A little more than a week ago, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) found itself embroiled in a major scandal in China. A Starbucks location in Hong Kong's Bank of China Tower didn't have a water source in the store, so workers were brewing coffee with water taken from a tap in a nearby bathroom. As pictures revealed, this tap was just a few feet away from a urinal. While Starbucks obviously was not using water from a toilet to brew coffee, the story quickly became known worldwide as the "toilet water" scandal.
Claims of customer mistreatment can quickly lead to a broad-based consumer backlash in China. As a result, some shareholders -- like my colleague Tamara Rutter -- have worried that Starbucks could take a big hit in China, just as Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM ) did following revelations about abnormally high levels of antibiotics in KFC China's chickens. This would be a big loss for Starbucks, which views China as a massive growth market that will soon be second only to the U.S. in revenue.
Best Warren Buffett Companies To Invest In 2015: China Life Insurance Company Limited(LFC)
China Life Insurance Company Limited provides life, annuities, accident, and health insurance products in China. Its individual life insurance and annuity products consist of whole life and term life insurance, endowment insurance, and annuities. The company also engages in the writing of life insurance business. In addition, it offers group life insurance products, including group annuity products, and group whole life and term life insurance products to enterprises and institutions, as well as universal life products. Further, the company provides short-term insurance products comprising short-term accident insurance and short-term health insurance products; accident insurance products, such as individual accident insurance and group accident insurance; and health insurance products, including defined health benefit plans, medical expense reimbursement plans, and disease specific plans. It distributes its products through its direct sales representatives and exclusive ag ents, as well as through intermediaries comprising insurance agencies and insurance brokerage companies, non-dedicated agencies, bancassurance arrangements, travel agencies, and hotels and airline sales counters. The company was founded in 1949 and is based in Beijing, China. China Life Insurance Company Limited is a subsidiary of China Life Insurance (Group) Company.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Daniel Inman]
China Life Insurance Co. (HK:2628) � (LFC) �rose 2.7% after China�� largest life insurer by premiums reported that it had made a 7.5 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) profit in the third quarter, reversing a 2.2 billion yuan loss in the same period last year.
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: Perfect World Co. Ltd.(PWRD)
Perfect World Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, operation, and licensing of online games primarily in the People?s Republic of China, the United States, and the Rest of Asia. It develops online games based on its game engines and game development platforms. The company?s 3D massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) include Perfect World, an adventure and fantasy game with traditional Chinese settings; Legend of Martial Arts, an adventure story of Chinese swordsmen set in an ancient kingdom; and Perfect World II, which is set in a similar content and graphic background as Perfect World. It also offers Zhu Xian that is based on martial arts focused adventure set in a fantasy world; Chi Bi, a war story developed based on ancient Chinese history known as the Three Kingdoms; Hot Dance Party, a 3D online casual game; Pocketpet Journey West, a 3D MMORPG based on the classical novel of Chinese literature, Journey to the West ; Battle of the Immortals, a mysterious adventure, which enables game players to travel between eastern and western cultures, and adventures in historic sites and turf wars; and Fantasy Zhu Xian, a 2D turn-based MMORPG based on the Internet fantasy novel Zhu Xian. It also involves in the production and distribution of films, as well as television advertising activities. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lauren Pollock]
Perfect World Co.'s(PWRD) third-quarter profit rose 40% due largely to a revenue boost from the Chinese company’s core online-games business. American depositary shares of Perfect World were up 6% at $20 premarket as the company’s results for the period beat expectations.
- [By CRWE]
Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:PWRD), a leading online game developer and operator based in China, will release unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, after the market closes on Monday, August 27, 2012.
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: BHP Billiton Limited(BHP)
BHP Billiton Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified natural resources company worldwide. The company engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas; mining and refining of bauxite into alumina, and smelting of alumina into aluminum metal; and mining of copper, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, diamonds, and titanium minerals, as well as development of potash deposits. It also involves in the mining and production of nickel products, manganese ore, and manganese metal and alloys, as well as in the mining of iron ore, metallurgical coal, and thermal coal. BHP Billiton Limited sells its copper, lead, and zinc concentrates, and alumina to smelters; copper cathodes to wire rod mills, brass mills, and casting plants; uranium oxide to electricity generating utilities; rough diamonds to diamond buyers and diamond manufacturers; nickel products to stainless steel, specialty alloy, foundry, chemicals, and refractory ma terial industries; metallurgical coal to steel producers; and energy coal to power stations, power generators, and industrial users. The company, formerly known as BHP Limited, was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jim Jubak]
This hasn't been a great year for mining stocks, and for iron ore miners in particular, as slower growth in China has cut into demand, while past investments in new mines have added to supply. But shares of Vale have decidedly underperformed shares of competitors such as BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) because of the uncertainty of this tax case. The amount of the government claim is, after all, three times net profit from 2012. In the last 12 months, shares of Vale were down 5.03% as of November 19, while shares of BHP Billiton were up 4.04% and shares of Rio Tinto were ahead 10.37%.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
Other companies that could be pinched if China begins to wean itself off coal are global mining giants BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP ) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ) . Both have coal operations in Australia that are strategically positioned to benefit from Chinese demand growth. BHP is being particularly cautious on coal, as it's not investing in any new coal projects while cutting about $800 million in overall costs in its coal business. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto is looking to divest upwards of $3 billion in coal assets in a move to rid itself of some of its smaller and less-profitable assets.
- [By Isac Simon]
It's bigger than it looks like
The shale revolution is actually bigger than what most people have realized. What many have failed to understand is that energy investments are really long-term in nature. Most of these investments span decades. When it comes to shale oil and gas properties, we are still in the initial stages of development. Michael Yeager, who heads the petroleum division of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP ) , aptly sums it up: "Every time we look at the opportunities in our shale oil and gas plays, they get larger." - [By Ben Levisohn]
It’s been a bad day for iron miners like iron miners like BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO) and Vale (VALE) after Morgan Stanley cut its iron-ore price estimates. For Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), the damage could be even worse.
ReutersMorgan Stanley’s Evan Kurtz�and team explain why they think Cliffs Natural resources’ dividend is imperiled by lower iron-ore prices:
Morgan Stanley�� commodity team is lowering its iron price deck (2014 estimate falling to $105/t from $118/t and 2015 estimate declining to $90/t from $114/t)…Given weak pricing, we believe Cliffs could violate its credit facility�� max Funded Debt to EBITDA covenant. We forecast Funded Debt to EBITDA rising to ~4.0x by year-end 2014 vs. the permitted maximum of 3.5x. Without a renegotiation of terms, we think Cliffs could potentially be precluded from accessing its credit facility…
Given reduced cash flow generation and the possibility of a covenant violation, we believe the dividend may be at risk of being cut, particularly if the company acts to defend its credit rating. The common dividend requires ~$92m annually, rising to $108m after the preferred shares convert in 2016. We believe the company may be close to FCF breakeven before dividend payments beginning in 2015.
In a letter to shareholders, Casablanca Capital explained why they think much of Cliffs Natural Resources’ board has to go.
Since we began our campaign to create value for all of Cliffs��shareholders late last year, we have consistently emphasized that the Company is substantially undervalued as a result of strategic missteps, blatant mismanagement and a misalignment of incentives between Cliffs��shareholders and its Board of Directors and management…
A majority of the current Board and nine-member slate of Directors up for reelection approved both the $4.9 billion Consolidated Thompson transaction to acquire the Bloom Lake project
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: Xueda Education Group(XUE)
Xueda Education Group provides tutoring services for primary and secondary school students in the People?s Republic of China with a focus on offering personalized tutoring services. Its services include consultation and assessment, formulation of a customized study plan, personalized tutoring, and delivery of supporting services. The company also provides course offerings that cover various academic subjects taught in primary and secondary schools, such as mathematics, English, physics, Chinese, and chemistry; and self-designed courses beyond the standard curriculum in certain subjects, as well as in subjects not taught at public primary and secondary schools. As of December 31, 2010, its tutoring service network comprised 207 learning centers and approximately 9,650 full-time service professionals, serving customers located in 53 economically developed cities across 27 of China?s 31 provinces and municipalities. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Beij ing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Friday, non-cyclical consumer goods & services shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.09 percent. Among the leading sector stocks, gains came from Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) and Xueda Education Group (NYSE: XUE). Financial sector was the leading decliner in the US market today.
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: Sina Corporation(SINA)
SINA Corporation provides online media and mobile value-added services (MVAS) in the People?s Republic of China. It provides advertising, non-advertising, and free services through SINA.com, Weibo.com, and SINA Mobile. SINA.com offers free interest-based channels that provide region-focused format and content, including news, sports, automobile-related news, finance, entertainment, luxury, technology, digital, tools, collectibles, video, music, and wireless application protocol, as well as interactive platform for fashion-conscious users to share comments and ideas on a range of topics, such as health, cosmetics, and beauty. The company's microblogging platform, Weibo.com, enables its users to follow the hottest topics being discussed online, as well as discussions related to people they know. Weibo accounts consist of celebrities, commercial enterprises, government entities, and grass root Internet users. Its SINA Mobile service allows users to receive news and informatio n, download ring tones, mobile games and pictures, and participate in dating and friendship communities. The company also offers SINA Game, which serves as an interactive platform that provides users with downloads and gateway access to popular online games; SINA eReading, a shop for book reviews; SINA.net, an enterprise solutions platform to assist businesses and government bodies; and SINA Mall, an online shopping Website. In addition, it provides a platform for Chinese bloggers; photo-sharing platform; free email, VIP mail, and corporate email for enterprise users; audio and video-based instant messaging tools; proprietary search technology; and classified advertising services, as well as hosts topic-specific discussion forums in Chinese language; and creates user-maintained and supported online communities. The company has strategic cooperation agreement with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. SINA Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the Peop le?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of SINA (NASDAQ: SINA ) have skyrocketed today by as much as 21% after Alibaba acquired an 18% stake in its Weibo subsidiary.
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: Baidu Inc.(BIDU)
Baidu, Inc. provides Chinese and Japanese language Internet search services. Its search services enable users to find relevant information online, including Web pages, news, images, multimedia files, and blogs through the links provided on its Websites. The company also offers online community-based products and entertainment platforms; an instant messaging service; and a consumer-oriented e-commerce platform. In addition, it designs and delivers online marketing services and auction-based P4P services that enable its customers to reach users who search for information related to their products or services. The company serves online marketing customers consisting of small and medium sized enterprises, large domestic corporations, and Chinese divisions or subsidiaries of multinational corporations primarily operating in the medical, machinery, education, franchising, electronic products, e-commerce, ticketing, tourism, information technology, consumer products, real estate, entertainment, and financial services industries. It sells its online marketing services directly, as well as through its distribution network. The company was formerly known as Baidu.com, Inc. and changed its name to Baidu, Inc. in December 2008. Baidu, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING]
Then there's Baidu Inc. (ADR) (Nasdaq: BIDU), China's largest search engine with a market share of more than 60%. Baidu also ranks as the world's second-largest search firm behind Google and handles 19% of the world's online search traffic.
- [By Kevin Chen]
Social may soon become Baidu's (NASDAQ: BIDU ) Achilles' heel in search, mobile, and more.
For some time, China's largest search engine could always count on its partnership with SINA� (NASDAQ: SINA ) Weibo, a Twitter-like service, to infuse Baidu products with social information. But now that China's biggest e-commerce retailer Alibaba has bought shares in Weibo, Baidu investors should be scared. Not only may Baidu lose its social edge, but the Alibaba-SINA deal could also spell trouble for Baidu's future.�
- [By Rich Smith]
Downgrading Baidu
�"China's Google," Baidu� (NASDAQ: BIDU ) , is set to report Q1 results on April 25�. Analysts are looking for 18% growth in earnings per share to $1.03, and even speedier performance on revenue growth, expected to top 43%. Regardless, one analyst -- Maxim Group -- is doubling down on its "sell" rating on Baidu and cutting its price target to $75. Is this a mistake?
Top 10 China Companies To Watch For 2014: China Automotive Systems Inc.(CAAS)
China Automotive Systems, Inc., through its interests in Sino-foreign joint ventures, engages in the manufacture and sale of power steering systems and other component parts for the automotive industry in the People?s Republic of China. It offers a range of steering system parts for passenger automobiles and commercial vehicles. The company provides 4 separate series, 307 models of power steering, including rack and pinion power steering, integral power steering, electronic power steering and manual steering, steering columns, steering oil pumps, and steering hoses. China Automotive Systems, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Jing Zhou City, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Richard Schmidt]
China Automotive Systems (CAAS), which makes auto systems and components, reported record-high net sales for the third quarter. The report excited investors, who bid the stock up about 30% for the month.
- [By Richard Schmidt]
We admittedly bought into China Automotive Systems (CAAS) too soon. The stock is still down from our original recommendation price, but the future looks very bright.
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