Meituan

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched the "Nihao Month 2026" campaign for the third consecutive year to stimulate the Chinese tourist market during the Mid-Autumn Festival and China's National Day, or Golden Week. TAT Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool said the Chinese market remains important to Thai tourism and that the period shows positive signals from growing travel trends. TAT expects that during Golden Week, from September 25 to October 7, 2026, about 250,000 Chinese tourists will travel to Thailand, up 24% from the previous year, generating about 11.5 billion baht in revenue, up 37% from the previous year. From January 1 to September 10, 2026, Thailand has welcomed 3,641,549 Chinese tourists, with China holding the top spot as the largest source market for arrivals to Thailand. Meanwhile, the "3 Days Off for 13 Days" travel trend is likely to push trip duration from an average of 8 days to 13 days per trip, with advance bookings for travel to Thailand in October up 16% and flight searches up 24% from key cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Chongqing. The Nihao Month 2026 project is organized under the concept "China and Thailand are not far apart, we are brothers" through four key activities: a Joint Promotion with Meituan from September 15 to October 31, 2026; the Amazing Thailand Mid-Autumn Celebration 2026 on September 25, 2026 at One Bangkok; the Amazing Thailand Mid-Autumn KOLs FAM Trip from September 26 to 29, 2026, inviting about 30 to 40 media representatives and influencers from China to explore four routes in Krabi, Phetchaburi-Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chiang Rai and Rayong-Koh Samet; and the Chinese Passport Privilege activity from September 15 to October 31, 2026, with partners from five service groups totaling 20 organizations. TAT expects the Nihao Month 2026 campaign to generate more than 500 million impressions and to extend the market into the low season and the Chinese New Year festival in January and February 2027.

Reuters reports that China's e-commerce battlefield is shifting from discount wars to building Instant Retail networks, or immediate delivery retail. This market is expected to reach 1.2 trillion yuan, or about $178 billion, by the end of this year, and is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 12.6% until 2030. After the food delivery subsidy war ended, it changed consumer behavior to expect a wide variety of products within one hour. Chinese tech giants like Meituan, Alibaba, and JD.com are spending billions of dollars to compete for users, but the result is pushing Instant Retail into a new battleground. Data from Analysys shows that in the second quarter, Alibaba's Taobao Instant Commerce held a 45.7% market share, surpassing Meituan's 45.3%, while JD.com stood at 7.7%. This new round of competition focuses on investing in logistics infrastructure, such as dark stores and lightning warehouses, to deliver goods within one hour. Meanwhile, Chinese regulators have fined and seized funds from companies totaling 3.6 billion yuan for violations of food delivery safety requirements.

Meituan, a major Chinese ride-hailing and delivery company, achieved a profit in the second quarter, its first in four quarters. Improved profitability in its core businesses, such as delivery, contributed to this result. The company attributed the recovery to a rebound in demand for food delivery, which had been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increased efficiency. While specific figures were not disclosed, the performance reportedly exceeded market expectations.

Yuanta Securities stated that MEITUAN (3690.HK) or DR MEITUAN19 has the potential to respond positively today after reporting stronger-than-expected 2Q26 results, turning to a normal profit of 2.5 billion yuan after three consecutive quarters of losses, and better than the market's expectation of 340 million yuan. The better-than-expected profit was driven by improved margins following reduced price competition, as well as improvements in new businesses such as Keeta in Hong Kong and the Middle East. The company also provided positive guidance, expecting margins to improve year-on-year and order volumes to continue expanding, reflecting its ability to maintain market share despite reduced promotions. In the long term, AI investment is accelerating, with R&D expenses increasing 23% year-on-year to develop AI agents for use in its ecosystem. For 2026, Bloomberg Consensus expects a normal loss of around 2 billion yuan, improving from last year's loss of 18.6 billion yuan, but there is upside after results beat expectations. The current price trades at a 2027 PER of 17 times, with a target price of 1.56 baht per DR, implying 40% upside.

Meituan reported record second-quarter revenue of RMB104.6 billion, up 14.4% year-over-year, with adjusted net profit of RMB2.5 billion and a return to profitability in its core local commerce segment. The company's core local commerce revenue rose 10.1% to RMB71.5 billion, while new initiatives revenue grew 25% to RMB33.1 billion, with operating losses narrowing sequentially to RMB1.7 billion. CEO Xing Wang highlighted the open-sourced LongCat 2.0 AI model as central to the company's strategy, driving internal productivity and enhancing user and merchant experiences. CFO Shaohui Chen noted that food delivery unit economics improved meaningfully in Q2 but face seasonal headwinds in Q3, and that industry subsidies remain above 2024 levels, pressuring near-term profitability. Meituan holds RMB168.3 billion in cash and is open to monetizing its investment portfolio, valued at over RMB70 billion, to fund growth and shareholder returns.

Yuanta Securities said Meituan, or the Meituan19 depositary receipt, will report results late this month and expects short-term speculative buying, because Bloomberg consensus forecasts the company will return to profit for the first time in four quarters after Chinese authorities stepped in to curb price competition domestically, leading to a clear recovery in margins. The broker recommends watching Alibaba's earnings tonight; if margins recover well, that is expected to support Meituan as well. Although peer JD.com previously reported lower revenue, the market sees Meituan's revenue growing in the opposite direction because the main pressure on JD.com came from electrical appliances, while Meituan focuses on food delivery and restaurant services, and still has growth from new businesses such as online supermarkets, overseas food delivery, and business-to-business sales of food ingredients. Bloomberg consensus puts a target price of 1.54 baht per depositary receipt, implying 25 percent upside.

Traditional retail companies posted clearly divergent results in the first half of 2026. Yonghui Superstores and Grandbuy turned profitable, while Zhongbai Holdings Group and Liqun Commercial Group remained in the red. Yonghui Superstores expects first-half net profit attributable to shareholders of 250 million yuan and non-GAAP net profit of 30 million yuan, mainly helped by completing renovations at 331 stores, lifting gross margin by 1.6 percentage points year on year and cutting period expense ratio by 1.8 percentage points. However, based on first-quarter figures, its second-quarter non-GAAP net profit was negative 217 million yuan. Grandbuy expects first-half non-GAAP net profit of 20 million to 25 million yuan, returning to profit through cost reduction and efficiency gains. Zhongbai Holdings Group expects a non-GAAP net loss of 269 million to 352 million yuan, while Liqun Commercial Group expects a non-GAAP net loss of 48 million to 65 million yuan, with both weighed down by declining foot traffic, online diversion and persistently high fixed costs. At the same time, community store formats are expanding rapidly. Walmart China opened its 20th community store in Shenzhen, Meituan's community hard-discount supermarket Happy Monkey opened three new stores in Beijing and Tianjin, and Freshippo has made its community discount format Freshippo NB one of its main store types. Among A-share companies, Hongqi Chain expects first-half net profit attributable to shareholders of 266 million to 275 million yuan and non-GAAP net profit of 275 million to 284 million yuan. Its high-density community network is seen by the industry as a key advantage that sets it apart from the hypermarket model.

Asian technology stocks faced continued selling pressure in Wednesday trading, with semiconductor shares leading the market lower. Investors remain concerned about elevated valuations, intensifying competition in artificial intelligence, and the drag from a weaker US stock market overnight. In South Korea, SK Hynix, the world's major memory chip maker, tumbled more than 10% even after reporting record quarterly profit and revenue. The figures fell short of analyst expectations, triggering heavy selling. The pressure spread to other domestic tech names, with Samsung Electronics down over 4%, LG Innotek plunging more than 9%, and Seoul Semiconductor losing over 6%. In Japan, Kioxia dropped as much as 10%, Tokyo Electron fell 8.5%, and SoftBank Group declined more than 7%. In Taiwan, TSMC slipped 1.32%. In China, the ChiNext 300 Index lost 1.83% and the Hang Seng China Semiconductor Chips Index sank more than 5%, underscoring the broad regional sell-off. Bucking the trend, Chinese internet stocks listed in Hong Kong moved higher, with Tencent up 3.6% and Meituan gaining 2.7%, while Alibaba, Baidu, and Kuaishou also traded in positive territory.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closed up 103.67 points, or 0.41%, at 25,310.85 today, bucking the trend of most Asian markets which fell on a tech sell-off. Xiaomi rose 2.0%, Tencent added 1.0%, Meituan edged up 0.9%, and Horizon Robotics surged 8.9%. Investors are closely watching the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting this week, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicating a 62% probability that the Fed will hold rates at 3.50% to 3.75% at the July 28-29 meeting, and a 38% chance of a 0.25% rate hike. In addition, the US June personal consumption expenditures price index, due on Thursday, will be a key data point shaping rate expectations for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Shein, the online fast-fashion giant, disclosed financial information ahead of its initial public offering, reporting a net loss of 99 million US dollars in the first quarter of 2026, compared with a net profit of 395 million US dollars in the same period a year earlier, as sales slowed sharply after the US ended a duty-free exemption for small parcels. This comes as the company prepares for its investor roadshow and official IPO subscription on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Moonshot, the Chinese AI startup behind the Kimi chatbot, is finalizing a funding round that would value it at more than $30 billion and is considering a Hong Kong public listing within six months. The surge in interest follows the release of Kimi K3, a 2.8 trillion-parameter model that Artificial Analysis ranked behind only Anthropic and OpenAI in overall capability, drawing praise from Elon Musk and OpenAI strategy chief Dean Ball. Moonshot's valuation had already climbed from $4.3 billion in December to $20 billion within five months, backed by investors including IDG Capital, Alibaba, Meituan, and major Chinese state funds. Daily sales rose at least sixfold after the K3 launch, forcing the company to temporarily halt new subscriptions due to limited computing capacity. The startup's recovery comes after a challenging period when DeepSeek's R1 model drew users away from Kimi, prompting founder Yang Zhilin to pivot toward enterprise customers and open-source its next flagship model, with annual recurring revenue surpassing $300 million by June 2026.

Even Realities, a Shenzhen-based smart glasses startup, has raised $150 million in a pre-Series B round led by Meituan and Tencent, reaching a $1 billion valuation. The three-year-old company, founded by ex-Apple engineers, focuses on display-first glasses without cameras, prioritizing privacy and optical performance. Its latest G2 model uses a heads-up display controlled by a companion ring, and the startup has sold over 10,000 units, with more than half of its users in the U.S. The frames retail for $599, with average orders around $1,000, and the company is profitable while expanding in markets like Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Europe.

The Shanghai Composite Index edged lower in directionless trade, fluctuating around last Friday's close. With few catalysts to move the overall market, a wait-and-see mood prevailed ahead of the release of June inflation data midweek. The Hang Seng Index rose for a third straight session, led by gains in major internet stocks, with Tencent and Meituan advancing and Kuaishou Technology surging nearly 8 percent.

Chinese food delivery stocks fell on Thursday after the country's markets regulator issued new rules on regulating subsidies in the sector. Meituan fell 2.2%, while rivals Alibaba Group and JD.com shed 3.2% and 2.3%, respectively. China's State Administration for Market Regulation published a list of 10 draft rules aimed at prohibiting prolonged, large-scale subsidies driven by capital advantages in the food delivery industry. The rules are aimed at further quelling heated competition in the sector, which saw a major price and subsidy war over the past year as local players rushed to grab greater market share. The move is broadly expected to be positive for Meituan's long-term unit economics, especially given that the company has burnt large amounts of cash to maintain its competitive edge.