Jack Ma's office responded!
On the late night of November 17th, Securities Times reporters learned from Alibaba that in response to the Ma Yun family's trust reduction plan, Ma Yun's office lawyer clearly responded that the disclosed sale plan is a long-term plan. Jack Ma is firmly optimistic about Alibaba, and the current stock price is far below its actual value. He will still firmly hold Alibaba's stock.
Previously, a reduction plan by the Ma Yun family trust suddenly flashed. According to 144 documents disclosed on the official website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States, the Jack Ma family trust JC Properties Limited and JSP Investment Limited (both British Virgin Islands companies) plan to reduce their holdings of 5 million Alibaba founder shares on November 21, involving a total stock market value of 870.7 million US dollars (approximately 6.4 billion yuan). In recent years, Alibaba has no longer disclosed Jack Ma's shareholding data in its financial reports. As of July 2, 2020, Jack Ma's shareholding had dropped to 4.8%, below 5%.
On the same day, South Korean prosecutors demanded that the court sentence Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae jung to 5 years in prison and impose a fine of 500 million won on charges of manipulating stock prices and accounting fraud related to the merger of two Samsung subsidiaries in 2015. It is understood that Samsung Electronics is the world's largest manufacturer of dynamic random access memory chips, which are widely used in devices such as smartphones and computers. According to real-time data on the Forbes Global Rich List, the wealth of Samsung Electronics CEO Li Zairong has reached 9.2 billion US dollars, equivalent to approximately 66 billion yuan.
Jack Ma's Office: Firmly optimistic about Alibaba
On the late night of November 17th, in response to Jack Ma's family trust's plan to reduce its stake in Alibaba, Jack Ma's office lawyer clearly replied that the disclosed sale plan is a long-term plan. The plan currently does not have any actual reduction in holdings. He further emphasized that Jack Ma is firmly optimistic about Alibaba, and his current stock price is far below Alibaba's actual value. He will still firmly hold Alibaba's stock.
Previously, according to the 144 document on the official website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), two entities belonging to the Jack Ma family trust were expected to sell a total of 10 million shares of Alibaba stock, with a market value of approximately 870.7 million US dollars (approximately 6.4 billion yuan). The entities involved in the stock sale this time are JSP Investment Ltd and JC Properties Ltd, each selling 5 million Alibaba shares. According to regulatory documents, the expected reduction date is around November 21st of this year.
Affected by the above news, Alibaba's US stock market plummeted by over 9% on Thursday; On Friday, Alibaba's Hong Kong stock market plummeted by 7.81% at the beginning of trading and ultimately closed down 9.96% at HKD 73.25 per share, with its market value shrinking to HKD 1.49 trillion.
On November 16th, Alibaba also released its financial report for the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year (as of September 30). In that quarter, Alibaba's revenue was 224.79 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%, and the market expected 224.096 billion yuan. The adjusted net profit for the quarter was 40.188 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19%. Non GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were 15.63 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%.
Regarding the "1+6+N" spin off and potential listed subsidiaries, Alibaba disclosed in its financial report that due to various uncertain factors, it will no longer promote a complete spin off of Cloud Intelligence Group. At the same time, Alibaba also stated that Hema Fresh's initial public offering plan has been postponed, stating that "we are evaluating the market situation".
Manipulating stocks? South Korean prosecutors sue Lee Jae jung
On Friday local time, South Korean prosecutors demanded a five-year imprisonment sentence for Samsung Electronics President Lee Jae jung for accounting fraud and stock price manipulation in the 2015 Samsung subsidiary's $8 billion merger.
This is the last case against Li Zairong. Li Zairong was pardoned in another previous case and consolidated his leadership position as the CEO of Samsung Electronics last year.
At Friday's hearing, prosecutors told the Seoul Central District Court that 55 year old Lee Jae jung and other former executives had violated the Capital Market Law, making the 2015 merger possible. Prosecutors allege that in 2015, former executives such as Li Zairong manipulated the stock price and sought profits at the expense of a few investors in the merger of Samsung Group's affiliated companies, First Textile and Samsung Products. This merger gives Li Zairong greater control over Samsung Electronics.
Prosecutors pointed out that after the convertible bond incident at Aibao Park, Samsung attempted to take the opportunity to inherit the management rights "for free" again. The dominant shareholder structure of enterprise groups pursuing their own interests is the main reason for reducing national competitiveness, while Samsung, as the number one enterprise in South Korea, has destroyed the efforts made by society to solve this problem.
Li Zairong and others were suspected of driving up the stock price of First Woolen Fabric and lowering the stock price of Samsung Property during the merger of two companies under the group, in order to strengthen their influence within the group. As a result, they were sued by the prosecution in September 2020.
According to the latest news from Reuters, in response to the accusations made by South Korean prosecutors, Lee Jae jung and these executives deny any wrongdoing, stating that the merger and accounting processes questioned by the prosecutors are part of normal management activities. It is worth noting that this hearing is also the last before the court ruling, and it is expected that the ruling will be made within a few months, thus ending a three-year trial.
Lee Jae jung was previously convicted of bribing former South Korean President Park Geun hye. In January 2021, Li Zairong was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for bribery in the second instance and arrested in court. The court found that Li Zairong bribed Park Geun hye and her confidant Choi Shun shi for 8.68 billion won (approximately 51 million yuan) in exchange for government support for him to inherit the management rights of Samsung Group. In August of that year, Li Zairong was paroled and released early from prison. In August 2022, the South Korean government announced the list of amnesties for the "Guangfu Festival", and Samsung Group leader Lee Jae jung was granted amnesty and reinstatement. This restoration of power allows him to resume business activities.
According to public information, Samsung Electronics is the world's largest manufacturer of dynamic random access memory chips, which are widely used in devices such as smartphones and computers. And Li Zairong is the third generation successor of Samsung's founder, who is currently the chairman of Samsung Electronics.
On October 31st of this year, data disclosed by Samsung Electronics showed that based on the consolidated financial statements, the company's operating profit for the third quarter was 2.43 trillion won (approximately 13.225 billion yuan), a year-on-year decrease of 77.57%, but still stronger than market expectations. The sales revenue in the third quarter was 67.4 trillion Korean won, a year-on-year decrease of 12.21%. Samsung Electronics also predicts that demand for storage chips will rebound in the fourth quarter.
The financial report shows that although operating profit in the third quarter decreased by more than 70% year-on-year, it increased by 262.6% month on month. Among them, the losses on storage chips have narrowed, and the performance of the mobile and display departments exceeded expectations. Samsung Electronics stated that its performance in the third quarter has improved compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to the continued strong sales of its flagship smartphones, and the reduction in losses in the semiconductor business, from a loss of 436 trillion won in the second quarter to 3.75 trillion won (approximately 20.288 billion yuan) in the current quarter. Overall, the average selling price (ASP) of DRAM and NAND showed good growth compared to the previous quarter.
Samsung Electronics stated in a financial report conference call held on October 31st that the recovery prospects of the storage chip market are still uncertain due to factors such as conflicts and geopolitical risks, slow demand recovery, and continuous adjustments in customer inventory. However, Samsung Electronics is paying attention to preliminary signs of stable and improving demand, supported by a recovery in consumer optimism, easing inflation, and the release of new products by major customers. With frequent promotional activities at the end of the year, more new products released by major customers, and strong demand for generative artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung Electronics is optimistic about a rebound in storage chip demand in the fourth quarter.
International oil prices fall into a technical bear market?
In terms of the commodity market, international oil prices have continued to decline recently. On Thursday, international oil prices plummeted. As of the close of the day, WTI crude oil futures prices fell by $3.76 to close at $72.9 per barrel, a decrease of 4.90%; Brent crude oil futures fell $3.76 to close at $77.42 per barrel, a decrease of 4.63%. It is worth noting that the WTI crude oil futures price has fallen by more than 20% from its September high, entering a technical bear market. However, there was a rebound on Friday. The settlement price of international crude oil futures rose by over 4%. WTI December crude oil futures closed up $2.99, or 4.1%, at $75.89 per barrel, but have fallen by 1.66% this week. Brent January crude oil futures closed up $3.19, or 4.12%, at $80.61 per barrel, down 1% this week.
The sharp drop in oil prices this week is mainly due to two reasons: firstly, weak US economic data. Data released on Thursday showed that the number of people in the United States continuing to apply for unemployment benefits has risen to its highest in nearly two years, marking a slowdown in economic growth. In addition, the decline in manufacturing output in the United States in October exceeded expectations, mainly due to the decline in production activities caused by strikes by automakers and component suppliers. Secondly, there has been a significant increase in crude oil inventories. According to data released by the US Energy Information Administration, US crude oil inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels to 421.9 million barrels last week, far exceeding analysts' expectations for an increase of 1.8 million barrels. In the past two weeks, there has been a cumulative increase of 17.5 million barrels. Meanwhile, crude oil inventory at the Cushing warehouse in Oklahoma, the delivery location for crude oil futures in New York, increased by 1.9 million barrels last week. The higher inventory data has raised concerns about the seasonal decline in demand in the United States.
On Thursday, the decline in crude oil occurred after the increase in US crude oil inventories and may have been amplified by automatic sell-off programs. There are signs that algorithmic traders sold crude oil after the oil price fell below $80. At present, bears in the crude oil market are occupying a dominant position, making it temporarily difficult for oil prices to find support. Hedge funds are highly short selling oil futures, which also puts pressure on oil prices. Some industry insiders have bluntly stated, "The current market is more like a money game than a fundamental game
Business Society crude oil analysts believe that the current logic of crude oil trading is still a supply-demand game, and the pressure of tight supply has eased as the geopolitical situation in the Middle East has not shown a worsening trend of expansion. At present, market attention is more focused on various economic data indicators, which will become a barometer of demand prospects. Recently, multiple data releases have shown that economic data from important regions in the West and Asia are biased towards weakness, which will further exacerbate bearish demand sentiment in the future. In the short term, there is significant downward pressure on oil prices, but the market still needs to pay attention to OPEC policy trends, which will limit the downward space of oil prices.