Broadline Retail

Amazon.com is reportedly considering moving roughly $8 billion of Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips into a special-purpose vehicle financed by outside investors and then leasing the hardware back, a structure that would make part of its AI buildout more asset-light as capital spending is expected to reach $220 billion this year. AWS revenue rose 37% to $42.2 billion in the second quarter, its fastest growth in more than four years, and contract backlog reached $496 billion, while CEO Andy Jassy said the company still lacks enough capacity to meet demand. Trailing-12-month free cash flow swung to negative $7.6 billion from positive $18.2 billion a year earlier as infrastructure spending accelerated. Amazon trades at 23.64 times forward earnings, and Tigress Financial recently raised its target to $385 from $315, arguing earnings from the investment cycle are approaching an inflection point where they grow faster than operating capital. The proposal also raises the question of residual chip value, since Grace Blackwell will eventually be superseded by Vera Rubin while Amazon assumes semiconductor generations remain useful for at least five years.

Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon.com Inc.'s AWS, said concerns over an AI spending bubble are overstated, telling a16z's podcast with Raghu Raghuram on Thursday that Amazon does not rely on one customer for most AWS capacity and that "we feel really good about the spend we're making now." Garman said demand is concentrated in production workloads such as computing, storage and AI inference, and that a diversified approach means not all capacity is bundled up in one customer, comparing the market to venture capital where failed startups can be offset by successful investments. His comments come as AWS highlights efforts to make AI more affordable, and as Amazon is reportedly in talks to transfer about $8 billion worth of Nvidia Corp.'s Grace Blackwell AI chips to an investor-backed special-purpose vehicle that could raise funds through debt issuance while Amazon leases the chips back. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy raised the company's 2026 capital expenditure forecast by $20 billion to $220 billion in July, citing rising memory chip prices and strong demand for AI and AWS infrastructure. Separately, billionaire investor Ray Dalio warned that rising AI-related borrowing, higher interest rates and pressure to turn paper wealth into cash could bring the AI bubble closer to bursting, calling the boom a "classic bubble" and comparing the current AI rally to the late 1920s.

MercadoLibre's cross-border trade business posted foreign-exchange-neutral gross merchandise volume growth of 60% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, with Mexico remaining its largest CBT market and Argentina, Brazil and other markets recording triple-digit CBT growth. In smaller markets, CBT's share of GMV nearly doubled from the year-ago period. The company's China fulfillment center now serves thousands of sellers, with shipment volume rising 170% sequentially during the quarter, enabling faster deliveries and fewer cancellations. MercadoLibre shares have risen 0.3% over the past three months, trailing the industry's 2.1% increase, while Amazon.com climbed 3.6% and Sea Limited fell 16.4%. The stock trades at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, above the industry average of 20.21 and its 12-month median of 34.18, and at a premium to Amazon's 22.83 and Sea Limited's 18.37. The Zacks Consensus Estimate implies 44.7% year-over-year sales growth for the current fiscal year with earnings per share down 2.8%, and 29% sales growth with 43.7% earnings growth next fiscal year; MercadoLibre carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Jefferies named Alibaba Group Holding its top pick in the China Internet sector, maintaining a Buy rating and raising its price target on the U.S.-listed shares to $192 from $190, with the Hong Kong-listed target moving to HK$186 from HK$184. The firm cited solid execution across multiple business segments and accelerating growth in artificial intelligence cloud services. Jefferies expects AI Cloud and Compute services revenue to grow over 50% year-over-year to RMB60.5 billion in the September quarter, with segment margin improving quarter-over-quarter to 12.3%, and forecasts cloud revenue to grow over 50% year-over-year in fiscal year 2028. Total revenue is estimated to grow 9.6% year-over-year, while cloud segment profit is expected to offset losses in AI Lab and Applications in the December quarter. On ecommerce, the gap between gross and net China marketplace revenue is narrowing and Quick Commerce losses are lower in September than in the June quarter.

Amazon.com announced on the 8th a new tablet device, the Amazon Alexa Tablet. It comes with the built-in voice assistant Alexa Plus, allowing users to access artificial intelligence features and operate the device simply by speaking to it. Orders have begun in the United States and elsewhere, with shipping starting on the 14th, but a launch in Japan has not been disclosed. The top-of-the-line 12 Pro features a 12-inch display and starts at 499.99 dollars. Speaking to it activates the voice assistant, which can answer questions and control appliances and other devices, and the AI can also recognize information shown on the screen, making it possible to search for products that appear in a video being watched. The company's tablets had previously used its own in-house operating system, but the Alexa Tablet runs on Google's Android OS and supports Google's app store, giving users access to a wide variety of apps.

Kintetsu Department Store said on the 9th that it has revised up its consolidated net profit forecast for the full fiscal year ending February 2027 to 4 billion yen from the previous 3.9 billion yen, a rise of about 7.9 percent year on year. The upgrade reflects strong domestic and duty-free sales, as well as a decrease from the previous forecast in special losses such as losses on the disposal of fixed assets related to store renovations. The company also revised its full-year year-end dividend forecast to 25 yen per share, an increase of 5 yen. First-half consolidated net profit for the March-to-August period came to 2.2 billion yen, down 38 percent from a year earlier but above the previous forecast of 1.7 billion yen. Although there was a reactionary decline following the Osaka-Kansai Expo, both domestic and duty-free sales were strong, and special losses such as losses on the disposal of fixed assets were smaller than planned. In the second half, from September 2026 to February 2027, increases in costs such as water and utility charges stemming from the situation in the Middle East are expected to come in below the previous forecast.

Amazon.com announced a new tablet device, the Amazon Alexa Tablet, on the 8th. It comes with the built-in voice assistant Alexa Plus, allowing users to operate artificial intelligence features and the device simply by speaking to it. Orders have begun in the United States and elsewhere, with shipping starting on the 14th, but a launch in Japan has not been announced. The top-of-the-line 12 Pro features a 12-inch display and starts at 499.99 dollars. Speaking to it activates the voice assistant, which can answer questions and control appliances and other devices, and the AI can also recognize information displayed on the screen, making it possible to search for products that appear in a video being watched. The company's tablets had previously used its own in-house operating system, but the Alexa Tablet runs on Google's Android operating system and supports Google's app store, giving users access to a wide variety of apps.

CRC shares jumped 6.45% after Krungsri Securities estimated that normalized profit for the third quarter of 2569 will grow 23% year on year. Krungsri expects the retail group excluding IT products to post combined normalized profit of 14.1 billion baht, up 9% from a year earlier but down 15% from the previous quarter, on total sales of 509.2 billion baht, up 3% year on year and down 3% quarter on quarter. The average normalized margin is expected at 6.0%, up from 5.9% in the third quarter of 2568 but down from 7.4% in the second quarter of 2569 due to seasonal factors. By company, Krungsri expects BJC to post the highest normalized profit growth at 35%, followed by DOHOME at 33%, CRC at 23% and GLOBAL at 20%, while CPAXT is expected to see profit fall 14%, the only company to decline. For CRC's same-store sales in September 2569, growth came in at 2%, improving from 1.5% in August, driven by its food business in Thailand, which grew more than 10%. Krungsri maintains a NEUTRAL weighting on the retail sector but picks CRC as its short-term top pick, citing fourth-quarter 2569 catalysts including the IMF-World Bank meetings in Bangkok from October 12 to 18 and a low sales base in late last year.

CRC shares jumped 5.65%, or 1.75 baht, to 32.75 baht on turnover of 155.08 million baht as of 10:07 a.m. Krungsri Securities said in a research note that the stock was lifted by CRC's mall group same-store sales, or SSS, which came in at plus 2% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, slightly better than 1.5% in August, as food businesses in Thailand grew more than 10%. It expects October SSS to improve from September on demand for flood-protection goods and equipment early in the month, repair activity after the waters receded, and the annual IMF-World Bank meetings from October 12 to 18, 2026, which should lift traffic in central Bangkok, where CRC is likely to be one of the beneficiaries. It also expects normal profit for the retail group excluding IT products to reach 14.1 billion baht in the third quarter of 2026, up 9% year on year but down 15% quarter on quarter, against total sales of 509.2 billion baht, up 3% year on year and down 3% quarter on quarter. CRC's normal profit is expected to grow 23% year on year. The research team maintained a NEUTRAL weighting on the retail group but picked CRC as its top short-term stock, while it still likes MOSHI and MRDIYT from a long-term investment perspective.

Shares of Central Retail Corporation, or CRC, rose 6% after InnovestX Securities said same-store sales growth accelerated to 4% in September from 1.5% in July and August. It expects same-store sales growth in the third quarter to be the most outstanding in the retail sector, while the company's flood-related impact has been limited, leading it to expect strong third-quarter profit growth. The main supporting factors are same-store sales growth, improving margins, and the weaker baht, which boosts revenue from its Vietnam business.

ASL Securities rates MOSHI, expecting continued growth in the third quarter of 2026, driven by accelerating same-store sales growth, or SSSG. Management said SSSG in early 3Q26 was in the high-single-digit range, accelerating from positive 4.0% in 2Q26, reflecting improved purchasing power and a better response to new products, along with store expansion and marketing activities. These are expected to support revenue and profit growth year on year. Meanwhile, 4Q26 has additional support from year-end holiday spending. The company maintained its 2026 revenue growth target of 15-20%. First-half 2026 operating revenue was 1.94 billion baht, up 17.3% year on year, with net profit of 352.8 million baht, up 21.5% year on year. The company targets full-year SSSG of 3-5% and 35 new store openings, of which 17 opened in the first half, with plans to open another 10 in the third quarter; it has already secured locations for the full-year plan. The gross profit margin in 2Q26 was 56.4%, up from 55.0% a year earlier, helped by a higher share of retail and imported products with better margins. It targets a 2026 GPM of 54.5-57.5%, plans to launch more than 1,000 new SKUs per month, and is using Billkin as a brand presenter to expand its customer base. However, marketing expenses and online channel fees bear watching, as they could pressure the net profit margin. The JUMP+ plan targets revenue growth of 15-20% per year during 2026-2028, and the company is investing in a second warehouse, expected to begin operations between late 1Q27 and early 2Q27 to improve logistics efficiency. The stock is seen as a retail play with continued profit growth prospects.

Amazon.com announced on the 8th a new tablet series called the Alexa Tablet, equipped with generative artificial intelligence features. Instead of its own Fire operating system, the device runs on Google's Android, and its price has been raised sharply from previous models. Prices start at 230 dollars, with the top model, featuring 128 gigabytes of memory, at 550 dollars. The most recent previous top model, the Fire HD 10, cost just over 180 dollars. The chassis is made of aluminum, a shift toward the premium segment from the plastic-bodied Fire. Its biggest selling point is Alexa Plus, which builds AI into the Alexa voice assistant, but using it requires either a Prime membership or a subscription to the paid Alexa Plus service. A spokesperson said tablets running Fire OS will remain usable, but did not clarify whether the operating system and app store will continue to be maintained.

Wangfujing announced on October 9 that as of September 30, 2026, the company had repurchased 330,000 shares, accounting for 0.03% of total share capital, with a total repurchase amount of 3.2 million yuan and a repurchase price range of 9.46 yuan to 9.9 yuan per share. In the first half of 2026, Wangfujing achieved revenue of 4.987 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent company of 54.18 million yuan.

MOSHI maintains its 2026 revenue growth target of 15-20%, with management stating that same-store sales growth in early the third quarter of 2026 is running at a high-single-digit pace, accelerating from 4.0% in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting improved purchasing power and a better reception for new products. First-half 2026 results showed operating revenue of 1.94 billion baht, up 17.3% year on year, and net profit of 352.8 million baht, up 21.5% year on year. The company targets full-year same-store sales growth of 3-5% and 35 new store openings, of which 17 opened in the first half, with plans to open another 10 in the third quarter of 2026, while it has already secured locations for the full-year plan. Gross profit margin in the second quarter of 2026 stood at 56.4%, up from 55.0% a year earlier, and the company targets a 2026 gross profit margin of 54.5-57.5%. It also plans to launch more than 1,000 new SKUs per month and is using Billkin as brand presenter. The JUMP+ plan targets revenue growth of 15-20% per year during 2026-2028, along with investment in a second warehouse, which is expected to begin operations between late the first quarter of 2027 and early the second quarter of 2027.

Amazon.com Inc. plans to deploy two million additional NVIDIA GPUs during 2027 and 2028 as part of its AI infrastructure buildout, alongside a $1.9 billion investment in its Delivery Service Partner program in 2027 that is mostly directed toward driver wages. That driver-pay commitment, which Amazon says will lift driver pay to a national average of nearly $24 an hour, brings total funding for the eight-year-old program to $21.7 billion. The company also completed a £4.25 billion sterling bond offering on September 14, 2026, across four maturities of 3, 6, 12, and 19 years, broadening its financing sources as AI spending raises capital requirements. In the second quarter, Amazon posted $200.6 billion in total revenues, up 20% from Q2 FY25, with AWS revenue jumping 37% year-over-year to $42.2 billion, while 2026 capital outlays are projected at close to $220 billion and free cash flow has slipped into negative territory. Separately, Amazon is raising base starting wages for qualifying full-time employees in core U.S. operations by $1 to $20 an hour effective September 27, a move it says reflects a commitment of over $1.5 billion.

Amazon.com Inc introduced a redesigned hardware portfolio on Thursday, unveiling three new tablets that integrate Google's Play Store app suite and feature built-in artificial intelligence through its Alexa+ engine. The lineup marks a strategic pivot for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant, which is retiring its low-cost Fire brand in favor of premium hardware aimed at directly challenging Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The new product architecture includes the Amazon Alexa Tablet 8, 11, and 12 Pro, priced at $230, $330, and $500, respectively. By incorporating full Android app compatibility, including core platforms like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs alongside its native Prime and Kindle services, Amazon is seeking to eliminate the software limitations that historically relegated its hardware to budget media consumption. The aggressive release comes as the global tablet sector faces an ongoing contraction, exacerbated by lingering memory-chip supply constraints and broader macroeconomic pressure, with industry data from IDC cited by Bloomberg showing worldwide tablet shipments declined 12.3% year-over-year in the second quarter, while leader Apple is projected to post sub-2% growth in its iPad segment this year following a modest expansion in 2025. To overcome category headwinds, Amazon is relying on competitive price points and high-end features to capture market share ahead of Apple's planned iPad refresh cycle in 2027, with the flagship 12 Pro model featuring a thin aluminum unibody frame, an optional anti-glare Nanomatte display engineered alongside Corning Incorporated, and productivity accessories like a magnetic keyboard and active stylus. The tablets are available for pre-order immediately and will begin shipping in North American markets on Oct. 14, followed by a European rollout on Oct. 19.

Amazon.com has acquired the former Forever 21 headquarters campus in Los Angeles to expand its logistics footprint, giving the company a large infill hub inside a dense metro area that is expected to support faster same day delivery coverage. The company has also partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to promote road safety initiatives across its delivery network, sponsoring Move With MADD events in Chicago, Houston and Dallas. The Los Angeles campus deal and the MADD partnership both feed into Amazon's wider push toward logistics heavy business models, with the Forever 21 site expected to tighten same day and overnight coverage for Southern California. The key marker to watch next is whether Amazon discloses concrete operating metrics tied to the new facility, such as a measurable rise in same day or overnight delivery coverage for Southern California during 2027. Simply Wall St noted the moves sit alongside heavy AI and data center capex and a fair value estimate of $331 per share.

Amazon is expanding the AI services it sells through Amazon Web Services, with September 2026 launches that added OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra and Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 to Amazon Bedrock and brought the Amazon Quick desktop app and Amazon Connect Talent to general availability. The business already has strong traction: in the second quarter of 2026, AWS' AI business passed a $25 billion annual revenue run rate, growing at triple-digit percentages year over year, and Amazon is investing $1 billion to create AWS Forward Deployed Engineering. That demand showed up in the results, with AWS segment sales rising 37% year over year to $42.2 billion, segment operating income increasing to $16.6 billion from $10.2 billion, and AWS operating margin widening to 39.4% from 32.9% a year earlier. For the third quarter of 2026, Amazon expects net sales of $197-$202 billion, indicating 9-12% year-over-year growth, and operating income of $22.5-$26.5 billion compared with $17.4 billion a year earlier, though trailing 12-month free cash flow fell to an outflow of $7.6 billion as purchases of property and equipment rose $66.1 billion, largely for AI. Amazon faces stiff competition from Microsoft, whose Azure and other cloud services revenues rose 43% in the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2026, and Alphabet, whose Google Cloud revenues climbed 82% to $24.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026.

Advice IT Infinite Public Company Limited, or ADVICE, opened its doors to welcome the Thai Value Investors Association (Thailand), or Thai VI, at a COMPANY VISIT event, where it also unveiled its plan to aggressively target the IT market during the high season. Chief Executive Officer Nat Nattanitikarat, Chief of Sales Management Sarun Panha, and Chief of Finance and Accounting Piyathida Papakhi shared information with investors on 2 October 2026. The company is building on its first-half 2026 results, which saw total revenue of 8,846 million baht, up 10.6%, and net profit up 82.7% from the same period a year earlier, with in-store sales growing 9.2% and online channels growing 20.1%. For the late-year period, the company is preparing to meet purchasing demand alongside opportunities from new technology products, including AI PCs, NVIDIA products, and iPhone, as well as opportunities from government fiscal year-end procurement through its dealer and system integrator groups. On the Advice iStore side, the company aims to expand its network to 29 branches within the fourth quarter of 2026 and to 36 branches in the first quarter of 2027, with several branches already open approaching or reaching breakeven. Meanwhile, Advice Business Solutions is expanding its role into providing full-service solutions spanning Cloud, Cybersecurity, and AI, alongside its Apple Business Partner business, to target organizations and educational institutions, especially in the provinces.

Tongcheng Holdings announced on October 7 that the company holds 123 million unrestricted A-shares of Bank of Changsha, representing a 3.07 percent stake. According to the semi-annual equity distribution plan disclosed by Bank of Changsha on September 23, 2026, Tongcheng Holdings is entitled to a cash dividend of 27.13 million yuan, which it received on September 30, 2026. The company said the cash dividend will be recorded as investment income for 2026, with the specific accounting treatment subject to the annual audit confirmation of its accounting firm. In the first half of 2026, Tongcheng Holdings achieved revenue of 853 million yuan and net profit attributable to the parent of 73.59 million yuan.

Amazon's Prime Video will become the new home of the Emmy Awards from 2027 under a six-year agreement with the Television Academy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Prime Video will hold global rights to the ceremony and plans to keep it available outside its paywall, allowing viewers without an Amazon Prime subscription to watch for free. Financial terms were not disclosed, though the Emmy rights have previously rotated among ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, with the annual fee valued at about $9.5 million in the Television Academy's latest annual report, while production costs are separate and borne by the rights holder. The move comes as major entertainment awards shows increasingly shift toward streaming platforms, with the Oscars set to move to YouTube in 2029 and Netflix having carried the Screen Actors Guild Awards, now known as the Actor Awards, since 2024. Emmy viewership has declined from its historic highs, although it has recovered from a record low two years ago, and the latest ceremony, broadcast by NBC, averaged 6.7 million viewers, down 10% from the previous year's CBS telecast, according to Nielsen data. Prime Video head Mike Hopkins said the company sees an opportunity to bring a younger audience to the ceremony and reimagine the broadcast.

Advice IT Infinite Public Company Limited, or ADVICE, has outlined its business direction for late 2569, preparing to meet demand for IT products during the high season and moving to capture opportunities from new technology products, including AI PCs, NVIDIA products, and iPhone, which are expected to spur consumers to upgrade their IT devices. For its performance in the first half of 2569, ADVICE reported total revenue of 8.846 billion baht, up 10.6% from the same period a year earlier, while net profit rose 82.7%, driven by efficient expense management and operating leverage. In-store sales grew 9.2% and online sales rose 20.1%. In its Advice iStore business, the company aims to expand its network to 29 branches within the fourth quarter of 2569 before increasing to 36 branches within the first quarter of 2570, adjusting the pace of store openings to match product availability and the potential of each area, while focusing on return on investment and operating efficiency. The company is also continuing to expand its corporate market through Advice Business Solutions toward providing comprehensive solutions spanning cloud, cybersecurity, and AI, as well as building on its business as an Apple Business Partner to grow its corporate and educational customer base, especially in provincial areas where it already has a broad network of branches and distribution channels.

Advice IT Infinite Public Company Limited, or ADVICE, has unveiled its late-year business plan to capture High Season purchasing demand, spotlighting AI PCs, products in the NVIDIA group, and the iPhone as drivers of IT device upgrades. At the same time, the company is pushing ahead with expanding its enterprise market through Advice Business Solutions, offering end-to-end solutions spanning Cloud, Cybersecurity, and AI, alongside its Apple Business Partner business, to target enterprises and educational institutions, especially in the provinces. On its Advice iStore retail network, the company aims to expand to 29 branches within the fourth quarter of 2026 and to 36 branches in the first quarter of 2027, adjusting the pace of store openings to align with product availability and the potential of each area. For its first-half 2026 results, the company reported total revenue of 8.846 billion baht, up 10.6%, and net profit up 82.7% from the same period a year earlier, with in-store sales growing 9.2% and the online channel growing 20.1%. Executives provided this information at a THAI VI company visit activity on October 2, 2026.

New World recently held its results briefing for the first half of 2026. The company achieved total operating revenue of 534 million yuan, up 1.12% year on year. Net profit attributable to the parent company was 47.3949 million yuan, up 4.23% year on year. Net profit excluding non-recurring items was 30.6859 million yuan, up 11.89% year on year. Net cash flow from operating activities was 78.7719 million yuan, up 648.44% year on year. In response to investor questions about why the company's share price has long been below net asset value per share, yet it has not launched a share buyback plan like other Shanghai-listed retail companies such as Yuyuan Inc. and Bailian Group, New World said share price movements are affected by multiple factors including the market environment and the macro economy. Matters such as share buybacks will be prudently assessed based on actual operating conditions and relevant policy requirements. If there are any relevant plans, the company will make timely announcements in strict accordance with information disclosure requirements. The company also disclosed that the Xu Zhongdao traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces production base project began preparations for GMP compliance inspection in May 2026. By September, it had completed the submission of materials related to the drug production licence and GMP compliance inspection, and is currently waiting for the Shanghai Municipal Medical Products Administration to conduct review and on-site inspection. On the marketing side, New World City will launch a themed campaign called 'Fortune-filled Mid-Autumn, Golden Joy National Day' from 25 September to 7 October, combined with the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street 'spend a certain amount and draw gold' activity, as well as debut economy, super brand day, IP pop-up, and premium wedding scene experiences. In addition, inbound consumption at New World City continues to heat up. The mall handles nearly 1,500 tax refund transactions every month. Huangpu District has partnered with Alipay+ to launch the 'Enjoy Shopping in Huangpu' inbound consumption vouchers. Tourists staying at Radisson hotels can also stack exclusive shopping subsidies at New World City.

Amazon Web Services Chief AI and Technology Officer Matt Wood said the cost of delivering a given level of AI intelligence is falling by one or two orders of magnitude every three to six months outside the most advanced frontier models, a decline he attributed to improving efficiency as companies learn to operationalize frontier models at lower cost. Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Wood rejected the idea that more capable AI agents must become less safe, saying developers can surround models with controls, guardrails, security and privacy protections while still improving the underlying technology, and pushed back on the notion that companies must choose between development speed and safety. Wood also defended AWS's $220 billion infrastructure investment, pointing to customer demand and internal business metrics, and said he expects additional computing capacity and greater operating efficiency to bring AI to more businesses and users. Accelerating AWS growth helped push Amazon above $3 trillion in market value for the first time in August 2026, after second-quarter results showed AWS revenue growing at its fastest pace since 2021; the stock surged more than 15% in one session, adding nearly $400 billion in market value, before gaining as much as another 5.3% as it crossed the threshold. TD Cowen analyst John Blackledge said AWS's AI business exited a quarter at roughly a $25 billion annual run rate, its fifth consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth, and pointed to CEO Andy Jassy's view that AWS could eventually generate $1 trillion in revenue, compared with the $600 billion long-term opportunity Jassy discussed in his April shareholder letter. Amazon expects AWS to remain capacity constrained through 2026 and 2027 because of AI demand, even as it plans to double AWS capacity by the end of 2027.

MercadoLibre reported second-quarter 2026 gross merchandise volume of $21.9 billion, up 44% year over year and 36% on an FX-neutral basis, with items sold rising 45% to 795.4 million. Brazil remained the primary growth engine, posting 39% FX-neutral GMV growth and a 56% rise in items sold, while Mexico grew 26% FX-neutral despite tax reform and a weaker macroeconomic environment, and Argentina delivered 38% FX-neutral growth. Cross-border trade added another layer, with FX-neutral GMV up 60% and triple-digit growth in Argentina, Brazil and other markets, and the company's China fulfillment center saw volume rise 170% sequentially. Unique active buyers reached 89.3 million, with items sold per buyer up 14% overall. The Zacks Consensus Estimate implies 44.7% year-over-year sales growth for the current fiscal year but a 2.8% decline in earnings per share, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

JD.com is expected to post earnings of $1.05 per share for the current quarter, a year-over-year change of +101.9%, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate up +3.8% over the last 30 days. For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $3.34 points to a change of +31% from the prior year and has moved +6.7% over the past 30 days, while the next fiscal year's estimate of $3.91 indicates a +16.9% change and has edged up +0.3% over the past month. The consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $46.07 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +9.7%, and for the current and next fiscal years, $202.54 billion and $213.58 billion estimates indicate +10.3% and +5.5% changes, respectively. In the last reported quarter, JD.com reported revenues of $51.05 billion, up +2.5% year over year and a surprise of -0.96% versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $51.55 billion, while EPS of $0.93 compared with $0.69 a year ago for an EPS surprise of +8.14%. The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters and topped consensus revenue estimates two times over that period, and it carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) along with a Zacks Value Style Score of A.

Hong Kong share sales raised a record $47.5 billion in the third quarter as Chinese technology companies tapped investors for capital to fund artificial intelligence expansion, Bloomberg reported. Initial public offerings, placements and block trades during the July-to-September period produced the largest fundraising haul ever for those months, pushing the city's total for 2026 above $92 billion and putting Hong Kong within reach of the $112.5 billion annual record set in 2021. Alibaba Group's $10.2 billion follow-on offering was the quarter's largest transaction, while Zhongji Innolight raised almost $8 billion in Hong Kong's biggest listing in nearly seven years. AI model developer Z.AI has raised $9.6 billion this year through its IPO, placements and convertible bonds, and MiniMax, Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor and Shanghai Biren Technology also returned to investors shortly after their IPO lockups expired. The boom spread across Asia-Pacific, where third-quarter share sales exceeded $120 billion, the highest for the period in six years, with India raising a record $26 billion since July on domestic liquidity. Investor appetite is becoming more selective as markets weaken: the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index fell as much as 7% in July amid questions about returns from heavy AI spending, and only two of Hong Kong's 10 largest deals since July are currently trading above their offer prices.

Amazon has established an $8 billion special purpose vehicle to buy and lease back Nvidia Grace Blackwell chips to AWS clients, an off balance sheet financing tool for AI hardware as cloud capital demands rise. Morgan Stanley has reinstated Nvidia as a Top Pick, citing its view on AI data center demand and capacity expansion. The Amazon vehicle and the Morgan Stanley call both sit inside a wider Nvidia AI infrastructure story, alongside Nvidia's own US$500 billion ecosystem financing plans. The structure lets AWS keep building AI capacity without stacking all the hardware on its own balance sheet, pointing to new funding structures that can support large orders as AI factories become more capital intensive across cloud and sovereign projects. The clearest early signal on whether the model scales would be other hyperscalers or sovereign AI buyers setting up similar chip vehicles that explicitly name Nvidia hardware, with disclosed sizes and timelines.