CATL's new battery charges to 100% in 6 min; BABA unveils AI digital human 'Qwen Dimples' | Daily News Recap

0422 ｜Dolphin Focus

🐬 Macro / Sector

1. Trump said the U.S. would extend the ceasefire given 'serious divisions' inside Iran, until Tehran presents a unified position and completes talks. This should temporarily ease Middle East tensions and help stabilize oil prices and risk assets. However, core U.S.-Iran differences remain, Iran’s stance is still tough, and negotiations carry high uncertainty, so geopolitical risks have not been fully removed.

🐬 Single Stocks

1.$CATL(03750.HK)

CATL unveiled its 3rd-gen Shenxing ultra-fast charging battery at its 'Super Tech Day', delivering effective 10C and peak 15C charging. From 10% to 98% SOC takes just 6 minutes 27 seconds, and 10% to 35% takes only 1 minute, alongside the 3rd-gen Kirin battery and other new products. The breakthroughs ease charging bottlenecks while balancing fast charge and cycle life, reinforcing the industry’s tech moat and CATL’s leadership. They should also accelerate NEV charging infrastructure upgrades, benefiting the battery supply chain and boosting OEM competitiveness.

2.$BIDU-SW(09888.HK) $Baidu(BIDU.US)

BIDU announced the 'Nebula Initiative' at its alliance conference, opening the Orion AI engine to the industry and setting three pillars: deepen AI capabilities, broaden the AI ecosystem, and expand overseas growth. It also rolled out overseas app ads and a $100 mn overseas support fund, with Xiaomi and Honor among the early partners. This should speed AI adoption, strengthen ecosystem collaboration, and cement BIDU’s AI infrastructure role, helping developers and enterprises cut costs and raise efficiency, supporting longer-term AI monetization and ecosystem value.

3.$BABA-W(09988.HK)

Alibaba launched the Qwen AI digital avatar 'Qwen Dimples' as its unified AI persona, featuring a female design and positioning as both 'empathetic and effective'. Powered by Alibaba’s commerce ecosystem, users can complete end-to-end services by conversation—ordering food, buying tickets, hailing rides, booking hotels—covering the full loop from intent to fulfillment. It will gradually roll into Taobao, Fliggy, Amap, and other apps, integrating services to lift UX and engagement, and driving Qwen from general capability to applied scenarios to accelerate AI monetization.

4.$SERES(09927.HK)

The Aito M6, a mid-to-large five-seat smart SUV, will be officially launched at 19:00 on Apr. 22, with 896-line dual-path image-grade LiDAR across the lineup. Preorders have topped 100,000; Shangjie Z7/Z7T will launch in parallel, and Zhijie V9 preorders open. With precise positioning plus Huawei’s intelligent driving and HarmonyOS cockpit, the M6 should further lift Harmony Intelligent Mobility sales and share, benefiting Huawei’s auto supply chain and ADAS-related names.

5.$Meta Platforms(META.US)

Meta broke ground on a $1 bn data center in Tulsa, boosting AI compute infrastructure. The site will support LLM training and AI expansion, a tailwind for global compute and server supply chains, and underscores the ongoing arms race in AI compute among tech giants.

6. New Oriental reports earnings tonight.

🐬 Top Sectors

A-shares: Electronic Equipment & Services; Asset Mgmt & Custody Banks; Communication Equipment. HK: Packaging; Communication Equipment; Security & Alarm Services. US: Marine Ports - Operators; Managed Care; Industrial Chemicals.

🐬 Watch Tomorrow

1. Tesla, GoerTek to report. 2. US Apr. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (flash); US Apr. S&P Global Services PMI (flash).

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