games Founder
One of China’s leading game developers faces an uncertain future after its founder sells his stake and quits the board.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Dec 01st 2014
Profile: China Luxury Still Glitters
Many observers believe that China’s luxury market, caught between the twin pincers of an anti-corruption campaign and an economic slowdown, faces a long-term decline. Our research does not support this view. To the contrary, China’s increasingly sophisticated consumers are spending more on a wide range of luxury products, with a few categories as exceptions. The change from several years ago is that much of this spending has moved overseas,...
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Nov 19th 2014
Short Report: Qunar’s Big Hotel Customer Checks Out
China’s leading economy hotel chain, Home Inns, has become the second big company in as many months to stop cooperating with China’s biggest travel search engine, Qunar.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Nov 14th 2014
Short Report: China Modern Dairy Flouts Health Rules
China’s largest raw milk producer faces a government probe after flouting sanitation rules by selling cows infected with bovine tuberculosis. Because all commercially sold milk in China is pasteurized, the risk of infecting humans is small. Of greater concern is that Modern Dairy seems to have played fast and loose with animal-husbandry rules.
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Nov 13th 2014
Short Report: Questions Regarding RexLot’s VIE
A key China-based subsidiary of lottery company RexLot appears not to exist.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Nov 10th 2014
Short Report: Changyou CEO Resigns
The star CEO of Sohu’s game unit has resigned amid leadership clashes and plunging profits.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Nov 01st 2014
Profile: Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holdings
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 31st 2014
Short Report: Like Shorting Fish In A Barrel
A bizarre story of US$140m in missing shellfish could pour cold water over all Chinese fishery companies.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 31st 2014
Short Report: Qunar Accused Of Selling Invalid Insurance
China’s state-run television accuses the country’s leading travel search engine of peddling invalid flight-related insurance products.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 27th 2014
Short Report: Boycott Of Soufun Escalates
Amid escalating competition, the largest property brokerage in Beijing has terminated cooperation with China’s biggest real estate website.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 23rd 2014
Short Report: Noodles Boil In Scandal
China’s largest instant noodle maker faces possible repercussions as a tremendous food-quality crisis engulfs its parent company in Taiwan.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 22nd 2014
Short Report: Agile In Crisis
One of China’s leading property developers is wallowing in crisis following the detention of its chairman on suspicion of bribery.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 08th 2014
Short Report: E-commerce Firm Drops Wealth Mgt Product
China’s banking watchdog has canceled the maiden sale of a wealth management product by JD.com, one of China’s leading e-commerce platforms.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 07th 2014
Profile: Great Wall Motor: Off The Road
Great Wall Motor was once considered China’s most promising private car company. It had an excellent reputation, a strong and charismatic founder, a strong position in the fast-growing market for SUVs, and a head start in exporting cars to developed markets. Today, Great Wall risks losing its way.
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Oct 01st 2014
Profile: Wuxi PharmaTech (Cayman)
Wuxi PharmaTech (Cayman)
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Sep 01st 2014
Profile: Jumei International Holding
Jumei International Holding
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jul 10th 2014
The Crucial Smell Test For Investors In Chinese Companies
With asset prices around the world continuing to rise, low-priced Chinese equities now look extraordinarily attractive to value investors. But investors should not check their skepticism at the border. Many investors in seemingly vibrant Chinese private sector firms have become victims of frauds, often later exposed by short sellers. However, the fear of falling for such scams is no reason to avoid investing in all Chinese firms. Straightforward...
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jul 10th 2014
Profile: Due Diligence: Don't Get Fooled Again
Many investors in Chinese firms check their skepticism at the border, and so have been easy prey for short sellers who benefit from exposing fraudulent companies. This report shows how investors can gain confidence that Chinese companies will be unlikely to come under successful short attacks. Solid due diligence can prevent a lot of pain.
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jul 01st 2014
Profile: Nu Skin Enterprises
Nu Skin Enterprises
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jun 01st 2014
Profile: Gome Electrical Appliances Holding
Gome Electrical Appliances Holding
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
May 13th 2014
Short Report: Unusual mergers worth US$116m
Lottery-equipment supplier RexLot Holdings says it gained control of a Chinese Internet company through acquisitions worth US$116m, but what RexLot Holdings bought for its money is unclear.
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
May 01st 2014
Profile: Qihoo 360 Technology
Qihoo 360 Technology
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney, Research Team
Apr 24th 2014
Profile: UnionPay: Breaking The Monopoly
The way that billions of people pay for things is in flux across the world. No sooner had consumers grown accustomed to using bank cards instead of cash than the next big thing, online payments, swept onto the scene. In China, a giant state-owned firm called China UnionPay (“UnionPay”) has long straddled most payment channels as the only authorized bank card network. UnionPay is a government-controlled cousin to Visa or MasterCard, with its logo...
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Apr 02nd 2014
Profile: China Huishan Dairy Holdings
China Huishan Dairy Holdings
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Feb 01st 2014
Profile: RexLot Holdings
RexLot Holdings
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jan 01st 2014
Profile: Great Wall Motor
Great Wall
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney, Research Team
Dec 16th 2013
Profile: Tingyi: Scale Vs Margins
Two family-controlled companies from Taiwan are battling for supremacy in China’s fast-growing convenience food industry. Although both specialize in instant noodles and soft drinks, they have strikingly different strategies. The larger, Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding, distributes across China and focuses on scale. The smaller, Uni-President China Holdings, prefers to pursue high margins by limiting its distribution and promoting innovative new...
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Nov 01st 2013
Profile: NetEase
NetEase
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney, Research Team
Oct 22nd 2013
Profile: Baidu: In Search Of A Mobile Strategy
Baidu is heading into its toughest period of competition since Google withdrew from China in 2010. Of the country’s three internet giants, Baidu has been the slowest in adapting to the mobile internet. Its main competitors, Tencent and Alibaba, have market-altering mobile apps that can likely earn huge profits: Tencent with WeChat and Alibaba with its stake in Sina Weibo. Those two companies now dominate mobile e-commerce and social media,...
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Oct 01st 2013
Profile: InTime Retail Group
InTime Retail Group
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Sep 13th 2013
Profile: Li Ning
Li Ning
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jul 22nd 2013
Profile: Tencent: Winning At Games
China’s biggest listed internet company, Tencent Holdings,stands nearly alone in figuring out how to earn money by offering freetechnology. Common online business models like advertising and e-commercecontribute little to Tencent, though they comprise nearly all revenue at itsChinese competitors along with global giants Google, Facebook and Amazon.Instead, Tencent earns billions of dollars selling virtual things, like clothesfor online game...
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Fathom China
Matthew Forney
Jul 08th 2013
Profile: Alibaba: Open, Says Ma
From humble origins, Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group has grown to dominate one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing parts of China’s economy: e-commerce. Ma’s vision of remaking Chinese business through the leveling force of online transactions might have seemed grandiose a decade ago, but Alibaba isnow a household name and shopping online is as commonplace as it is in the US. About 80% of China’s consumer e-commerce transactions pass through its...
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Fathom China
Fathom China Team
Jun 01st 2013
Profile: Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holdings
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding