ByteDance to spend RMB 14bn on NVDA GPUs; AMZN to invest $50bn in U.S. Gov. AI | Daily News Recap

Dec 31 | Dolphin Research Focus

🐬 Macro / Industry

1. Dec PMI printed 50.1% vs. 49.2% prior (+0.9ppt), returning to expansion after four months. Production and new orders both rose above the 50% threshold, with equipment mfg. and consumer goods outperforming, and large enterprises showing stronger sentiment.

Data point to a warming cycle in mfg., with policy backstops and domestic-demand repair taking hold, lifting cyclicals and consumer sentiment. However, SMEs remain soft, the labor market is under pressure, and the recovery is moderate.

2. Overnight property update: from Jan 1, 2026, VAT on individual home sales will be unified as: exempt if held for at least two years; otherwise a 3% levy on the full amount. This removes Tier-1/2 differentiated policies and cuts the prior 5% rate.

The tax cut directly reduces transaction costs in the secondary market, signaling support for housing and turnover, benefiting upgrader demand and late-cycle segments. That said, price trends hinge on household income expectations, so the near-term price-for-volume pattern likely persists, and outcomes depend on execution.

3. The NDRC and Ministry of Finance clarified 2026 measures: equipment upgrades will newly cover old elevators and elderly-care facilities; consumer trade-ins will focus on autos and home appliances. Auto scrappage-and-replacement subsidies will be tied to vehicle price, with NEVs eligible for up to RMB 20,000.

These policies are targeted to spur big-ticket consumption and mfg. capex, directly benefiting autos and appliances.

🐬 Single Stocks

1.$ByteDance(BYTED.NA)

ByteDance plans to spend $14bn in 2026 on NVDA AI chips to expand compute for its AI businesses. In parallel, it is advancing in-house chips and a multi-vendor strategy to hedge supply-chain risk.

2.$NVIDIA(NVDA.US)

NVDA is in advanced talks to acquire Israeli AI start-up AI21 Labs, in a deal valued at up to $3bn. AI21 focuses on LLMs and agent tooling, with its Jamba model known for efficient processing, which would bolster NVDA's software and algorithm stack and strengthen the 'chip + model + ecosystem' flywheel.

The move would help reinforce its lead in AI infrastructure.

3.$Amazon(AMZN.US)

AMZN's AWS announced up to $50bn of investment to build dedicated AI and HPC infrastructure for US government agencies starting in 2026, adding 1.3GW of compute across all classification levels. This tightly aligns AWS with US government and enterprise AI demand, locking in long-dated large orders and lifting upstream chips and servers.

It underscores the national-security tilt of AI infrastructure, with global tech competition extending into government and defense.

🐬 Top Gainers

Mainland A: trading & payment services, copper, airlines - passenger. Top gainers on the day.

HK (PM closed): healthcare IT services, forest products, copper. Sector leaders.

US: seaport operators, precious metals & minerals, commercial and residential mortgage financing. Leaders within the session.

🐬 Watch for Tomorrow

1. Jan 1 New Year: US, A-shares, HK, Southbound and Northbound Stock Connect closed all day. Jan 2: A-shares, Southbound and Northbound Stock Connect closed all day.

Risk disclosure and statement for this note: Dolphin Research Disclaimer and General Disclosure