BABA's Qwen integrates with Amap; Doubao 1.8 boosts LLM performance | Daily News Recap

1218 ｜Dolphin Research Focus:

🐬 Macro/Industry

1. At 21:30 tonight, the U.S. will release the delayed Nov. CPI after the Oct. print was canceled due to the government shutdown. Consensus points to headline CPI edging up to 3.1% YoY from 3.0%, with core CPI steady at 3.0%.Both headline and core are seen rising 0.3% MoM. Markets will focus on services vs. goods price momentum.A hotter-than-expected print would reinforce a hawkish stance and curb 2025 rate-cut hopes; a softer read would support a dovish view.

2) On Dec. 18, Hainan Free Trade Port held its islandwide customs-seal launch event in Haikou, activating facilities at 8 external ports and 10 ‘secondary-line’ ports. Policies of ‘open first line, control second line, free flow within the island’ took effect, expanding zero-tariff categories to 6,600+ items.On day one, zero-tariff imports are expected to exceed RMB 500 mn in value.

🐬 Single Stocks

1) ByteDance

Volcano Engine unveiled Doubao LLM 1.8 at the 2025 Yuan Dongli Conference, featuring stronger multimodal Agent capabilities, a 256K context window, and native API context management, enabling complex multi-step workflows. The extended context suits enterprise document processing and online education.Together with the audio-video model Seedance, it offers an integrated ‘model + tools’ solution to speed GenAI deployment for enterprises.

2)$Alibaba(BABA.US)

Alibaba’s Qwen app integrated its first ecosystem scenario via Amap, leveraging a spatiotemporal engine and 200 mn POIs to shift from ‘text answers’ to ‘service execution’. It can handle traffic-restriction queries, along-the-way routing, and EV charging recommendations, while supporting address extraction from screenshots and visual decision-card generation.This marks a key step in ecosystem coordination, laying the groundwork to onboard Alipay and Taobao next, and potentially reshaping mobile-service interaction around integrated ‘query–decision–execution’ flows.

3)$CATL(03750.HK)

CATL’s Zhongzhou base launched the world’s first mass-production battery PACK line using humanoid embodied-intelligence robots. The robot ‘Xiao Mo’ performs complex connector-insertion tasks with a >99% success rate and a daily throughput 3x that of humans.Developed by ecosystem partner Qianxun Intelligence and equipped with CATL-developed batteries.

4)$Netflix(NFLX.US)

Comcast proposed merging NBCUniversal with Warner Bros. Discovery, valuing its own stake at $81 bn. The combined entity would integrate studios, linear TV, and streaming, with plans to spin off parts of their linear channels, aiming to build a ‘content + streaming’ giant to rival NFLX and DIS.Content–distribution synergies could save several hundred mn dollars annually. A Peacock–HBO Max combination could lift the platform into the global top tier.

5) Dolphin Research on earnings & call Trans

Micron: ‘Micron MU: AI Ignites Bit Demand; Is a New Memory Super-Cycle Starting?’, ‘Micron (Trans): GPM to Keep Improving, Pace to Moderate’, ‘Micron (Analyst Huddle): Cash Prioritized for Capacity; Faster HBM4 Yield Ramp’

🐬 Top Gainers by Sector

A‑shares: Healthcare info services, drug retailers, airports–operators;

HK: Industrial gases, airlines–passenger, airports–operators;

US: E&P, media, integrated oil & gas.

🐬 Watch Tomorrow

1) US 1‑yr inflation expectations (final).

Risk disclosure & disclaimer: Dolphin Research Disclaimer and General Disclosures