CATL Q1 Earnings & China GDP Beat Expectations

March Economic Data Release:

• Q1 GDP increased 5% year-over-year (YoY) versus Q4 2025’s 4.5% and expectations of 4.8%
• March Retail Sales YoY 1.7% versus expectation of 2.4%
• Retail Sales year-to-date (YTD) YoY 2.4% versus February’s 2.8% and expectations of 2.5%
• Online Retail Sales YTD YoY 8%
• Online Retail Sales as a percentage of total goods sales 24.8%
• Industrial Production YoY 5.7% versus expectations of 5.3%
• Industrial Production YTD YoY 6.1% versus February’s 6.3% and expectations of 5.8%  
• March Property Investment YTD YoY -11.2% versus February’s -11.1% and expectations of -11.5%
• March Residential Property Sales YTD YoY -18.5% versus -21.8%
• March New Home Prices MoM -0.21% versus February’s -0.28%
• March Used Home Prices MoM -0.24% versus February’s -0.43%

CATL Q1 Earnings Overview

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (nicknamed CATL, which is pronounced like "cattle", and with the Mainland ticker 300750 and the Hong Kong ticker 4750) gained +5.33% in Mainland China and 9% in Hong Kong after reporting better-than-expected Q1 financial results.

• Revenue +52% YoY to RMB 129 billion ($18.65 billion) from RMB 84 billion ($11.6 billion) versus estimate RMB 116 billion
• Net Income +49% YoY to RMB 20.7 billion ($2.99 billion) from RMB 13.9 billion (1.92 billion) versus estimate RMB 17.9 billion

Key News

Asian equities were largely higher on Middle East peace optimism, as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam posted gains of +1% or more. By contrast, Thailand opened up -1.14% post the Songkran Festival.

Hong Kong was driven by growth stocks, as the Hang Seng Tech Index gained +3.67% versus the Hang Seng Inex, which gained +1.72%, as volume is finally picking up, a positive development. CATL’s Q1 results lifted new energy vehicle names as the battery maker gained +5.5%. Hong Kong-listed internet stocks had a strong day, led by Alibaba, which gained +5.6%, which had two large call option trades, as Hong Kong’s most heavily traded stocks by value on yesterday’s news of raising cloud prices and the release of its AI video generator, which is called "Happy Oyster". Mainland investors bought a net $100 million worth of Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares via Southbound Stock Connect.

Tencent gained +3.61%, Hong Kong’s second-most heavily traded by value, and also had two large call option trades. Baidu gained +7.69% on a Bloomberg report, citing Shanghai Securities News, that said Baidu Cloud ranked #1 in new business, totaling RMB 1.25 billion from 25 new project wins. Additionally, Baidu’s open-source text-to-image model, ERNIE-Image, scored the highest amongst peers in the SuperCLUE leaderboard. NetEase gained +5.01% after an annual filing included detailed information on the founder and CEO Ding Lei’s ownership stake at 45.5% of the company. Detailed ownershipm disclosure would contribute to satisfying regulatory requirements for inclusion in Southbound Stock Connect, which would be a strong catalyst. We’ll keep an eye on this!

Autonomous driving technology provider Pony AI gained +10.93% after partner Uber extended its robotaxi deal with Lucid. The IPO of energy storage equipment maker Sigenergy Technology (6656 HK) ripped +103.42% after raising $562 million. Hong Kong-listed IPOs are coming on fast and furious this year!

Mainland-listed technology hardware stocks had a good day in both Hong Kong and Mainland China, as Eoptolink Technology gained +8.15% on reports that it will relist in Hong Kong. Similar to Hong Kong, Mainland China was led by growth stocks, including CATL, technology hardware, and semiconductors, as non-ferrous metals rebounded, while value plays, including banks and oil & gas, lagged.

The National Internet Information Office announced it will crack down on online stock recommendations targeting, including WeChat accounts like Zhang Ge Roll Snowball and Death Brother Real-time. Funny but true!

Last Night's Performance

Country / Index	Ticker	1-Day Change
China (Hong Kong)	HSI Index	1.7%
Hang Seng Tech	HSTECH Index	3.7%
Hong Kong Turnover	HKTurn Index	4.3%
Hong Kong Short Sale Turnover	HKSST Index	15.8%
Short Turnover as a % of Hong Kong Turnover	N/A	17.1%
Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions)	N/A	548.03
China (Shanghai)	SHCOMP Index	0.7%
China (Shenzhen)	SZCOMP Index	1.8%
China (STAR Board)	Star50 Index	1.1%
Mainland Turnover	.chturn Index	-3.1%
Japan	NKY Index	2.4%
India	SENSEX Index	-0.2%
Indonesia	JCI Index	0%
Malaysia	FBMKLCI Index	0.4%
Pakistan	KSE100 Index	0.9%
Philippines	PCOMP Index	0%
South Korea	KOSPI Index	2.2%
Taiwan	TWSE Index	1.1%
Thailand	SET Index	-1.1%
Singapore	STI Index	-0.3%
Australia	AS51 Index	-0.3%
Vietnam	VNINDEX Index	1.1%

Indicator	Hong Kong	Mainland China
Today's Volume % of 1-Year Average	100	117
Advancing Stocks	335	3943
Declining Stocks	163	1089
Outperforming Factors	Growth, Large Caps, Liquidity	Momentum, Liquidity, Growth
Underperforming Factors		Low Volatility, Value, Dividend Yield
Top Sectors	Discretionary, Communication, Tech	Communication, Materials, Tech
Bottom Sectors	Staples	Healthcare, Utilities, Staples
Top Subsectors	Electrical Equipment, Semis, Tech Hardware	Motorcycle, Internet, Communication Equipment
Bottom Subsectors	Construction Materials, Food/Beverage, REITs	Construction Machinery, Marine, Oil/Gas
Southbound Connect Buys	HK Tracker ETF (Very Large), Alibaba (Large), CNOOC (Moderate), Pop Mart, Xunce (Small)
Southbound Connect Sells	Xiaomi (Large), Tencent (Moderate)

MSCI China All Shares Index	# of Stocks	Average 1-Day Change (%)
Hong Kong Listed	164	2.74
Communication Services	11	4
Consumer Discretionary	28	4.33
Consumer Staples	12	-0.14
Energy	6	0.69
Financials	25	0.74
Health Care	16	1.06
Industrials	19	1.06
Information Technology	15	3.74
Materials	14	1.24
Real Estate	1	1.66
Utilities	6	0.04
Mainland China Listed	11	1.09
Communication Services	11	2.23
Consumer Discretionary	26	1.05
Consumer Staples	18	-0.13
Energy	11	-0.1
Financials	64	-0.07
Health Care	29	-0.78
Industrials	60	1.67
Information Technology	113	2.05
Materials	58	2.18

US & Hong Kong Dually Listed	Ticker	1-Day Change (%)
Tencent HK	700 HK Equity	3.6
Alibaba HK	9988 HK Equity	5.6
JD.com HK	9618 HK Equity	2.6
NetEase HK	9999 HK Equity	5
Yum China HK	9987 HK Equity	1.9
Baozun HK	9991 HK Equity	4.7
Baidu HK	9888 HK Equity	7.7
Autohome HK	2518 HK Equity	0.7
Bilibili HK	9626 HK Equity	2.8
Trip.com HK	9961 HK Equity	4.8
EDU HK	9901 HK Equity	6.7
Xpeng HK	9868 HK Equity	3.5
Weibo HK	9898 HK Equity	3.1
Li Auto HK	2015 HK Equity	1
Nio Auto HK	9866 HK Equity	2.2
Zhihu HK	2390 HK Equity	5.9
KE HK	2423 HK Equity	2
Tencent Music Entertainment HK	1698 HK Equity	3.2
Meituan HK	3690 HK Equity	2.8

Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value	1-Day Change (%)
ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD	5.6
TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD	3.6
POP MART INTERNATIONAL GROUP	1.2
YANGTZE OPTICAL FIBRE AND-H	-5
SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURI-H	2.3
CNOOC LTD-H	-1.4
AIA GROUP LTD	-3.6
XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B	0.1
MEITUAN-CLASS B	2.8
JD.COM INC-CLASS A	2.6

Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value	1-Day Change (%)
CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHN-A	0
ZHONGJI INNOLIGHT CO LTD-A	0.9
EOPTOLINK TECHNOLOGY INC L-A	-4.4
SUZHOU TFC OPTICAL COMMUNI-A	-4.4
BIWIN STORAGE TECHNOLOGY C-A	0.5
VICTORY GIANT TECHNOLOGY -A	-4.1
LUXSHARE PRECISION INDUSTR-A	2.8
SUZHOU DONGSHAN PRECISION-A	-0.1
GIGADEVICE SEMICONDUCTO-CL A	4.6
VERISILICON MICROELECTRONI-A	-3.8

Last Night's Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields

• CNY per USD 6.82 versus 6.82 yesterday
• CNY per EUR 8.03 versus 8.04 yesterday
• Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.78% versus 1.78% yesterday
• Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.88% versus 1.88% yesterday
• Copper Price +1.57%
• Steel Price +0.16%