In today’s briefing:
- Ohayo Japan | US Sets Record as Hardware Surges
- This Week in AI (May 17-23): OpenAI Files for IPO; Anthropic Posts First Profit; Nvidia Reports Q1
- Japan Morning Connection: MLCC Names Seem Stretched While Server Sentiment to Lift NEC and Fujitsu
- Japan’s Home Centres Consolidating Amid Wider Competition
- India’s Battery Reality Check: Just Assembler Not Maker!
Ohayo Japan | US Sets Record as Hardware Surges
- US stocks closed higher on Friday, wrapping up a positive week ahead of the Memorial Day weekend
- Workday reported stronger than exp. results, upgraded margin forecast w/ mgmt. citing strength in AI & rising use of its AI agents.
- Quantum computing stocks (e.g., Rigetti Computing RGTI, D-Wave QBTS): Strong for second day on federal funding/support under the Trump administration.
This Week in AI (May 17-23): OpenAI Files for IPO; Anthropic Posts First Profit; Nvidia Reports Q1
- We tracked AI models, infrastructure, and M&A; this week: OpenAI filed for IPO, Anthropic projected first profit, and Nvidia reported earnings.
- Google launched Gemini 3.5 Flash, Alibaba launched Qwen3.7-Max, and Zhipu disclosed ZCube with GLM-5.1-highspeed.
- Anthropic lined up funding and compute, Google hired Contextual AI researchers, and Moonshot prepared a Hong Kong IPO structure.
Japan Morning Connection: MLCC Names Seem Stretched While Server Sentiment to Lift NEC and Fujitsu
- MLCC names have exploded higher recently but are very vulnerable to trends outside of the AI thematic.
- Space names Astroscale, Synspective, Axelspace and QPS had a very strong day Friday with more gains set to follow.
- Power/Automative semi’s Rohm, Fuji Electric and Renesas set to catch a bid after Qualcomm expands Stellantis deal
Japan’s Home Centres Consolidating Amid Wider Competition
- Home centres are the smallest of Japan’s big retail formats, yet remain an important channel.
- They sell all kinds of homewares, gardening and pet supplies, and, although less than you may expect, even DIY tools and trades supply.
- After a short-lived boom in 2020, the sector is now consolidating fast.
India’s Battery Reality Check: Just Assembler Not Maker!
- By mid-2026, major Indian groups shifted from local cell manufacturing to assembling Chinese cells- Reliance, Tata Agratas, Amara Raja and Exide still depend on Chinese-linked IP.
- India’s storage, EV and renewable targets depend on batteries. Assembly-led models increase China dependence and limit Indian value capture to around 40% or less.
- Without strong R&D, licensing will keep India dependent. The correction window is narrowing as BESS margins compress and China tightens export controls.
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