AppLovin firmly rejects short-seller report; BIDU debuts ERNIE 5.0 | Daily News Recap

0122 ｜Dolphin Research Focus

🐬 Macro / Sector

1. At Davos, Trump announced a framework agreement with NATO Sec.-Gen. Rutte on Greenland and the Arctic, covering mineral access and Arctic defense cooperation. Both sides said Greenland's sovereignty was not touched, and the planned Feb 1 tariff hikes on eight European countries were put on hold.

This temporarily eases U.S.-EU trade frictions and lowers volatility risk for global supply chains and EU/U.S. exporters. However, it is only a framework with no concrete implementation clauses, so long-term geopolitical and trade uncertainty remains.

🐬 Stocks

1.$AppLovin(APP.US)

Capitalwatch accused the company of aiding money laundering and enabling unauthorized downloads (cf. Dolphin Research's take: Applovin: Short Sellers Are Back—How Strong Is the Firepower This Time?). AppLovin issued a statement fully denying the claims, saying any allegation of 'assisting money laundering' or 'products used for unauthorized downloads' is baseless. Near term, this may ease selling pressure and repair sentiment.

2.$POP MART(09992.HK)

On Jan 21, the company repurchased 0.5 mn shares at HK$191.1–194.9, spending HK$96.49 mn. The stock rose nearly 6% on the day.

Intensive buybacks signal management's confidence in valuation, providing a direct lift to the share price and anchoring expectations in the short run. Valuation is depressed; delivery still depends on IP innovation and inventory digestion. Separately, Tencent Video's Weibo account said Xinhua's interview with the CEO will air at 12:00 noon on Fri.

3.$Baidu(BIDU.US)

BIDU officially released the Ernie (Wenxin) 5.0 general-availability version with 2.4 tn parameters, using native unified multimodal modeling. Its multimodal capability ranks in the global first tier across 40+ benchmarks, and the stock rose over 4% on the news.

This is a key step in BIDU's AI strategy. Native multimodal tech creates a differentiated edge and enables broader commercialization across scenarios. Near term, it lifts AI sector sentiment and supports the stock.

4.$Meta Platforms(META.US)

Meta will roll out ads across Threads next week. This is the platform's first major monetization move and completes ad coverage across Meta's core social apps.

It opens more headroom for revenue growth and strengthens the ad monetization mix. Positive for the company's ad revenue outlook.

5.$Apple(AAPL.US)

Media report Apple plans to unveil an AI chatbot codenamed 'Campos' at WWDC in Jun. It will replace the current Siri interface, supporting multi-turn dialogue and content generation.

Deeply integrated across Apple's device ecosystem, it is slated to launch with the new OS in Sep. Parts of the stack reportedly rely on a custom Google model.

🐬 Top Gainers by Sector

A-shares: oil & gas refining and marketing, diversified support services. Plus oil & gas E&P.

HK: industrial gases and sporting goods/other leisure products. Plus building materials.

U.S.: industrial chemicals and tires & rubber. Plus energy equip. & services.

🐬 Watchlist for Tomorrow

1. Intel reports tomorrow morning. Dolphin Research will monitor and publish analysis.

2. U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (flash) and Services PMI (flash). Plus the final 1-yr inflation expectations.

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