Since October, consensus forecasts for the five companies’ combined 2028 capital spending have risen 18%; meanwhile, software companies are beginning to see AI efficiency gains, but ServiceNow’s overall growth has yet to accelerate alongside its AI business.
Price increases and cost reductions helped the company withstand higher raw material prices and raise its full-year earnings guidance; however, North American sales remain in decline, while currency and cost pressures also constrain the 2027 earnings outlook.
Product price increases and mass production of new products lifted the gross margin in the first three quarters, but third-quarter revenue and profit fell quarter on quarter. Nomura Orient International cut its earnings forecasts and price target while remaining optimistic about growth from new products.
Microsoft Azure grew 48% at constant currency in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, exceeding company guidance and buy-side expectations; margins and free cash flow also beat expectations. Evercore ISI believes next quarter’s Azure guidance and the full-year cash flow outlook will inform subsequent assessments.
Wells Fargo sees opportunities in hyperscalers and infrastructure software following a reset in market sentiment, but sentiment toward healthcare has become overheated; the US midterm elections and corporate financing needs will influence the market’s next moves.
Revenue growth is accelerating at the three major cloud providers and some business margins are rising, but spending on data-center construction comes first, putting pressure on tech giants’ free cash flow. Nomura believes financing can ease short-term cash pressure, while compute oversupply remains a long-term concern.
Nomura estimates that, with the countercyclical factor included, the forecast USD/CNY central parity rate is 6.6819, 327 points below the previous fixing; the two model results differ by 317 points.
On 2 November, Market Logic focuses on AI content and games: combined active users of AI motion-comic dramas overseas have surpassed 150 million, Tokens are being trialled in livestream retail, and Shadow of the Blade Zero sold over 4 million copies across all platforms within 72 hours of release.
On 2 November, the index reversed last Friday’s losses on higher volume. AI applications led gains, while technology hardware came under pressure in the afternoon. Cailian Press says the index remains in a downtrend and that technology’s performance is key to a medium-term rebound. It also examines the business dynamics of short-drama platforms, mineral water and Token services.
Apple’s revenue rose 12% year over year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, exceeding company guidance and market consensus; however, gross margin guidance for the December quarter fell to 45%–46%, below Bernstein and market expectations.
Lumentum’s quarterly margin and next-quarter guidance exceeded market expectations, but the stock-for-stock deal ties its valuation to Marvell’s share price and the progress of the transaction. Bernstein is positive on the fundamentals but believes the market-implied probability of completion is too high.
The 2 November announcement roundup focuses on three companies: Dongshan Precision disclosed progress on its share repurchases, Yuanjie Semiconductor is shifting more capacity toward CW light sources, and Chunchiu Electronic plans to repurchase shares and expand its liquid cooling business.
Huachuang Securities raised its 2026 attributable net profit forecast for Kiwi Instruments by 106%; SDIC Securities is optimistic about the scaling up of Huaxin Building Materials’ overseas business. The two companies benefit respectively from an upgraded product mix and higher overseas cement volumes and prices.
DataEye expects the AI short-drama market to exceed 40 billion yuan in 2026. Falling production costs are driving supply growth, while platform revenue sharing, incentives and licensing income are beginning to become competitive priorities for content providers.
Robot training requires large amounts of data from real-world scenarios, and different collection methods involve trade-offs in quality, cost, and scale. Zheshang Securities forecasts that the midstream data collection market will reach 174.1 billion yuan by 2030; the capital increase and shareholding restructuring of the Hangzhou embodied AI pilot base are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Shadow of the Blade Zero sold more than 4 million copies within 72 hours of release. China Post Securities believes that Chinese developers’ experience in mobile game development, global publishing and user operations could transfer to 3A games.
Elon Musk predicts that computing capacity in low Earth orbit will surpass terrestrial capacity by 2029, while Changjiang Securities sees potential for space-based computing to break through from 0 to 1; in automotive chips, NXP plans to adjust prices for some products in January 2027 because of rising costs.
Huachuang Securities is optimistic about the commercial potential of Zhongsheng Pharmaceutical’s weight-loss drug RAY1225 and MASH drug ZSP1601. The two pipeline assets have a combined risk-adjusted net present value attributable to the parent of 26.53 billion yuan; meanwhile, the brokerage expects the company’s net profit attributable to the parent to decline 19.7% year on year in 2026.
Sinolink Securities is focusing on robots’ shift from one-off demonstrations to learning from demonstrations and productive output. Changjiang Securities and CSC Financial are respectively looking for opportunities in metals, functional sugars and building materials through supply, costs and profitability at low levels.
HGTECH has begun ramping up deliveries of its 800G LPO products, while Sungrow's energy storage shipments are rising quarter by quarter. Medical devices and innovative drugs have also seen new developments, but testing, approvals and revenue recognition are progressing at different paces.
