CLSA
CLSA Limited
Hong Kong-headquartered Asia-Pacific brokerage and investment bank, wholly owned by CITIC Securities since 2013; best known for on-the-ground equity research on Asian markets and its CG Watch corporate governance survey.
Company history
CLSA began in Hong Kong in 1986 as Winfull Laing & Cruickshank Securities, founded by former journalists Jim Walker and Gary Coull. After Crédit Lyonnais acquired its partner Alexander Laing & Cruickshank in 1987, the firm emerged in 1989 as Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia, passing to Crédit Agricole in 2003. CITIC Securities bought 19.9% in 2012 and the remainder in July 2013, tightening control from 2019 amid senior management departures.
- 1986Founded in Hong Kong by Jim Walker and Gary Coull
- 1989Emerges as Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia
- 2003Passes to Crédit Agricole with Crédit Lyonnais
- 2012CITIC Securities buys 19.9% stake
- 2013CITIC Securities completes full acquisition
- 2024Adopts Outperform/Hold/Underperform rating scale
Research
CLSA's 120 writing analysts cover more than 1,300 listed companies across 16 markets (2026). It placed second among regional brokerages for research (Asia ex-Australia and Japan) in the Asiamoney Brokers Poll 2023 and second in Extel's 2026 Asia local broker ranking. Ratings, revised in June and December 2024, run from High-Conviction Outperform to High-Conviction Underperform on expected 12-month total stock return, with ±10% thresholds.
Coverage12M
- Stocks
- 34
- Ratings
- 30
- Price targets
- 22
- Median upside
- +24.2%
- Upgrades
- 12
- Downgrades
- 2
- Initiations
- 10
- Reiterations
- 6
- Targets raised
- 1
- Targets cut
- 2
- Positive71%17
- Neutral17%4
- Negative13%3
Sectors
Ratings
Listing
Activity24M
Most covered24M
| Stock | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|
 MLCOMelco Resorts & Entertainment Limited | Outperform | $6 |
 AUAngloGold Ashanti Plc | Outperform | $180 |
 CRLCharles River Laboratories International, Inc. | Hold | $219 |
| KSKS | Underperform | — |
 MSFTMicrosoft Corporation | Outperform | $535 |
 AAPLApple Inc. | Outperform | $330 |
 ADBEAdobe Inc. | Outperform | $300 |
 AMDAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. | Outperform | $710 |
 BEKEKE Holdings Inc. | Outperform | $23.80 |
 BZUNBaozun Inc. | Outperform | $3.80 |
Analysts24M
- Bhavtosh VajpayeeAAPL · AMD · ORCL3
- Max HopkinsCCJ · SMR2
- Elinor LeungBIDU1
- Michael LuoTMO1
- Ethan WangYUMC1
- Andrew PaineAU1
Recent actions
| Stock | Rating action | Rating | Target | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AngloGold Ashanti PlcAU | Reiterate | Outperform | $180 | Sep 21 |
| KSKS | Initiate | Underperform | Sep 16 | |
| BEBetter Home & Finance Holding CompanyBETR | Upgrade | Buy | Sep 9 | |
 Smurfit Westrock PlcSW | Reiterate | Outperform | Sep 9 | |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.AMD | Reiterate | Outperform | $710 | Sep 9 |
| IDID | Upgrade | Overweight | Sep 9 | |
| JPJP | Upgrade | Outperform | Sep 9 | |
| TMThermo Fisher Scientific Inc.TMO | Initiate | Outperform | $748 | Sep 3 |
 Moderna, Inc.MRNA | Upgrade | Outperform | Aug 28 |
Similar coverage12M
References
- CLSA - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- Research - CITIC CLSAclsa.com
- CLSA research report with key to investment rankings (February 2025)centel.listedcompany.com
- Gary Coull - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- CLSA CEO Jonathan Slone Quits, Following Chairman's Departure (The Wall Street Journal, 2019)wsj.com
- Extel: Asia's Top Equities Research Teams & Local Brokers (2026)natlawreview.com