Daily Buzz: 27 February 2026

Baidu Posts Declines in Revenue, Net Income

Beijing-based Baidu, China's largest search engine and a heavyweight in AI development, posted a 4 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue to US$4.7 billion as weakness in ad revenue took the shine off strong growth in its cloud computing business. Net income plunged 66 percent to US$255 million. Revenue from Baidu's core AI-powered business, which includes its cloud infrastructure unit, AI applications and its robotaxi division, jumped 48 percent to US$1.6 billion, accounting for 43 percent of general business revenue. For the full year, revenue fell 3 percent to US$18.5 billion from a year earlier, with an operating loss US$833 million. Net income dropped 76 percent to US$799 million. The company spent US$3 billion on research and development, which has totaled more than US$14.6 billion over the past three years. The company said it Apollo Go robotaxi service has delivered 20 million rides to date, expanding from the Chinese mainland to Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the company's advertising unit, which has been a prime revenue driver, has been struggling in a highly competitive ad market beset by weaker consumer spending.

AI has become the "new core of Baidu," said Chief Executive Robin Li, touting the performance of Baidu's Kunlunxin chips, building on a proprietary architecture with compatibility across various AI models in sectors such as finance, energy and telecommunications. It will release its M100 series chips this year. The company has also spent billions of yuan promoting its consumer AI apps.

US-Iran Talks End With 'Progress' but No Deal

The US and Iranian officials made "significant progress" in nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday, mediator Oman said, but whether a deal is in the making to avoid military conflict was unclear. Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led his country's delegation in the indirect talks, said there was agreement on some issues but differences remained on others. He said the next round of negotiations would take place in a less than a week. The negotiations come amid threats from President Donald Trump that the US will attack Iran if no deal is reached and amid a heavy US military build-up in the region. Excluding issues related to ballistic missiles, the US wants Iran to stop enrichment of uranium that can be used in weaponry, and Iran has offered to reduce enrichment levels in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Violence Reflares Along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border

Pakistan and Afghanistan forces clashed across their common border, with both sides claiming they inflicted heavy losses. The Afghan Taliban said it had launched a "large-scale" operation in response to strikes earlier this week, which it claimed had killed at least 18 people. Islamabad said it had targeted alleged militant camps and hideouts.

Washington Eases Oil Embargo on Cuba Just a Bit

The Trump administration that it will issue licenses to companies seeking to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba's private sector. The slight relaxation in a US-led oil embargo on the country could ease fuel shortage crisis that is hitting households and daily commerce hard. The US seized Venezuela's oil industry after an attack in January that deposed then president Nicolas Maduro. The embargo was aimed at forcing Cuba into changing its political system. The new US directive says no oil shipments that benefit Cuban's military or major government institutions will be allowed. "If the Cuban people are hungry and suffering, it's not because we're not prepared to help them," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. "It's that the people standing in the way of us helping them is the Communist Party regime."

Top Business

Trip.com Profit Nearly Doubles for 4Q and 2025

Shanghai-based multinational travel agency Trip.com, the largest online travel service provider in the world, said fourth-quarter net income almost doubled to 4.3 billion yuan (US$613 million) on a 21 percent rise in revenue to 15.4 billion yuan, as tourism fully recovered from after-effects of the coronavirus pandemic years. For the full year, Trip said profit rose 94 percent to 33.4 billion yuan on a 17 percent rise in revenue to 62.4 billion. Revenue from accommodation bookings rose 21 percent in 2025, ticketing was up 12 percent, and packaged tours rose 21 percent. The company's shares are listed in Hong Kong and New York. It operates under a portfolio of brands, including Ctrip, Qunar and Skyscanner. Trip said it is fully cooperating with the State Administration for Market Regulation, which has notified the company that it is the subject of an antitrust investigation. Trip also announced that Fan Min and Ji Qi, co-founders of the company, are stepping down from their posts as directors, with Fan also vacating the president's chair.

Luckin Coffee Quarterly Profit Drops on Expansion Costs

Luckin Coffee, the Chinese mainland's largest café chain, posted a 39 percent drop in fourth-quarter net income from a year earlier to 518.2 million yuan (US$74 million), on a 33 percent revenue increase to 12.8 billion yuan. Operating expenses rose 39 percent to 11.9 billion yuan related to costs of opening new outlets. In the period, the company's shops increased 6.3 percent in number to 31,048 both on the Chinese mainland and overseas. Profit margin dropped to 4.1 percent from 8.8 percent. For the full year, revenue rose 43 percent to 49.2 billion yuan, and net income was up 22 percent to 3.6 billion yuan.

DeepSeek Keeps US Tech at Arm's Length Over New AI Model

China AI developer DeepSeek, whose soon-to-be released next large language model is already causing a buzz in the tech world, hasn't given US chipmakers, including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, an advance preview of the new model, breaking a standard industry practice, Reuters reported. Instead, it has granted early access to the V4 model with Chinese mainland companies, including Huawei Technologies. That gives domestic companies a head start of several weeks to optimize their software for the processors. Ben Bajarin, chief executive of research firm Creative Strategies, told Reuters that the differential treatment may reflect the intense race between China and the US to become dominant in advanced technologies. Deepseek burst onto the global tech stage year ago when it unveiled an open-source platform must cheaper than comparable US models.

Netflix Ends Bidding War for Warner Bros

Netflix is ending its bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery studio and streaming assets after the board of Warner Bros deemed a sweetened offer from Paramount Skydance to be superior. In a mega Hollywood battle, Paramount raised its offer to US$31 a share from US$30 this week. Paramount emerged as a hostile bidder after Netflix originally offered to buy Warner Bros in a cash-and-share offer valued at about US$82 billion. The prize at stake is Warner Bros vast film library.

Sun Hung Kai Earnings Rise Despite Commercial Property Weakness

Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai Properties, a major investor in Chinese mainland malls, offices and hotels, said revenue for the six months ended December 31 rose 32 percent from a year earlier to HK$52.71 billion (US$6.7 billion). Profit attributable to shareholders climbed 36 percent to HK$10.25 billion. Property sales in the period doubled to HK$4.9 billion, but commercial rental net income commercial fell 1 percent. The company said the Chinese mainland residential market remained in a state of consolidation. Contracted sales of 1.3 billion yuan were mainly driven by Cullinan West, a waterfront serviced apartments project joint-venture with Hangzhou IFC, its wholly owned Forest Park project in Guangzhou and its joint-venture Oriental Bund project in Foshan. The company completed a gross floor area of about 1.3 million square feet during the six months. Gross rental income on the mainland remained relatively stable at 2.8 billion yuan (US$400 million). The company said its Shanghai IFC Mall remains a preferred destination for luxury flagship brand, and its Nanjing IFC Mall has emerged as a popular venue for concertgoers and football fans. However, it added, "headwinds" in the office leasing market on the Chinese mainland continued to weigh on rents and occupancy rates.

Economy & Markets

US Aerospace, Chip Industries Face Rare Earth Shortages

US aerospace and semiconductor companies are facing shortages of rare earth elements critical in industrial production, despite a US-China trade truce that was supposed to unlock more global supplies, Reuters reported, citing government officials, 14 companies, traders and industry analysts. Prominent in the scarcity are yttrium and scandium, two elements principally produced in China. Beijing has resumed export licenses for many rare earths after halting them for a time last year when US-China trade tensions hit a peak. In the last eight months of 2025, China exported 17 tons of yttrium products to the US, but volumes haven't returned to previous levels, and the price has surged 60 percent since November. Yttrium is used in coatings that keep engines and turbines from melting at high temperatures. Supplies of scandium, used in chip processing and packaging, are also growing scarcer, putting production of next-generation 5G chips at risk, Dylan Patel, chief executive of research firm SemiAnalysis, was quoted as saying. Scandium is also used in fuel cells and specialty aluminum aerospace alloys.

Hong Kong Doubles Quota for Yuan-Certified Banks

Hong Kong doubled its specific quota assigned to each of the 40 selected banks for Chinese yuan funds to 200 billion yuan (US$29 billion). The move is part of the city's efforts to enhance its status as a global trading hub for the yuan as Beijing continues to promote international use of the national currency.

Corporate

IMAX China Profit Surges on Domestic Film Hits

IMAX China Holding, the Hong Kong-listed company that provides digital and film-based motion picture technologies in China's mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, said 2025 profit rose 70 percent from a year earlier to US$38 million on a 26 percent rise in revenue to US$102 million. The company, an arm of Canadian-based IMAX Corp, operates 810 IMAX theaters in the region and also digitally remasters Hollywood and Chinese-language films into the IMAX format. Its Chinese-language box office surged two-thirds last year, driven by the hit animation film "Ne Zha 2." The company said it remains focused on Chinese-language films because they outpace Hollywood movies in ticket sales. The company, which has a partnership with China's Wanda Film, said it earned more than US$28 million in ticket sales over the recent Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, with "Pegasus 3" delivering the strongest box office since "Ne Zha 2."

Anta Sports' Arc'teryx Brand Profit Survives Bad Publicity

Sportswear brand Arc'teryx, which teamed up with Chinese fireworks artist Cai Guoqiang last year to stage what turned out to be a fiasco fireworks show in the Himalayan foothills of China, has survived the bad publicity. It reported that global sales in its women's wear clothing segment surged more than 40 percent in the fourth quarter. Chinese sportswear retailer Anta Sports owns a majority stake in Arc'teryx's parent Amer Sports. Helsinki-based Amer said China revenue in last year surged 43 percent to US$1.9 billion last year, becoming its second-largest market. The Himalayan fireworks show sparked a public outcry across China for the environment damage it caused.

United Imaging Doubles Profit in 2025

Shanghai-listed United Imaging, a global leader in advanced medical imaging and radiotherapy equipment, reported 2025 revenue jumped 34 percent from a year earlier to 13.8 billion yuan (US$2 billion) on surging demand for premium health-care equipment. Profit increased 50 percent to 1.8 billion yuan.

BeOne Turns to Profit From Loss

BeOne Medicines, a Sino-US company involved in developing cancer therapies and formerly known as BeiGene, reported 2025 profit turned to US$670 million from a year earlier loss of US$152 million on a 40 percent increase in revenue to US$5.3 billion. The company, founded in Beijing in 2010, said it expects revenue this year of between US$6.2 billion and US$6.4 billion.