This report is from today’s TNC’s Daily Open, our international markets update. TNC Daily Open keeps investors informed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are.
In the last quarter of 2024, Chinese digital giant Alibaba reported a staggering 239% increase in net profit year over year. Though rising retail sales also contributed, CEO Eddie Wu credited the company’s cloud business growth and its triple-digit artificial intelligence expansion over the previous six quarters for the impressive outcome.
Like Alibaba, Amazon serves as both a cloud provider and a merchant. Although the company’s retail division generates most of its income, its cloud computing services also contribute significantly. As a sign that the tech giant is expanding into new economic sectors, Amazon’s quarterly revenue overtook Walmart’s for the first time in late 2024.
However, for now, Walmart is still anticipated to generate the most yearly income worldwide.
What To Note Today
US Markets Pull Down From All-Time Highs
The US markets fell on Thursday. The S&P 500 was down 0.43%, pulling back from recent highs and ending the week lower than it started. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.47%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.01%. Stocks in Asia-Pacific rose on Friday. Alibaba’s stock surged over 3.4%, pushing Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index to its highest level since February 2022. The Nikkei 225 in Japan increased by about 0.2% as consumer prices rose.
Japan’s Persistent Inflation
Inflation in Japan reached its highest level in January 2023, rising to 4% year over year. According to a Reuters survey, core inflation, which does not include the cost of fresh food, increased to 3.2%, exceeding economists’ forecasts of 3.1%. This number has been the highest since June 2023. For 34 consecutive months, headline inflation exceeded the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.
Alibaba’s Stock Rises On Cloud Expansion
Alibaba soared as much as 12% in Hong Kong on Friday after rising 8.1% in the U.S. on Thursday. The Chinese internet giant announced net profits for the December quarter of 48.945 billion yuan ($6.72 billion) on Thursday, a 239% increase over the same period last year. Alibaba’s top line exceeded expectations as well, with its Cloud Intelligence Group seeing a 13% year-over-year increase in sales during the quarter. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Ryan Cohen, the CEO of GameStop, had raised his investment in Alibaba to about $1 billion.
Amazon outperforms Walmart in terms of quarterly revenue.
For the first time, Amazon has overtaken Walmart regarding quarterly revenue. Earlier this month, Amazon said its fourth-quarter revenue of $187.8 billion exceeded Walmart’s $180.5 billion on Thursday. Walmart surpassed oil behemoth Exxon Mobil to become the top revenue generator every quarter, a status it has maintained since 2012.
Keeping The Thames A Secret
According to a person familiar with the situation, private equity company KKR is offering roughly £4 billion ($5 billion) for the troubled Thames Water utility in the United Kingdom. Due to its mounting debt, the water utility company has warned that it would run out of money by March 24. According to the source, KKR’s participation would include a £4 billion management-buyout proposal that would not lead to asset sales or the utility’s dissolution.
Behind The Sell-Off On Thursday
As the biggest retailer and revenue-generating company in the United States, Walmart is a good indicator of consumer health. Investors took notice and sold off shares when the company stated that it anticipated a slowdown in earnings growth this fiscal year. Here are the opinions of analysts regarding Thursday’s market decline.
Bottom Line
Russia has devoted a great deal of effort to disparaging the United States and Ukraine since its invasion three years ago. However, the Kremlin’s hostile posture is softening due to the inauguration of a more accommodative administration under US President Donald Trump, which sparked early negotiations to terminate the conflict in Ukraine and provide a means of escape from the geopolitical and economic cold.
Putin commended Trump for exercising restraint in the face of what he called “hysteria” by European leaders who are upset about being excluded from talks on Ukraine’s future, as tensions between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy erupted into open hostility on Wednesday, with Trump labeling Zelenskyy a “dictator.”
