Category: Top Stories

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is aggressively accelerating its artificial intelligence deployment, a strategy bolstering its cloud business and fueling significant stock appreciation.

The company’s multifaceted AI push is marked by the launch of two new dense visual-language models within the Qwen3-VL family and the internal development of a conversational AI initiative codenamed “Plan C.”

This dual focus on advanced models and strategic cloud expansion positions Alibaba to drive robust revenue growth.

Also Read: Alibaba Singles Day Event Sales Soars, iPhones Fuel Record-Breaking Start

Advanced Models and Edge AI Deployment

Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen team has unveiled two new dense AI large language models, the 2B and 32B, for its Qwen3-VL suite, substantially enhancing capabilities for visual-language understanding tasks.

These models are engineered for efficiency; the company emphasizes that both are lightweight enough to run on smartphones and are designed to be more “developer-friendly,” as reported by TechNode on Wednesday.

Notably, the Qwen3-VL-32B reportedly rivals the performance of larger systems, including OpenAI’s GPT-5 mini and Anthropic’s Claude 4 Sonnet, while the 2B model facilitates efficient deployment on edge devices.

Simultaneously, Alibaba’s Quark business unit is spearheading an internal AI project, “Plan C,” according to Chinese tech media Sina Tech.

The project, led by Quark’s core team with support from Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab, is centered on developing conversational AI products.

Sources indicate the team has been working on “Plan C” for months as part of a long-term effort linked to model breakthroughs, signaling a direct challenge to ByteDance’s chatbot, Doubao.

Cloud Growth Fuels Stock Gains

The market has reacted positively to Alibaba’s AI and cloud focus, with the stock gaining nearly 97% year-to-date as its strategic investments begin to unlock tangible value.

Analysts overwhelmingly attribute this rebound to the strong performance of Alibaba Cloud.

Goldman Sachs, for example, cited Alibaba Cloud’s full-stack AI capabilities, diversified chip supply, and international expansion as crucial growth drivers, prompting the firm to raise cloud revenue forecasts to 31–38% over the next three fiscal years.

Daiwa Securities highlighted cost optimizations, marketing reductions, and supply-side expansion as factors projected to reduce EBITA losses while forecasting 30% year-over-year revenue growth for Alibaba Cloud.

Furthermore, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) emphasized new AI models, applications, and hardware unveiled at the Apsara Conference, alongside supply-side advantages, as key drivers of sustained revenue and profit growth.

Price Action: BABA stock was trading lower by 0.34% to $166.10 premarket at last check Wednesday.

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Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is about to rubber-stamp one of the most extravagant CEO pay packages in corporate history — a $1 trillion, 10-year deal for Elon Musk — even as its valuation stretches further from reality.

Musk’s compensation includes $31 billion in restricted stock and could soar past $113 billion in total. It also comes at a time when the car company’s market share is shrinking.

That’d be bad enough if it weren’t just a car company trying to be something else. Its Optimus robot projects, for example, are stalling. And those long-promised robotaxis? They remain years behind rivals like Alphabet Inc‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Waymo, Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) and Amazon.com Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) subsidiary Zoox.

Indeed, the chorus of boos is loud ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings, which are to be announced on Wednesday. Still, Musk has plenty of like-minded business people cheering on his wild salary bump.

See Also: Elon Musk’s ‘Stupid’ Actions Will Be Tesla’s ‘Nail In The Coffin,’ Ross Gerber Warns

ISS Says ‘No,’ Wood Cries Socialism

International Shareholder Services (ISS) opposes Musk’s pay package, citing “unmitigated concerns surrounding the special award’s magnitude and design.”

If approved, the plan would become the most extensive CEO compensation package ever granted by a public company. It could potentially increase Musk’s stake in Tesla by 12% if the automaker reaches a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion in 10 years.

But here’s the thing: Under Musk, Tesla experienced a decline in its global market share, which has dropped from about 23% to 18% over the past year. Its market capitalization remains strong at $1.4 trillion, though its stock price has faced significant volatility.

ARK Invests‘ CEO Cathie Wood isn’t worried. She even criticized the ISS’s recommendation to vote against the pay package.

“Isn’t it sad, if not damning, that institutional shareholders rely on proxy firms to tell them how they should vote? Index funds do no fundamental research, yet dominate institutional voting,” Wood said, calling index-based investing a “form of socialism.”

Tesla Has Trouble Justifying Trillions

The automaker’s $8 trillion market cap dream hinges on a narrative that Tesla is no longer just a car company but a futuristic AI powerhouse.

“After a brutal few quarters we are finally starting to see stable demand trends for Tesla,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives recently wrote. “The Tesla story going forward is around the AI transformation being led by the autonomous and robotics initiatives.”

That narrative is fraying fast.

The Optimus robot project is on pause. Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for Optimus, resigned in June, and a separate Optimus AI lead, Ashish Kumar, left the company in September to join Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META).

Tesla is now pinning its hopes on a merger with Musk’s other PR-nightmare of a company, xAI.

Whether Tesla can wield M&A to capture market share from its competition is not yet clear. Most mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions tend to fail in the long term.

The deal won the endorsement of at least one other billionaire: Chamath Palihapitiya. The Social Capital founder even suggested including Musk’s other venture, SpaceX, in a three-way.

“I’m here for it,” Palihapitiya, a Musk admirer, said.

Musk’s rivals, meanwhile, are accelerating: BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) is selling EVs for a fifth of Tesla’s price. And Waymo’s autonomous vehicle (AV) fleet is already on the streets, slated to launch in London in 2026.

As NYU professor Scott Galloway quipped on a recent podcast, Musk is “the David Copperfield of the modern economy” — and the magic may be fading.

If Tesla deserves a trillion-plus valuation for lagging in autonomy, then Google, which owns Waymo, should be worth an extra trillion itself, Galloway’s co-host, Ed Elson, added.

Regulatory Challenges

Divisiveness within the Trump administration, which had an acrimonious breakup with Musk, could exacerbate Tesla’s challenges. The elimination of EV tax credits keeps the cars expensive. Recall how the company hyped up the lower-priced Model 3 Standard and Model Y Standard. Yes, it comes with fewer features than the traditional models, and the vehicles have cheaper price points than Tesla’s main vehicles.

However, with the expiration of the federal EV tax credit, consumers are actually paying more for models with fewer features than they would have paid for the regular version before the tax credits were eliminated.

The robotaxi segment is also in trouble. Trump’s NHTSA administrator nominee, Jonathan Morisson, has advocated for stricter oversight of self-driving vehicles, potentially clashing with Duffy’s approach. Meanwhile, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) plans to introduce legislation that would effectively ban fully autonomous driving, calling such vehicles “terrible for working people.”

On the other hand, Tesla’s expansion aligns with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy‘s announcement that the NHTSA will relax autonomous driving regulations, a move that bolsters Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions as federal standards evolve.

“The rules of the road need to be updated to fit the realities of the 21st century,” Duffy said.

Ironically, Musk doesn’t seem to like Duffy, calling him a “Dummy” when it comes to NASA.

“The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2-digit IQ,” Musk said. 

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• Mark Zuckerberg Warns AI Boom Could Mirror Dot-Com Bubble: ‘…Something Like That Would Happen Here’

Image: Shutterstock

On Tuesday, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and Gutsche Family Investments disclosed a deal to sell a 75% controlling stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) to Coca-Cola HBC AG for around $3.4 billion.

Under the deal, The Coca-Cola Company will sell 41.52% of its 66.52% ownership in CCBA, while Coca-Cola HBC will also purchase the 33.48% stake held by Gutsche Family Investments.

Notably, CCBA operates in 14 African countries and represents around 40% of all Coca-Cola product sales in the region.

Also Read: Coca-Cola Q3 Preview: Will Warren Buffett’s Favorite Beverage Stock Post A Double Beat?

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Additionally, Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola HBC have entered into an option agreement that allows Coca-Cola HBC to acquire the remaining 25% interest in CCBA still held by Coca-Cola within six years after the deal closes.

Management Commentary

Henrique Braun, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola, said, “Coca-Cola HBC has demonstrated a strong track record of growing our system across Africa, having strong market share growth in Egypt and realizing strong volume and share growth in Nigeria over the past several years.”

“We are pleased with Coca-Cola HBC’s continued and aligned investment in the Coca-Cola system and in taking another significant step forward in the refranchising of company-owned bottling operations.”

Strategy Behind Sale

Coca-Cola’s divestment in CCBA marks another major move in its ongoing strategy to refranchise company-owned and operated bottling businesses.

As of 2024, bottling investments accounted for 13% of Coca-Cola’s consolidated net revenue, a sharp decline from 52% in 2015.

Once the CCBA transaction is finalized, the company expects that figure to fall further to about 5%.

In July 2025, Coca-Cola advanced its refranchising efforts in India by selling a 40% stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. to Jubilant Bhartia Group, while retaining a 60% ownership interest in the bottler.

Coca-Cola plans to release quarterly results on Tuesday, October 21.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (NYSE:IYK) and Global X Funds Global X PureCap MSCI Consumer Staples ETF (NYSE:GXPS).

Price Action: KO shares were trading higher by 0.22% to $68.60 premarket at last check Tuesday.

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Image via Shutterstock

President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed a multibillion-dollar partnership at the White House. The goal is to secure the future of global critical mineral supply chains and strengthen defense cooperation.

New Framework for Supply Chain Security

The agreement, titled the “U.S.–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths,” establishes a bilateral response group to coordinate policy, investment, and project delivery.

“President Trump and I agreed today we will work very hard together in both our nations’ interests. We have agreed today Australia and America are going to make more things together with our historic framework on critical minerals,” Albanese said.

Also Read: Trump Likely To Invest In More Rare Earths, Bessent Says

Commitment of Billions in Joint Investment

The framework will channel billions in joint investment into mining, refining, and advanced manufacturing projects vital for defense and technology.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has issued seven Letters of Interest worth $2.2 billion, unlocking up to $5 billion in total investment. Furthermore, direct contributions from both governments will be $3 billion over six months, toward an $8.5 billion project pipeline.

Australia’s superannuation funds are also expanding U.S. exposure, expected to rise to $1.44 trillion by 2035, fueling technology and energy ventures across both economies.

Strengthening Defense Collaboration

The deal also strengthens industrial defense collaboration, with additional Australian investment in Anduril underwater vehicles, Apache helicopters, and U.S.-made missile defense systems, reinforcing AUKUS cooperation.

High-Priority Projects: Rare Earths and Gallium

Two high-priority mining projects will receive immediate support. The first is Arafura Rare Earths’ (OTC:ARAFF) Nolans venture in the Northern Territory, which secured $100 million in equity. Its fully integrated “ore-to-oxide” model will enable processing onshore, ensuring a secure, transparent supply chain for Western defense industries.

When complete, Nolans will supply roughly 5% of global rare earth demand, focusing on neodymium and praseodymium. These are key metals for missiles, electric vehicles, and fighter jet systems.

The second project is Alcoa’s (NYSE:AA) Sojitz joint venture gallium recovery project in Wagerup, Western Australia. The project will receive $200 million in concessional equity from Canberra and matching support from Washington.

It will extract gallium— a metal essential for semiconductors, radar systems, and defense electronics. Once operational, it will produce 100 metric tons per year, significantly reducing dependence on China, which currently dominates global gallium output.

Analyst Commentary on China’s Market Dominance

The latest note from Goldman Sachs points to this problem and its underlying risks. On Monday, the bank warned that China controls 69% of rare earth mining, 92% of refining, and 98% of magnet manufacturing. Analysts cautioned that even a 10% disruption could trigger $150 billion in global economic losses.

Still, the US-Australia partnership is one of the best efforts to de-risk this market concentration.

“Australia is really, really going to be helpful in the effort to take the global economy and make it less risky, less exposed to the kind of rare earth extortion that we’re seeing from the Chinese,” Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, said per The New York Times. 

Price Action: AA stock was up 0.98% at $39.34 in premarket trading Tuesday, after closing 8.31% higher on Monday.

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Image by Brian Jason via Shutterstock

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) has quietly become America’s go-to passive wager even while the very index that it tracks becomes riskier by the day.

• VOO saw inflows north of $3 billion in the last 5 days. Check its prices live.

With the S&P 500 up almost 85% in the last three years, VOO has ballooned to more than $750 billion in assets, making it the world’s largest ETF. But behind that success is an irony: the most “diversified” fund in the market is more concentrated than ever.

Ten mega-cap stocks, headed by Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), now constitute almost 40 % of the index. That’s a level of concentration not experienced since the dot-com bubble. So VOO’s “broad market exposure” is dominated by a few tech giants.

That notwithstanding, VOO doesn’t seem bothered. Despite the escalating trade war with China, the U.S. federal government continuing an extended shutdown, and local banks reporting bad and phony loans, VOO is standing firm and shrugging off three full-blown catalysts that would typically send even the toughest bull winching.

Also Read: High Stakes For VOO And SPY: The S&P 500’s Lofty Valuations Put ETF Strategies To Test

Breaking It Down

• Trade tensions escalating — the U.S. Treasury Secretary is to meet his Chinese counterpart in the face of new tariff threats and delisting Chinese companies.
• Government shutdown impasse — the Senate again could not approve funding, extending the shutdown into double digits.
• Banking trouble in the making — regional banks like Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp are fighting loan-fraud and exposure problems.

None of these has derailed VOO. It is up over 13% year to date, even with sideways trading in recent weeks. Also, according to data on Etfdb.com, the fund experienced inflows of $3.4 billion in the past 5 trading days, surpassing peers like SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:IVV).

There is, however, a downside. While investors might enjoy the low-cost, sit-back ease of VOO (mere 0.03% expense ratio), they are, in effect, relying on the leading holdings continuing their reign and profit growth. The index’s elevated forward P/E (~22.4x) is reflecting the past. For instance, periods when the S&P 500 traded at over 22x have provided 10-year average annualized returns close to zero (around 3%).

For the moment, VOO is the epitome of stability. But as concentration risk runs deeper, the low-cost index behemoth may soon be confronted with a paradox: too cheap to ignore, and too concentrated to resist.

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Wall Street kicked off the week on a strong footing, led by a rebound in small-cap stocks and regional banks, easing some of the credit-driven anxiety that shook markets last week.

The Russell 2000 Index climbed 1.8% on Monday, outperforming large caps, as the SPDR Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) rose 2%, extending Friday’s 1.6% gain.

The recovery comes after KRE plunged 6.2% on Thursday, its worst single-day drop since April, following fresh credit concerns tied to regional lenders.

Large-cap benchmarks also posted solid gains. The Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.4% to 25,155, just shy of its all-time high of 25,195 set on Oct. 10. The S&P 500 gained 1.1% to 6,733, now within 0.5% of its record, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1% to 46,630.

Investor attention now turns to a packed earnings calendar. Key reports are due this week from Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), and International Business Machines Inc. (NYSE:IBM), along with industrial heavyweights GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE), GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV), Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE:RTX) and T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS).

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) was the top gainer in the S&P 500, jumping over 7%, after announcing that new data on two investigational flu vaccines will be presented at IDWeek 2025, running from Oct. 19–22 in Atlanta.

On the flip side, Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)—up 145% year-to-date and one of the index’s best performers—was Monday’s biggest loser, as profit-taking pressure that began earlier this month continued to weigh on the stock.

Gold prices rebounded 2.3% to $4,350, fully recovering Friday’s 1.8% pullback and pushing further into record territory amid ongoing macro uncertainty.

The biggest surprise came from natural gas, with Henry Hub prices surging over 11% to $3.34, driven by a combination of colder weather forecasts and aggressive short covering.

Meanwhile, oil extended its slide. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.8% to $56.70 a barrel, inching closer to April lows of $55.10, the weakest level since February 2021, as surplus concerns continued to pressure the energy market.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	%
Russell 2000	2,497.24	1.8%
Nasdaq 100	25,174.75	1.4%
S&P 500	6,741.10	1.2%
Dow Jones	46,664.30	1.0%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 1.1% to $617.46.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 1.1% to $466.64.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) soared 1.4% to $612.33.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) rallied 1.8% to $247.83.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 1.4%; the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) lagged, down 0.3%.

Stocks scheduled to report earnings after the close include W.R. Berkley Corp. (NYSE:WRB), Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CCK), AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC), Wintrust Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:WTFC), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION), BOK Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BOKF), Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF), and Cadence Bank (NYSE:BXS).

S&P 500’s Top 5 Gainers On Monday

Company Name	% Change
Moderna, Inc.	+7.6%
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD)	+7.40%
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)	+7.38%
ON Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:ON)	+5.90%
Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)	+5.40%

S&P 500’s Top 5 Losers On Monday

Company Name	Chg %
Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)	-4.59%
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)	-4.56%
AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)	-4.11%
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)	-3.68%
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)	-3.03%

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.

Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ:DVLT) saw its shares surge in premarket trading on Monday after announcing a landmark partnership with Max International AG.

Bridging Blockchain and Institutional Finance

The collaboration will establish a Switzerland-based exchange for tokenized real-world assets, marking a major step in the company’s mission to bridge blockchain technology with institutional finance.

The deal highlights growing investor optimism around compliant, AI-driven digital asset platforms. The partnership aims to accelerate institutional adoption of real-world assets (RWAs) by resolving key barriers such as regulatory complexity, scalability, and fiduciary trust.

Also Read: Datavault AI Stock’s Face-Melting 720% Rally—What To Know

It also underpins Datavault AI’s International Elements Exchange, focused on tokenizing commodities like unmined gold and copper, and the International NIL Exchange, which monetizes name, image, and likeness rights.

Switzerland as Operational Hub

Zurich, known for its dominance in global gold refining and financial infrastructure, will serve as the operational center of the exchange.

Switzerland’s progressive digital asset regulations and Datavault AI’s international patent portfolio, spanning data tokenization, digital twins, and automated compliance, will enable transparent, scalable trading within a regulated ecosystem.

Datavault AI’s proprietary DataValue and DataScore systems are designed to enhance liquidity and improve valuation accuracy for illiquid assets.

Max International AG’s Swiss domicile provides regulated oversight and fiduciary governance, ensuring institutional-grade compliance for global participants.

CEO Highlights Growing Market Demand

Nathaniel Bradley, CEO of Datavault AI, added, “We have been approached by large corporations and governments to address growing demand for blockchain-driven solutions to RWA and NIL monetization—making the complex consumable and giving way to a simple tokenized, automated, fail-proof compliant scale.”

With tokenized assets projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2030, the Swiss partnership reinforces Datavault AI’s strategy to build compliant infrastructure for digital asset trading.

The venture follows Datavault AI’s acquisition of NYIAX, a deal that aimed to fuse AI and blockchain to strengthen asset monetization frameworks. Together, these initiatives position Datavault AI as a frontrunner in the regulated tokenization of real-world assets.

Price Action: DVLT shares were trading higher by 15.08% to $2.06 premarket at last check Monday.

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Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is seeing renewed momentum in its crucial cloud business, primarily fueled by robust demand for security services within Azure.

This strength comes as the tech giant prepares for its fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings release on October 29, 2025, and points toward a future requiring significantly higher capital expenditure.

Upbeat Forecasts Ahead of Earnings

Reflecting this optimism, Bank of America Securities analyst Brad Sills maintained a Buy rating on Microsoft, accompanied by a price forecast of $640.

Also Read: Microsoft’s New AI Lab Powers Wisconsin Manufacturing

Channel partners report a consistent pace of deal activity and increasing enterprise investment in AI and data infrastructure, signaling enduring corporate confidence in Microsoft’s central role in technology roadmaps, Sills noted.

The analyst said most partners reported results that were inline or better, supporting his expectation for up to 1% upside to the $77 billion revenue estimate — up 18.2% year-over-year (16.2% in constant currency or cc).

He expects Azure growth of 39% (38% cc) versus a base case of 38% (37% cc), noting that while Azure’s performance was broadly inline, security strength offset some softness in workloads affected by capacity constraints and customers taking more time to build long-term AI roadmaps.

Sills views both factors as positive for Microsoft’s deeper enterprise integration.

The analyst projects Productivity and Business Processes (PBP) growth of 22.7% (21.7% cc) versus a 22.2% (21.2% cc) base case, driven by steady momentum in E3/E5 commercial Office licenses.

AI Infrastructure and Capex Outlook

He said Microsoft continues to take a strategic, measured approach to expanding AI infrastructure while balancing scale and energy independence.

Sills cited growing visibility into compute investments, including Microsoft’s role in the Aligned Data Centers acquisition with BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), as evidence of durable demand despite Azure’s current capacity limits.

The analyst expects upward revisions to fiscal 2026 capex forecasts from consensus at $115 billion (36% of revenue) to around $125 billion (38% of revenue).

Despite the stock lagging since fourth-quarter results (down 4% versus Nasdaq +6%), he views potential capex revisions as a key catalyst.

Sills also flagged two additional drivers including potential margin expansion through fiscal 2026 and accelerating commercial Office growth, expected to rise from 14% due to continued E3/E5 and Copilot adoption.

The analyst called Microsoft a top pick and an AI leader across both applications and infrastructure. Channel partners echoed his view, citing strong Azure, AI, and security momentum.

Sills projected fiscal 2026 sales of $322.1 billion and EPS of $15.24. He expects first-quarter sales of $77.5 billion and EPS of $3.64.

MSFT Price Action: MSFT stock was trading higher by 0.66% to $516.97 at last check Monday.

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Photo by Mamun_Sheikh via Shutterstock

Goldman Sachs urged investors to focus on Chinese companies expanding overseas, citing a weaker yuan, cost advantages, and China’s strength in global supply chains as growth catalysts.

In a report led by analysts Si Fu and Kinger Lau, Goldman identified 25 top picks, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), and BYD Co Ltd (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF), as key beneficiaries of this “going global” trend.

Goldman said these companies — spanning e-commerce, capital goods, and healthcare — have already gained nearly 40% year-to-date, outperforming the Hang Seng Index’s 29% and the CSI 300 Index’s 16% rise, SCMP reported on Monday.

Also Read: Alibaba Stock Surges 95% As Company Doubles Down On AI, Cloud

Overseas Expansion to Boost Earnings Growth

The bank expects its overseas expansion to accelerate earnings growth by about 1.5% annually through 2028 as firms diversify beyond China’s saturated domestic market.

Goldman highlighted Alibaba’s overseas revenue doubling to 13% in 2023 from 7% in 2021 and CATL’s climbing to 30% from 21%, reflecting their rising global competitiveness.

While Goldman acknowledged that potential 100% U.S. tariffs under Trump’s trade agenda could trim short-term profits by around 10%, it said Chinese firms’ international diversification should offset the impact over time.

Alibaba Stock Soars on AI and Cloud Momentum

Alibaba is considered the tech barometer of China. The stock gained 97% year-to-date, topping NYSE Composite index’s over 12% returns as its cloud unit and AI model integration across its business segments and other enterprises fuel upside for the stock.

Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities, and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) expressed optimism over Alibaba’s cloud growth, AI breakthroughs, and early e-commerce recovery as key catalysts behind its rally.

Goldman Sachs raised its cloud revenue growth forecasts to 31–38% through fiscal 2028, citing advances in multimodal AI models and a diversified chip supply.

Daiwa Securities projected Alibaba Cloud revenue to climb 30% year-over-year in the second quarter of fiscal 2026 and expects operating losses to peak soon before narrowing on lower marketing and logistics costs.

CICC forecast 3.8% revenue growth for the same quarter and 30% cloud growth, saying new AI products and hardware unveiled at Alibaba’s Apsara Conference will support sustained profit gains.

Price Action: BABA stock was trading lower by 0.62% to $166.02 premarket at last check Monday.

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Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) is gaining momentum as it sharpens its go-to-market strategy and scales its cloud platform to meet soaring enterprise demand for artificial intelligence solutions, driving stronger deal flow and deeper integration across industries.

• SNOW is building positive momentum. Find out why here.

The company continues to expand its AI Data Cloud, with half of new customers using Snowflake for AI workloads and 25% engaging its AI capabilities weekly.

It is a sign that its innovation engine and partnerships, are fueling long-term growth in the fast-evolving data infrastructure market.

Also Read: Snowflake’s Palantir Deal Is Key To Unlock Massive AI, Government Data Opportunities: Analyst

Analyst Take

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained Snowflake with an Outperform rating and raised the price forecast from $250 to $270.

Ives cited accelerating momentum as the company fine-tunes its go-to-market strategy and scales its platform through stronger engineering, innovation, and marketing execution.

The analyst said Snowflake still has significant room to expand as it integrates simplicity and scalability across its data cloud, positioning itself to capture a larger share of the AI market opportunity.

He emphasized that Snowflake remains in the early stages of monetizing AI demand, with a growing share of its customer base leveraging the platform for advanced AI use cases.

Ives commented that half of new customers now use Snowflake for AI-related workloads, while approximately 25% of existing organizations rely on Snowflake’s AI capabilities on a weekly basis.

Snowflake continues to enhance its Cortex platform, focusing on improving retrieval quality and unifying data early in the lifecycle to optimize workflows and drive efficiency, the analyst told.

AI

Despite facing intense competition in a multi-trillion-dollar AI and data infrastructure market, he believes Snowflake’s “innovation engine” remains a major differentiator.

Ives highlighted that enterprises are increasingly adopting Snowflake’s easy-to-use AI products to streamline operations, boost productivity, and consolidate data workflows across cloud environments.

The analyst said Snowflake is still in the early innings of modernizing data infrastructure for the generative AI era, with large enterprises across sectors turning to the platform for data preparation, analytics, and storage.

The company continues to expand its data engine by combining analytical and transactional capabilities and allowing users to act on larger datasets that historically existed outside Snowflake’s environment, he said.

Ives noted that Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud has evolved into a connected ecosystem of shared data applications, with thousands of customers securely collaborating via the Snowflake Marketplace.

This ecosystem supports enterprise-grade performance and cross-industry data sharing, the analyst noted.

Palantir Partnership

Ives also pointed to Snowflake’s strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) as a growth catalyst.

The integration of Snowflake’s Data Cloud with Palantir’s Foundry and AIP platforms enables faster analytics, stronger data pipelines, and more trusted AI-driven applications for commercial and federal clients,as per Ives.

The analyst called Snowflake a “second-derivative winner” of the AI boom and one of Wedbush’s top picks in its AI 30 list, expecting it to capitalize on growing AI adoption over the next 12 to 18 months.

Ives projected third-quarter revenue of $1.18 billion and EPS of $0.35. He projected fiscal 2026 revenue of $4.61 billion and EPS of $1.30.

SNOW Price Action: Snowflake shares were up 1.20% at $243.64 at the time of publication on Monday. The stock is approaching its 52-week high of $255.39, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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