Thematic (Sector/Industry)

• Tesla had a dismal quarter but Musk told a fairy tale about RoboTaxis and Robots and the markets rejoiced
• Meta had a beat & raise quarter but Zuckerberg told the truth about the fact that it would take time to monetise their AI investments and the markets recoiled
• Markets are on edge and big moves either way can be expected post earnings

• Stocks retreated on Thursday following disappointing US GDP data for Q1, with the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%
• The world’s largest technology companies soared after hours as stellar results from Microsoft Corp. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. provided some relief  
• Toyota to invest $1.4 billion in its Indiana plant to support electrification efforts in the U.S., preparing for the production of a new battery electric SUV

• This note is a weekly curated selection of Chinese news articles and company announcements focused on developers in distress
• We look for their deals, updates, specific project progress news (‘local signals’), as well as relevant local research commentaries about the market
• We do not verify the underlying data or provide any opinion, we only select and summarize the information; See direct links to sources

• Odd Lots podcast discusses the three body problem as an allegory for US-China tech rivalry
• Discussion on the allegorical interpretations of the three body problem in relation to US-China rivalry in tech, specifically in AI
• Interview with Damien Ma, managing director at Macro Polo, discussing the Global AI Talent Tracker and the importance of tracking AI talent trends

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

• U.S. stocks closed mixed, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite up for a third consecutive day. The Dow Jones saw its first decline in five sessions.
• The Japanese yen declined to its weakest levels against the dollar since 1990, raising concerns about intervention from Japanese authorities
• Asahi Kasei plans to invest around 200 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in a new plant in Canada to produce components for electric vehicle batteries

• 1810HK/LI:Tesla cuts prices of all series by 14,000yuan to compete with Xiaomi SU7 and LI L6,with the fomer facing long time of delivery and the latter had a mediocre start(//-)
• LI US: LI cuts price for all series, might be due to difficulty to achieve delivery targets (/)
• LKNCY US: New products fail to bring meaningful incremental DAU growth, bodes ill for 2Q24 sales(-)

• 700 HK: Tencent’s “Dungeon & Fighter Mobile” is officially scheduled to be released on May 21st.(+)
• 3690 HK/TCOM US: Meituan and Ctrip revenue growth may lower than industry average, indicating intensified competition.(-/-)
• BIDU US: Baidu ADS sets revenue and profit indicators for Robotaxi（/）

• This in-depth analysis of consumption data shows the level of caution among consumers caused by inflation and fears of more price rises to come. 
• Food expenditure has risen to a record high due to higher prices and this has curtailed spending in other categories like fashion for most income classes.
• Savings rates are at record levels, however, boosting opportunities for the better brands and retailers. If wages rise in real-terms, then consumer confidence is likely to rebound.

• Japan’s domestic credit growth is now running at 4.2% YoY in the latest month in February 2024.
• The slope of Japan’s domestic credit growth is greater than all developed Asia Pacific peer countries.
• Weaker JPY can further raise interest in tourism, and USD translation of earnings for megabanks.

• Airlines are among biggest accounting manipulators worldwide, AI tool shows
• Airlines are more assertively managing their accounting as they struggle to reinvigorate profits hurt by Covid-19 pandemic
• Chinese, Asian carriers have highest risk scores for accounting manipulation

• US stocks rallied on Tuesday with the Nasdaq Composite leading, up 1.6% on upbeat earnings. 
• Speculation swirls on timing of next BOJ rate hike as policymakers gather for two-day meeting starting Thursday.
• Mitsui joins a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the UAE, investing in a $7 billion venture to produce 10 million tons annually, about 15% of Japan’s demand.

• In 2022, there were 20 million new cancer cases, and almost half of the cases were recorded in Asia.
• Global oncology spend is forecast to grow at 11.99% between 2023 and 2027, and this is expected to be almost three times faster than the growth of total pharma spend.
• Emerging companies continue to make big strides in oncology drug development and made up 71% of the new drug pipeline in 2022.

• The strong showing of economic data from the US for the first three months of 2024 has spurred bets that the Federal Reserve’s is going to delay cutting rates towards the latter half of this year.
• The narrative surrounding ‘imminent’ rate cuts that dominated market perception near the end of last year has been thwarted by the Fed’s chair Jerome Powell suggesting that rates are likely to remain elevated, without the market completely discounting the possibility of further rate hikes.
• The immediate fallout from the higher-than-expected March inflation figures led to a systematic drop in Asian currencies, especially for some ASEAN based currencies, such as the Malaysian Ringgit, that have already been embattled by weakening currency against the dollar since the start of this year.

• Stocks surged Monday, bouncing back from last week’s losses, boosted by a tech rebound and eased Middle East tensions
• Japan and Europe will cooperate in recycling EV batteries by establishing a system to share information
• Ricoh has acquired German startup Natif AI, leveraging its artificial intelligence (AI) technology for automatic information extraction from text.

• With US inflation figures higher than expectations, there is an increase in risk that the Fed’s next move may be a hike.  Some HSI constituents are set to benefit.
• Orient Overseas International (316 HK), Budweiser Brewing APAC (1876 HK), and Galaxy Entertainment Group (27 HK) have significant USD net cash position and will be gainers.
• Sunny Optical Technology Group (2382 HK) and Haier Smart Home (6690 HK) have large China operations but they are net long on USD balance and this will make them beneficiaries.

• After a bumper bonus during Covid, the fashion sector saw calmer spending in the last 18 months as the big return to shops led to more muted growth online. 
• The overall EC fashion market grew around 4-7% depending on how you measure it, but online market share actually fell as people went back to shops.
• This in-depth review highlights the key trends in the sector as well as the winners by sales growth among retailers and fashion brands.

• New quarterly data from Zions shows huge growth in time deposits, and also far worse credit metrics in commercial real estate and home equity loans
• Cadence reveals incredibly high growth of net charge offs in the year, but also far worse credit costs and NPLs
• None of this should surprise, and we remind that often banks reveal worsening credit metrics with some lag – it not always immediate, neat, simple

• Power Industry in India is no stranger to regulations – the industry has battled with regulatory changes since India’s independence in 1947.
• Most of these changes in recent years, have focused on strengthening the sector and making it more efficient. Some of these regulations have worked, while others have failed miserably.
• The Electricity Amendment Bill of 2021, is different. It focuses on the root causes of the problem and devises solutions accordingly, rather than try fixing them with a Band-Aid (as previous regulations did).

• Its a quarter too soon to go dumpster diving in the automotive semiconductor industry. Another round of cuts is likely coming. Consider this my earnings preview.

• I have leaned bearish automotive semiconductors for a few months, and I think the call has been mostly correct.

• For me, the beginning of my bearishness started when I highlighted that China would try to murder the supply aspect of the market for the foreseeable future

• The year is 1999, India’s total GDP back then was less than RBI’s Forex Reserves today .
• It had been a few years since economic liberalization of 1991 and internet companies were all the rage in international stock markets.
• Domestically too, in India, a little known Indian software business by the name of Infosys has started to grab headlines .

• Our Commercial/Contract Furniture Index was up 0.6% for the week, notably outperforming the three market indexes and the Mass Retailers Index (down between 1.4% and 3.2% for the week).
• Our Residential Manufacturers & Suppliers Index (down 3.5%) and Home Goods Retailers Index (down 2.9%) were more in line with the broader market indexes.
• Home goods retailer Beyond sold the Wamsutta brand/IP to Indo Count Global for $10.3 million as the firm focuses on integrating its purchase of Bed, Bath, and Beyond into its portfolio of online properties.

• AI detectors are not very effective, leading to the solution of grading AI-generated essays as regular essays
• Chat GPT essays are currently at a C level, serving as the baseline for comparison
• The use of AI in industrial applications, specifically robotics, is a growing area of interest for investment and development

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

• The WTR Sustainable Index was up down 3.9% W/W versus the S&P 500 Index (down 3.0%), the Russell 2000 Index (down 2.8%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 5.4%).
• Energy Technology (12.0% of the index) was down by 6.6%, while Industrial Climate and Ag Technology (58.1% of the index) was down by 2.2%, ClimateTech Mining was down 5.9%, and Advanced Transportation Solutions (23.4% of index) was down 6.7%.
• Top 10 Performers: FSR, PNPN, VTNR, AMMP, TLO, WML, KNDI, GOEV, BMI, CRGE

• The Nasdaq Composite extended its decline for a sixth consecutive session, marking its longest losing streak in over a year, as Nvidia’s plunge exacerbated market concerns
• Paramount Global’s shares surged over 10% after reports of discussions between Sony Pictures Entertainment, Apollo Global Management, and Paramount for a joint buyout bid.
• Sekisui House completed a $4.9 billion acquisition of U.S.-based MDC Holdings, expanding its U.S. homebuilding operations to 16 states

• The Global Emerging Markets Weekly summarizes the key news and related developments impacting the largest countries and constituents of the Global Emerging Markets equity indices.
• Macro data points: China loan growth, GDP growth, Industrial production, Retail sales, New home prices.
• Companies mentioned:Baidu (9888 HK), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) (2330 TT), SK Hynix (000660 KS)

• Geopolitical concerns and disappointing ASML earnings were the key triggers for sharp pull back in equities this week
• Next week in Japan, all eyes will be on the Bank of Japan and the continued weakness in the exchange rate. Earnings season just around the corner too
• Semiconductor names were hit hard this week – Lasertec (-21%), Tokyo Electron (-15%) and Disco (-11%) sharply lower. 

• Tethys Oil (TETY SS)C; target price of SEK100 per share: Increasing further the size of the prize/Considering Algeria – The South Lahan area on Block 58 is estimated to hold 55-523 mmbl prospective resources (P90-P10 case) with a mean case of 251.8 mmbbl prospective resources across six prospects in the Ara Carbonate.
• Combined with the previously disclosed prospective resources of the Fahd area in the north-eastern part of Block 58, Tethys Oil’s unrisked recoverable prospective resources on the block are estimated to be 435.9 mmbbl (Pmean).
• The geological chance of success ranges from 6% to 11% for the six new prospects.

• 1810HK/1211HK/LI/XPEV/NIO: The growth rate of new energy vehicles fell back in the 15th week of 2024,BYD and Li delivered stably,AITO slowed down due to L6,XiaomiSU7 impacting TeslaM3 and BYDHan（/）
• BEKE US: Residential new home sales value fell by 30% YoY in 1Q24, but slightly better than consensus(+)
• 300750 SZ: CATL’s first quarter results show strong pricing power amid fierce price war（/）

• PDD/BABA/JD/3690.HK/VIPS: NBS publishes data social retail data for March 2024 (+/////-)
• NTES US: NetEase’s <Naraka Mobile>, has completed its pre-launch testing phase with overall positive feedback, and pre-registration reached 25 million. (+)
• BABA US/3690 HK : Eleme launches semi-managed mode for retail merchants, adding pressure to Meituan instashopping

• US stocks closed mostly lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.22% for its fifth consecutive session of losses
• After-Hours, Netflix revealed strong subscriber growth but slightly missed revenue guidance, causing its shares to dip over 2%
• Oracle plans to invest over $8 billion in Japan over the next decade to expand its data center infrastructure

• We highlight 14 stocks in Asia that look interesting to us based on our FVMR methodology
• Portfolio changes: Five stock remains, nine stocks added to our portfolio
• Since its inception, it has generated a before-fee total return of 188% versus the MSCI Asia ex Japan of 68%

• We highlight 14 stocks in ASEAN that look interesting to us based on our FVMR Methodology
• Portfolio changes: Two stocks remain, 12 stocks added to our portfolio
• Since its inception, the portfolio has generated a before-fee total return of 227% versus MSCI ASEAN’s 26%

• Entering 2024, more provinces/regions have included assisted reproductive medical service projects into medical insurance reimbursement scope. It is expected that the government will accelerate the introduction of supporting measures ahead.
• Livzon’s performance in 2023 was disappointing.For BGI, even if the BIOSECURE Act passes and BGI is sanctioned by the US, the overall impact on the company is limited and controllable.
• Jinxin has gradually recovered from the negative impact of COVID-19.With the recovery of international flights and the increase in the number of patients, the Company would be back on track. 

• There has been a significant increase in out-licensing deals in China over the last four years; numbers are at an all-time high. 
• There is a big deviation between actions of multinational drug companies and equity investors – over a similar period, the FTSE Pharma and Biotech index is down over 50%.
• We have witnessed an improved environment for aspiring local Chinese biotech and pharma companies.

• Setting up to be a crucial quarter for the major cloud infrastructure providers and broader tech as investors focus on the cost/benefits of AI.
• Over the last decade, AMZN, MSFT, and GOOGL have garnered outsized investor attention, in part due to their size, but equally due to each of their rapidly growing tech infrastructure businesses (AWS, Azure, and GCP, respectively).
• Based on the capex commentary from all three exiting the December quarter, investors are hoping for early signs of business AI traction, but also bracing for greater clarity around the costs.

• The market is experiencing its first bout of volatility this year, with the S&P trading below 50-day moving average
• Toshiba is considering cutting its domestic workforce by 5,000, approximately 7% of its total in Japan, in its latest move to accelerate restructuring
• ASML’s Q1 orders fall short, reflecting chipmakers’ cautious stance on equipment purchases.

• PDD US: Temu merchants report a new round of forced price reductions (+)
• 3690 HK: Meituan Restructures Delivery Business to Boost Efficiency, Refine Operations Amid Slowing Order Growth(+)
• Douyin/1797 HK/2618 HK/3690 HK: JD Logistics Partners with EastBuy to Launch “Delivery in hours” Service, Directly Competing with Meituan(+/-)

• 1810 HK: Xiaomi SU7 confirmed order exceeded 60K, monetization means starting to emerge（/）
• HTHT US/ATAT US: Orange Crystal Hotel will launch a new version with a goal of reach 750 hotels by 2025, intensifying competition with Atour.（-） 
• 300750 SZ: GAC announced that its in-house all-solid-state batteries will be put into mass production in 2026（/）

• With long-term structural factors supporting growth, healthcare services market is expected to have a low double-digit CAGR over the next five years.
• Most of the leading hospitals are operating with high occupancies, which justifies their aggressive plans. Profitable revenue growth and low leverage support their expansion plans.
• With expanding scale, the players are well positioned to report faster revenue growth and better margins in coming years than their respective historical figures.

• Google introduces Axion, their new CPU designed for cloud-based workloads
• Facebook unveils second version of RiSC-V based processor for AI workloads
• Marvell announces custom projects with another big hyperscaler, highlighting the trend towards custom silicon solutions for AI workloads

This content is sourced through publicly available sources and has been machine generated. Information displayed is for general informational purposes only.

• PC, Smartphone Unit shipments both registering YoY growth in Q124
• TSMC will beat guidance & likely guide Q224 up ~5% QoQ. Samsung’s pre earnings showed strong recovery in operating profit
• Server unit shipments are on a ~17% YoY growth run rate

• The S&P 500 edged down by 0.21% as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks suggesting a prolonged period of elevated interest rates
• China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth surged to 5.3% year-on-year in the January-March quarter, surpassing expectations
• OpenAI, a prominent U.S. artificial intelligence company, is gearing up to launch an enhanced version of its core large language model with triple the processing power for Japanese language tasks

• Based on my site visits and recent discussion, the consensus is that China is experiencing a sharp economic slowdown, as seen as slowing consumption and increasing unemployment
• But the equity market is ALWAYS forward looking, investors may bet on policy support which may provide downside support to the equity market
• Property market is not doing well, but there are early signs of stabilizing.  In this insight, we look at several key factors including fund flows, positioning, valuation and risks

• The data coming out of US bank results should not surprise and it is also not something that should suddenly improve
• BAC reported net charge offs at USD1,498m in 1Q24 up from USD807m in 1Q23, a substantial YoY delta. The QoQ delta is accelerating too, up USD306m in the 90 days
• Net interest income is now in decline at BAC at -3% YoY in 1Q24, given the disproportionate rise in funding costs vs interest income