BYD is Looking Unstoppable

BYD is Looking Unstoppable

After surpassing Tesla [TSLA] in quarterly revenue for the first time as an electric vehicle maker, BYD [BYDDF] is now aiming to outdo legacy carmakers. With record-breaking October sales of half a million vehicles, BYD is close to matching Ford [F] in year-to-date shipments. Ford, which reports global sales quarterly, has averaged around 1.1 million vehicles per quarter. This momentum could push BYD into the ranks of the world’s top 10 automakers by volume, and analysts expect its growth to continue, according to Bloomberg. 

China Tech Titans Expand in Indonesia

Tencent [TCEHY] has boosted the scope of its collaboration with Alibaba [BABA] and GoTo Group [GTOFF] to expand cloud infrastructure in Indonesia. Plans to build its third internet data center in the country were announced on Sunday at the Indonesia-China Business Forum in Beijing. Valued at approximately $500m by 2030, Tencent’s investment aims to equip local businesses with advanced cloud and AI solutions. Alibaba Cloud already operates three data centers in Indonesia.

What Does Tech Want from Trump?

Venture capitalists and technologists who supported Donald Trump’s campaign are anticipating policy benefits from his incoming administration, Bloomberg reported, including favorable cryptocurrency regulations, a stable capital gains tax and a lighter antitrust stance that could drive more start-up acquisitions and venture capital exits. Some will be hoping for more influence at a policy level, among them Elon Musk and Anduril Industries Founder Palmer Luckey, who told Bloomberg he was in contact with Trump’s transition team to help select appointees. 

Nokia Grows Footprint in Africa

The Finnish telecoms firm [NOK] announced Monday that Fibertime will use its fiber technology to expand broadband access in underserved areas of South Africa. The deployment will connect 1.5 million new customers using Nokia’s Lightspan FX optical line terminals and Wi-Fi 6-enabled optical network terminals. Initial rollouts will cover Cape Town, Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Mangaung and Stellenbosch. Last month, OPTO documented how Nokia was diversifying internationally in an attempt to shore up NOK stock amid a challenging climate.

Beyond Nvidia: Top AI Accelerator Stocks

Jefferies analysts believe Nvidia [NVDA] will continue leading the artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator market but note growth potential for other firms specializing in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Marvell [MRVL] stands out as it ramps production of the Trainium2 chip for Amazon [AMZN], Seeking Alpha reported. Broadcom [AVGO] is also making strides with Google [GOOGL] and Meta [META], providing custom AI chips for their systems. The AI accelerator market is expected to grow at a 58% CAGR from 2023 to 2027, driven by increased hyperscaler spending on GPUs and internal ASIC programs. 

Earnings This Week: Chinese Giants on the Docket

This week, investors will be looking to the earnings reports of Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com [JD] for insights into China’s e-commerce and internet sectors. Also reporting this week are Shopify [SHOP], Sea Limited [SE] and Spotify [SPOT]. In health and biotech, AstraZeneca [AZN] and Novavax [NVAX] are expected to provide updates on pharmaceutical developments. Other tech-related highlights include reports from Cisco Systems [CSCO] and Applied Materials [AMAT].

What to Expect from Cisco’s Earnings 

As the AI boom continues, Cisco Systems is shifting away from its legacy networking business to AI. During its October partner summit, the firm unveiled a host of new AI features for contact centers. There are signs that enterprise customers are ramping up investment in AI products, which would drive long-term growth, but the reliance on networking to drive sales could weigh on CSCO stock in the near term. OPTO examines how new investments are affecting Cisco’s growth, and what investors can expect from its earnings release on Wednesday.