Daily Buzz: 14 August 2026

JD.com Revenue Falls, Profit Rises as Delivery Losses Narrow

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com posted its first-quarterly revenue decline in more than a decade on weaker sales of electronics, but profit rose as the company reduced heavy promotional spending on its fast food-delivery service. Revenue in the second quarter fell 2.9 percent from a year earlier to 346.4 billion yuan (US$51 billion), while net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders increased 15 percent to 7.1 billion yuan.

Electronics and home-appliance revenue dropped 12 percent from a high base last year fueled in part by generous government trade-in subsidies. General merchandise sales rose 5.6 percent, and service revenue increased 6.8 percent. Marketing expenses fell 25 percent as JD scaled back spending to promote newer businesses, helping narrow losses at its food-delivery operations.

In the first half, revenue edged up 0.7 percent to 662 billion yuan, but net profit fell 28 percent to 12 billion yuan after heavy food-delivery spending, higher technology investment and a regulatory fine. JD.com competes with Alibaba and Meituan across e-commerce, instant retail and food delivery.

Separately listed JD Logistics and JD Health reported better earnings. JD Logistics posted a 27 percent increase in first-half revenue to 124.7 billion yuan, while profit grew 10.5 percent to 3.3 billion yuan. Revenue from customers outside the JD group jumped 29 percent to 85.4 billion yuan and accounted for nearly 69 percent of the total. Integrated supply-chain revenue rose 18.5 percent to 59.4 billion yuan.

JD Health reported first half revenue rose 16 percent to 40.9 billion yuan and profit increased a third to 3.4 billion yuan on a gross margin of 26.1 percent. Pharmaceutical product revenue increased 16 percent to 34 billion yuan, led by dermatology, oncology, endocrinology, cardiovascular health and metabolic health. The company said it remains the largest online pharmacy retail platform in China. It also reported buying back 840 million yuan of stock in the period.

Ukraine Strikes Russian Black Sea Port

A Ukrainian rocket and underwater drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk damaged grain export terminals and hit the last major Russian naval base on the sea. Three people were killed. A Russian agriculture ministry said work is underway to redirect cargo flows to ports in the Baltic and Caspian seas as well as land routes. Novorossiysk declared an emergency situation, after the strikes damaged the port and the city's water supply. For its part, Moscow launched aerial strikes on Ukraine, killing at least 11 civilians.

Iran, US Remain Deadlocked in Search for Peace

Iran and the US remain at an impasse on reaching an agreement to end the six-month Gulf war and reopen the oil-vital Strait of Hormuz. Iran said talks brokered by third party mediators have focused on trying to restart an interim agreement signed in June that subsequently collapsed, but no progress has been made. President Donald Trump said this week he favors escalating economic pressure on Iran rather than resuming attacks. The International Energy Agency said the situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz remains chaotic and predicted global oil demand this year will drop by 1.6 million barrels a day, widening from its July forecast, as high energy prices curb consumption. Global benchmark Brent crude futures ended New York Trading at about US$87 a barrel.

Israel Moves to End Siege on Palestinian Households

The Israeli military ordered about a dozen Palestinian households in a village in the occupied West Bank to leave their homes amid military operations to end a settler siege of three households there that has cut off power and water supplies to trapped residents since Sunday. Israel has been accused of doing little to stop increasing Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee called settler intimidation of Palestinian families "a horrific act of terror."

Top Business

Lenovo Quarterly Revenue, Adjusted Profit Hit Record Highs

Beijing-based Lenovo Group, the world's largest maker of computers, turned to a US$609 million net loss attributable to shareholders in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30 from profit of US$538 million a year earlier, largely reflecting a one-time adjustment of US$1.7 billion related to revaluation of warrants. Earnings adjusted to exclude one-time items surged 176 percent to a record US$1.1 billion. Revenue jumped 43 percent to a record US$26.9 billion, with a rise of 25 percent in China and 53 percent in the Americas. The company said AI-related revenue rose 60 percent from a year earlier to US$9.3 billion, or 35 percent of group revenue. Gross profit margin increased by 1.8 percentage points to 16.5 percent.

Levono, which holds about a quarter of the global market, said operating expenses in the three months increased 123 percent, including US$4.4 billion spent on advertising and promotions, including the FIFA World Cup. The business segment comprising computers, smartphones and other devices delivered a 27 percent revenue increase. Spending on research and development rose to US$682 million from US$524 million a year earlier. The company took a loss of US$126 million on currency-exchange rates, largely reflecting a stronger yuan when accounting for overseas earnings. Originally called Legend, Lenovo burst on the international scene after the 2005 merger with IBM's PC business. It bought Motorola Mobility in 2014.

SMIC, Hua Hong Post Record Revenue on Soaring Chip Demand

Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), the Chinese mainland's largest chip foundry, said second-quarter net profit jumped 400 percent to US$733 million, thanks to increased sales and improved margins. Revenue rose 36 percent to US$3 billion, the highest quarterly revenue in SMIC's history. Gross margin edged up 4.9 percentage points to 25.3 percent. Driven by China's push for semiconductor self-sufficiency and geopolitical tensions, the company drew 90 percent of its earnings from the domestic market, up from 88.9 percent in the first quarter. SMIC said AI will continue to drive robust chip demand in the second half of the year, adding that it will adjust existing capacity and accelerate the ramp-up of new production lines to help ease industry-wide supply constraints.

Shanghai-based Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor reported net profit in the second quarter surged 386 percent to US$38.6 million on record revenue of US$717.5 million. The gross margin edged up 5.6 percent to 16.5 percent. Revenue from the Chinese mainland rose 20 percent to US$563.7 million and was up 77 percent from North America to US$93.8 million. Its acquisition of Huali Microelectronics has received regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in a month.

China Mobile Posts Revenue, Profit Decline Despite Surge in AI Business

China Mobile, the nation's largest telecom, reported a 3 percent decline in the second-quarter revenue from a year earlier to 272 billion yuan (US$38 billion), while net profit fell about 7.5 percent to 50 billion yuan. For the first half, the company reported revenue of 538 billion yuan, down 1.1 percent, and a 6.3 percent decline in net profit 79 billion yuan. Weakness in traditional telecom services outweighed rapid growth in AI and computing services, although sharply improving cash flow was a bright spot. Revenue from its communications business fell 5.7 percent in the first half. The company cited a transition from old to new growth drivers, market conditions and a change in government value-added tax policies. Revenue from computing services rose 14 percent, with intelligent computing revenue surging 130 percent to 5.3 billion yuan. Revenue from artificial intelligence data center jumped 486 percent year on year.

DiDi Revenue Rises but Overseas Expansion Squeezes Profit

Chinese ride-hailing platform DiDi reported higher second-quarter revenue and record transactions, but aggressive spending on overseas expansion sharply eroded underlying profit. Revenue rose 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 62.5 billion yuan (US$8.7 billion), while total transactions increased 13 percent to 5 billion. International transactions jumped 29 percent and gross transaction value surged 61 percent, helped by growth in food delivery. But the international segment's adjusted operating loss widened nearly fourfold to 2.9 billion yuan as DiDi increased incentives and marketing spending. Group sales and marketing expenses climbed 67 percent to 5.4 billion yuan. DiDi posted a net profit of 869 million yuan, turning from a 2.5-billion-yuan loss a year earlier, though the comparison was distorted by a one-time 5.3 billion yuan provision for a shareholder lawsuit in 2025. Adjusted profit, which strips out extraordinary items, fell 91 percent to 284 million yuan.

Hygon Information Reports Revenue, Profit Surges

Hygon Information reported a 65 percent jump in second-quarter revenue and a nearly 60 percent surge in profit as China's AI computing boom continued to drive demand for domestic processors. The AI developer of central processing units posted revenue of 5.1 billion yuan (US$706 million), while net profit reached 1.1 billion yuan, the first time quarterly profit exceeded 1 billion yuan.

For the first half, revenue jumped 67 percent to 9.1 billion yuan, while net profit increased nearly 50 percent to 1.8 billion. The company cited continued investment in product lines, rapid development of large AI models and growing deployment of AI agents for earnings growth. Its domain control units are increasingly positioned as domestic alternatives for AI computing workloads as China expands AI data centers and other computing infrastructure.

Economy & Markets

The Bulls Are Running Again in South Korea

South Korea's stock market, heavily weighted in chip shares, has rebounded from a bear to a bull in 10 days. The Kospi index, which has climbed more than 20 percent from its July 30 low point, closed up 3.6 percent on Thursday, led by semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The speed of the recovery highlights the volatility in technology shares, leaving investors to wonder whether it will last. Strong second-quarter earnings from US tech giants and their escalating plans for spending on AI infrastructure spending has helped drive the Seoul rebound. "Korea's equity market is basically synonymous with the AI hardware trade at this point," Phillip Wool, head of research at Rayliant Global Advisors, told CNBC. "Anything that calls this narrative into question, whether it's soft guidance on capex from hyperscalers, sagging token pricing or Fed tightening fears, and we can expect to see a pullback." The tech rebound spilled over into Japan, where the Nikkei index closed up 1.2 percent on Thursday. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite Index lost ground.

China's C919 Jetliner Makes First International Flight

China's domestically designed and manufactured C919 passenger jet completed its first scheduled international commercial flight this week, a notch up its ambition to compete with Boeing and Airbus someday. The narrow-body Air China-operated jet flew from Beijing to Ulan Bator, capital of neighboring Mongolia in a two-hour flight. The C919, developed and manufactured by state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, can carry up to 174 passengers.

MSCI to Add Zhipu to Its China Index

Index provider MSCI said it will add Chinese large-language model developer Z.AI, more commonly known as Zhipu, to its MSCI China Index, giving the company greater exposure to foreign investors. MXCI earlier announced that it was adding leading Chinese chipmaker CXMT to the index, effective August 10. In its latest equity index update, MSCI said it plans to add 33 stocks to the China index, beginning on September 1, spanning semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, advanced materials and precision manufacturing. It is removing 32 companies, including debt-troubled property developer China Vanke A, GCL Technology, Kingdee International Software and robotaxi company Pony AI. All changes begin September 1.

Chip Designer Kiwimoore Plans IPO in Hong Kong

Shanghai-based chip designer Kiwimoore has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering, ‌targeting a valuation of about US$2 billion, Reuters reported. The company raised about 700 million yuan (US$104 million) in a July funding round with a valuation of 8 billion yuan. Kiwimoore makes networking technology ⁠used to link AI accelerators inside computing clusters. The company has retained Citic Securities and ABC ‌International ⁠to lead the IPO, likely to happen in the first half of 2027.

China Banks Raise 5-Year Deposit Rates, Drop Others

China's commercial banks raised five-year deposit rates by 0.7 basis point in July, according to Rong360 Digital Technology Research Institute. An overall decline in deposit rates, however, remains unchanged. The average bank deposit rate last month for three-year deposits dropped 0.1 basis point, for two-year deposits rates sank 0.4 basic point, and for one-year deposits they edged down 0.2 basis point. Banks are under pressure to lift net interest margins.

China Extends India Fiber Tariffs

China will continue imposing anti-dumping duties on imported single-mode optical fiber from India for another five years, the Ministry of Commerce said. The extension follows a review that concluded dumping from Indian suppliers would resume if tariffs were removed. China first introduced the duties in August 2014, with tariff rates ranging from 7.4 percent to 30.6 percent. The measures were extended in 2020 for another five years.

Corporate

Motorcycle Maker ZXMoto Secures More Investment

Chinese motorcycle maker ZXMoto, which shot to international attention after its bikes won a series of global championships, secured an exclusive new funding round from HongShan Capital Group, Yicai reported. No figures were disclosed. The company's valuation has reached 6 billion yuan (US$890 million), according to Cao Bin, founder and chairman of early investor Focus Capital. The latest deal marks ZXMoto's third equity financing round since its founding. Focus Capital invested 20 million yuan in 2024 and state-backed investors from Zhejiang Province invested 90 million yuan last March. ZXMoto generated 670 million yuan in revenue last year and expects sales to reach 2 billion to 2.5 billion yuan in 2026.

Li Ning Denies Endorsement Deal With Soccer Superstar

Li Ning, China's second-largest sportwear retailer, denied a Chinese media report that it has secured an endorsement deal with French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé following his termination of a 20-year partnership with Nike. "Li Ning has not been involved and has no plans to pursue any such cooperation," Li Ning told Yicai. The Chinese media report also said Mbappé would buy a stake in Li Ning as part of the deal.

Leapmotor Weathers Survival Phase in China Car Industry

Chinese auto startup Leapmotor Technology said it has weathered the "terrifying" initial survival phase after global monthly sales topped 100,000 for the first time in July, ranking it among the top three new energy vehicle makers in China for the third month in a row. Founder Zhu Jianming, at a press conference for the unveiling of the new A05 model, said survival is a concern for all startup companies in a market not large enough to accommodate all 17 carmakers. "The prerequisites for survival are to avoid losses and achieve scale," he said. Leapmotor has set its sales target at 1 million units this year.

Yuanjie Announces Investment to Expand Laser Chip Output

Yuanjie Semiconductor Technology said it plans to invest 4.3 billion yuan (US$637.5 million) to expand its laser chip production capacity to meet growth in demand and expand its overseas sales.

Yuanjie plans to build a new laser chip production line as well as factories and other supporting facilities in Shaanxi Province. Construction is expected to take 24 months. In February, the company announced it would invest 1.3 billion yuan on the second phase of a research and development production center for optoelectronic chips.

Rainbow Heavy Wins Contract for Aquaculture Vessels

Rainbow Heavy Industries, a Chinese manufacturer of port and offshore engineering equipment, said it won a contract valued at up to US$489 million to build six live-fish vessels for a European shipowner it didn't identify. The Nantong-based company said deliveries will be phased, starting in 29 months. The shipowner is reportedly Norwegian aquaculture services provider Frøy.