Equity Research Analyst - Long-Short

Raj S, CA, CFA

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Policy clarity and domestic GPU shift remove key overhangs; China’s AI build-out proceeding under self-reliance base case.</li>
<li>AI token usage doubling every 3–6 months makes hyperscaler capex upgrades inevitable over the coming quarters - a key catalyst driving order wins.</li>
<li>VNET’s 400 MW annual additions and REIT monetisation support 25–30% EBITDA CAGR per consensus; re-rating to 13-15x EV/ EBITDA from current 11x EV/EBITDA implies potential of 90% upside.</li>
</ul>


Policy clarity and domestic GPU shift remove key overhangs; China’s AI build-out proceeding under self-reliance base case.
AI token usage doubling every 3–6 months makes hyperscaler capex upgrades inevitable over the coming quarters - a key catalyst driving order wins.
VNET’s 400 MW annual additions and REIT monetisation support 25–30% EBITDA CAGR per consensus; re-rating to 13-15x EV/ EBITDA from current 11x EV/EBITDA implies potential of 90% upside.


VNET Group (VNET US) - Re-Rating On: Clarity on Chips, Geopolitics, and Hyperscaler Capex

Asian Hedge Fund Manager, Long Short Equity, Macro

David Mudd

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi Global (DIDI US)</a> has begun to generate positive EBITDA after several challenging years post-IPO.  With a high degree of operating leverage, the company is poised to grow quickly.
</li>
<li>Didi which maintains a 70% market share in the ride-hailing industry in China is expanding into Tier 3 cities where there is a large untapped opportunity.</li>
<li>The company has indicated that it wants to list in Hong Kong in 2025 providing a catalyst for share price re-rating next year.</li>
</ul>



DiDi Global (DIDI US) has begun to generate positive EBITDA after several challenging years post-IPO.  With a high degree of operating leverage, the company is poised to grow quickly.

Didi which maintains a 70% market share in the ride-hailing industry in China is expanding into Tier 3 cities where there is a large untapped opportunity.
The company has indicated that it wants to list in Hong Kong in 2025 providing a catalyst for share price re-rating next year.


2025 High Conviction Idea - DIDI Global, Smooth Ride to Higher Profits

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pony-ai-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44035:1" rel="noopener">Pony AI (PONY US)</a> raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.</li>
<li>As per Frost &amp; Sullivan, Pony AI was among the first companies in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxis in all four Tier-1 cities in China.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



Pony AI (PONY US) raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.
As per Frost &amp; Sullivan, Pony AI was among the first companies in China to obtain licenses to operate fully driverless robotaxis in all four Tier-1 cities in China.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Pony AI IPO Lockup - US$4.3bn Lockup Release with Stock at 69x EV/Sales

Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

<ul><li>Baidu, Inc. reported a first quarter 2026 total revenue of RMB 32.1 billion, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase in its core Baidu General Business to RMB 26.0 billion, marking a return to positive growth after prior declines.</li><li>The company’s AI-powered business has become its primary revenue driver, with revenues reaching RMB 13.6 billion—a 49% increase year-over-year—and representing 52% of Baidu General Business revenue for the first time.</li><li>Baidu's AI Cloud Infrastructure (Cloud Infra) experienced particularly rapid growth, achieving a 79% year-over-year increase, with GPU Cloud revenue within that segment accelerating to 184% growth.</li></ul>

Baidu, Inc. reported a first quarter 2026 total revenue of RMB 32.1 billion, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase in its core Baidu General Business to RMB 26.0 billion, marking a return to positive growth after prior declines.The company’s AI-powered business has become its primary revenue driver, with revenues reaching RMB 13.6 billion—a 49% increase year-over-year—and representing 52% of Baidu General Business revenue for the first time.Baidu's AI Cloud Infrastructure (Cloud Infra) experienced particularly rapid growth, achieving a 79% year-over-year increase, with GPU Cloud revenue within that segment accelerating to 184% growth.

Baidu’s Full-Stack AI Bet: Kunlunxin Chips, ERNIE 5.1 & Cloud Growth!

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal, Shenton Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac ECM and Index Rebal

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China Biotech

Shenton Research

Shenton Research is an independent Asia Pacific equity specialist. Our quantitative research covers index rebalancing flows, alongside exchange data analytics accross Asia Pacific. On the equity capital markets side, we focus on Asia Pacific ECM, especially biotech and TMT. Our lead analyst is frequently cited by international media.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&amp;A this week: OpenAI and Anthropic refreshed frontier models while Moonshot started its Hong Kong IPO process.</li>
<li>MiniMax powered HUMAIN's Arabic sovereign model, Alibaba refreshed Qwen, and Artificial Analysis kept new US frontier releases at the top of the ranking.</li>
<li>Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face, Anthropic expanded compute financing, and AI infrastructure demand flowed through hyperscalers, hardware vendors, chips and memory.</li>
</ul>


We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&amp;A this week: OpenAI and Anthropic refreshed frontier models while Moonshot started its Hong Kong IPO process.
MiniMax powered HUMAIN's Arabic sovereign model, Alibaba refreshed Qwen, and Artificial Analysis kept new US frontier releases at the top of the ranking.
Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face, Anthropic expanded compute financing, and AI infrastructure demand flowed through hyperscalers, hardware vendors, chips and memory.


This Week in AI (Aug 30-Sep 5): GPT-6 Astra and Fable 5.1 in Same Week; Moonshot Files IPO

China

Baidu, Inc. operates an Internet search engine. The Company offers algorithmic search, enterprise search, news, MP3, and image searches, voice assistance, online storage, and navigation services. Baidu serves clients globally.

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Baidu (BIDU US)

VNET Group (VNET US) - Re-Rating On: Clarity on Chips, Geopolitics, and Hyperscaler Capex

Please check the recent upgrade note we published on VNET (link below). The thesis has only become stronger post the 3Q (execution, leverage, no...

Raj S, CA, CFA

2025 High Conviction Idea - DIDI Global, Smooth Ride to Higher Profits

Didi's share price has now broken major resistance levels at $5 and $6 on surging volume. The company's profit remains on track to double in 2025....

David Mudd

Pony AI IPO Lockup - US$4.3bn Lockup Release with Stock at 69x EV/Sales

Pony AI (PONY US) raised around US$260m in its upsized US ADR listing in Nov 2024. The lockup on its pre-IPO investors is set to expire soon.

Sumeet Singh

Baidu’s Full-Stack AI Bet: Kunlunxin Chips, ERNIE 5.1 & Cloud Growth!

Baidu, Inc. reported a first quarter 2026 total revenue of RMB 32.1 billion, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase in its core Baidu General...

Baptista Research

This Week in AI (Aug 30-Sep 5): GPT-6 Astra and Fable 5.1 in Same Week; Moonshot Files IPO

This week in AI: GPT-6 Astra and Claude Fable 5.1 arrive together; Nvidia buys Hugging Face for USD 12.93bn; Moonshot files for a Hong Kong IPO.

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

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