DeepSeek Unleashes Bull Market for China Tech
The Hang Seng Tech Index [HSTECH:HK] is up 25% since January 13. The arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek generated a surge of excitement around Chinese tech stocks, among them Alibaba [BABA], Xiaomi [XIACF], Baidu [BIDU] and BYD [BYDDF]. “Only Chinese internet companies are globally competitive and comparable to the US ‘magnificent seven’,” Bush Chu, Investment Manager for Chinese equities at Abrdn, told the Financial Times.
BABA Spikes on Apple News
Alibaba surged 8.6% on reports that it is to partner with Apple [AAPL] to launch AI features in China, pending regulatory approval. Rival Baidu fell nearly 3% on the news. Collaborating with Apple could boost Alibaba’s AI ambitions and help Apple compete with Huawei’s AI-enabled devices, Bloomberg detailed. Alibaba’s stock is up over 30% in 2025 amid optimism around its AI initiatives.
SoftBank Drops as AI Push Rolls On
Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank [SFTBY] reported a $2.4bn loss in Q3, missing forecasts for a ¥234bn profit, after a ¥352.7bn loss across its tech-focused Vision Funds. This follows two quarters of gains, according to the Financial Times. SoftBank is to fund “Stargate”, a $500bn AI infrastructure project with OpenAI, Oracle [ORCL], Microsoft [MSFT] and Nvidia [NVDA]. SoftBank plans an initial $15bn–20bn investment.
Can Coinbase Wow with Q4 Results?
As one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency infrastructure platforms, Coinbase [COIN] has been riding the wave that has buoyed crypto-related stocks since the election of US President Donald Trump. However, following lackluster Q3 earnings, investors will be watching keenly to see whether the final quarter of the year saw any unexpected upsides. OPTO explores the headwinds and tailwinds affecting COIN prior to its Q4 earnings report today.
Earnings Breakdown: Lyft
Lyft [LYFT] reported Q4 2024 gross bookings of $4.28bn, up 15% year-on-year, with adjusted EBITDA growing 70% and a 2.6% margin. Full-year bookings hit $16.1bn, a 17% increase. Free cash flow was $140m in Q4 and totaled $766m for 2024. Market share reached its highest since 2022, driven by features like Price Lock and Women+ Connect. Q1 2025 guidance includes bookings of $4.05bn–4.2bn and EBITDA of $90m–95m.
CATL HK IPO
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) [(300750:SZ], a major supplier of electric vehicle batteries to Tesla [TSLA] and Volkswagen [VWAGY], has filed for a secondary listing in Hong Kong, potentially the city’s largest since 2021. The Shenzhen-listed giant aims to tap into a $20bn revival in Hong Kong IPOs, the Financial Times detailed. Despite being added to a US blacklist, CATL appointed JPMorgan [JPM], Bank of America [BAC], Goldman Sachs [GS], Morgan Stanley [MS] and UBS [UBS] as lead banks.
What’s the Future of Blockchain?
“We think in 2025 as the regulatory environment changes, especially here in the US, we’re going to see a lot more pure-play blockchain companies come to market, spin-offs of blockchain units and large conglomerates,” Christian Magoon, Founder and CEO of Amplify ETFs, said on the latest episode of OPTO Sessions. “Certainly there’s an appetite from a regulatory standpoint and a capital market standpoint.”
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