ASIA PACIFIC EQUITY RESEARCH: ASIA FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

ASIA PACIFIC EQUITY RESEARCH: ASIA FIRST TO MARKET

last one month.

Would the US-Iran peace deal and oil price normalization provide an additional boost to equities? We

believe the answer would be different for different sectors. Energy, Utilities, and Materials sectors'

profitability outlook would likely reverse after a period of strong upgrades. On the flip side, the consumer

sector should benefit from lower input costs and recovering consumer confidence. However, the headwinds

have not fully abated, as reduced tourism flows, El Niño risk, and limited room for further fiscal stimulus

could curb optimism. We believe that oil price normalization could open a short-term window for a mean

reversion trade, which would focus on: (1)Stocks with earnings revisions that could turn positive; (2)Stocks

with valuation de-rated in the last three months with chances of reversals; and (3)Stocks that got sold off by

foreign investors and could see flows reverse. (See Table 2,3,4). Oil & Gas sector, which has been the

consensus over the past few months of both local & foreign investors, would be the funding source as

positioning rotates. Both SET and MSCI Thailand now trade near 5Y peak valuation at 16x/18x12M Forward

P/E, the highest in ASEAN and third highest in EM Asia. However, adjusted for DELTA (110x P/E),

valuations remain at 11.7x (Figure 4). Our top picks in Thailand: TRUE, BH, DELTA, MTC, CPALL, and

MRDIYT.

UWC (UWCB.KL, OW – RM6.11), Malaysia (Samuel Tan)

WFE/SPE loading volume tracking ahead of timeline; new customer secured; raise PT to RM7.50

We lift FY27/28E EPS by 4%/9% and roll our PT timeframe to Jun-27, with a higher price target of RM7.50,

based on 40x 12M fwd EPS (from 35x; +1SD above mean but still below the prior upcycle peak of 50x),