Autohome founder Li Xiang remembers childhood accident
In this final edition of my weekly microblog column from the Year of the Snake, I thought I’d step back from all the promotional hype I usually write about and look at the more ordinary and often revealing moments from some of China’s top tech executives. This week we look at some of the quieter and more everyday thoughts from top officials at newly listed Autohome (NYSE: ATHM), educational services firm New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) and professional networking site LinkedIn (Nasdaq: LNKD). Such personal moments not only offer insight to some of these top executives and how they think, but also seem like an appropriate way to end the lunar year as everyone heads home for family reunions. Read Full Post…
I thought I would end the week with 2 interesting auto stories, one spotlighting legal speed bumps in the market and the other highlighting big potential in the car rental industry. The first case has US electric car maker Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) officially driving into China despite its failure to resolve a trademark dispute, meaning it has no official Chinese name as it enters the market. The second case has leading online travel agent Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) tying up with a car rental start-up, representing its latest move into a related area with strong growth potential. Read Full Post…
US-listed Chinese stocks neared the end of 2013 with a wild ride last week, as 3 major developments provided a glimpse of the bumpy road that lies ahead in the New Year. That performance points to a strong start for new IPOs at the start of 2014, even though momentum could quickly flag due to the highly volatile and unpredictable nature of these stocks. Read Full Post…
After gobbling up billions of dollars worth of debt from Chinese Internet companies over the last year, investors may finally be starting to get full on the bond feast with word that online real estate services firm E-House (NYSE: EJ) has sharply trimmed its plan for a new major offering. One can interpret this unexpected twist in a number of ways, which I’ll explain shortly. But from my perspective the development looks like one of the first signs that a resurgence of interest in US-listed Chinese tech firms over the last few months could quickly dim in the first half of 2014 as investors turn their attention to other companies. Read Full Post…
Newly listed car website Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) got an early Christmas present, as its shares soared in their trading debut in what’s likely to be the final IPO by a Chinese firm on Wall Street this year. Meantime in other IPO news, online literature company Shanda Cloudary could be moving closer to its long-delayed listing with talk that its longtime CEO has resigned. These 2 news bits cap a bumpy year for Chinese IPOs in New York, where new offerings were nearly non-existent for most of 2013 before a sudden flurry of activity in the last 2 months. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Wanda Group‘s Wang Jianlin To Enter E-Commerce (Chinese article)
Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) Yihaodian Consolidates Under Shanghai FTZ Company (English article)
An interesting picture is emerging from the mini-rush of Chinese IPOs now hitting the market, as reflected by word that online car seller Autohome has cut the size of its upcoming New York offering. On the one hand, the 4 companies to launch IPOs in the last month have all seen their shares perform quite well since their trading debuts. But at the same time, the size of the offerings has been rapidly shrinking, and all have seen their trading volumes drop dramatically since their first trading days. That seems to indicate the market is filled with speculators right now, and there’s much less longer-term interest in the companies once their shares start trading. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 30-December 2. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Autohome Lowers Fund-Raising Target, Sets Price Range For New York IPO (English article)
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), LDK (NYSE: LDK) Dispute To Get Re-Hearing (PRNewswire)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Joint Venture with Yabang Group (PRNewswire)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Eyes $800 Mln In India Revenue Next Year (English article)
3 China Telcos To Spend 100 Bln Yuan On 4G Networks In 2014 (Chinese article)
A couple of items from China’s booming auto market are shining a spotlight on the sector’s big potential and also the looming risk of a government-led slowdown in a bid to control the nation’s worsening air quality. In the former category, online information provider Autohome has just made its first public filing for a New York IPO, becoming the latest in a sudden burst of tech firms to raise money outside China. The second news bit looks a bit more ominous, with media reporting the city of Beijing is sharply cutting its quota for new car sales in a bid to improve local air quality. That could be the first sign of a looming slowdown for national auto sales if other cities follow suit, which could easily happen. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 6. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Beijing Slashes Car Sales Quota In Anti-Pollution Drive (English article)
Chinese Auto Website Autohome Files For $120 Mln IPO (English article)
Socialgist Confirms New Partnership With Renren (NYSE: RENN) (PRNewswire)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Updates To Q3 Guidance (PRNewswire)
