International Morning Briefing | Cambrian's Revenue Surged 4.5x Last Year, Historically Turned Profitable

AI | Cambrian Yearly Revenue Surges 4.5 Times, Achieving Historic Turnaround to Profitability

Mainland chipmaker Cambrian (688256.SH) saw its operating revenue in 2025 jump 4.5 times, with net profit reaching 2.059 billion RMB, marking a historic turnaround from loss to profit. The company plans to distribute a cash dividend of 15 RMB per 10 shares and to issue 4.9 additional shares for every 10 shares using capital reserve funds. Additionally, leading speculator Zhang Jianping increased his holdings by 408,400 shares to a total of 6.8149 million shares, representing 1.62% of circulating shares.

Federal Reserve | Trump Urges Powell to Cut Rates Immediately

Trump posted on social media once again pressuring Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, demanding that “interest rates should be lowered, and a rate cut should happen immediately, not wait until the next meeting!”

Iran Situation | Mujetaba: No Abandonment of Revenge, Hormuz Strait Remains Closed

Mujejtaba issued his first statement since becoming Iran’s Supreme Leader, stating that Iran will not abandon revenge and will open new fronts if necessary. The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, and all US military bases in the Middle East should be closed immediately; otherwise, they will be attacked.

Middle East Tensions | Iran Strikes US Fifth Fleet Base, Destroys 70% of US Bases in Middle East

Iran announced that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy launched a fierce attack on the US Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain; IRGC advisor Jafari claimed Iran has destroyed 70% of US military bases and command centers in the region. Iran also has a new generation of advanced missile systems, which have not yet been used. Additionally, the US Central Command reported that the USS Ford aircraft carrier experienced a fire, injuring two sailors, with no connection to combat.

US Stock Market | Dow Drops 739 Points, Bank Stocks Plunge

Attacks on Persian Gulf oil tankers and cargo ships caused Brent crude to surge past $100 per barrel again. Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mujejtaba threatened to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 739 points on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 1.52% and the Nasdaq down 1.78%. The VIX volatility index briefly rose 12.3% to 27.22. J.P. Morgan and Cliffwater restricted redemptions from their private equity funds, triggering a new round of sell-offs in major banks and alternative asset managers. J.P. Morgan dropped 4.1%, Goldman Sachs fell 4.4%, Blue Owl and KKR declined 4.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Deutsche Bank disclosed exposure of €26 billion in private credit markets, with shares down over 5%. Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla declined 1.5%, 1.9%, and 3.1%.

Overseas Highlights

￭ A man with a rifle drove into a Jewish synagogue in suburban Detroit and was shot dead by security; no other casualties reported, and no arrests made yet.
￭ The New York Times reports that US military operations against Iran in the first six days cost over $11.3 billion.
￭ Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration plans to temporarily waive a century-old shipping law requiring cargo to be transported by US-made ships between US ports. This move is part of efforts to curb oil price surges.
￭ US Energy Secretary Granholm stated that despite oil tankers still being trapped in the Strait of Hormuz and expanding US-Israel conflict with Iran, global oil prices are unlikely to reach $200 per barrel.
￭ US medical tech giant Stryker was hit by a cyberattack on Wednesday, causing widespread system outages worldwide. Hackers linked to Iran, calling themselves “Handara,” claimed responsibility, stating they deleted large amounts of data in retaliation for US bombing of an Iranian elementary school.
￭ Last week, US initial unemployment claims totaled 213,000, down 1,000 from the previous week, against an expected 215,000. US new home starts in January increased 7.2%, versus a forecast decline of 4.5%.
￭ Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.11%, marking the second consecutive week of increases.
￭ US 10-year Treasury yields rose as much as 7 basis points to 4.277%, while 2-year yields surged 12.6 basis points to 3.762%.
￭ The US dollar index briefly rose 0.52% to 99.75, with the euro down 0.49% and the yen down 0.31%.
￭ Bitcoin fell as much as 2.02% to $69,221.
￭ Spot gold closed at $5,079.2 per ounce, down 1.87%, with a daily low of $5,055.42. Spot silver closed at $83.844, down 2.21%.
￭ NY crude oil futures rose as much as 11.39%, reaching $97.19 per barrel, closing at $95.73, up 9.72%. Brent crude surged 9.2% to $100.46.
￭ International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its forecast for global oil supply growth this year to 1.1 million barrels per day, down from an earlier estimate of 2.4 million barrels.
￭ Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that air defense systems recently shot down two British-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Russia claims Ukraine used Storm Shadow missiles in attacks on Bryansk, involving UK experts.
￭ Pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 0.61%. UK, France, and Germany stocks fell 0.47%, 0.71%, and 0.21%, respectively.
￭ Trump previously announced plans to visit China at the end of March, meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing. Both sides are preparing for the “Xi-Trump” summit. US Treasury Secretary Yellen will meet China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng in France from Sunday to Monday (15-16).
￭ CCTV reports that an international passenger train from Dandong, China, to Pyongyang, North Korea, arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday evening.
￭ The open-source AI agent OpenClaw, nicknamed “Lobster,” is gaining popularity. JD Cloud announced a free installation event for OpenClaw at JD Group’s Beijing headquarters on Friday noon, with a promotion “Raise a Digital Lobster, Get a Real Lobster.”
￭ Honda announced it will cancel some new model launches and revise its electrification strategy to address slowing North American EV markets, with potential costs and losses up to ¥2.5 trillion (about HKD 123.1 billion).
￭ Japanese fintech PayPay (PAYP) debuted on the NASDAQ on Thursday, closing at $18.16, up 13.5% from the IPO price.

Middle East Tensions

￭ Rising oil prices due to instability in the Middle East, with South Korea set to implement a maximum price cap on petroleum products starting at midnight on the 13th of this month.

Local Highlights

￭ The ADR Hang Seng Index closed at 25,554, down 163 points. Meituan (03690) down 1.4%, AIA (01299) down 1.3%, HKEX (00388) down 1.1%, Tencent (00700) down 0.9%, HSBC (00005) down 0.2%.
￭ Hang Seng night futures closed at 25,467, down 250 points.
￭ ICAC and SFC jointly announced that they will conduct a two-day joint operation starting Tuesday to crack down on insider trading and corruption involving licensed firms, involving two securities firms and one hedge fund, with eight arrests.
￭ Guotai Junan International (01788) disclosed that the SFC and ICAC visited its Hong Kong main offices on Tuesday with search warrants, seizing some documents; an employee not on the board was detained by ICAC.
￭ CITIC Securities (06030) said that the SFC and ICAC visited its Hong Kong subsidiary on Tuesday with search warrants, taking some documents. An employee of the Hong Kong subsidiary was questioned by ICAC.
￭ Cathay Pacific (0293) will increase passenger fuel surcharges by double starting next Wednesday, with long-haul flights rising to HKD 1,164. Hong Kong Express will also adjust fuel surcharges from next Wednesday, with flights from Hong Kong to other regions increasing from HKD 140 to HKD 290, more than doubling.
￭ Chief Executive John Lee expressed heartfelt thanks to the central government for its support in strengthening Hong Kong’s competitive advantages and better integrating into the national development. Various policy bureaus will accelerate the drafting of Hong Kong’s five-year plan, expected to be completed within this year.
￭ Zhao Minzhong, Director of Hong Kong Credit Insurance Bureau, stated that no client issues have been reported regarding the Middle East situation, and there are no plans to increase premiums at this time. Business remains normal.
￭ JPMorgan analysts noted that HSBC and Standard Chartered are the European banks most exposed to Middle East risks, contributing 4% and 12% respectively to their pre-tax profits in the region.
￭ MTR (0066) reported a 6.9% profit decline last year, with a final dividend of HKD 0.89. Capital expenditure and investments from 2026 to 2028 are estimated at about HKD 82.6 billion.
￭ Swire (0019) reported a 32% profit decline last year. Chairman White De Li said that rental declines have narrowed since Q4 last year, but the market remains under pressure due to ample office supply in Hong Kong.
￭ Swire Properties (01972) reported a loss of HKD 1.533 billion last year.
￭ Li Auto (02015) reported a 99.81% decline in net profit in Q4 last year; non-GAAP net profit fell 93.21%.
￭ IFR reports that Legend Biotech, a joint venture of Kingsray (01548), plans to list in Hong Kong this year, raising $300-400 million.
￭ Baidu (09888) announced the launch of the world’s first mobile app “Red Finger Operator” for its AI “Lobster,” allowing users to “raise lobsters” on their phones with simple operations.
￭ Pop Mart (09992) partnered with Sanrio to launch a new Labubu blind box series, available online at 10 PM Thursday. The new product sold out in just 1 minute, with over 30,000 units sold in the Pop Mart Tmall flagship store.
￭ Mao Ji Kui Chung (01716) Chairman Yao Jiahui and Executive Director Lu Jiajun sold 65% of their shares, receiving a takeover offer for full acquisition.
￭ China Merchants Land (00978) reported a full-year loss of RMB 2.201 billion and will not pay a final dividend.
￭ Orient Overseas International (00316) reported a 41.28% profit decline last year, with a final dividend of USD 0.42.
￭ Shaw Brothers Holdings (00953) is expected to report a loss of about RMB 14 million last year.