Core Viewpoint - Cathie Wood from Ark Innovation ETF is diversifying investments into undervalued blue-chip stocks in China, particularly Alibaba and Baidu, as they expand in the global AI market and cater to a growing middle class [1][2]. Group 1: Investment Opportunities - Alibaba and Baidu are gaining attention due to their involvement in the global artificial intelligence race and their diversified business models [2][3]. - Recent rallies in Alibaba and Baidu stocks have outperformed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indexes, indicating strong investor momentum [3][4]. - The iShares MSCI China ETF previously offered higher dividend yields than both Chinese and U.S. government bonds, attracting significant investment into Chinese blue-chip stocks [5]. Group 2: Company Developments - Alibaba is expanding its data center operations across Asia and the Middle East, positioning itself to capitalize on increasing consumer activity and disposable income [10][11]. - The company is also entering the semiconductor development sector, responding to trade restrictions and government encouragement for local technology firms [12]. - Baidu is crucial for Alibaba's cloud computing and data center expansion, acting as a key player in China's digital infrastructure [14]. Group 3: Market Performance and Analyst Insights - Alibaba's stock has reached a 52-week high, with analysts like Joyce Ju from Bank of America setting a price target of $195, which is above the consensus [13]. - Baidu has seen a significant one-month rally of 44.4%, with increased holdings from major investors like Cathie Wood and Primecap Management [16][17]. - Despite current bullish ratings for Alibaba, some analysts suggest there are better investment opportunities available [18].

Core Viewpoint - The majority of popular Chinese concept stocks experienced an increase on Monday, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rising by 2.03% [1] Group 1: Stock Performance - Xunlei saw a significant increase of over 9% [1] - Bilibili, Alibaba, New Oriental, Sohu, and Youdao each rose by over 4% [1] - Li Auto and JD.com increased by over 3% [1] - Baidu, NetEase, and NIO rose by over 2% [1] - XPeng experienced an increase of over 1% [1]

Core Insights - The article highlights the trend of major technology companies engaging in significant capital expenditure cycles, particularly in AI and cloud computing, with a notable shift towards offshore RMB bond issuance for long-term financing [1][2][3] Group 1: Capital Market Trends - Major tech companies like Oracle, Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu have initiated large-scale bond issuances since mid-September, primarily to fund AI and cloud computing initiatives [1] - The offshore RMB bond market is becoming a crucial channel for long-term financing for Chinese tech giants, as evidenced by Alibaba's issuance of 17 billion RMB offshore bonds last November and Tencent's recent issuance of 9 billion RMB bonds [1][2] - The demand for offshore bonds is supported by the increasing appetite from domestic investors, facilitated by the expansion of QDII quotas and the "southbound bond connect" mechanism [2] Group 2: Financing Preferences - Companies are favoring debt financing over equity financing to avoid dilution and to secure long-term funds at lower costs during a low-interest-rate environment [2] - The advantages of RMB financing are highlighted, including sustained low financing costs due to persistent US-China interest rate differentials and the resilience of the RMB exchange rate, which mitigates currency mismatch risks [2] - The convergence of high-quality issuers and rising domestic investment demand is creating a robust foundation for the healthy development of the offshore bond market [2] Group 3: Implications for RMB Internationalization - The current wave of investment in AI by global tech firms presents a new opportunity for the internationalization of the RMB, with potential for enhanced global appeal of RMB assets if reforms in onshore and offshore markets are aligned with technological advancements [3] - This trend is seen as integral to the high-quality support of the real economy and the construction of a financially strong nation [3]

Group 1 - The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index increased by 2% on Monday, indicating a positive trend in the market for Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. [1] - Popular Chinese concept stocks saw significant gains, with PONY.US and EDU.US rising nearly 9%, TIGR.US increasing over 5%, and BABA.US climbing nearly 4% [1] - Other notable performers included LI.US, which rose by 3%, and BIDU.US, which increased by over 2% [1]

央广网北京9月29日消息（记者 殷雨婷）9月29日，百度百科与农业农村部帮扶司达成合作，成 为"乡村工匠国际交流推介活动"独家中文百科支持平台。双方将共同推动全国6000余名乡村工匠名师入 驻百度百科"繁星计划"，通过数字化手段传承乡村技艺、弘扬工匠文化。 2025年中国农民丰收节期间，农业农村部帮扶司指导中国乡村发展基金会、中国农业电影电视中心 等单位，于 9月26日至27日在全国农业展览馆举办乡村工匠国际交流推介活动，旨在推进乡村工匠培育 工程，引导广大乡村工匠参与国际交流合作，发展乡村特色产业，带动农民就业增收。 此次与农业农村部达成合作后，百度百科将通过AI智能体、数字人、词条建设等形式，系统性收 录非遗传承人、工艺大师等乡村工匠的技艺档案。首批已有200余名乡村工匠名师入驻"繁星计划"，包 括国家级非物质文化遗产项目草编代表性传承人王群英、中国工艺美术大师庞永辉等，未来逐步覆盖全 国6000余名乡村工匠名师。 据了解，"繁星计划"是百度百科于2024年发布的知识传播与共建计划，旨在推动中文知识平台的开 放性与权威性，促进知识的普惠与传播。该计划依托百度搜索的流量分发优势和先进技术，与各领域专 业人士 ...

Core Viewpoint - The company is focusing on five key AI-driven businesses and aims to unlock hidden asset value through various strategies, supported by strong cash reserves [1][2]. Financial Health - As of June 30, 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents amount to 234.3 billion yuan, with a net cash position of 150.6 billion yuan after deducting interest-bearing liabilities [1]. - Including equity investments, the liquid net cash portion is estimated at 184.3 billion yuan [1]. AI-Driven Business Valuation - The five AI-related businesses are expected to contribute significantly to the company's valuation: 1. Robotaxi, valued at approximately 200 billion yuan, is a global leader in autonomous driving [2]. 2. AI commercial products are projected to generate at least 10 billion yuan in revenue by 2025, with a valuation of 40 billion yuan [2]. 3. AI-driven SaaS software within the ecosystem is expected to have an annual revenue of about 10 billion yuan, valued at around 40 billion yuan [2]. 4. Baidu Intelligent Cloud is anticipated to achieve high-quality revenue growth, with a valuation of 76 billion yuan [2]. 5. Kunlun Chip, Baidu's self-developed AI chip, is expected to be valued at approximately 95 billion yuan [2]. Unlocking Valuation - The company plans to unlock its valuation through financial disclosures, expanding the investor base, enhancing shareholder returns, and capital operations to activate hidden asset value [2]. Earnings Forecast and Valuation - The company maintains its revenue and profit expectations for 2025 and 2026, raising target prices for US and Hong Kong stocks by 91% to 189 USD and 183 HKD, respectively [2]. - The target valuations correspond to 27 times and 23 times the non-GAAP P/E ratios for 2025 and 2026, indicating potential upside of 38% and 35% from current levels [2].

Core Insights - The report highlights the significant advantages of ASIC over GPU in terms of cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency, marking a turning point for ASIC development [5][15] - The increasing penetration of AI is driving a surge in inference demand, expanding the market space for ASICs, with projections indicating the global AI ASIC market could reach $125 billion by 2028 [6][15] - The report emphasizes the importance of ASIC design service providers, noting that companies like Broadcom and Marvell hold significant market shares and are crucial for the successful deployment of ASIC technology [6][15] Summary by Sections Computer Industry Deep Dive - ASICs are specialized chips tightly coupled with downstream applications, focusing on specific needs like text and video inference, while GPUs are general-purpose [5][15] - ASICs demonstrate superior energy efficiency, with Google's TPU v5 showing 1.46 times the efficiency of NVIDIA's H200, and Amazon's Trainium2 reducing training costs by 40% compared to GPU solutions [5][15] - The demand for inference capabilities is expected to grow significantly, driven by applications like ChatGPT, which reached 700 million weekly active users by July 2025 [6][15] Market Trends - The report forecasts that the AI ASIC market will see substantial growth, with Broadcom estimating a serviceable market for large clients of $60-90 billion by 2027 [6][15] - Domestic cloud providers are increasingly investing in self-developed ASICs, with companies like Baidu and Alibaba making significant advancements in their chip development [15][16] - The report identifies two core trends in the development of domestic ASICs: PD separation and super nodes, which enhance performance and adaptability to diverse industry needs [15][16] Investment Recommendations - The report suggests focusing on companies with strong self-developed technology platforms in the small nucleic acid drug sector, highlighting firms like Rebio and Hengrui Medicine as potential investment opportunities [17] - It also recommends monitoring the performance of companies involved in the aluminum electronic materials sector, particularly Xinjiang Zhonghe, which is expected to benefit from its integrated supply chain and new alumina projects [18][20] - The report indicates that the data center industry, particularly companies like GDS Holdings, is poised for growth due to increasing demand for AI infrastructure and cloud services [21][23]

Group 1 - The U.S. stock market experienced a broad increase, with the Dow Jones rising by 0.65%, the Nasdaq by 0.44%, and the S&P 500 by 0.59% [4] - Major technology stocks showed mixed results, with Oracle down 2.7%, Meta down 0.7%, and Tesla up 4.0% [4] - The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell by 1.6%, with Alibaba, NetEase, and Baidu each dropping over 2% [4] Group 2 - The People's Bank of China emphasized maintaining ample liquidity and guiding financial institutions to increase credit supply to match economic growth and price expectations [5] - The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology projected an average annual growth of around 5% for the non-ferrous metals industry from 2025 to 2026 [5] - The petrochemical industry is expected to see an average annual growth of over 5% during the same period, with significant improvements in technological innovation and environmental performance [6] Group 3 - The National Development and Reform Commission highlighted the importance of private investment as a key indicator of economic activity and stability [7] - The 2025 World New Energy Vehicle Conference focused on expanding market consumption and optimizing tax incentives for new energy vehicles [8] - The National Bureau of Statistics reported that profits of large industrial enterprises increased by 0.9% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2025 [8] Group 4 - The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission emphasized the need for state-owned enterprises to enhance operational efficiency and focus on high-quality investment [9] - Jiangsu Province announced adjustments to its vehicle trade-in policy, affecting the implementation of subsidies [10][11] - The company Ningbo Huaxiang signed a patent licensing agreement with Jilin University for PEEK industrialization technology [16] Group 5 - The company *ST Tianmao will have its stock delisted on September 30, 2025, following a decision by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange [20] - Huajing Securities anticipates that the A-share market may continue a volatile trend in the short term, with limited risks during the holiday period [21] - The company Moer Thread's IPO application was approved in just 88 days, reflecting improved efficiency in the review process for hard technology enterprises [14]

Core Insights - The global competition among tech giants in AI infrastructure investment has intensified, with Alibaba announcing a plan to invest 380 billion yuan in AI infrastructure and Nvidia committing up to 100 billion USD to OpenAI for building AI data centers [1][2] - The focus of competition has shifted from model innovation to computing power, driven by the increasing demand for AI applications across various industries [2][3] - Tech giants are adopting differentiated strategies to build diverse ecosystems, with unique technological advantages allowing them to attract specific partners and enhance their competitive edge [3][4] Investment Trends - Alibaba's significant investment in AI infrastructure signals a broader trend among tech giants to enhance their capabilities in AI [1] - Nvidia's investment in OpenAI highlights the growing importance of partnerships in the AI infrastructure space [1][2] Competitive Landscape - The competition is evolving from a focus on algorithm breakthroughs to large-scale expansion of AI infrastructure, reflecting both technological and market dynamics [2][3] - Companies like OpenAI, Nvidia, and Oracle are forming strategic alliances to create closed-loop ecosystems, while Alibaba aims to build a comprehensive stack from chips to platforms [3][4] Ecosystem Development - The construction of ecosystems by tech giants is becoming more complex and diverse, with different players choosing various technological paths [3][4] - A thriving ecosystem can provide resources, application scenarios, and user feedback, fostering continuous innovation and reinforcing competitive advantages [3][4] Industry Evolution - The AI infrastructure competition is driving a shift from "closed innovation" to "open co-creation," with companies integrating AI into various business sectors [5][6] - The future competitiveness will depend not only on computing power or model parameters but also on the ability to deeply integrate industries [5][6]

on 26-Sep-2025 26 September 2025 China Emerging Internet Baidu: Search, AI Cloud, Robotaxi...A mini-primer on Baidu's key businesses and how much can they be worth today Boris Van +852 2123 2617 boris.van@bernsteinsg.com Ting Ming Neo +852 2123 2554 tingming.neo@bernsteinsg.com Baidu's stock has seen a re-rating of late driven by a more positive tone from the company around capital structure and unlocking value within the Group. Specifically the company talked about exploring capital actions (ie listing) of ...