Get started

China

JD.com's Healthcare Unit Prepare for Next Battle Affected heavily by recent technological advancements, the sector may soon attract Chinese regulators' attention. Background 2021 turned out to become a positive year for China's healthcare industry, where the gigantic demand stems from the aging population, growing individual wealth, and – more importantly – the COVID-19 crisis' aftermath. The market has grown consistently; in 2020, the growth rate slumped to 7.2% due to the massive lockdowns, although it is expected to rise back to 17.6% in 2021 with a total market size of CNY 8.7 trillion. Despite this, the market remains relatively undeveloped – since 2016, the Chinese authorities have been working on creating a CNY 16 trillion healthcare ecosystem by 2030. Online healthcare is in the limelight The pandemic challenged people's sense of well-being and facilitated their desire and determination to become more active and engaged in managing their health, which also boosted the need for remote medical consultations and online medicine sales. According to Deloitte, the portion of consumers who have used virtual visits rose from 15% to 19% from 2019 to early 2020, then jumped to 28% in April 2020. In fact, consumers plan to continue using the – 80% of the Deloitte survey respondents are likely to keep using other online services even post COVID-19. Jessica Tan, co-CEO of Ping An Group, once said that around 20% to 25% of healthcare services in China could be moved to the online space. This will present new opportunities to the most competitive businesses in this field. Among these, JD Health (6618:HK) and Alibaba Health (0241:HK) are two tech giant-backed companies that have ridden this surging wave quite well. The latecomer, JD Health, is moving really fast – only four months' independent operation since May 2019 before it filed a public offering. In August 2020, JD Health ranked 35th on Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2020 with a valuation at CNY 50 billion, which crowned it as the world's youngest unicorn. Different from traditional platforms, JD Health has established various online and offline integrated businesses, including JD Pharmacy, JD Health Internet Hospital and Pharmacy Alliance. How does JD.com compare in healthcare endeavors? Financial performance In September 2021, JD Health released its interim financial report with relatively strong results. Its total revenue increased by over half (55.4%), from CNY 8.8 billion in H1 2020 to CNY 13.6 billion in H1 2021, which was primarily due to the increase in revenue from sales of pharmaceutical and healthcare products within the reporting period. In fact, this continuous upward trend also shows in its gross profit for the past four fiscal years, although the loss enlarged even further in 2020 when compared with the previous years. Another catalyst for the growth could be the increase in JD Health's number of Annual Active User (AAU) accounts. As of June 30, 2021, the AAUs in the past 12 months reached 109 million, representing a net addition of over 18.8 million as compared with that of 2020. The growing number also shows that the stickiness of users has been well improved as well as its brand awareness. In other words, JD Health's constant investment in marketing activities – its selling and marketing expenses almost doubled for two consecutive fiscal years – finally began to work. JD's supply chain infrastructure casts its core barrier Although JD Health is relatively inferior to its competitor in terms of annual active users – 109 million as of June 30, 2021 – JD Health's revenue is all the way higher than that of its closest competitor, Alibaba Health, more specifically, the revenue as nearly two times higher. One booster is its complete business structure. Integrating B2B/B2C/O2O businesses, JD Health can have more wings – for example, along with the retail pharmacy, JD Health also offers its own family doctor services, online hospital services as well as smart healthcare solutions. Through the integration of pharmaceutical retail businesses and online healthcare services, the medical products users also become target customers for other consumption healthcare units, and vice versa; a closed cycle hence is developed and can also be seen in its ever-growing operating income at a CAGR of 11%. JD Logistics is another catalyst supporting the healthcare unit's strong performance, being one of the leading supply chain players in the field of medicine now. Through JD Logistics, JD Health is able to connect with upstream, midstream and downstream enterprises: from industrial enterprises and healthcare institutions to offline pharmacies and dental clinics. This absolute advantage over comparable companies enables JD Health to further cut its fulfillment costs to around 10% of total revenue, which is related to warehousing, logistics and customer service expenditures incurred by the self-operated pharmaceutical business. Future in the mist The future won't be easy for both Alibaba Health and JD Health, as the competition is intensifying. Except for the 'peer pressure,' some inherent problems exist in the essence of most healthcare services – those are mainly related to professionalism, trust and quality. It is partly because of the particularity of healthcare services and pharmaceutical drugs along with the recent market chaos, the government has tightened supervision increasingly, more than ever before. Rory Green, a China economist at TS Lombard, said that the healthcare sector is the only one not hit by regulatory scrutiny yet but is particularly vulnerable, which may possibly make it the next target. For the full article with the charts, please visit the original link.
HKEX:6618
by EqualOcean
Alibaba Healthcare Units Prepares for Next Battle in HealthcareAffected heavily by recent technological advancements, the sector may soon attract Chinese regulators' attention. Background 2021 turned out to become a positive year for China's healthcare industry, where the gigantic demand stems from the aging population, growing individual wealth, and – more importantly – the COVID-19 crisis' aftermath. The market has grown consistently; in 2020, the growth rate slumped to 7.2% due to the massive lockdowns, although it is expected to rise back to 17.6% in 2021 with a total market size of CNY 8.7 trillion. Despite this, the market remains relatively undeveloped – since 2016, the Chinese authorities have been working on creating a CNY 16 trillion healthcare ecosystem by 2030. Online healthcare is in the limelight The pandemic challenged people's sense of well-being and facilitated their desire and determination to become more active and engaged in managing their health, which also boosted the need for remote medical consultations and online medicine sales. According to Deloitte, the portion of consumers who have used virtual visits rose from 15% to 19% from 2019 to early 2020, then jumped to 28% in April 2020. In fact, consumers plan to continue using the – 80% of the Deloitte survey respondents are likely to keep using other online services even post COVID-19. Jessica Tan, co-CEO of Ping An Group, once said that around 20% to 25% of healthcare services in China could be moved to the online space. This will present new opportunities to the most competitive businesses in this field. Among these, JD Health (6618:HK) and Alibaba Health (0241:HK) are two tech giant-backed companies that have ridden this surging wave quite well. Alibaba (BABA:NASDAQ) is deemed to be the first explorer among Chinese tech giants, having joined the game as early as 1998 by founding Alibaba Health (0241:HK). In fact, it is the first Chinese Internet-healthcare company to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Alibaba Health is primarily engaged in the pharmaceutical direct sales business, the pharmaceutical e-commerce platform business, medical and healthcare services platforms and digital infrastructure business and related services, though it wants to take off the 'e-pharmacy' tag for long. How does Alibaba compare in the healthcare endeavors? Financial Performance Alibaba Health finally became fully profitable in its fiscal 2021, when the revenue reached CNY 15.52 billion Among four major businesses, medicine remains the main contributor to its revenue, amounting to CNY 13.21 billion, or about 85% of the total revenue. The rest is contributed by pharmaceutical e-commerce platform business, the medical health service business and digital infrastructure business, with revenues of CNY 1.96 billion, CNY 284 million and CNY 53 million respectively. Benefiting from the improving cost control ability and the emerging economies of scale, the overall expenses of Alibaba Health are far less than that of JD Health for every comparable fiscal year. BABA's backing is the ace card of Alibaba Health As the healthcare business arm of Alibaba Group, the natural traffic comes with related brand benefits; Alibaba Health's core pharmaceutical direct sales and e-commerce platform businesses are thus boosted to a great extent. Three specific edges are worth mentioning. First, brand power drives growth. In 2021, Alibaba has grown its brand value by 32% year-on-year to USD 201.86 billion, with a 2nd ranking domestically and 7th ranking globally. As one of the most valuable brands, consumers are more likely to pay a value premium for the products with this recognizable name, or for the creditability it owns. This is indeed what is going on with Alibaba Health. For the 12 months ended March 31, 2021, the revenue from drugs generated from the pharmaceutical direct sales business under the brand of 'Alibaba Health' increased by 86.1% year-on-year, accounting for 64.8% of the revenue of the business. And the number of annual active users of the direct online stores in the reporting period reached a record high of 81 million. Second, synergistic benefits of Alibaba's ecosystem. The synergy effect is most difficult or even impossible to be imitated by competitors. When looking back at Alibaba's business scope, we could see it has already laid out a lot – Alipay's insurance services and 'Future Hospital' plan, O2O medicine delivery service on takeaway platform and hospital-specialized modules on DingTalk – most major businesses owned by Alibaba have medical-related s. With continuous investment in these business-to-consumer marketplace made by the Group, Alibaba Health is able to enhance health awareness and acquire new customers at relatively low acquisition costs, which lays a strong foundation for future growth. As of March 31, 2021, the number of annual active users had exceeded 280 million on Tmall's Pharmaceutical Platform while Alipay's healthcare channel as a whole reached over 520 million annual active users for the fiscal year. Third, empowerment of big data. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba with deep roots in the Internet, Alibaba Health's capabilities and resources are naturally geared towards leveraging the prowess of the Internet, big data and Cloud computing. To further boost its digital infrastructure business, for example, tracking platform 'Ma Shang Fang Xin' and digital health business, Alibaba Health has been working closely with Alibaba Cloud to lead the healthcare area. In addition, it also focuses on digital infrastructure. Based on the Group's internal AI, big data, payment and IT capabilities, Alibaba Health is working on exploring the construction of intelligent medical systems, such as AI-assisted diagnostic decision-making, remote imaging platforms and blockchain data security solutions in major hospitals and regions. Future in the mist The future won't be easy for both Alibaba Health and JD Health, as the competition is intensifying. Except for the 'peer pressure,' some inherent problems exist in the essence of most healthcare services – those are mainly related to professionalism, trust and quality. It is partly because of the particularity of healthcare services and pharmaceutical drugs along with the recent market chaos, the government has tightened supervision increasingly, more than ever before. Rory Green, a China economist at TS Lombard, said that the healthcare sector is the only one not hit by regulatory scrutiny yet but is particularly vulnerable, which may possibly make it the next target. For the full article with the charts, please visit the original link.
HKEX:241
by EqualOcean
A Spectacular Dip Buy Chinese Stock Exchange Chinese #FXI Large Cap ETF ready for a dip buy around here and I will be watching for the triangle to breakout above the red line. Here are the top 15 holding of the ETF: Symbol Holding % Assets 3690 Meituan Class B 9.51% 700 Tencent Holdings Ltd. 9.08% 9988 Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. 7.49% 939 China Construction Bank Corporation Class H 5.92% 9618 JD.com, Inc. Class A 5.39% 2318 Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. Class H 4.21% 1398 Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited Class H 4.11% 9888 Baidu, Inc. Class A 4.06% 2269 Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc. 4.02% 1810 Xiaomi Corp. Class B 3.39% 1211 BYD Company Limited Class H 3.31% 9999 NetEase, Inc 3.29% 3968 China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. Class H 3.05% 3988 Bank of China Limited Class H 2.69% 2382 Sunny Optical Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. 1.92%
AMEX:FXILong
by bartuclk
1
China Evergrande Defaults! Now What?China Evergrande, the second-largest real estate developer in China, has been narrowly dodging default for months. The Company has more than US $300 billion in debt that, as it warned the market back in September, it believed would be difficult for it to service. (As an aside, it is believed that China Evergrande could have an additional US $150 billion in debt, off its official financial books). Put simply, the cash flow of the Company, severely dampened by the cooling Chinese housing market, is not enough for it to service interest payments to those from which it borrowed funds, typically in the form of interest-bearing corporate bonds. One such unlucky purchaser of China Evergrande corporate bonds, among others, are off-shore investors. Off-shore bondholders will likely be the least prioritised of the Company’s investors when receiving interest payments or reparations. China Evergrande defaults! Perhaps fortuitously, it was the failure by China Evergrande to make interest payments to this very group of investors that prompted Fitch Ratings to upgrade the Company’s status to “restricted default” on December 9. Interestingly, China Evergrande is the twelfth Chinese real estate firm to default on bonds in 2021, and by far the largest to do so. Now what? Other rating agencies, such as Moody’s and S&P Global, have not been so quick to upgrade their status of China Evergrande. However, S&P Global has noted that China Evergrande’s default is “inevitable”. China Evergrande themselves seem to be ignoring public comment on its failure to meet its obligation, nor has it ceased operations or begun any formal paperwork to address its potential bankruptcy. China Evergrande is currently under restructuring while attempting to continue operations as usual. The restructuring includes renegotiating its liabilities and offloading non-construction arms of the Company at bargain prices such as its property management business, as well as stakes in a major Chinese bank and (strangely enough) a streaming services. Pressure is being applied to the Company’s leaders to speed up its restructuring since the change in its Fitch rating. According to Bloomberg, the China Evergrande restructure is being heavily monitored, if not outright controlled by Chinese Authorities in Beijing and the Company’s home province of Guangdong. Right now, the official line from the Central Bank of China is that the China Evergrande crisis is being handled as per the “principles of marketization and rule of law,”. If more rating agencies follow Fitch Rating in the coming weeks, China Evergrande could slip into something a little more serious than restricted default and the above quote may become a little truer, with Chinese authorities being hamstrung in their ability to interfere with a meltdown.
HKEX:3333
by BlackBull_Markets
$BABA sniper edition #1*This is not financial advice, so trade at your own risks* *My team digs deep and finds stocks that are expected to perform well based off multiple confluences* *Experienced traders understand the uphill battle in timing the market, so instead my team focuses mainly on risk management* Recap: My team started a long $BABA position November 18, 2021 at $161 per share. My team averaged down on our position today at $122 per share bringing our share average to $141.5. Our First Entry: $161 Our 2nd Entry: $122 Take Profit 1: $180 Take Profit 2: $193 If you want to see more, please like and follow us @SimplyShowMeTheMoney
NYSE:BABALong
by SimplyShowMeTheMoney
8
USDCNY About to Test a Historic SupportUSDCNY's downtrend accelerated earlier today following the release of the surprising crunch in China's trade surplus, underpinning falling global demand. The downtrend is taking the form of a 1-5 impulse wave pattern, as postulated by the Elliott Wave Theory. Seeing as how the price action is currently in the process of developing the final impulse leg (4-5), a bullish pullback may be due soon. On the other hand, the ADX indicator continues to thread above the 25-point mark, highlighting the strength of the downtrend.
Short
by Trendsharks
What Will Traders Be Watching This Week? 06 Dec – 11 Dec, 2021*Please note; The author is working from UTC +13 when determining the timeline of data releases. Monday, December 06: Factory Orders from Germany for the Month of October is the first significant piece of data for the week. The market is expecting a 0.5% decline MoM, in factory orders. The EUR may come under pressure when this data reaches the market, especially when investors consider it in tandem with a recent German IFO Business Survey, indicating diminishing business confidence in the region and further noted “Supply chain bottlenecks are putting companies under real pressure, there is no sign of a let-up.” Tuesday, December 07: Possibly adding to downward EUR pressure is the German ZEW Economic Sentiment Index DEC, due Tuesday. The index measures the level of optimism held by analysts concerning economic developments stretching out over the next six months. The ZEW index is anticipated to post a decline of ~5 points to 25.3, from November’s reading of 31.7. Wednesday, December 08: Quiet Wednesday. Thursday, December 09: The Bank of Canada’s (BoC) Interest Rate Decision and Rate Statement are released very early Thursday. It will be interesting to see if the BoC will action its bullish rhetoric sooner than next year. However, with oil prices currently under pressure, a hike by the Bank is looking unlikely before April. Importantly, Deputy Governor of the BoC, Toni Gravelle, will speak to the organisation’s Economic Progress Report the following day. China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY data to November is due early Thursday afternoon. Last month, China’s CPI accelerated sharply from 0.7% to 1.5% as producers passed on rising costs. Producer costs have risen 13.5% since October 2020, the fastest pace in 26 years. As such, analysts are again expecting a steeper incline for November CPI data. Market forecasts have China CPI hitting 2.5%. Friday, December 10: Mexican Inflation Rate data YoY to November will be posted just after the clock ticks over to Friday. Mexican inflation is anticipated to record its fourth month of increases and possibly pass the 7.00% threshold. The Central Bank of Mexico, while believing inflation to be transitory, might respond with another rate hike when it convenes the following week to dampen inflation expectations leading to persistent inflation. The Mexican Peso spent much of last week strengthening against the USD, so the market may have priced this in already. Saturday, December 11: The US gets the last word this week. Its Inflation Rate YoY to November is anticipated to follow Mexico’s, creeping up to ~7.00%, from 6.2% the previous month. This forecast proving true could strengthen the Federal Reserve’s resolve to speed up its bond-buying taper and possible move forward the schedule of interest rate hikes.
by BlackBull_Markets
Dada Nexus' Q3 2021: Expansion ContinuesSome improvement in financials was accompanied by new product initiatives. Amid the recurrent waves of COVID-19 restrictions in China, on-demand retailing, which combines online experience and offline channels, is acting as a stabilizer in the consumer goods industry. Once tried, more people are choosing to stick to O2O-based consumption. According to an iResearch report (link in Chinese), the total GMV of China's local on-demand retail market is estimated to be set to expand at a 62% CAGR between 2020 and 2024. In this transition era, some companies are seizing the emerging opportunities to create massive market value. Dada Nexus (DADA:NASDAQ), a firm operating on-demand delivery and retail platforms in China, is one of them. According to its latest unaudited quarterly financial results, in Q3 2021, Dada continued rapid business expansion, while growing its customer base. This article analyzes the company's recent financials and provides a look into its key moves and initiatives. Net revenue growth accelerates, with narrowing losses In the three months preceding and continuing into September 2021, Dada's net revenue growth inched up from the previous quarter's +81.3%, recording an 86% year-on-year increase. (The company's revenue recognition model was changed in April 2021.) JDDJ, Dada's local on-demand platform that connects retailers and brand owners directly with consumers, has been performing exceptionally so far in 2021. GMV of the platform grew by 74.6% year-on-year, while its user base experienced a steady increase, reaching over 50 million and almost doubling from Q1 2020. In this quarter, Dada's non-GAAP net loss was CNY 450.10 million; yet the company has achieved the earlier set goal of narrowing down this figure – it declined by almost one-fifth from CNY 549.20 million in this year's second quarter. Meanwhile, the operating profit margin improved by more than 16% year-on-year (aligning Dada Now's last-mile delivery revenue to a comparable basis). Dada Now and JDDJ: old and new developments Dada Now, an open on-demand delivery platform serving merchants and individuals, has achieved a 90% growth in net revenue year-on-year, mainly driven by a shored-up order volume of intracity delivery services to chain merchants. As disclosed during the company's earnings call on November 23, Dada Now's merchants increased by 110%, and revenues from supermarket key accounts rose by over 90% year on year. The platform also managed to deliver a 90% growth in the number of active SME merchants. While expanding its user base, the platform has also been making efforts to provide its merchants with tools to improve business efficiency and boost their online sales. For example, new geo-fencing functions were added to the on-demand delivery system, allowing merchants to determine the delivery area effectively with no additional costs. Besides, in November, the company launched logistics SaaS Dada Smart Delivery, a system assisting merchants and third-party delivery service providers with "managing orders, dispatching and routing for omnichannel on-demand orders," according to Dada's executives. Empowered by strengthened cooperation with JD.com, a unified brand called Shop Now, or Xiaoshigou, was released. This is another attempt to allow users to access on-demand services via various channels within the JD ecosystem – it is considered by Dada as a way to increase its penetration rate among the e-commerce platform's vast user base. During China's now-traditional 'Double 11' shopping festival, JDDJ achieved a 100% year-on-year boost in GMV on November 1-11, 2021. As a result, net revenues from this platform added up to CNY 1.10 billion, up by 84% from the last year. According to Beck Chen, the company's CFO, the uplift was caused by raised GMV and average order size, which hit CNY 194 this time. In this year, the platform has developed partnerships with multiple big names in various sectors. Specifically, in the supermarket segment, JDDJ has already partnered with 82 out of China's 100 largest supermarket chains; in the smartphone sector, cooperation was established with Samsung and Honor, while JDDJ's total sales figure on the launch day of the iPhone 13 was seven times higher than that on the iPhone 12's launch day. The company's efforts also empower the industry, specifically in the online marketing space: in this quarter, a program named Super New Product Day was launched to assist retailers with product promotion. Risks to watch Dada's cross-functional cooperation with JD.com is highly beneficial to the idea of developing a leading national brand for on-demand services. Yet, it is not the only tech giant-backed O2O platform aiming to fulfill the growing demand in the industry. The competition is poised to further intensify, with e-commerce and local services companies leveraging their 2C prowess. As of September 30, 2021, Dada's cash & equivalents figure was at CNY 1.55 billion. Adding up the firm's restricted cash and short-term investments, the total volume was around CNY 3 billion. This drop in the cash position was, among other factors, due to the USD 150 million repurchase program announced in June; the plan was almost completed as of October 31, 2021: USD 130.6 million in ADSs had been repurchased by that date. At a glance Dada Nexus has improved its operating and marketing efficiency, as the narrowed ratios of O&S and S&M costs over the net revenue suggest. Its revenue, meanwhile, keeps growing. Despite that China's overly competitive on-demand delivery and retail space might keep the company's margins below zero for another few quarters, the company's prospects look rather promising: after all, Dada is a growth-stage firm in a market that some projects will swell at high double digits in the following years. For the full article with the charts, please visit the original link.
D
by EqualOcean
BTC BITCOIN WILL $55k HOLD?Hello Traders We’ve noticed Bitcoin stalling for the past week and a bit choppy since our last post Outlining downside correction. We no see a reverse Head and Shoulders pattern forming and with macro economics and political discussions or news surrounding Bitcoin I.e. Elon Musk…China… etc. We could see price continue to the upside. Speculation on $100k but could take sometime. As always, only read what your willing to lose. The Trading Regime.
BITSTAMP:BTCUSDLong
by EvaultFinancialGroup
Largest Layoff in iQIYI’s HistoryGong Yu, CEO of iQIYI, said, 'the focus now is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, cut down inefficient businesses and projects, and increase and try new monetization opportunities.' On December 1, iQIYI carried out a round of large-scale layoffs. According to many laid-off employees, almost all employees in some departments have been laid off, and even profit-making departments such as content and intelligent hardware. According to the news, the details of iQIYI's layoffs are as follows: 1. The purpose of this layoff is said to accelerate the pace of profitability, focus on content, technology, cost management, and flat structure. Therefore, in this layoff, more middle-level (director level) were laid off. 2. Budget shrinks: Almost all employees without probation are among the layoffs. iQIYI Research Institute, iQIYI game center, and other departments have almost all been laid off. Short video products will be merged with other products, and only 40% of people can stay. Employees who are laid off will receive N+ 1 compensation and can leave after handing over their work. 3. iQIYI intelligence (including VR and other products) also has a layoff proportion, but it is relatively low compared with the spending department. The ratio of layoffs in the content department is about 30%. The principle is to retain only low-cost employees for positions with the same responsibilities. 4. Many senior employees call this layoff 'the largest layoff in iQIYI's history,' and this round of layoffs is not over. Many people will be laid off before and after the Spring Festival. iQIYI's Q3 2021 financial report showed that the company achieved a revenue of CNY 7.6 billion during the reporting period, with a year-on-year growth rate of 6%; The net loss was CNY 1.7 billion, an increase of 42% year-on-year.
NASDAQ:IQ
by EqualOcean
JD's 'Hourly Purchase' Plan Boosts Dada Group's Revenue GrowthLooking ahead to the fourth quarter of 2021, Dada Group expects its total revenue, assuming Dada Express's Last-mile delivery services perform consistently, to grow from between 88% to 97% YoY. On October 12, JD.com's 'hourly purchase' business, jointly created by JD.com and Dada Group, was officially launched. The merchant resources of JD Daojia can be connected to the 'nearby' entrance of JD's main website. After users place orders through the JD website, the later order delivery service will be completed by Dada Group. Dada Group was founded in 2014 as a local instant retail and delivery platform. Dada Express is the local instant delivery platform of Dada Group, providing merchants and consumers with omnichannel fulfillment solutions and local instant delivery services integrating warehousing, picking and distribution. At present, Dada Express has covered more than 2,300 counties, districts and cities in China, serving more than 1.4 million merchant users and 70 million individual users. Relying on the distribution of Dada Express and its massive retail partners, JD Express now provides consumers with a one-hour delivery service for products, including supermarket convenience, fresh fruits, vegetables, medicine, cake baking, flowers and other goods.
NASDAQ:JD
by EqualOcean