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π¨ SOUTH KOREA'S MARKET MELTDOWN! π°π·π
South Korea's KOSPI fell more than 8% within 3 minutes of the market opening. The sell-off was so rapid, triggering a 20-minute market-wide trading halt. On SODEX, $KORU also plunged by as much as 29%.
Why the panic?
Democrats' U.S. midterm victory is fueling fears of tighter AI regulation, which could in turn slow the construction of new data centers and AI development over the near term, much to the detriment of LLM developers including Anthropic and OpenAI (which relies on data centers and computing infrastructure) and newer cloud companies including CoreWeave. With a slowdown in the pace of AI development, AI application companies could purchase fewer chips, which would affect chip manufacturers including $SKHY and $SAMSUNG. A cycle thus forms:
π€ Slower AI expansion β Slower growth in chip demand β Pressure on South Korean tech stocks
Over the longer term, new developments in the AI industry are not stopping, but its next growth phase could face headwinds.
π Follow $KORU's price action on SoDEX:
sodex.com/trade/futures/KORUβ¦
π Are you buying the dip or expecting further declines?
πΊπΈ COULD ASIAN TECH BE THE UNEXPECTED WINNER OF THE U.S. MIDTERMS? π
Democrats have won control of Congress. What does this mean for the global AI race?
π’ Bullish: Growing U.S. opposition to data center expansion could redirect AI infrastructure investment toward Asia.
π΄ Bearish: Tougher China tech restrictions could limit access to advanced U.S. chips.
β‘ Already happening: Oracle reportedly scrapped a $7B AI chip leasing deal with Tencent, highlighting growing restrictions on China's access to computing power.
π What's your trade?
π’ Bullish on Asian AI infrastructure
π΄ Bearish on Chinese tech
βοΈ Mixed β depends on the sector
π Share your take and the Asian tech stocks you're watching!
Chinese AI stocks rallies:
(All prices are by HK market close)
Zhipu finished the day up 10.29%, closing at HK$557.50, CXMT jumped 13.63% to close at CNΒ₯44.09, and MiniMax experienced the most explosive afternoon run, finishing up 16.74% at HK$187.60. This came after the Chinese government announced a massive government buyback push and market defense program that aims to inject liquidity into the Chinese economy, as well as post-U.S. midterm election clarity.
Check more:
sodex.com/trade/futures/CXMTβ¦,
sodex.com/trade/futures/ZHIPβ¦,
sodex.com/trade/futures/MINIβ¦
π¨ AI BOOM: CAN REVENUE KEEP UP WITH SOARING HARDWARE & COMPUTE COSTS? π€
π° As Big Tech continues pouring billions into AI infrastructure, recent earnings from Anthropic and Apple are raising an important question: Is the current pace of AI spending sustainable?
π Anthropic Q3 2026: Compute Costs Outpace Revenue Growth
Anthropic's updated IPO filing reveals:
π Revenue: $16.96B (+46.7% QoQ)
π» Compute & infrastructure costs: $9.86B (+77.5% QoQ)
π Compute costs as a share of revenue: 48% β 58% π Adjusted operating margin: 19% β 15%
β οΈ GAAP operating income: +$974M β -$567M
Despite strong revenue growth, compute expenses are rising significantly faster, putting pressure on profitability.
π Apple Q4 2026: Hardware Inflation Hits Margins
Apple's latest earnings highlight similar cost pressures:
π Revenue: $114.5B (+12% YoY)
π Q4 gross margin: 47.9%
π Next-quarter gross margin guidance: 45β46%
β οΈ Rising memory prices and AI-related infrastructure expenses are expected to weigh on profitability, even as iPhone sales remain strong.
π° Meanwhile, Big Tech Keeps Raising Capital Google, Oracle and Meta are tapping debt markets to fund continued expansion, while Anthropic prepares for its IPO.
π₯ The Bigger Picture AI demand remains strong, but higher memory prices, expensive computing infrastructure and massive financing needs are putting increasing pressure on margins. Can AI companies generate enough revenue and cash flow to justify their growing infrastructure investments? Or will rising hardware costs eventually slow the AI boom?
π What's your outlook on AI stocks and the infrastructure trade? Share your thoughts below! π
AsiaHardTech retweeted
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π¨ AI RACE: A TALE OF TWO MARKETS
πΊπΈ OpenAI Funding Under Pressure
Reportedly cut its fundraising target from $30B to ~$20B at a $1.25T valuation.
WSJ reports only ~$11B in commitments so far.
With Anthropic's IPO approaching, funding challenges could weigh on investor confidence in closed-source AI models.
π¨π³ DeepSeek Raises $149B
Secured RMB 105.5B (~$14.9B) in its second funding round, reaching a post-money valuation of RMB 615.5B (~$86.7B).
Nearly 30 investors participated, led by Tencent and CATL, alongside SMIC, CXMT, vivo, Meituan and others.
State-backed investors contributed 27% of the total.
π Apple Partners with Alibaba
Apple will integrate Alibaba's Qwen AI into Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence for Chinese users.
Developer beta testing begins Nov. 4, with a full rollout planned for December alongside iOS 27.3.
π The AI race is entering a new phase: U.S. funding pressure, China's expanding AI ecosystem, and deeper integration between global tech giants and Chinese AI models.
Unitree's perp price dropped as low as around 9% on SoDEX in 1 day, reversing gains a week ago.
Unitree's quarterly report: (Q3 2026)
Quarterly Revenue: rose 69.93% YoY to 665 million RMB
However,
Quarterly Net profit attributable to shareholders: fell 17.37% to RMB 113 million
Quarterly Net profit excluding non-recurring items: declined 17.42% to RMB 105 million
Quarterly R&D spending: surged 249.58% to RMB 127 million, equivalent to 19.10% of revenue, driven by increasing investment in developing and maintaining embodied AI models
sodex.com/trade/futures/UNITβ¦
π Anthropic Files for IPO! $ANT Heads to Nasdaq and SoDEX (soon)!
Anthropic has officially filed with the SEC, targeting a listing the week of Nov 16, with its roadshow starting the week of Nov 9.
π Key Highlights:
October ARR: Strong growth expected, with updated figures potentially coming next week.
Q2 Adjusted Operating Profit: $2.24B, with a 19% margin.
Free Cash Flow: Positive after stock-based compensation, signaling strong operating leverage.
Liquidity: Over $131.6B in cash and short-term investments, against $141.1B raised since inception.
β‘ Strong capital efficiency and profitability are boosting IPO optimism, though expanding AI compute capacity could weigh on margins.
π Are you bullish on Anthropic's IPO?
π¨ Kimi K3.1 Pro Faces Backlash Over Token Consumption!
Following its launch, users reported unexpected quota depletion and rate limits.
π What went wrong?
Excessive hidden sub-agent calls, runaway output lengths, and bloated context windows caused massive token consumption and compute overload.
π Kimi apologized on Oct. 26, offering users 25% additional usage as compensation.
π€ Despite competitive benchmark scores, real-world efficiency remains a challenge.
AI performance isn't just about benchmarks β it's also about cost and reliability.
π¨ The AI Funding Race Is Heating Up! π°
Big Tech is raising billions to fuel AI expansion:
π΅ Meta: Up to $95B in potential equity financing, including a $35B offering.
π SpaceX: Secured $40B in GPU-backed debt financing.
π€ Anthropic: IPO planned for November, while OpenAI pursues fresh equity funding.
β οΈ Musk warns: Debt markets are closing to AI-only infrastructure players, potentially triggering a wave of neocloud consolidation.
π‘ The takeaway: AI's financing divide is widening. Will smaller cloud providers survive?
IT'S OFFICIAL!
Anthropic just released its IPO prospectus, with its ticker being 'ANT' and to be listed on Nasdaq.
Key Disclosures:
Revenue: Reached $16.3 billion, a massive 14-fold increase from $1.2 billion in H1 last year.
Net Loss: $80.7 billion in H1 2026, up from $13 billion in H1 2025.
Components within net loss:
- Accounting/ Paper Loss: ~$72 billion; the vast majority is a non-cash adjustment driven by the rising fair value of convertible notes as Anthropic's valuation surged.
- Actual Operational Loss: ~$8.7 billion, driven by immense infrastructure costs
Annual ARR Overtime:
- End of 2025: ~$9 billion
-May 2026: ~$47 billion
-July 2026: Over $65 billion, a 7x increase YoY
Claude Code drove the explosive growth.
Anthropic also indicated it has positive free cash flow on an adjusted basis, but it has negative free cash flow on an unadjusted basis due to heavy compute costs.
Finally, Anthropic plans to proceed with its IPO on November 16th.
π¨ Latest AI Updates: Anthropic's IPO & U.S. Restrictions on Chinese AI π€
π₯ 1οΈβ£ Anthropic Eyes $1.5Tβ$2T IPO Valuation
According to the WSJ, Anthropic's draft IPO prospectus reveals:
π H1 2026 net loss exceeded $80.7B, including $72B in accounting charges related to changes in the valuation of convertible notes and other financing instruments, compared with a $13B loss a year earlier.
π Revenue: $16.3B in H1 2026 and $16.8B in Q3.
π° Compute commitments: Over $600B in total, including more than $518B in computing-related agreements over the next decade.
π IPO: Anthropic is reportedly seeking a November listing at a valuation of $1.5Tβ$2T.
πΊπΈ 2οΈβ£ U.S. Tightens Restrictions on Chinese AI
πΉ DeepSeek Ban: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has banned federal civilian agencies from purchasing products and services from DeepSeek and its affiliates, ordering their removal from relevant IT systems. The restrictions also cover third-party products developed using DeepSeek technology, citing potential data security and cybersecurity risks.
πΉ AI Trade Secrets Sanctions: The U.S. has sanctioned five Chinese entities linked to the Google AI trade secrets theft case, including Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, MiraclePlus (ε₯η»©εε), and three affiliated entities.
According to the U.S. State Department, former Google engineer Linwei Ding founded Zhisuan Technology in 2023 and applied to MiraclePlus's incubation program, claiming access to Google's internal AI technology and the ability to replicate its infrastructure. MiraclePlus subsequently provided seed funding in exchange for equity.
π Key Takeaway: Anthropic's reported IPO plans highlight the massive financial commitments behind AI expansion, while new U.S. restrictions underscore escalating technology tensions between Washington and Beijing.
#AI #Anthropic #DeepSeek #IPO #TechNews
Unitree rose around 7% in 24h during midday trading.
Explore more on: sodex.com/wealth/unitree
π AI Race Heats Up!
Moonshot AI unveils Kimi K3.1 Pro, featuring a 1M-token context window and near-frontier performance at just 1/5 the cost of Claude Opus 5.5 on Terminal-Bench 4.0.
π₯ The open vs. closed-source AI race is intensifying!
π
Upcoming Earnings:
Oct 27: $HOOD
Oct 28: $GOOGL, $MSFT
Oct 29: $AMZN, $COIN
Nov 2: $AAPL
Nov 4: $CRCL
Nov 18: Tencent (0700.HK)
Nov 19: $WMT
π Will AI investments translate into stronger earnings? Stay tuned!
Minimax fell around 7% in 24H, and Unitree fell around 5%.
sodex.com/trade/futures/MINIβ¦
sodex.com/trade/futures/UNITβ¦