8:01 AM | Trump to Start Selling Immigrant Gold Cards at $5 Million; Yu Minhong Says Oriental Select May Collaborate with Pangdailai; Cook Didn't Take Over as Apple's Chairman
Listing in Progress
Mixue Bingcheng
As of 9:00 on February 26, the public offering subscription of Mixue Bingcheng has ended. The financing subscription multiple has reached 5,125 times, and the subscription amount has reached HK$1.77 trillion, becoming a phenomenal IPO. The broker with the most financing subscriptions is Futu Securities, close to HK$1.06 trillion, accounting for 59%. Followed by Phillip Securities, reaching HK$306 billion, accounting for 17%. CITIC Securities, Tiger Brokers, etc. have also exceeded HK$100 billion. (Securities Times)
TOP3 Big News
Trump to Start Selling Immigration Gold Card, Priced at $5 Million
According to a report by Cai Lian She on February 26, US President Donald Trump stated that he will open a new path for foreigners who invest at least $5 million in the country's projects to obtain residency and eventually citizenship. Trump said that the so-called "Gold Card" program will be launched in about two weeks. He also claimed that he does not think the administration needs Congress' approval for this. "We will start selling the Gold Card," Trump said when signing an executive order accompanied by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday. "We will price this card at around $5 million, and it will have the same treatment as a green card," he added. Lutnick said that this move may replace the existing EB-5 visa, and he disparaged the project as "utter nonsense." (Cai Lian She)
Person Close to Oriental Select: Yu Minhong Says Oriental Select May Collaborate with Pangdailai
On February 26, it was reported that Yu Donglai, the founder of Pangdailai, Yu Minhong, the founder of New Oriental, and Zhang Wenzhong, the founder of Wumart Group, appeared in Xuchang Pangdailai Angel City on the evening of the 25th to inspect the commercial format. Yu Minhong stated that in the future, Oriental Select and Pangdailai may cooperate, and the product quality of Oriental Select should be benchmarked against that of Pangdailai. In response, a person close to Oriental Select responded that Yu Minhong did indeed say that there might be a collaboration with Pangdailai. He said this during an interview with local media in Henan when he participated in an educational event in Zhengzhou, Henan on February 25. A person from Pangdailai said that they have not received relevant notifications at present. Whether there will be a cooperation needs further verification and is subject to the official disclosure. (China Securities Journal)
Cook Didn't Take Over as Apple's Chairman
On February 25 local time, Apple Inc. held its annual general meeting of shareholders. The meeting reviewed several proposals including executive compensation and the re-election of the board of directors. At this general meeting of shareholders, Apple disclosed in the proxy statement the list of eight director candidates nominated by the board of directors, with Cook among them, who will succeed to the new board seats, but not as the chairman.
In addition to matters related to the board of directors, shareholders also approved the company's executive compensation plan for 2024. Cook's total compensation for 2024 is $74.61 million (including salary, stocks and bonuses), an increase of 16% compared to 2023. Cook's income includes a $3 million base salary, a $58.09 million stock award, a $12 million performance-based bonus, and $1.52 million in other compensation, which includes life insurance premiums, security expenses, and personal air travel expenses, etc. (Zhwei Technology)
Big Companies/Big Events
Starbucks Responds to Rumors of Intended Acquirers for Partial Equity in Its China Business
On February 25, it was reported that private equity firms such as KKR, Fountainvest Partners, and PAG are interested in acquiring equity in Starbucks' China business. Additionally, sources revealed that Chinese companies including China Resources Group and Meituan are also considered potential buyers. Starbucks Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Rachel Ruggeri is expected to visit China with other company executives in the coming weeks for equity sale negotiations. Starbucks' global spokesperson declined to confirm the market rumors and responded to the matter with a statement made by Starbucks' global CEO Brian Niccol in the earnings call for the first quarter of 2025, saying, "I see the vitality of this market and the opportunities in the future. I also see some adjustments that can be made in the short term to enhance our business while continuing to explore strategic partnerships in order to achieve continuous growth in China." (Jiemian News)
The price of pure gold dropped nearly 10 yuan overnight
On February 26, the price of pure gold jewelry of major gold brands dropped. The price of pure gold of brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, and Lukfook Jewellery all dropped to 886 yuan per gram on that day, while the price on February 25 was basically 895 yuan per gram. On February 25, the international gold price plunged significantly. As of 07:00 on February 26, the London gold once fell below $2,900 per ounce, with a maximum decline of about 2%; COMEX gold lost the $2,930 per ounce mark, with a decline of 1.17%, and closed at $2,928.6 per ounce. (Beijing Business Today)
Unitree Robotics Issues Reminder: There Are Many False Messages in the Market, and There Are No Intermediate Shareholders or Intermediate Companies
36Kr learned that the official Weibo of Unitree Robotics issued an important reminder: All new shares of Unitree Robotics or the old shares of shareholders are directly communicated and managed by the financing director of Unitree Robotics through the company's email. There are no intermediaries, intermediate shareholders, or intermediate companies. Currently, there are many false messages in the market, almost all of which are false. Please avoid being deceived.
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results, and most large technology stocks strengthened
36Kr learned that as of the close on February 26, the three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.43%, the S&P 500 Index rose by 0.01%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 0.26%. Most large technology stocks strengthened. NVIDIA rose by more than 3%, Meta and Intel rose by more than 2%, Netflix rose by more than 1%, and Amazon and Microsoft rose slightly. Tesla fell by nearly 4%, Apple fell by more than 2%, and Google fell by more than 1%. Popular Chinese concept stocks generally rose. XPeng Motors rose by more than 14%, 36Kr rose by more than 12%, NIO and Li Auto rose by more than 10%, Tiger Brokers and Futu Holdings rose by more than 9%, JD.com rose by more than 6%, Alibaba rose by more than 3%, Tencent Music and NetEase rose by more than 1%.
China Unicom: Optimized and upgraded the DeepSeek series models, saving an average of 30% in inference computing power
36Kr has learned that China Unicom recently announced that after open-sourcing the Yuanjing "Adaptive Slow Thinking" thought chain large model in January, it has also carried out an "Adaptive Slow Thinking" optimization and upgrade for the DeepSeek series models. On average, it can save approximately 30% of the inference computing power and has now been open-sourced. This is also the first work in the industry to perform an "Adaptive Slow Thinking" optimization and upgrade on the DeepSeek series thought chain models.
Lei Jun: We Are 90% Confident to Achieve the Annual Sales Target of 10,000 Units for Xiaomi SU7 Ultra
36Kr learned that Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi, posted on Weibo saying: The original intention of Xiaomi SU7 Ultra is to create a new luxury car for this era. Our goal is to have performance comparable to Porsche, technology closely following Tesla, and luxury comparable to BBA. The Ultra has a strong product strength, and our team is full of confidence. We are 90% confident to achieve the annual sales target of 10,000 units.
Several Automakers Respond to Tesla FSD Entering China
On February 25, Tesla's FSD assisted driving feature has officially been launched in China. Previously, this feature was only available in North America. On the evening of February 25, He Xiaopeng, the chairman of Xiaopeng Motors, posted: "I heard that Tesla FSD has started to be gradually pushed in China today. Warmly welcome. The entire intelligent driving industry will have more interesting exchanges and mutual promotions."
On February 26, Chen Zhuo, the president of Avita Technology, posted: "I'm very glad to see the information that Tesla is updating the software to deploy FSD in China. Tesla is in the first echelon of global intelligent driving, and Avita has also been on the road of super intelligent driving, moving forward without hesitation. Only through strong collisions can we continuously improve. I hope to have the opportunity to exchange experiences, learn from each other, and jointly promote the development of intelligent driving and the popularization of intelligent driving." (Sina Technology)
China Galaxy Securities, CICC: Have Not Received Any Written or Oral Information Regarding a Merger
36Kr has learned that China Galaxy Securities has issued an announcement, noting that there are market rumors that the company will merge with CICC, and now it is making a clarification. As of the date of this announcement, the company has not received any written or oral information regarding the above rumors from government departments, regulatory agencies, or the company's controlling shareholder or actual controller. After the company confirmed with its controlling shareholder, China Galaxy Financial Holdings Co., Ltd., and its actual controller, Central Huijin Investment Ltd., the controlling shareholder and actual controller do not have any plans for the matters mentioned in the above rumors or other major matters involving the company that should be disclosed but have not been disclosed, and the company also has no information that should be disclosed but has not been disclosed.
At the same time, 36Kr has learned that CICC has announced that it has noted market rumors that the company will merge with China Galaxy Securities Co., Ltd., and now it is making a clarification. After verification, the company has not received any written or oral information regarding the above rumors from government departments, regulatory agencies, or the company's shareholders. The controlling shareholder does not have any plans for the matters mentioned in the above rumors or other major matters involving the company that should be disclosed but have not been disclosed.
VOYAH Will Launch an AI Voice Dialogue System
36Kr has learned that after VOYAH Zhiyin became the first model in the industry to integrate DeepSeek capabilities, recently, there is another news from VOYAH that its self-developed AI voice dialogue system will be installed in vehicles in the first half of the year. The vehicle control response speed is less than 1 second, and the wake-up recognition rate exceeds 98%. In the second half of the year, VOYAH's models will also undergo a large-scale OTA update as a whole, and the new version will further strengthen the vehicle AI functions.
The Hong Kong Stock Market Has a Complete Big Boom
On the afternoon of February 26, the Hong Kong stock market continued to rise. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closed up 3.27%; the Hang Seng TECH Index rose 4.47%, breaking through 6000 points during the session. The securities sector led the gains, with China International Capital Corporation rising more than 19%, China Galaxy Securities rising more than 17%, and Guotai Junan International rising more than 10%; Nayuki rose more than 33%, Meituan rose more than 9%, and JD.com rose more than 8%.
In terms of news, Paul Chan Mo-po, the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, presented the government's budget for the fiscal year 2025 - 2026. Paul Chan Mo-po emphasized the need to grasp the strategic positioning of "three centers and one highland" and the advantages of "One Country, Two Systems" to promote the faster and better development of Hong Kong's economy. Last year, Hong Kong ranked among the top three international financial centers and one of the top four new share markets in the world. (e Company)
Tesla's Renewed Model Y Officially Starts Delivery in the Chinese Market
Tesla's Renewed Model Y officially started delivery in the Chinese market on February 26. The vehicle has received upgrades in terms of appearance, cockpit, and range, and the product strength in safety and intelligence has been further enhanced. On February 18, the Renewed Model Y officially started mass production at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory, and the first batch of off-line models is equipped with a new Glacier Blue car paint. (Sina Technology)
Humanoid Robot Daily Rental: 15,000 Yuan with High Demand and Short Supply
According to the National Business Daily, since the beginning of 2025, the popularity of robots has remained high, and many businesses have quickly sensed the business opportunities. On social media platforms, shopping platforms, and second-hand platforms, many robot rental stores have marked the words "Rent the Same Type of Humanoid Robot as in the Spring Festival Gala" on their sales pages. In the second-hand rental market, Unitree robots are extremely popular, and a large number of Unitree robot rental merchants have emerged on social and second-hand platforms. The daily rental price for a single robot ranges from 5,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan, and the schedule is tight.
It is learned from many merchants on various platforms that the daily rental price of a single Unitree G1 robot ranges from 5,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan per day. This price usually includes the cost of local merchants transporting the robot to the site and an operator to provide full-day collaborative escort, without requiring a deposit. However, if an operator is not needed, some merchants require a high deposit. (National Business Daily)
Apple Allegedly Reaches Agreement with Indonesian Government, $1 Billion Investment Finally Leads to Lifting of iPhone Ban
According to media reports, informed sources said that the Indonesian government and the US-based Apple Inc. have agreed on the terms to lift the country's ban on the iPhone 16, expected to end this five-month-long tug-of-war. The informed sources revealed that Apple has promised to increase its investment in Indonesia to $1 billion. The Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for maintaining the ban, is expected to sign a memorandum of agreement with Apple as soon as this week. A press conference will also be held in the future, and the ministry plans to issue a license allowing the sale of the iPhone 16 to Apple as soon as possible. In October last year, the Indonesian Ministry of Industry announced the ban on the sale of the iPhone 16, citing Apple's failure to fulfill the investment commitment required for the "domestic component level" certification. (Caixin)
Cisco and NVIDIA will collaborate in the aspect of data center systems
Cisco and NVIDIA stated that the two sides will cooperate to simplify the applications in data centers to facilitate customers who wish to invest in artificial intelligence. The two companies said on February 25 local time that this cooperation will connect their respective network architectures for the convenience of their collaborating customers. According to the agreement, Cisco will become a part of NVIDIA's Spectrum-X Ethernet network platform. Cisco will then build a system that combines NVIDIA's tools with its own tools, enabling customers to standardize the technologies of both companies simultaneously in the data center. (Sina Finance)
Fitch downgrades Nissan's rating to "BB+", with a negative outlook
On February 26, Fitch Ratings announced that it has downgraded Nissan Motor's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) and senior unsecured ratings from "BBB-" to "BB+", with a negative outlook. Fitch also downgraded its short-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings from "F3" to "B". Fitch stated that this rating downgrade reflects Nissan's persistently low profitability and a recovery process that is later than it expected. (Jiemian News)
Trump Says He Will Impose 25% Tariffs on the EU
US President Trump said on the 26th that the US has decided to impose a 25% tariff on the EU and will announce it "soon". Trump told the media during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on the same day that, overall, the tariff rate on the EU will be set at 25%, applicable to automobiles and various other goods. (Xinhua News Agency)
The European Commission proposes to mobilize 100 billion euros to support the EU's clean manufacturing
On February 26 local time, the European Commission released the "Clean Industry Agreement", mainly focusing on two major areas: energy-intensive industries and clean technologies, aiming to accelerate the decarbonization process. On the same day, the Commission adopted the "Affordable Energy Action Plan" to reduce energy costs for industry, commerce, and households. The bill will accelerate the promotion of clean energy and the electrification process, improve the EU's internal energy market through physical interconnection, make more efficient use of energy, and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. With the review of the public procurement framework in 2026, the European Commission will introduce sustainability, resilience, and European priority standards in public procurement in strategic sectors.
In the short term, the "Clean Industry Agreement" will raise more than 100 billion euros to support the EU's clean manufacturing industry. This amount includes an additional 1 billion euros in guarantees provided under the current "Multiannual Financial Framework".
The European Commission will adopt a new national aid framework for the "Clean Industry Agreement". This framework will simplify and accelerate the approval of national aid measures to promote renewable energy, deploy industrial decarbonization, and ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity for clean technologies. Strengthen the Innovation Fund, propose to establish an Industrial Decarbonization Bank, and strive for 100 billion euros in funds based on the existing funds of the Innovation Fund, the additional income generated by some emission trading schemes, and the amendment to the "EU Investment". (Jiemian News)
Top Executives of US Steel and Nippon Steel Court the Trump Administration to Salvage the Deal
It is reported that the top executives of US Steel and Nippon Steel have been seeking meetings with senior officials of the Trump administration as a last-ditch effort to salvage their $15 billion merger deal. Insiders say that David Burritt, the CEO of US Steel, has been in contact with officials to discuss a meeting with Vice President Vance, while Nippon Steel is trying to arrange a meeting between its executive Takahiro Mori and the US Commerce Secretary Lutnick. Neither of these efforts has resulted in a formal schedule. But it shows that US Steel and Nippon Steel refuse to give up the merger that both former President Biden and current President Trump have vowed to block. (Sina Finance)
The Forefront of AI
DeepSeek Lowers API Call Prices by Up to 75%
On February 26, DeepSeek announced that DeepSeek API is now implementing off-peak preferential pricing. The daily preferential period is from 00:30 to 08:30 Beijing time, and the rest of the time is charged at the standard price. During this period, the API call prices have been significantly reduced: DeepSeek-V3 has been reduced to 50% of the original price, and DeepSeek-R1 is even as low as 25%. (Jiemian News)
OpenAI Announces the Launch of Deep Research Feature for Plus and Other Users
On February 26, OpenAI announced that it will launch the Deep Research feature for all ChatGPT Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise users. According to the OpenAI announcement, these users will receive 10 Deep Research queries per month, while Pro-level users will receive 120 queries per month. (Yicai Global)
OpenAI: Introducing an Advanced Voice Mode Driven by GPT4o mini for Free Users
OpenAI claims that an advanced voice mode driven by GPT4o mini is introduced for free users, and free users can also use the advanced voice mode of ChatGPT every day. The natural conversation rhythm and intonation are similar to the GPT-4o version, while the service cost is lower. (Sina Finance)
Microsoft Opens Source the Multimodal AI Agent Foundation Model Magma
On February 25 local time, Microsoft opened the source of the multimodal AI Agent foundation model Magma on its official website. It is introduced that compared with traditional Agents, Magma has the multimodal capability across the digital and physical worlds, and can automatically process different types of data such as images, videos, and texts. In addition, Magma also has a built-in psychological prediction function, which enhances the understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics in future video frames and can accurately infer the intentions and future behaviors of people or objects in the video. (Jiemian News)
Big Company Financial Reports
Nvidia: Net profit in the fourth fiscal quarter is 22.091 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 80%
On February 27, Cailian Press reported that Nvidia's revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025 was 39.3 billion US dollars, an increase of 78% compared to the same period last year. Among them, the revenue of the data center business was 35.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 93% compared to the same period last year. The net profit in the fourth fiscal quarter was 22.091 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 80%. Nvidia's adjusted EPS in the fourth quarter was 0.89 US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 71%. Nvidia's Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress disclosed that in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, the company delivered 11 billion US dollars worth of Blackwell chips. Nvidia's revenue in fiscal year 2025 reached 130.5 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 114%. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was 2.99 US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 130%. The company expects its revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 to be around 43 billion US dollars, with a fluctuation of 2%. The company will pay a next-quarter cash dividend of 0.01 US dollars per share to all shareholders recorded on March 12, 2025, on April 2, 2025. (Cailian Press)
Investment and Financing
"ChainLibrary" Completes 150 Million Yuan Series A Financing
36Kr learned that the global cold chain AI data platform "ChainLibrary" announced the completion of 150 million yuan in Series A financing. This round of financing is jointly led by the New Supply and Marketing Industry Development Fund and the Guizhou Rural Development Investment Fund, with existing shareholders continuing to increase their investment. ChainLibrary stated that the financing funds will be focused on the research and development of the AI large model ColdSeeker, the construction of the national cold chain data platform, and the ecological layout of the intelligent supply chain, marking that ChainLibrary has entered a strategic acceleration period in the track of agricultural modernization and rural revitalization.
Cool Products
realme GT Neo7 SE Officially Launched
36Kr learned that realme held a new product launch event and officially launched the realme GT Neo7 SE, which is equipped with the Dimensity 8200-Ultra and a 7000mAh Titan battery. In addition, the realme GT Neo7x and the realme Buds Air7 also made an appearance at the launch event.
Deeply Integrating the DeepSeek Edge-side Large Model, Lenovo YOGA AIPC New Product Release
36Kr learned that on February 25th, the Lenovo YOGA AIPC new product tasting event was held in Yunnan. Lenovo announced that through the deep integration of the DeepSeek edge-side large model, Lenovo Tianxi Personal Intelligent Agent System (Tianxi AS) has ushered in a significant upgrade. At the event, Lenovo released the world's first AI PC with the Deepseek edge-side large model deployed - the Lenovo YOGA AIPC Yuanqi new product. It includes the YOGA Air 14 Aura AI Yuanqi Edition, YOGA 360 14 Aura AI Yuanqi Edition, YOGA 360 14 AI Yuanqi Edition, YOGA Air X AI Yuanqi Edition laptops, and YOGA Air 32, YOGA 27 all-in-one computers, totaling six new products.
Zhitao PCIe 5.0 Flagship High-Capacity Storage Product TiPro9000 4TB Version Officially Launched
36Kr learned that on February 26, the 4TB version of the Zhitao TiPro9000 solid-state drive was officially launched. As a PCIe 5.0 flagship high-capacity storage product, the 4TB version of the Zhitao TiPro9000 solid-state drive has advantages such as a high-speed sequential read speed of 14000MB/s and a 4K random read speed of 2000KIOPS. According to the introduction, the 4TB version of the TiPro9000 solid-state drive can easily achieve the deployment of a local AI large model of hundreds of GB level.
Sorting｜Yu Yaoming