MEITUAN-W Expresses Confidence in Global Expansion, Plans to Prioritize Instant Retail, According to Wang Xing

Market Overview: The HSI opened slightly lower at 25,436, while the HSCEI and HSTECH saw minor gains, indicating mixed market sentiment.

Bank Performance: Major banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered experienced declines, with HSBC down 2.7% and Standard Chartered down 1.3%, amidst significant short selling activity.

Gold and Mining Stocks: Spot gold prices fell below USD 5,000, leading to losses in gold mining stocks such as Lingbao Gold and Zijin Mining, which dropped between 1.8% and 4.6%.

Tech Stock Movements: Tech stocks showed varied performance, with Tencent and Meituan gaining, while Baidu and Bilibili saw slight declines, reflecting a mixed outlook in the technology sector.

Stock Performance: Meituan-W (03690.HK) experienced a decline of 0.978% with short selling amounting to $502.66M and a ratio of 42.294%.

CEO's Insights on AI: CEO Wang Xing discussed the significance of AI at the 2026 management communication meeting, comparing its impact to that of the internet and emphasizing the importance of digitalizing the physical world for AI development.

Internationalization Focus: MEITUAN-W's CEO Wang Xing expressed strong confidence in the company's international expansion, emphasizing a strategic approach rather than blind growth.

Core Business Strategy: The company will prioritize its core "instant retail" business for internationalization, rather than launching all business segments simultaneously.

Geographic Expansion: MEITUAN-W has already established operations in key markets, including the Middle East Gulf region and Brazil, in addition to its presence in Hong Kong.

Financial Outlook: CLSA predicts that MEITUAN-W's new business losses for Q4 could deepen to RMB3.3 billion, indicating ongoing financial challenges.

Goldman Sachs Prediction: Goldman Sachs forecasts MEITUAN-W's 4Q25 revenue to rise by 4% YoY, but anticipates an adjusted EBIT loss of RMB15.5 billion, with no growth in core local e-commerce revenue.

Adjusted Profit Forecasts: The broker has revised its adjusted profit forecasts for MEITUAN-W for 2025-27, increasing the 2025 estimate by 1% but decreasing the 2026 and 2027 estimates by 32% and 9%, respectively.

Target Price Adjustment: MEITUAN-W's target price has been lowered from HKD120 to HKD112, while maintaining a "Buy" rating.

Market Context: The company faces significant competition in the Chinese market, as highlighted by related news on Keeta's delayed expansion plans.

Xiaoxiang Supermarket Expansion: Xiaoxiang Supermarket has opened its first offline store in Hangzhou, replacing the Yonghui Superstores Sandun Longfor store, marking its third store in China after locations in Beijing and Ningbo.

Short Selling Activity: MEITUAN-W (03690.HK) has experienced significant short selling activity, with a total of $1.24 billion and a short selling ratio of 42.761%.

Market Opening: The Hong Kong bourse opened lower, with the HSI down 0.5% at 25,583, influenced by Iran's continued shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

Tech Sector Performance: Major tech stocks like TENCENT and BABA-W opened flat or slightly lower, while NTES-S saw a 1.9% increase.

Commodity Prices: Brent oil futures rose above USD100, with PETROCHINA and CNOOC opening higher, while gold prices dropped by 1% due to weakened expectations for interest rate cuts.

Company Earnings: OOIL reported a significant drop in net profit by 41%, leading to a 3.4% decline in its stock price, while POP MART's collaboration with Sanrio sold out quickly, impacting its stock negatively.