Their Operating Cash Flow is strong but for some reason their Capex is proportionately higher than UP, Kimloong etc. Wonder why

Probably sustained profit taking. It has come up from RM9 level in Jan 2024, on top of that paid out 50sen, 37sen and 25 sen in dividends since then. We are now
seeing the same for Gamuda, Sunway and other leading stocks that have run hard.

What we are seeing is deflation of gains and premium from past few years. It sort of ran ahead of itself. But we now have a new paradigm of competition from Chinese EV and valuations are reflecting it. Bauto has good management and proven track record but in reality no one can compete with China today in terms of price to quality ratio. I believe Bauto sees this and took on xpeng and deepal to counter the decline. Although this is uphill battle with a long road ahead if you are a long term investor. So we can't really value a stock in terms of just dividend yield without looking at other factors, especially for auto industry.

BAuto has been enjoying stellar results from high margins and strong volumes over so many years that people may sometimes forget automotive is a cyclical business with a product life cycle of 7 years at most. Yield and valuation may be low but earnings are far from clear, hopefully new CX-5 will come soon, their bread and butter but even then the China cars will continue to bombard.

A couple of years ago Mazda was a premium brand that stood out against Honda and Toyota. It had a couple of models that were newly launched and proved to be big winners. That had taken BAuto past RM2.5b market cap. Currently there is a lot more competition especially from China, while its best seller CX5 is near end of life cycle. Valuation may be cheap but what will take this company to the next level and when will this happen? If it doesn't happen soon, will its earnings erode quickly?

Hard to say as business is dependent on one major customer, not sure what is their moat. Also depends on what they do with the cash. If more of it comes out as dividends or share buy back and assuming business goes on as usual, will be worth more.

Yes has always been net cash since listing except for FY2020 when operating cashflow took a dip.

The can easily afford more dividends, but guess management is conservative. Very little info out there about this company and their business.

More cash but also more borrowings

I bought some at RM1.60 not too long ago. I think I may average down if it goes to RM1.20.