The Yeshu Group Received Heavy Penalties for Illegal Advertising
The Yeshu Group Co., Ltd., due to its violation of advertising regulations, suffered an administrative penalty from the Longhua Branch of Haikou City Market Supervision Administration, with a fine of up to 400,000 yuan. The company was accused of using national staff personnel for commercial marketing in its website promotions and adopted slogans like “Rub with coconut milk” and “Few ‘flat-chested’ beauties in the South Pacific,” which were seen as violations of public order and good customs. Despite such controversy, Yeshu Group’s financial data remained strong. At the New Year’s kickoff meeting on February 20, 2023, the company announced that the annual sales volume reached 700,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.26%, and sales reached 5 billion yuan, an annual increase of 3.08%, with tax payments growing to 682 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.39%.
Xiang Piao Piao Suspected of Hyping and Staging to Trigger Stock Price Volatility
On May 3, Xiang Piao Piao’s promotional activity in a Chinese supermarket in Japan stirred controversy, with mocking words about Japan’s nuclear wastewater appearing on the product cup holder. This act temporarily caused Xiang Piao Piao’s stock price and the daily sales amount on their TikTok shop to soar, the latter increasing by 400 times. However, with the continuous fermentation of the incident, people found that the display of the involved product might be manipulated, because there were doubts about the labels and cup holder content, leading to suspicions of speculated hype. Eventually, the incident caused Xiang Piao Piao’s GMV to drop to between 5,000 and 7,500 yuan, and the company’s stock opened 5.1% lower at 18.44 yuan.
New iPads Garner Enthusiasm, Reservations Quickly Exceed Ten Thousand
Apple Inc. released the new iPad Pro/Air tablets on May 7th, claiming them to be Apple’s most powerful and thinnest products to date. The domestic price of the new iPad Air starts at 4,799 yuan, and the 11-inch version of the iPad Pro starts at 8,999 yuan. The new iPads hit the online platform and within only 2 hours, reservations quickly surpassed ten thousand. It is reported that the pre-sale of the new iPads will start on May 9th, with official sales scheduled for May 15th.
Encouraging Young People to Pay for Their Parents’ Retirement
Zhu Hengpeng, deputy director of the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, proposed at the “China Pension Industry Forum” organized by Caixin Media that, given the current system restrictions of the pension fund system, there is limited room to increase fees or taxes. He suggested that young people should be encouraged to support their parents’ retirement by making contributions.
To improve the financial situation of the workers’ pension insurance, an important step is to ensure that the insured believe that the costs they pay for insurance will bring corresponding benefits. For young people who are working hard, the connection between paying insurance costs now and future benefits is not clear. Expert Zhu Hengpeng pointed out that increasing the coverage and payment rate of pension insurance for young flexible employees is key to expanding the coverage of workers’ pension insurance. This group of people are hesitant about long-term expected benefits, but if the paid premiums can directly benefit their parents and folks, their enthusiasm to pay will significantly increase.
Meanwhile, Baidu’s PR Vice President Ju Jing has attracted widespread public attention due to her behavior on social media platforms, along with various rumors about her position. In response, media has verified through the company switchboard, and Baidu clearly indicated that Ju Jing is still in her position.
In the automotive industry, NIO and GAC Group have signed a strategic cooperation agreement on battery swapping. Both companies will collaborate in multiple areas, including battery standards, development of battery swapping vehicle models, battery asset management, and the battery swapping service network, to promote industry development and achieve interoperability of charging platforms.
In light of the release of the new iPad Pro / Air models, Apple has discontinued its last model with a physical Home button, the iPad 9, indicating a complete transition to full-screen design for its iPads. Since its launch in 2021, the iPad 9 has been well received in the market for its powerful A13 chip and other advanced features.
In the US stock market, the performance of large tech stocks was mixed. The three major stock indices showed a mixed market reaction, with the Dow Jones Index rising and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 Indexes remaining relatively stable. In addition, popular Chinese Concept Stocks such as JD.com and Alibaba experienced varied increases and decreases. NIO, XPeng Motors, and Li Auto faced stock price declines on that particular day.
Finally, among corporate leadership changes, Xiaomi Group founder Lei Jun announced the latest executive appointments: Xu Fei and Zhang Jianhui were promoted to vice presidents of the group, respectively responsible for marketing and the procurement committee.
In a recent business restructuring, Microsoft’s Xbox division announced the closure of four of its gaming studios. This move aims to reprioritize games and resources in order to increase investment in high-impact game projects. Matt Booty, a senior manager of the Xbox division, shared the reasons behind this decision in an internal email, highlighting the company’s focus on investing in Bethesda’s flagship games and the virtual worlds developers have crafted over decades. As resources are reconsolidated, some teams will undergo reorganization, resulting in some staff departures.
Furthermore, in response to recent internet buzz about Yonghui Superstores potentially accepting assistance from Pang Donglai Group, Yonghui Superstores has responded. They acknowledged the strengths of Pang Donglai Group and expressed willingness to learn from them. However, regarding rumors of assistance and takeover, Yonghui Superstores has not disclosed any further progress that can be made public.
In terms of corporate executive changes, Sunshine Shares has announced a high-level resignation notice. Zhou Lei, a director and chairman of the company’s ninth board of directors, has applied to resign for personal reasons. Following his resignation, Zhou Lei will no longer take on any roles in the company or any of its subsidiaries.
J&T Express, a logistics company, recently announced that it had completed a multimillion-dollar funding round through cooperation with Yida Capital and a Middle Eastern consortium. This funding will be used to enhance J&T Express’s services in the Middle East and North Africa markets and continue to advance the company’s localization strategy in the Middle East. Xiao Zhongqiu, responsible for the Middle East region, stated that after two years of development, J&T Express is well-prepared for broader market cooperation and investment.
In terms of the establishment of a new company, CATL has invested 50 million RMB to set up Chengdu Qingbaijiang Times New Energy Brand Management Co., Ltd. This company engages in business in the field of automotive sales and related accessories, with its backers being CATL and Chengdu International Railway Port Economic and Technological Development Zone Construction Development Co., Ltd.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is about to launch more flexible financial derivatives. To provide investors with more strategic choices and risk management tools, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange plans to introduce weekly options contracts for ten Hong Kong-listed stocks by the end of 2024. The implementation of this new measure still awaits the final approval from regulatory authorities and the corresponding preparations by the market.
Global temperature rises to new highs, leading to frequent extreme weather events. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that the world has just experienced the hottest April on record, marking the 11th consecutive month that the agency has recorded a new high in average global temperatures. The rising concentration of greenhouse gases is considered a major cause of the ongoing record-breaking global temperatures.
Tims China adjusts prices for some of its products. Recently, it was discovered by consumers that Tim Hortons China raised the prices of its iconic bagels, with increases ranging from 1 to 2 yuan. In response, the company explained that the price adjustment was based on a comprehensive evaluation of operational costs and other factors, and emphasized that they will continue to provide more value to customers through monthly promotional activities and other means.
Chinese airlines continue to expand direct flights to Saudi Arabia. Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines have successively opened direct flight routes to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, enhancing the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, cultural, and tourism areas.
In April, the Chinese passenger car market showed a decline. According to preliminary data released by the Passenger Car Association, the retail volume of passenger cars in April reached 1.585 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 2%, but the market for new energy vehicles bucked the trend, showing a year-on-year increase of 34%.
SpaceX considers expanding its Starlink business to Botswana. The President of Botswana met with the director of SpaceX’s Starlink division at a business summit in the United States and expressed the intention to develop business in Botswana, demonstrating SpaceX’s ambition to expand its global Starlink coverage.
Toyota, faced with talent shortages, allows older employees to extend their working life. To address the labor shortage, Toyota Motor plans to give employees aged 65 to 70 the option to continue working with the company, a move that could retain experienced staff for the company.
Currently, Toyota employees can choose to retire at 60, or extend their work until 65 while enjoying half of their salary.
Tesla’s German factory will be shut down for four days due to protests. Tesla stopped the night shift production at the Gruenheide factory on May 8, and plans to resume night production on May 12. This decision is to cope with protests against the factory expansion, which are expected to last for several days.
It is reported that Tesla intends to recall its senior vice president of automotive business, Zhu Xiaotong, from Texas in the United States back to China. Zhu has been serving as Tesla’s Senior Vice President for Automotive Business since April 2023, based in Austin, Texas, in charge of global production, sales, delivery, service, and more. Prior to this, he had been in China, responsible for Tesla’s Asia-Pacific operations. Recently, Tesla announced that it would cut over 10% of its workforce globally due to a slowdown in electric vehicle sales.
The Shanghai Lingang New Area Management Committee approved the construction plan for Tesla’s Energy Storage Gigafactory, allowing the project to proceed with related engineering constructions within the management range of the Nanfeng border river.
The digital avatar of Yao Jinbo, CEO of 58.com, made its debut. 58.com established its own AI Lab and applied AI technology to various fields such as recruitment, real estate, local life services, and automotive.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is developing new tools that enable advertisers to use AI prompts to create advertising materials. If advertisers upload product photos, Meta’s AI tool can generate new product images for marketing.
Microsoft, which supports OpenAI, announced the launch of a new tool that identifies images created by its “text-to-image” generator, Dall-E 3. OpenAI states that the tool can accurately identify images and handle common modifications such as compression, cropping, and saturation adjustments. Meanwhile, the company plans to add anti-tampering watermarks to mark digital content and improve identification accuracy.
Toyota Motor released its financial report for fiscal year 2024, expecting net profits to double from the previous year.
In the recently concluded fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Toyota Motor achieved significant growth in trade. The automotive giant reported its revenue reached 45.095 trillion yen, a leap of 21.4% from the same period last year. Equally impressive is its operating profit, reaching 5.353 trillion yen, with an annual growth rate of 96.4%. Net income attributable to the company also doubled, concluding with a growth rate of 101.7% year-over-year, with the figure reaching 4.945 trillion yen.
The BMW Group’s financial performance for the first quarter of 2024 showed that the group’s revenue remained largely the same as last year, at 36.614 billion euros. Due to currency adjustments, there was a slight decline of 0.6%. The automotive business division specifically experienced a 1.1% year-over-year decline, with revenues of 30.939 billion euros. BMW maintains strategic steadiness, expecting its pricing across the entire product line for 2024 to remain consistent with the previous year.
In the United States, the ride-hailing company Lyft revealed its financial results for the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. Impressively, its revenue grew 28% to $1.3 billion. This means that despite still operating at a net loss, the figure has significantly decreased from a net loss of $187.6 million in the same period last year to $31.5 million. Taking into account adjustments for Non-GAAP net income, Lyft is actually showing a profitable trend, with earnings of $60 million.
In the financial sector, Standard Chartered PLC reported reassuring results for the first quarter. After adjusting for currency fluctuations, its operating income rose 20% to $5.2 billion, and its underlying profit before tax increased by 27% to $2.1 billion. In addition, the earnings per share (EPS) saw a strong growth of 41%, reaching 52.9 cents.
The technology sector’s Arm also displayed excellent results for its fourth fiscal quarter. Arm’s reported financial figures showed total revenues of $928 million, a 47% increase over the same period last year. The adjusted operating profit reached $391 million, exceeding analysts’ expectations. Looking forward, Arm forecasts revenues of $3.8 to $4.1 billion for the fiscal year 2025.
Social media platform Reddit also provided positive financial signals, with revenue for the first fiscal quarter exceeding expectations, reaching $243 million, and the adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) at $10 million. The data related to daily active users and average revenue per user are also satisfying, and the outlook for the second quarter’s revenue remains optimistic.
In the field of optical technology, a company called “OPTIX Extreme Optics” has completed its third round of financing in just two years. This time, they successfully raised a Pre-A funding round led by Chunhua Ventures, with continued support from existing shareholder BlueRun Ventures.
Through the latest round of fundraising efforts, OPTIX has raised over 100 million yuan with the lead investment from BlueRun Ventures and follow-on support from LightSurge Investment. The company will spare no effort in accelerating the research and innovation of its core optical technology on this foundation.
Taiyi Steward announced it has smoothly completed a strategic funding round of 920 million yuan. Participants in this financing round include new investors Shanghai International Asset Management and Sumitomo Mitsui Marine, along with continued investments from existing shareholders China Pacific Insurance and Sequoia China. Xu Jing, CEO of Taiyi Steward, explicitly stated that the company will continue to focus on the healthcare services industry and further advance the development from one-stop health services to personalized services.
In addition, Zhongteng Microgrid recently announced the successful completion of nearly 100 million yuan in Series B funding, jointly led by Tongchuang Weiye and the listed company Honglida. The company will use the funds for business expansion, strengthening the technical team, and iterative product upgrades to enhance its core competitive strength. Founded in 2015, Zhongteng Microgrid has focused on research and development in the field of new energy microgrids, has been recognized as a national high-tech enterprise, and was rated as a specialized, refined, and new “Little Giant” company in Beijing in 2022.
Ruichu Pharmaceutical also made a major breakthrough in the capital market, announcing the completion of over 100 million yuan in Pre-A round funding, led by Longpan Investment, with Delian Capital and Dingxin Capital following closely behind in the investment. The funds raised will mainly be used to advance the company’s core projects into the clinical application stage and carry out related research and development work.
In the audio hardware sector, Philips Audio has just launched its first AI conference noise-cancelling headphone that incorporates AI technology, named Philips “8”. The headphone was developed in collaboration with the Lu Shengwen App and is also supported by Tencent’s “Hunyuan” language large model technology. Philips “8” is equipped with multiple core technologies such as speedy voice transcription, bilingual dialogue, simultaneous interpretation, and AIGC, making it an innovative product that combines AI and audio hardware technology.
In the area of market marketing, the Coconut Tree Company was fined 400,000 yuan by regulatory authorities for allegedly publishing advertisements with bordering content.
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