Michael Fritzell from Asian Century Stocks on Casio Computer (podcast #138)
Michael Fritzell, founder of Asian Century Stocks, goes through his thesis on Casio Computer. Casio makes the popular G-Shock watches, and Michael thinks their rising popularity and a low valuation make for an interesting set up.
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Transcript begins below
Andrew Walker: All right, hello, and welcome to the Yet Another Value podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Walker. If you like this podcast, it'd mean a lot if you could rate, follow, review, subscribe wherever you're watching or listening to it. With me today, I'm happy to have on for the second time, Michael Fritzell. Michael is the founder of Asian Century Stocks. Michael, how is it going?
Michael Fritzell: Pretty good. How are you?
Andrew: Doing great, man. I was just telling you before we're talking, what is it, like November 17th. I've been obsessed with the FTX stock, but we're going to go with the FTX bankruptcy proceedings, and everything. But we're going to go in a completely different direction here. Let me start this podcast the way I do every podcast. First, a disclaimer to remind everyone that nothing on this podcast is investing advice. That's always true, but Michael obviously runs Asian Century Stocks. So, we're going to be talking about an Asian company today. Everybody should just remember generally foreign companies, a little extra risk, a little bit of extra complexity there. So, please remember, not investing advice. Go, consult your own financial advisor.
Then second, with the pitch for you, my guest, I mean you're one of the few Asian focus sub-stacks that I know of in you're always uncovering all these really interesting stocks, I think Asian stocks. I think none for US listeners. Domestic stocks in general are really interesting. The first one we did, I think it was back in [inaudible] T Hasegwa, was really interesting. It was actually done pretty well, and I think we've got another interesting one today. I will say it is a little bit of a complaint, or a little bit of a pitch, I don't know. But you do a written thing, and then you do
a really extensive PowerPoint thing on them.
The PowerPoints are so good, but I'm such a written person. Sometimes I wish I was more of a written person, but that's neither here nor there. I guess that's some subscriber feedback for you. But anyway, the company we want to talk about today is Casio. They trade in Japan, and I will just pause there, and turn it over to you. What is Casio? Why are they so interesting? All of that.
Michael: Sure, it's okay. So, Cassio is one of the stocks that I like. It fits the profile of this type of stocks that I enjoy looking at, which is basically value stocks. I think the brand name is one of Japan's best because it has this kind of niche in the low and watch market with this G-Shock brand, which is in my view, just a fantastic brand, which is underappreciated by the market. The reason why I started looking at the stock is the Yen depreciated significantly against the US dollar. It went from 115 to 148 at the peak and now is about 140. Cassio is one of those companies that benefits the most from the yen appreciation.
It has almost all revenue, so most of its revenues overseas, 75% and its assets and PP&E are in Japan. So, they're benefiting from the translation effect, and they also have the cost in Japanese yen. So, that was kind of what attracted me to Casio. Since then, I've been going through this rabbit hole of trying to understand what's going to happen to Casio's business and whether it has some potential? I guess I can start with a broad picture of the industry. Obviously, I think 30 years ago, Casio was a huge thing, and everybody wore these very functional watches.
Overtime, I think more people have moved towards Apple watches, Smart watches, things like the Fitbit to Garmin, especially since 2015. The question is then, is there a space for another competitor in this lower end part of the watch segment? I think that's been the broad picture. Luxury watches have done pretty well like, volumes maybe dropping a little bit, but price is going up to make up for it. But the lower end segment, like Daniel Wellington, move like what they called [inaudible] for haven't done as well. So that's kind of the broad picture and I think G-Shock is not immune, but it's actually done quite well, compared to the others.
So, just for reference, G-Shock is about 60% of the watch segment, but most of the profits and that itself, the watch segment is 60% of revenues, but the vast majority of profits for Cassio. So, the other segments like they have some calculator segments. They produced keyboards in competition with Yamaha. They also have electronic cash registers and so on, none of that matters. All that matters is G-Shock. That's their key brand name. It has 20% margins. The other ones are barely profitable. So, all you should care about is G-Shock. I think that there is hope even in volume terms, and even if you disregard everything about the yen, I think that this is actually a growth bread[?] despite everything that's going on.
Andrew: There's a lot to cover there, and I do want to come back. One thing we will circle back to is everything else doesn't matter because I'm not 100% sure about that. But let's talk about the most important thing here, and that's the watches. I do think you address it, when you say watches to someone, the first thought they're going to have is, watches are a dying business, and I think to some extent especially on the low end, that's true. Like, why would you pay $17 for a watch today, when you've got like, for a basic watch, your iPhone will tell you the time, right? Like, your basic cheap watch doesn't look good. It only does one thing, tell the time. You don't need that today. You might need that 30 years ago, you don't need that today.
But luxury watches are booming, too. I guess, let's just dive into the G-Shock brand, right? Because G-Shock I wouldn't describe it as a luxury brand, but it does have a function. Like I remember, I don't want to cut too far ahead of you, but I remember I was big into running in college, and all of my really big running friends, especially if you did trail running, they always talk about the G-Shock, right? Like, I remember that from, at this point, it's almost 15 or 20 years ago, I remember that. So, clearly there was a brand and there was a niche there, but I just want to turn over to you now. Like, let's talk about the G-Shock brand. Let's talk about the G-Shock price points. Let's talk about why they've kind of got a niche, and all that types of stuff?
Michael: Sure. Okay, so, whenever you mention G-Shock, the first thing that people say is Apple watch. I want to emphasize the fact that G-Shocks are actually pretty cheap. They cost something like $100 US, and Apple watch costs $400, but you also need to have an iPhone and not everybody has that. I also want to emphasize that they have different niches. So, the Apple watch is extremely functional. It has a great screen, vivid screen and has functionality, some of which is quite useful, but you also have to charge it. The value proposition for a G-Shock is quite different.
You buy it because it's low maintenance. You buy it one time, and you know it's going to last for years and years, maybe decades. You can throw it into a wall. You can do things with it. You can climb; you can engage in sports and nothing's going to happen to it even if you knock it or something. So, it's low maintenance, and
it's extremely durable. So, these are pretty much why you buy it.
Andrew: Look, maintenance, it might sound silly, but if people who are listening, who are viewing on YouTube, you can see, "I don't have an Apple watch on. I do have one, but I have to charge it every night. I know, it's so stupid, but I always forget like, there is something to a G-Shock or a watch where you've just got to on your wrist, especially if you're doing like hard trails, the durability and everything of it. I do think there's a niche. The question is, I guess let's just talk of the results, right?
So, the proof would be in the pudding, right? The Apple watch has been out since 2014-2015. I can't remember the exact year, but it's been out for almost a decade now. No doubt trends can take some time, and it took some share beginning, but I do think you would see at this point we're 8 years in, if this was going to destroy, if people are going to really stop buying, I think you'd be seeing the number. So, let's just talk about the recent sales numbers. Like, how has Casio and G-Shock grown recently?
Michael: It's done pretty well. It's been growing, up until the pandemic, it's been growing every year, like in unit volumes. The reason for that is because they're not selling that much to us, to develop market customers. They're selling to emerging markets, to China, Southeast Asia, and Japan. I mean, that's almost 60% of revenues. Also, Eastern Europe, that's another market. So, their target market isn't so much us. It's primarily emerging market consumers, and they have less wealth for them. It would almost be a luxury product for some of them.
So, I think that's the key, and that's also a growing market in terms of incomes. So, that explains why G-Shock has actually gone down in US dollar terms, it's been flattish, kind of, since then. In yen terms, it's been more violence because the Yen depreciated from 2012 to 2015, and then it's been appreciating up until now. So, it's been mixed. I would say between 2015 and 2018, there was a decrease in the search queries for G-Shock. I think that tells you something. Like they were a hit in developed markets, but since then, the company has restructured and G-Shock has all these new models that I will tell you more about. But perhaps I can talk about how the company has changed because that's pretty significant.
So, in 2018, one of the original founders passed away, and his son took over. Since then, there's been significant change in the business. So, he's replaced the management team, the executives, and the older guard has kind of retired. He gave them good retirement packages, and many of them have left. So, you got new blood into the business. He also restructured the organization into business units, where you have development and marketing in one unit that communicate with each other for each product. That helps them to understand customer needs a little bit better. I know that as a consumer, you've seen they have new models coming out, which are, I think more attractive and even I wore a G-Shock, I'm wearing it right now, just to show you.
Andrew: I've actually, at the end like, "Come on, man. I bet you, you've got to have the product if you're going after it, yeah.
Michael: Exactly.
Andrew: I like that too. It looks pretty nice, and I realized this is the second time we're only doing visual stuff, but I like that silver. Yeah, that's nice.
Michael: It's not too bad. I mean [crosstalk]
Andrew: How much was it?
Michael: It's $83.
Andrew: 83, okay.
Michael: For a watch, I wouldn't wear it everyday, but maybe with a T-shirt. I went to Malaysia last week. Malaysia is a little bit, it's not unsafe, but you don't want to walk around with a Rolex. For that purpose, it's perfect. Like, you don't have to think about setting it, you know that it's accurate to the second. You don't have to think about it, if you bump it into something.
Andrew: So, one thing, just looking through your deck that jumped out at me, and I think this would be non-obvious, but it almost feels like you're pitching a... look, from 2,000, let's say from 2015 to 2020, put everything else that happens towards the end of that outside. Like, you're almost pitching the company was pivoting, right? At that time, the founder dies. The new CEO comes in. The old guard retired, and then they started releasing new models. I think you're pitching, "Hey, it's cheap, and we'll talk cheapness. There's a lot of cash so there's safety." But I also kind of think you're pitching. They're going to hit a growth inflection. Not that they're going to become a hyper growth company, but that growth is almost going to accelerate.
The things that I was looking at was like in your slide 4 of your thing, in slide 41 of your deck, you've got, "Hey, collectors are really starting to notice and pay attention to Casio." You've got the thing with the collector kit who's got 15 Casios on his thing. Then slide 50, if I remember correctly, you've got, "Hey, we're starting to see some of the models of the watches sell out." So, it's not that you're paying cheap.
Again, Casio watches are not going to become a 75% year-over-year growth story, but I do think you're pitching, "Look, the market's pricing to settle low PE. Again, we'll talk valuation a second, but we're starting to see website traffic accelerate. We're starting to see sales rep accelerate, and I think you're pitching, this is going to become a growth through story than the market is expecting in the near future because of this brand strength in these trends. I throw a lot of stuff, all lobbying questions, but I'll turn it over to you there.
Michael: You know, it's like old data like search queries are on. They seem to tell us that the mind share, or the number of search queries, at least, it's kind of flattish, and volumes look kind of flattish as well. Maybe they will grow a little bit, post COVID. It's hard to say, but what's going to change is that they're really using these metal models. Right now, it's like 14% of sales of the G-Shock are metal. It's going to go up to 30%, and this costs like four times as much as a normal G-Shock. So, that's one of these things. You will see perhaps, them going up a little bit in the price range. So, that itself is growth.
It's not going to be high growth. Perhaps it will be a single digit, mid-single digit, or high single digit excluding the effect from the weak yen. So, it's possible, and I mean, we don't quite know what's going to happen in terms of new models. They're releasing new models every single year.
Next year is going to be the 40th anniversary, in particular, next year, there are going to be a lot of new models. It's just hard to say, but I do think that yeah, it's possible that not only is this a good brand, but you might even see growth.
Andrew: You and I are not in our teens or 20s anymore, right? I do wonder because we grew up in a generation before smartphones, cellphones, right? So, we grew up, when I was in high school having a watch meant when you were in class, you could look and you could see what time it was and everything. You always had the ability to have time. Like that was right before cell phones and smartphones really took off. I do wonder, my cousins and nieces, and nephews who are 13, 8, 10, are they going to look at non-smart watches the same way?
Like, I'm not sure, it crazy matters to a story trading this cheaply, and again, we'll talk valuation in a second, but I do wonder, when a 15-year-old today becomes a 29 or 30 year old 15 years from now, are they going to think, "Hey, I'm going to Malaysia. I need to throw on my non-digital watch because I don't want to charge it." Or they just going to think, "Why am I going to put something on my wrist that isn't always connected to my Instagram or something?"
Michael: I actually don't know. I mean, frankly, I don't quite know how young people think. Like some people wear it as a fashion statement, and they certainly do that for [crosstalk]
Andrew: If we knew how young people think, we'd probably be making a lot more money in some other business, but yeah.
Michael: Well, okay, that's a good question. I mean, and I frankly, don't really have the answers to that. I think the people wear clothes, and they wear watches for fashion statements as well. Like a lot of people wear Apple watches as a fashion statement, not because of the functionality necessarily. Honestly, I think the Smartphone market is a little bit different than the Smartwatch market because Smartwatches offer some functionality, but it's not all that necessary. Whereas if you have a smartphone, you can communicate with your friends. You can talk to friends.
So, I'd imagine like Casio, they've tried to go into these Smartwatches, and they're just not that successful. Like, the interface is laggy. The screen doesn't look as vibrant, but if they can do this well, if they could put in sensors, the same with the Fitbit in a watch that last for 4 years, in terms of battery life, that could be accessible. I mean, yeah.
Andrew: I think that is soft because, these things, I've got, again, third time for people over video over audio, I've got a Smartwatch type thingy on my wrist, a tracking thing on the wrist, the batteries do that Casio's because all that tracking and sending the data stuff, I do hear you though. I'm with you, and I do think history suggests like anything that you can put on your body that you can use as a fashion statement, that you can use to make you look good. Even 'till today, you go to a wedding, and one of my friends, he's very stylish, and he goes, and everybody will come, "Oh my gosh, I love your watch."
He matches the watch, the belt, and the shoes, and obviously, that's a little more high-end designer, but I do think for G-Shock, you show up to a Tough Mudder or trail running, something, you've got G-Shock, like it is functional. You can keep track of your time. You can keep track of a lot of things, but you're also a little bit signaling a little bit stylish, right? Like, you're the runner who's got the watch that you can bang it against the tree 100 times, and it's not going to do anything, and it's going to be there. So, I do think there is something to that, and things that are visual, things that express yourself, do have a little bit more strength. Anything you want to talk about there?
Michael: Yeah, I thought about this question long and hard, like who's buying these watches. I think the emerging America's consumer, that's the number one, talking of the demographic because the volumes are just so big. Then you also have the watch collectors, and you have people who are looking for something more functional. But I think honestly, the watch market is so big. Like, they have a 3% market share, and it's such a fragmented market that you're not going to see a winner-take-all like you see in Smartphones. That's my view, at least.
Andrew: So let's go, I think we've talked a lot about watches. There are some things I want to come back here, but a I've mentioned a few times, this is cheap. Let's talk about, "This is cheap." So, let's talk about valuation Casio.
Michael: Okay. So, big picture, enterprise value is now at an all-time low because of the depreciation of the yen. My argument, and I don't know if people really agree with me, but my argument is that the enterprise value should go up when the yen goes down because it's an international company and its costs are in yen, so margin should go up. The same thing happened in 2012 to 2015, I think the operating profit went up three times because the weak yen, and there were other things happening at the same time. You didn't have the Apple watch competition, but these should be some benefits.
So anyway, the enterprise value in US dollar terms is now extremely low. Now, in terms of the forecasts, they have a target of post COVID operating profit of 48 billion yen. The enterprise value is 260 billion yen. So, that's a multiple of 5 or 6 or something.
Andrew: Can we just - I don't think you mentioned it - enterprise value in US dollars just so my listeners can think about the sizing here?
Michael: It's 1.6 billion US dollars...
Andrew: Perfect.
Michael: …I think that is about 2.1 or 2.2 billion USD. So, it's a small cap by US standards. They have a lot of cash, 560 million US dollars, and that's not ideal. It's very typical for Japan by the way. You will probably want to discount that to some extent. If you look at multiples right now, it's below even 10, I think for a normalized basis. That seems cheap, but maybe you don't want to put value on that cash. Now, the big question is supposed to happen to operating profit. Their guiding for post COVID, they have a target of 48 billion yen. Pre-COVID, they had 30 billion. So, that tells you about over 50% increase since pre-pandemic.
Now, they had several issues during the pandemic. They have China exposure. They had locked downs this year, which hurt the business significantly because China was a very profitable market together with Japan. They have had supply chain issues, our semiconductors in particular. That also had an issue. Schools have been shut. The calculated business has also suffered. So, all of these things are COVID-related, and I think China is now letting COVID spread, in my view. Like the really opening up, like this strange [crosstalk]
Andrew: This podcast just got a Spotify warning label, but I don't disagree. Just saying, letting it spread is we're going to be in trouble there.
Michael: All right, okay. I mean, we can discuss that whether it's true as well.
Andrew: The phrasing is what I'm laughing at. I don't disagree with anything else.
Michael: Yeah. Okay, well, I think these numbers of issues, it's hard to say exactly how fast the Chinese market will recover, but 200-250 million people have been in lockdown, and the question is, "Will they ease those lockdowns?" It looks like the stringency indexes actually come down, so everything is moving in the right direction right now. So, 30 billion will be pre-COVID operating profits. Most businesses are doing okay. Keyboards, calculators are kind of stagnant businesses, but not that problematic. Then it's just about the time piece of segments, which I think is also flattish to actually slightly better than flat.
So, then it's all about the depreciation of the Yen, and I made some calculations, and I got two numbers like 40 to 50 billion. So, that's the range. If you get to 45 billion, which will be 50% higher than 2019 in yen terms, you're basically looking at our PE ratio of 11. Like, it used to trade at 22 times. It's really hard to say what's the right multiple. It's a slow growing business, but it has a lot of cash as well. So, difficult to say, if it's 6 times.
Andrew: So, let me provide my first push back, right? Like this is cheap. We talked about something in the very low double digits price to earnings and that's not giving them any credit for about 25% of their balance sheet is a net cash, right? So, it's really cheap, but when you lay out the story, I say, "Okay, just really cheap, but you even said, it's a slow growth story. Maybe we're going from a slow growth story to a not quite as slow, but still pretty measured growth story, right? But when you throw this, let's say measured growth story, 10 times PE.
I just look at that and I say, "Okay, one of the things I like about this is we've got a brand that has decades of history here. Like the brand does seem to be a little bit strengthening. I do think there's a trend outdoors. Like, very low ends getting cut out, so maybe there's a little bit, like I do see some trends there, it's hard to kill, but it's also hard for me to look at this and say, "Hey, if you and I want to go generate real risk adjusted Alpha, real Alpha, I mean maybe risk adjust because the risk here seems lower, but it's hard for me to say, "Hey, three years from now, we're going to come back and be like, "Man, that was a 15, 20%, 25% IRR. It's hard for me to just see the juice in this idea, if that makes sense.
Michael: No, totally. I mean, that's what it is. I agree with you. I think that this stock could double, but what's the right multiple to pay? I actually, I'm not quite sure about that. I think 22 times there is actually a little bit aggressive for a company that's not growing fast. I do think, though, like I spend a lot of time on YouTube and Reddit and so on, trying to understand how people think about the brand, and I do think it's special. It is special, and maybe not everyone understands that, but it's in their niche. They have no competition as far as I'm concerned. They really don't. Like in terms of truly indestructible watches, they don't really have a competition.
So, I think maybe 22 times is possible. From my perspective, I'm like, "Okay, look at the yen
being so weak and the stock price has not moved. Actually it's down almost 40%. Like, that doesn't make any sense. So, I'm looking at this and think, "Okay, risk-reward seems kind of skewed to the upside here. I'm willing to wait, and I'll reassess the story once we're back to post COVID kind of slow growth levels. Then I'll think about whether, I'll hold the fucking knots.
Andrew: Yeah. Just running through a couple... So, the other thing that jumps out at me is a big piece you're at because look, the old guard has gone and retired. The new guy comes in in 2019, and we're starting to see positive transformation, right? Like, it does seem like the brand's getting stronger. They're focusing a little bit more on direct to consumer, which we'll talk about. They did emphasize the other businesses which I still want to loop around a little bit, right?
So, I am there with you, but at the same time, like the new CEO, he was the son of the founder. He'd been with the company since I believe it was the early '90s. I just worry, maybe it was an incremental improvement, but 25% of the cash on the balance sheet, it's an incremental improvement, but are we really going to see a lot of change like, really realize upside? No.
Michael: You're not going to see like the capital allocation improved to a large extent. It is a Japanese company, and I think that they behave very much like a typical Japanese company. Things move slowly in Japan. So, it is difficult to find companies that are as well-managed as a US company. You're just not going to find that very easily.
Andrew: So, the capital allocation is where your mind jumps, where my mind jumps too, and I'm sure my listeners' mind. Every call I like to ask, "Why aren't they buying back shares?" But it's not just the capital allocation. So, we said we're going to talk to other businesses, and their earnings stack, slide 25 on their owning stack, which mentions the calculator business that they have, right? It mentions having a growth strategy for the calculator business, and I see that I'm like, "Are these guys with it? Like come on, get out of here."
Then the systems equipment business, which is one below that which is basically cash registers and stuff, has been losing money for years. It's not like it's an inferno where they're sinner rating Facebook meta, reality, lab, psych money, but it's been losing money for years. It's clearly disadvantageous. It's clearly not a good business, and there's no plans to shut it down as far as I can see. In fact, the earnings stack I think it's the next size. It's in slide 26, if you want it to look, but during [inaudible] says, "Hey, it's been losing off the top of my head about 10 million, whatever per year.
We've got a plan to bring it down to losing 5 million per year in the near future. I look at them and I'm like," they've got this money losing baseness ,and they're just saying, "Hey, we've got a plan to make it lose a little bit less money. I'm just wondering, like because capital allocation does matter especially when you're at this low of PE. Even if it's not share buybacks, I just worry, as you said, it's a slow Japanese company and they're saying, "Yeah, we're losing money. Hey, we need to keep full employment in the calculator business, and you're always kind of tamping your growth in your upside down because of that.
Michael: Hey, this is Japan. This is just the way it is. I think, why did they keep so much cash in the business? That's because if something happens, they want to keep paying their employees. That's why. So, this business, you're not going to get full value from that money, unfortunately. It's a great product, but the governance itself, you need an activist to come in here. I'm holding my thumbs. I mean, I'm hoping for the best. Hoping that someone will step in, and make them face reality a little bit more. But let's see.
Andrew: Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that, again, the CEO is the son of the founder and everything, I do think there's, maybe not crazy, like founders level owns 50% of the company, but I do think there's a decent bit of insider ownership here.
Michael: I actually don't know about that. I mean, it's a trust that owns the business, and it doesn't even say, there's no information that I could tell from the annual report or the disclosures that is actually the family that has been informed from this [inaudible] but presumably [crosstalk]
Andrew: I may even be mistaken when I was looking through it because I saw …Yeah. Okay. I may even mistaken when I was looking through it. The last question I want to ask; so, direct-to-consumer. Every consumer brand wants to go direct-to-consumer, right? There's a lot of reasons why you go direct-to-consumer. You get to keep a lot of that margin for yourself. You find repeat customers. All this type of stuff, and I just look at watches, and it makes sense to me that they're trying, but it seems a little tough for me, especially for a watch that you sell as an indestructible watch.
Maybe it's because I'm the type of person who would only buy one watch. I wouldn't collect and buy multiple colors and everything, but it does seem a little bit tough to me to really establish a direct-to-consumer business with the watch brand because you're going once. It's a very infrequent purchase. One of the great things about Amazon is I go and I buy a book, or get Penny food delivered or something, once a week or something, whereas with the watch, if you're going once every 5 years, you basically have to reacquire that customer every time.
So, I just wonder, I know why you would do a direct-to-consumer business, but is that really a pathway to increase growth, increase margins? Or is that just kind of a... you know?
Michael: I look at their direct-to-consumer efforts, and it looks almost quaint., like, collecting their email addresses from the stores. If you buy a product, you put down your email address, and then they will send you emails. I received a few recently. The thing is people don't just buy one watch. They buy several. I mean some people by several, or even many because Casio has constant, they're turning out constant special editions. Different colors, different variants with different materials. So, there is collectability, and some of them really collect many. So, I've spoken to people about this and yeah, even normal people they own several.
Andrew: Got you. I remember with the - what was it - it was Apple when they came out with the iPod, and I remember people being like, "Oh, people are going to buy multiple colors. They'll need the pink for when they're having a pink day, and then the black, and they'll have colors. I don't think that ever proved out, but if you bought the Apple stock on that you probably did all right. So, cool. Look, I actually think we've covered most of my questions and concerns here. I mean, look, this is a simple story.
People can get watches in their head pretty quickly. Lots of cash on the balance sheet, cheap business. I think the question is just really, "Hey, does the growth inflect a little faster, or do you get a little bit more aggressive capital return than maybe the market expects?" Because it's tough to see lots of downside unless you really think like, "Hey, tomorrow, consumers are all of a sudden going to change 70 years worth of consumption, and say, "I don't want watches anymore." Anything else we should be talking about? Am I thinking about it incorrectly? Anything else there?
Michael: No, I think you got to throw.... you asked the right questions. So, this is really about the yen bet. I mean, I bought some shares myself, and the reason I bought shares was because of yen bets. So, it's a trade for me. Although I do think it's a really high-quality brand and it's possible that the change that we've seen the organization lead to something more, I think it's a little bit too early to tell.
Andrew: Well, look, I'm going to include a link to the write up on Casio and Asian Century stocks in the show notes, so anybody who's interested in learning more and especially going and looking at that deep dive depth. I encourage you to go check that out and Michael, this is the second time on, and I'm looking forward to having you on for the third time.
Michael: Thank you so much.
Andrew: Hey, thanks so much. We'll chat soon.
A quick disclaimer. Nothing on this podcast should be considered investment advice. The guest or the host may have positions in any of the stocks mentioned during this podcast. Please do your own work, and consult a financial advisor. Thanks.
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My daily driver is a $2,000 g-shock. It is an all Titanium replica of one of the originals (G-SHOCK - MRGB5000B-1). G-Shock has done a good job of creating a premium brand with its Mr. G offerings, as well as pumping out the standard pieces.
I can't invest in a Japanese company with any expectation of shareholder friendly activity. Pass!