Overview
I enjoyed taking part in our Analyst Survey podcast. It’s always interesting to hear what the analysts are looking at, and there’s always something new I haven’t heard anywhere else.
You can listen to the podcast episode here:
One of the more intriguing investment stories came from Alex Dong. He’s a consumer analyst in Shanghai, and he reckons China’s sportswear industry has some major upside potential.
Here are some of the numbers he shares in the episode:
- Annual spending on sportswear in China is only around US$40 per capita.
- That compares to more than $100 for regional peers like Japan and Korea.
- For Hong Kong, the figure is over $300, and over $400 in the US.
The catch-up potential is obvious. And there’s a catalyst too. Since the pandemic, Chinese consumers have got a lot more health conscious.
Alex’s story is a great example of what we want our analysts to do: spot investment opportunities our portfolio managers can take advantage of. It’s a job that takes curiosity and imagination.
Another nugget came from Evan Delaney, one of our telecoms analysts, and shows the technical knowledge analysts also need to have.
Evan is keeping a close eye on companies’ financials amid rising talk of an M&A boom in the sector.
The narrative is compelling. A Republican president, Republican Congress, and probably a Republican majority Federal Communications Commission would all suggest a more hospitable environment for dealmaking.
Evan’s job is to balance this improved sentiment against the fundamentals. As he points out in the episode, many of the companies he covers still don’t generate free cash flow, and won’t do so for years in some cases.
The big reason we run the Analyst Survey is to tap into this kind of knowledge from all our analysts. It’s a way to take the pulse on important trends and controversies.
Artificial intelligence is one such trend. As you’ll hear healthcare analyst Emma Newey Clark say, every capital markets day now seems to include an AI slide.
But when analysts talk to chief executives, there can often be a gap between the exciting picture their words paint and the specific examples they can point to of how they’re actually using AI.
I’ll let Emma, Evan, and Alex tell you more.
You can listen to the episode online, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search ‘Fidelity Answers’.
