On October 8th, Financial Association News (edited by Shi Zhengcheng) Monday local time, due to the generally lackluster performance of American technology weights, the s&p 500 index saw its opening decline continuously widen, once again missing the opportunity to break through the historical high of 5767 points.

Of course, at this critical moment, overseas investors have an additional consideration when making decisions - why allocate positions to US technology weights at historical highs when Chinese assets are so prominent?

Interestingly, while American technology giants plummeted on Monday, Alibaba, baidu, and other leading Chinese concept stocks all experienced a situation of funds 'reversing course', after initial selling pressure, these stocks quickly attracted funds rushing in.

(Alibaba intraday chart, source: Wind)

Apple downgraded - Is the iPhone's Expectation "Too High"?

Global investment bank Jefferies Financial recently downgraded the rating of the 'global stock king' Apple Inc. in a latest report, citing that the current market has "too high" expectations for the iPhone.

Analyst Edison Lee wrote in the research report: "In the long term, we like Apple's AI capabilities, as Apple is the only company that can provide low-cost, personalized AI services using proprietary data as a software and hardware integrated supplier. However, the smartphone hardware needs to be redesigned in order to provide 'serious AI capabilities' in 2026/2027, so the high expectations for the iPhone 16/17 are still premature."

Therefore, Lee downgraded Apple's rating from 'buy' to 'hold' and set a target price of $205. As of the time of writing, Apple fell more than 2% on Monday, with the latest quote at $221.69.

(Apple's daily chart, Source: TradingView)

Lee stated that due to the 'lack of substantial new features and limited artificial intelligence coverage,' the expected 5%-10% growth in iPhone sales 'may not be achievable.' Only a 2.5% growth may be seen within the iPhone 16 period.

Amazon also faced a downgrade.

Coincidentally, Wells Fargo & Co. also 'downgraded' another American technology giant, Amazon, from 'buy' to 'hold' on Monday.

Wells Fargo's report pointed out that the long-term story of Amazon is still promising, but the next few quarters may face multiple pressures. Just as Amazon's management themselves stated - profit expansion will not be linear. Both the Wells Fargo analysis team and the market consensus may be overly optimistic in speculating on Amazon's profit expansion trend.

Wells Fargo believes that Amazon will mainly face headwinds in several business data: investments in the low-orbit satellite project Kuiper Systems, pressure from third-party merchant logistics costs (FBA fees), and a weakening in advertising operating income. The market may be more prepared for the pressure on fourth-quarter revenues, and profit expansion in the first half of 2025 may be limited.

Macquarie: Upgrading Alibaba and PDD Holdings ratings, adding JD.com and Didi to the 'Love Stocks' list

Macquarie's securities research department released the latest research report on Monday, making significant adjustments to the Chinese internet stocks it covers.

The institution stated that China's local services, e-commerce, and tourism are key industries offering 'quality at discount'. The institution reiterated its 'outperform large cap' rating for JD and Didi Chuxing, ranking them as top trading choices in the US stock market.

Macquarie also upgraded the ratings of Alibaba's US and Hong Kong stocks, as well as PDD Holdings, from 'neutral' to 'outperform large cap'.

Apart from Macquarie, several international investment banks also made significant moves related to Chinese assets on Monday. For example, Goldman Sachs China's chief stock strategist Liu Jinjin issued a report titled 'Not buying Chinese stocks now, when?'. The core viewpoint is clear from the title.

Of course, there were also the latest developments of foreign giants 'laying out Chinese assets' on Monday. According to documents disclosed by the Hong Kong Exchange on Monday, Swiss Pictet Asset Management (Hong Kong) rapidly increased its 'good warehouse' position in China Construction Bank on 3rd October, from 0.01% to a sudden surge of 8.32%, involving over 20 billion shares. According to the disclosure documents, Pictet Asset Management became a holder of 'capital derivative instruments', triggering the disclosure rules of the Hong Kong Exchange.

(Source: Hong Kong Exchange)

According to the disclosure documents, Pictet has the right to buy 20 billion shares of China Construction Bank's H shares in Hong Kong, with an average price of HK$6.06 per share for this transaction. In other words, if Pictet fully exercises its rights, the total transaction size will exceed 120 billion Hong Kong dollars. ICBC has issued 240.4 billion H shares in Hong Kong and has 9.59 billion A shares, meaning this single transaction potentially involves 8% of the entire ICBC shareholding.

According to Pictet's official website, as of the end of June this year, Pictet's assets under management reached $282 billion.

Coincidentally, Baidu's official social media account also released an interpretation on the same day, October 3rd. Shaniel Ramjee, the London-based Co-Head of Cross-Asset at the company, stated in a short video that if China's 'combination punch' policy marks a turning point for corporate profits, the increase in holdings of Chinese assets will continue.

(Source: X)