Hong Kong

The Plunge That Shook the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

When trading opened in Hong Kong on 22.07.2026 Wednesday morning, no one expected such a nightmare. Shares of TPSRF ... International, one of China’s largest sportswear retailers, plunged 26.2% almost instantly, reaching an all-time low of HKDUSD ... HK$1.41.

This was not merely a market correction. It was a collapse that wiped out nearly a quarter of the company’s market capitalization within minutes. By the time the figures were recorded, the shares had recovered slightly but were still deeply in negative territory, down approximately 23.6% at HK$1.46. Traders stared at their screens in disbelief, repeatedly checking the data and wondering whether what they were seeing was real.

The reason for the collapse was as sudden as a lightning strike and as destructive as a tsunami. The previous evening, after the main trading session had closed, Topsports received an official notice from American sportswear giant NKE ... . Beginning on January 1, 2027, their long-standing partnership covering online sales in mainland China would be terminated completely.

Nike—the iconic Swoosh brand that had supported Topsports’ business for many years—had decided to sever its digital relationship with the retailer. A decision made quietly in corporate offices at Nike’s Oregon headquarters triggered a financial earthquake thousands of miles away in Hong Kong.

To understand the scale of the problem, online sales of Nike products accounted for approximately 22% of Topsports’ total revenue in the financial year that ended on February 28, 2026. This was not a small slice of the pie. It represented almost a quarter of the entire business.

Imagine that your primary supplier, responsible for nearly one in every four of your customers, suddenly tells you: “Starting next year, we will no longer work together in the same way.” News like that can destroy almost any...

Numbers That Give Shareholders a Reason to Smile

When Cathay CPCAY ... Airways opened its financial books on Wednesday morning, the aviation market was taken by surprise. Its profit for the first half of 2026 was not merely strong — it was exceptional. The airline expects to report between HKDUSD ... HK$6 billion and HK$6.5 billion, equivalent to nearly US$840 million. That is almost twice as much as the HK$3.7 billion earned during the same period last year.

However, these figures deserve a closer look. Nearly HK$1.5 billion of the total came from a one-off gain related to the sale of a stake in Air China. In other words, although the company’s operating performance was impressive, it was not quite as dazzling as the headline figure might initially suggest. Even after excluding this windfall, however, profit still increased by more than HK$1 billion compared with the previous year. That reflects serious operational progress rather than simply a successful share transaction.

For an airline that was recently fighting for survival amid pandemic restrictions, such a turnaround appears almost miraculous. Yet this miracle has several very specific causes. We are accustomed to seeing good news for one company create problems for another. In the case of this Hong Kong-based carrier, however, the story is unusual. Cathay Pacific has managed not only to survive the turbulent waters of geopolitics and rising oil prices, but also to learn how to profit from them.

Passenger Boom: Why People Are Flying Again

The number of passengers carried rose by 17.5% year on year. These are not merely statistics — they represent real people filling economy-class seats, business-class cabins, and even first class. The passenger load factor climbed to 87.5%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from the previous year. Most aircraft were departing nearly full, while on peak...

Tuesday: The Chinese Giant Surprises the Market

Chinese technology giant Xiaomi has made an unexpected move that has attracted the attention of the entire smartphone market. The company has raised its annual smartphone sales target from 90 million to 110 million units. This comes despite increasing pressure from high memory and other component prices, which have placed significant strain on manufacturers in recent months.

XIACY ... Xiaomi’s decision, reported by Chinese media outlet Jiemian News citing industry sources, appears bold. Earlier this year, the company lowered its target due to the negative impact of high memory prices. Management now believes that the worst is over and that the market is ready for a reversal.

According to the report, the higher sales target is based on Xiaomi’s internal assessment that the current rise in memory market prices is approaching its peak and could soon be followed by a decline. If this forecast proves accurate, Xiaomi will gain a double advantage: higher sales volumes and lower production costs.

Memory Prices: Drivers and Risks

The memory chip market is going through a highly volatile period. Demand for memory used in artificial intelligence applications has soared, absorbing a significant share of global production. Companies manufacturing memory chips for AI servers are generating exceptional profits, while smartphone manufacturers are being forced to compete with them for limited resources.

For Xiaomi and other smartphone manufacturers, this means higher component costs. Memory chips are among the most expensive and important components of a smartphone, and when their prices rise, manufacturers’ profit margins decline. Earlier this year, Xiaomi even lowered its shipment target for this very reason.

However, the company now believes that the situation is changing. According to Xiaomi’s estimates, the memory chip market is ready for a reversal. This may be related to several factors. First, memory...

Introduction: The Thursday When a Chinese Chipmaker Made the Whole World Talk

Thursday, Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Shares of Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX SemiCon Co surged 7.1% to HK$600, attracting the attention of investors around the world. This was not a random spike — it was the result of a large-scale share placement that raised about HK$7.07 billion ($902 million). The company placed 14.9 million shares at HK$476 each, at a discount of around 15% to the previous session’s closing price.

What is behind this growth? The company had been in talks with advisers about a possible placement, and the six-month lock-up period following its IPO had expired only a few days earlier. Investor enthusiasm was supported by commercial momentum: since Nvidia’s most powerful chips are unavailable due to U.S. export restrictions, Chinese buyers are actively seeking domestic alternatives, and capital is beginning to flow into this segment.

Another positive factor was reports that Iluvatar is in talks to supply ByteDance with at least 50,000 AI inference chips, which would make it a key supplier in ByteDance’s hardware ecosystem.

On the broader market, the backdrop for Hong Kong-listed AI and semiconductor stocks remains favorable. Driven by a wave of artificial intelligence catalysts from internet giants and capital rotation, the Hang Seng Tech Index staged a strong rally, gaining nearly 5% on July 8, 2025, and closing at 4,731 points.

Analyst sentiment toward the stock remains firmly positive: the average 12-month target price stands at HK$762.15, while all six analysts covering the stock recommend buying it — resulting in an overall rating equivalent to “Strong Buy.”

Let’s take a closer look at why Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX has become a focus of investor attention, what factors are supporting the growth of its shares, and whether the company has further potential to strengthen its...

Introduction: a quiet revolution finally coming into the open

When last year American users flooded into Xiaohongshu, escaping uncertainty around TikTok, many in the West heard this name for the first time. In Chinese internet culture, however, RedNote (as the platform is known outside mainland China) has long been far from a discovery. For several years now, it has been a way of life for hundreds of millions of people—a place where questions are answered more effectively than in search engines, and where purchases happen more spontaneously than on any marketplace.

Now this story is entering a new stage. According to the Wall Street Journal, Xiaohongshu is preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong at a valuation of over $70 billion. This is not just a number in a headline. It signals that China’s social commerce sector has matured enough to go public, and that investors are willing to pay serious money for it.

Let’s break down what is behind this decision, why the valuation is controversial, and what this platform actually is—one that many in the West still casually call “the Chinese Pinterest,” repeatedly missing the point.

What Xiaohongshu is and why it is worth $70 billion

From hobby project to empire in twelve years

Founded in 2013, Xiaohongshu started as a modest shopping guide for Chinese women traveling abroad. Its founders, Miranda Qiu and Charlene Chen, could hardly have imagined that a dozen years later their creation would be valued at nearly $70 billion and considered one of the key assets of China’s internet economy.

Today it is not just an app—it is an ecosystem with more than 400 million monthly active users. For comparison, that is more than the population of the United States. And this is not an anonymous mass: each user comes with intent—seeking advice,...

The Hong Kong stock market witnessed an event on Tuesday that BYD shareholders had been waiting eight long months for. Shares of China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer surged 4.4% to HK$94.75, marking their best single-day gain since late April. The catalyst was the company’s May sales report. BYD finally broke the longest streak of declining sales in its history. Sales increased by 0.3% year-over-year to 383,453 vehicles. The growth was modest—almost within the margin of statistical error. But for a market accustomed to continuous deterioration, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Eight Months of Decline: Anatomy of a Crisis

To understand why a modest 0.3% increase triggered such a strong market reaction, it is important to recall what BYD has endured over the past several months. A company that was once a symbol of China’s dominance in the electric vehicle industry found itself facing a harsh reality: the domestic market had become saturated, competition had intensified to unprecedented levels, and a fierce price war was squeezing profit margins.

Sales declined for eight consecutive months. This was more than just a statistical trend—it was an indictment of a business model that had become too dependent on a single market. Chinese consumers, who only recently lined up to buy BYD vehicles, now have dozens of brands to choose from, each offering subsidies, discounts, and promotional incentives. BYD found itself caught between the hammer of domestic competition and the anvil of a slowing economy.

Then May brought an unexpected turnaround. And that turnaround happened not in China, but beyond its borders.

Overseas Deliveries as a Lifeline

The primary driver of May’s growth was international sales. BYD has been aggressively expanding its presence outside China, and that strategy is finally beginning to pay off. The company now sells vehicles across Europe, Southeast...

There is a gesture in corporate finance that says more about management sentiment than any press release ever could. That gesture is a share buyback. When a company spends real cash to repurchase its own stock, it is not merely returning capital to shareholders. It is telling the market: we believe our shares are undervalued. And when a company like Futu Holdings puts $290 million on the table, it deserves attention.

$290 Million as a Statement of Intent

The figure is impressive, though not record-breaking. $290 million represents roughly 2% of Futu’s current market capitalization, which stands at more than $15 billion. At first glance, 2% may not sound like much. But in the context of the buyback program announced last November, it is already a substantial tranche. The total authorization amounts to $800 million through the end of 2027. Futu has already used more than one-third of that allocation in the first year alone. The pace signals determination.

Management is not merely making declarations. It is acting. The company’s press release is dry and restrained, yet between the lines one can sense confidence: the company “may continue repurchases depending on market conditions.” No promises, no guarantees. But the mere fact that the company has already spent nearly $300 million speaks louder than words. Internally, management’s valuation of its own stock is clearly higher than the market’s.

A P/E Ratio of 10.48: Undervalued or Hiding Problems?

Futu trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48. For a technology-driven financial services company, that is a modest valuation. By comparison, American brokerage platforms such as Charles Schwab or Interactive Brokers often trade at multiples in the high teens or above twenty. Chinese technology companies have historically traded at P/E ratios of thirty or even forty. Yet here we have a multiple of barely...