Rozita Turut/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I've initiated coverage on MIXUE Group ( MXUBY ) (2097.HK) with a "Hold" rating. The above-consensus FY25 financials and underwhelming FY2026 prospects support my "Neutral" stance. Corporate Overview MXUBY is described by SA News as "the world's largest restaurant chain" selling "value‑oriented drinks." Historical Milestones IPO Prospectus Product Sna...
Rozita Turut/iStock Editorial via Getty Images I've initiated coverage on MIXUE Group ( MXUBY ) (2097.HK) with a "Hold" rating. The above-consensus FY25 financials and underwhelming FY2026 prospects support my "Neutral" stance. Corporate Overview MXUBY is described by SA News as "the world's largest restaurant chain" selling "value‑oriented drinks." Historical Milestones IPO Prospectus Product Snapshot Investor Slides As of the end of 2025, Mainland China represented 93% of the firm's 60k outlets, according to its March 24 results release . Also, MXUBY indicated in the earnings disclosure that "we primarily employ a franchise model." It ran less than 40 company-owned shops. The enterprise generated 94%, 4%, and 2% of FY25 turnover from the provision of supplies, machinery, and franchisee-related solutions, respectively. Full-Year Performance Topped Expectations MXUBY's topline was 35% higher at CNY 33.6 billion last year. Its bottom line of 5,887 million during the same period implied a 33% surge. I'm impressed that both of these metrics beat the S&P Capital IQ consensus by +1.9%. In my view, footprint expansion and fixed-cost absorption were the main contributors to its solid showing. It rolled out around 13k locations for '25. The sell-side was anticipating slower net additions of just +11k (source: S&P Capital IQ). I think the firm's network got bigger because of organic growth and M&A. MXUBY bought over an alcoholic beverage brand in late 2025, which added more than 1,300 units. The coffee-focused "Lucky Cup" business went from 2023's slightly below 3,000 storefronts to reach the 10k mark before the prior year ended. MXUBY is still in the early innings of penetrating its addressable market. At the analyst meeting (S&P Capital IQ transcript), it stressed that "we have only entered 6,000 of over 30,000 townships (for China) nationwide." Separately, the company's "Selling, General & Administrative" or "SG&A" expenses-to-sales dipped -30bps to 9.6% for FY25. My take...
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans "the gravest crime against humanity" and calling for reparations. (Image credit: Pamela Smith)
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans "the gravest crime against humanity" and calling for reparations. (Image credit: Pamela Smith)
The Philippines suspended its wholesale electricity spot market on Thursday, the latest in a series of emergency measures meant to address energy supply risks and price volatility triggered by the Middle East conflict. The Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the temporary suspension of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, and will in the meantime adopt a new pricing mechanism, Chairman and CEO ...
The Philippines suspended its wholesale electricity spot market on Thursday, the latest in a series of emergency measures meant to address energy supply risks and price volatility triggered by the Middle East conflict. The Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the temporary suspension of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, and will in the meantime adopt a new pricing mechanism, Chairman and CEO Francis Saturnino Juan said in a statement. The market will be suspended until conditions are suitable to resume normal operations. The Philippines, which imports nearly all of its fuel requirements, on Tuesday declared a national energy emergency as the conflict in the Middle East threatens supplies. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he issued the order as a “precautionary tool” to give his government more options to address the emergency. “The temporary suspension of the WESM and the implementation of a modified administered pricing mechanism are necessary measures to cushion the impact of volatile fuel prices and safeguard the integrity of our power system,” Juan said. WESM is a centralized trading venue for power generators and distributors, with prices determined by real-time demand and supply. While the market is suspended, the power system will prioritize optimal dispatch of available renewable energy resources and conserve critical fuel inventories, the ERC said. The new price mechanism will be finalized by April 1. The modified framework will introduce a technology-specific pricing approach to better reflect prevailing fuel costs and ensure power plants continue to operate. Coal plants may be paid at a fixed rate, while natural gas plants will be based on contracted prices. Meanwhile, renewable energy sources such as hydro and geothermal will be under administered pricing with preferential dispatch, while oil-based plants will be based on administered prices when dispatched or contracted. The following was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images By Frank Downing, Director of Research, AI and Cloud Spending On AI Infrastructure Has Exploded Demand for accelerated compute has exploded in the three years since the launch of ChatGPT. Nvidia’s ( NVDA ) annual revenue has soared nearly 8-fold, from $27 billion in 2022 to $216 billion in 2025, 1 with consensus estimates up another 62% to $350 billion in 2026. 2 ...
imaginima/iStock via Getty Images By Frank Downing, Director of Research, AI and Cloud Spending On AI Infrastructure Has Exploded Demand for accelerated compute has exploded in the three years since the launch of ChatGPT. Nvidia’s ( NVDA ) annual revenue has soared nearly 8-fold, from $27 billion in 2022 to $216 billion in 2025, 1 with consensus estimates up another 62% to $350 billion in 2026. 2 Global growth in data center systems investment - the compute, networking, and storage hardware - has accelerated from 5% at an annual rate in the ten years ended 2022 to 30% in the last three years, and is likely to increase more than 30% to $653 billion in 2026. 3 Note: “CAGR” = Compound Annual Growth Rate. Source: ARK Investment Management LLC, 2026, based on data from Gartner 2026 and TheNextPlatform 2025. For informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular security. ARK’s research suggests that accelerated computing - powered by graphic processing units (GPUs) and AI application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), as opposed to general purpose central processing units (CPUs) - now dominates server investment, representing 86% of compute server sales, as shown below. Source: ARK Investment Management LLC, 2026, based on data from TheNextPlatform 2025 and company filings. In addition to those sources, certain information presented may be the result of ARK’s internal analyses, which draw on various additional sources of information. For informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular security. Plummeting Costs Are Fueling Adoption Supercharging spending on the accelerated compute infrastructure necessary to run AI models are the growing adoption of generative AI for both consumer and business use cases and the demand to train ever-smarter foundation models in the quest for “superintelligence.” 4 Rapidly f...