Category: 3. Business

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks advanced on optimism that artificial intelligence will continue to drive profits at megacap technology companies reporting earnings this week, and growing bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

MSCI’s regional stock gauge rose 0.5%, with the tech sector outperforming. Japan and South Korea led the gains – yet, in both the Nikkei 225 and the Kospi, losers outnumbered winners. Similarly, almost 400 components declined in the S&P 500 index, even though the gauge gained a modest 0.2% to close at an all-time high. Asian chip-related stocks such as SK Hynix Inc. and Advantest Corp. jumped Wednesday after strong earnings.

Nvidia Corp.’s shares surged more than 8% in Asian trading on the alternative platform Blue Ocean, signaling further gains when trading starts in New York, after US President Donald Trump said he plans to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping about the company’s Blackwell chip. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes extended their gains on Trump’s comments.

With five big tech companies — representing roughly a quarter of the US equity benchmark — set to report earnings between Wednesday and Thursday, investors will soon gauge whether the billions poured into computing infrastructure will keep flowing and ultimately deliver returns. Adding to the week’s momentum, Fed officials are poised to announce their rate decision on Wednesday, with Wall Street largely betting on a quarter-point cut.

“There is positive news everywhere,” said Vey-Sern Ling, a managing director at Union Bancaire Privee.

The technology sector remains the key focus of market participants. Over Wednesday and Thursday, Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. will all report results. The so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group is projected to deliver profit growth of 14% in the third quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

That’s nearly twice the 8% expected profit growth for the broader S&P 500, but it also would be the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2023.

“We expect another strong round of megacap tech earnings reports, given the relentless demand for AI technology and infrastructure,” said Clark Bellin at Bellwether Wealth. “While profitability in AI remains an unknown, investors for now are willing to overlook this as the AI arms race heats up.”

What Bloomberg strategists say…

A spending boom for AI has sent the Magnificent Seven’s share prices to record highs, but is also raising concerns about whether companies are laying out too much on the new technology.

— Sebastian Boyd, MLIV strategist. Click here for the full analysis.

In other corners of the market, the yen gained after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on the Bank of Japan’s policy space, which fueled rate-hike bets. A gauge of the dollar edged lower for a third day. Oil held a three-day drop amid mounting signs of oversupply, while gold inched up after three days of losses.

Trading in Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.

Meanwhile, Trump said he expects to lower tariffs the US imposed on Chinese goods over the fentanyl crisis and speak with Xi about Nvidia, as leaders of the world’s biggest economies seek to ease tensions in a meeting on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday Trump was considering cutting the 20% tariff to 10% on Chinese goods over fentanyl.

Also buoying sentiment were bets the Fed will cut rates Wednesday, with traders hoping for clarity as to when officials will stop shrinking the central bank’s portfolio of securities. Bets have grown they may end quantitative tightening as soon as this month.

Expectations are set for two things from this week’s Fed meeting — officials will lower rates by a quarter percentage point and Chair Jerome Powell will offer little guidance as a growing divide among policymakers blurs the path ahead.

“The markets have a massive wall of event risk to scale this week,” wrote Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne.

Corporate News:

OpenAI is giving its long-time backer Microsoft Corp. a 27% ownership stake as part of a restructuring plan that took nearly a year to negotiate. Private equity firm Boyu Capital has emerged as the frontrunner in Starbucks Corp.’s search for a partner in its China business. Apple Inc. is preparing major changes to its MacBook Air, iPad mini and iPad Air lines, with a plan to give the popular devices higher-end displays. Visa Inc. reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped estimates as consumers continued to swipe, tap and insert their credit cards to transact globally. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. said profit rose 11.5% in the first nine months of this year, as a stock market rally lifted investment returns and policy sales expanded. Bank of China Ltd. reported a 5% increase in third-quarter profit, as the lender managed to stabilize its net interest margin despite mounting challenges from weakening credit demand. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 11:49 a.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1.8% Japan’s Topix was little changed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1645 The Japanese yen was little changed at 152.06 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0990 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.1% to $112,680.48 Ether rose 0.5% to $4,001.03 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.98% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.650% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.22% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $60.02 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $3,958.79 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Amazon’s international operations are accelerated by U.S.-based engineering, R&D, legal, finance, and other support teams, creating thousands of high-paying jobs across the country. The global operations also fund new American jobs and infrastructure, and can be reinvested in American innovation. This virtuous cycle helps drive increased demand for American products and services, further supporting investments in U.S. manufacturing and technology.

Honda is presenting the world premiere of the prototype of the Honda 0 α (alpha), a new SUV model for the Honda 0 Series. Featuring a sleek and sophisticated design unique to Honda 0 Series and original proportions that express the dynamic nature of SUVs, the Honda 0 α will blend beautifully with both urban and natural environments, supporting people’s lives in every situation.

By applying packaging design based on the “Thin” approach, styling with a low vehicle height was achieved without compromising ground clearance, creating a thin cabin that still offers a spacious and comfortable space for occupants.

Honda is planning to begin global sales of the production model of Honda 0 α, mainly in Japan and India, in 2027. With this “gateway model” to the Honda 0 Series, Honda will strive to offer new value to a greater number of customers around the world. 

In Japan, three Honda 0 Series models — Honda 0 Saloon, Honda 0 SUV, and Honda 0 α — will go on sale before the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

SK Hynix said it has already sold next year’s production of semiconductors as the leading supplier of advanced memory chips to Nvidia posted record profits on the back of an artificial intelligence boom.

Operating profit in the third quarter jumped 62 per cent year on year to a record Won11.4tn ($8bn), in line with analyst forecasts compiled by LSEG SmartEstimate. Revenue rose 39 per cent to Won22.4tn, driven by surging demand for memory chips used in AI data centres, the company said on Wednesday.

The South Korean chipmaker said it expected its inventory for conventional dynamic random-access memory chips, which enable short-term data storage when a device is being used, was “extremely tight”. It added that cutting-edge high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to continue to outstrip supply as use of AI applications broadens.

“With the innovation of AI technology, the memory market has shifted to a new paradigm and demand has begun to spread to all product areas,” said chief financial officer Kim Woo-hyun.

Optimism for SK Hynix’s business outlook intensified after the company, along with rival Samsung Electronics, signed a preliminary agreement with OpenAI this month to supply semiconductors for the ChatGPT maker’s $500bn Stargate data centre project.

SK Hynix said its estimate for demand from the project was more than double the industry’s current HBM capacity and that it would set up a production system to meet OpenAI’s demand.

The chipmaker said it had completed HBM supply negotiations with other key customers for next year and would “substantially increase” capital expenditure as a result. It will begin supplying its most advanced HBM4 chips in the fourth quarter of this year.

“HBM demand continues to increase rapidly, so it will be difficult for supply to meet demand any time soon,” said Kim Ki-tae, head of HBM sales and marketing.

SK Hynix makes up more than half of the global HBM market, while Samsung accounts for just over a quarter, with US-based Micron, the other leading company in the sector, according to consultancy TrendForce.

The company’s competitive edge in HBM has helped triple its share price this year, making SK Hynix one of South Korea’s best-performing stocks. Its shares rose 4 per cent on Wednesday.

SK Hynix said the AI market’s shift to inference — the process by which applications such as chatbots produce responses — had increased demand for high-performance AI server chips.

“We project AI inference memory demand to expand not only in the US but also in China as Chinese hyperscalers are expected to push for AI inference investment,” Citi analysts said in a recent report.

Samsung is expected to post its biggest quarterly profit in three years when it reports on Thursday.

“With AI as the major driver, we’re expecting the HBM market to continue growing steeply over the next few years to around $43bn by 2027, giving strong earnings leverage to memory manufacturers like SK,” said MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research.

American Bitcoin (ABTC) shares slipped 5% Tuesday, catching the attention of investors as trading volumes remained steady. Given this move, many are curious about what may be driving the sudden adjustment in the stock’s price.

See our latest analysis for American Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin’s share price has certainly been on a rollercoaster lately. After a sharp 16.6% share price return in the past week, Tuesday’s 4.7% dip stands out and reflects the market’s ongoing debate over its true value. Looking at the year-to-date share price return of -11.4%, momentum appears to be struggling to build, even as the market reacts to every twist and turn.

If you’re wondering what other fast-moving stocks investors are watching right now, it’s the perfect chance to discover fast growing stocks with high insider ownership

With such volatile swings and a lack of strong momentum, is American Bitcoin trading at an appealing discount? Alternatively, are investors already factoring in any future upside into today’s price, leaving little room for a bargain?

With American Bitcoin’s latest closing price of $5.68, its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31.8x stands in the spotlight, especially for those comparing it to both industry and peer averages. This figure gives investors a snapshot of what the market is willing to pay for each dollar of the company’s earnings.

The P/E ratio is a widely used metric for valuing companies like American Bitcoin, particularly in the software sector. It reflects the relationship between share price and per-share earnings and offers insight into how the market values the company’s profitability and growth potential relative to its stock price.

American Bitcoin’s P/E ratio of 31.8x is slightly lower than the broader US software industry average of 33.9x. This suggests the stock is not being priced at a significant premium within its sector. However, this multiple is notably higher compared to its peer average of 18.8x, which could indicate the market has elevated expectations for American Bitcoin or is pricing in more future growth than its peers. Yet, it remains debated whether the current earnings growth profile and risks fully justify this premium.

See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.

Result: Price-to-Earnings of 31.8x (ABOUT RIGHT)

However, uncertainty around American Bitcoin’s actual earnings quality and a lack of visible revenue growth could present challenges to the bull case in the near term.

Find out about the key risks to this American Bitcoin narrative.

If you have your own perspective or want to explore American Bitcoin’s numbers firsthand, you can quickly analyze and build your personal view in minutes. Do it your way

A great starting point for your American Bitcoin research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 3 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.

Opportunities like these do not wait for anyone. Set yourself up for success by acting now and tapping into unique stock themes handpicked using the Simply Wall Street Screener.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include ABTC.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the Health sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

Life sciences group Thermo Fisher is nearing a takeover of drug trial software maker Clario in a deal that could value the healthcare technology group at approximately $10bn.

The all-cash deal could be announced as early as Wednesday provided it does not hit any last-minute snags, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The acquisition would give Thermo Fisher access to a platform that is playing an increasingly critical role in managing the clinical data essential to drug trials. Clario’s technology has been used across 26,000 trials in more than 100 countries, generating as much as $400mn a year in adjusted earnings.

If a sale materialises, it would mark one of the biggest full private equity exits of the year.

Founded in 2021 by a merger of health tech groups ERT and Bioclinica, Clario is majority owned by Stockholm-based private equity group Nordic Capital. It also counts Astorg Partners, Novo Holdings and Cinven as minority investors. Clario’s private equity backers had until recently been considering a public listing for the group.

Thermo Fisher, Clario, Nordic, Astorg, Novo Holdings and Cinven did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The deal would mark Thermo Fisher’s biggest acquisition since 2021 when the Massachusetts-based group bought contract research organisation PPD in a deal worth $17.4bn. Earlier this year, Thermo Fisher struck a $4.1bn deal to buy Solventum’s filtration unit.

It comes amid a volatile period for Thermo Fisher and the wider healthcare sector. Shares in Thermo Fisher dropped earlier this year as investors fretted over the impact of President Donald Trump’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health on its sales, but they have since rallied.

Thermo Fisher shares are up 6 per cent this year, giving it a market capitalisation of $210bn.

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks advanced on optimism that artificial intelligence will continue to drive profits at megacap technology companies reporting earnings this week, amid growing bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

Shares in Japan and South Korea rose at the open, while Hong Kong is shut for a public holiday. While the S&P 500 posted a modest gain and closed at an all-time high, a gauge of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech companies climbed 1.3%. Nvidia Corp. added almost 5% after Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang announced a flurry of new partnerships and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble. Its supplier SK Hynix Inc. jumped as much as 4% in Seoul after reporting a record profit Wednesday.

The yen gained after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent weighed in on the Bank of Japan’s policy space, which fueled rate-hike bets. A gauge of the dollar edged lower for a third day. Oil held a three-day drop amid mounting signs of oversupply, while gold inched up after three days of losses.

With five big tech companies — representing roughly a quarter of the US equity benchmark — set to report between Wednesday and Thursday, investors will soon gauge whether the billions poured into computing infrastructure will keep flowing and ultimately deliver returns. Adding to the week’s momentum, Fed officials are poised to announce their rate decision on Wednesday, with Wall Street largely betting on a quarter-point cut.

“The markets have a massive wall of event risk to scale this week,” wrote Kyle Rodda, a senior analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne.

That’s all happening as President Donald Trump tours Asia, which includes a scheduled meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The Wall Street Journal reported the US would roll back some tariffs if Beijing cracks down on the export of chemicals that produce fentanyl. Optimism around a deal has boosted copper to near record levels, and seen gold pull back from recent highs.

The Trump administration is also slated to sign a deal with South Korea aimed at bolstering cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 6G, according to a US official — part of a bid to maintain a competitive edge with China in an expanding race for tech supremacy.

Technology sector remains the key focus of market participants. The so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ group is projected to deliver profit growth of 14% in the third quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

That’s nearly twice the 8% expected profit growth for the broader S&P 500, but it also would be the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2023.

However, big techs have a history of reporting earnings that far exceed Wall Street estimates. And that’s what many investors are counting on.

Over Wednesday and Thursday, Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. will all report results.

“We expect another strong round of megacap tech earnings reports, given the relentless demand for AI technology and infrastructure,” said Clark Bellin at Bellwether Wealth. “While profitability in AI remains an unknown, investors for now are willing to overlook this as the AI arms race heats up.”

Also buoying sentiment were bets the Fed will cut rates Wednesday, with traders hoping for clarity as to when officials will stop shrinking the central bank’s portfolio of securities. Bets have grown they may end quantitative tightening as soon as this month.

Expectations are set for two things from this week’s Fed meeting — officials will lower rates by a quarter percentage point and Chair Jerome Powell will offer little guidance as a growing divide among policymakers blurs the path ahead.

Corporate News:

OpenAI is giving its long-time backer Microsoft Corp. a 27% ownership stake as part of a restructuring plan that took nearly a year to negotiate. Private equity firm Boyu Capital has emerged as the frontrunner in Starbucks Corp.’s search for a partner in its China business. Apple Inc. is preparing major changes to its MacBook Air, iPad mini and iPad Air lines, with a plan to give the popular devices higher-end displays. Visa Inc. reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped estimates as consumers continued to swipe, tap and insert their credit cards to transact globally. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. said profit rose 11.5% in the first nine months of this year, as a stock market rally lifted investment returns and policy sales expanded. Bank of China Ltd. reported a 5% increase in third-quarter profit, as the lender managed to stabilize its net interest margin despite mounting challenges from weakening credit demand. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:14 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.9% Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 1% Japan’s Topix was little changed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1653 The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 151.69 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0937 per dollar The Australian dollar rose 0.2% to $0.6597 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $112,403.04 Ether was little changed at $3,977.32 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.98% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.650% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.21% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $60.26 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.7% to $3,978.38 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Tencent today announced the top 50 finalists, coming from 12 countries and regions around the world, for its CarbonX Program 2.0 (CarbonX 2.0), a landmark initiative to accelerate next generation climate technologies and the essential capabilities needed for a net-zero world by 2050.

These innovators, selected from more than 660 applicants across 54 countries and regions, are competing for a share of RMB200 million (approximately US$28 million) in catalytic funding. Winners will also receive technical resources, expert mentorship, and opportunities to pilot their solutions in real-world environments, including in climate vulnerable regions such as Kenya, the Maldives, and Serbia.

Bridging the “Valley of Death” in Climate Innovation 

The path from breakthrough discovery to real-world impact is often blocked by what experts call the ‘Valley of Death’ – the critical gap between early-stage innovation and large-scale deployment. Many climate technologies fail to progress due to limited funding, partnerships, and testing environments.

The CarbonX Program was created to close this gap. It does this by building a global ecosystem where scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders work together to accelerate the scaling of climate solutions, offering comprehensive support beyond mere financing.

“The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time and tackling it demands both bold innovation and collective action across the global ecosystem,” said Davis Lin, Senior Vice President of Tencent. “With CarbonX, we are not only investing in groundbreaking ideas, but also creating the pathways to turn them into real-world solutions. By bridging the gap between research and deployment, we aim to accelerate technologies that can store, transform, and reduce CO₂ emissions at scale, laying the foundation for a truly low-carbon future.” 

Scaling Climate Innovation Across Borders

Building on the success of its inaugural program focused on China, CarbonX 2.0 has expanded globally to identify and support promising early-stage climate technologies. The 50 finalists represent a diverse mix of universities, research institutes, and startups working at the forefront of four key areas:

1. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): Supporting pilots in Kenya to accelerate scalable, cost-effective solutions for permanently removing historic CO₂ emissions, with the potential to reduce direct air capture (DAC) costs substantially.

2. Industrial Decarbonization (CCUS for Steel): Advancing breakthrough approaches to reduce lifecycle emissions in steel production with pilots in Serbia. The focus is on developing cost-effective and scalable industrial carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) solutions for hard-to-abate industries.

3. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CarbonXmade): Transforming captured carbon into chemicals, and ultimately into consumer products. This creates a circular value chain that turns waste into consumer goods, with early market adoption supported by brand premiums in China.

4. Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Providing real-world scenarios in the Maldives to refine and validate emerging technologies, to meet the growing demands of renewable energy expansion – with flow batteries showing strong promise for commercially viable, long-duration storage.

In early 2026, a global panel of multi-disciplinary experts will evaluate and select the winning teams to receive grants and other resources to pilot their technologies in those regions and create measurable impact.

CarbonX Summit 2025: Inspiring Collective Action

The announcement was made at the CarbonX Summit 2025 in Shenzhen, a convening of finalist teams and leaders from business, academia, and policy to explore how innovation ecosystems can accelerate climate action globally. The Summit spotlighted the role of catalytic finance, inclusive deployment, and multilateral collaboration in achieving the Paris Agreement targets. 

“Sustainability can only be achieved through innovation,” said Hao Xu, Head of Climate Innovation at Tencent. “By supporting the world’s brightest climate entrepreneurs, we aim to harness technology as a force for good — addressing one of humanity’s most urgent challenges while creating shared value for future generations.” 

For more information about CarbonX 2.0, please visit the program website.

Appendix: List of Top 50 Finalists of CarbonX Program 2.0