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Starbucks $SBUX is exploring options for its China business, including a potential stake sale, and has reached out to private equity and tech firms to gauge interest, per Bloomberg. The company is working with a financial adviser and could value the business at several billion dollars, though no final decision has been made.
China is Starbucks’ second-largest market with over 7,750 stores and ~$740M in quarterly revenue, but competition from homegrown players like Luckin and Cotti, along with macro pressures, has weighed on performance.
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Starbucks $SBUX is exploring options for its China business, including a potential stake sale, and has reached out to private equity and tech firms to gauge interest, per Bloomberg. The company is working with a financial adviser and could value the business at several billion dollars, though no final decision has been made.
China is Starbucks’ second-largest market with over 7,750 stores and ~$740M in quarterly revenue, but competition from homegrown players like Luckin and Cotti, along with macro pressures, has weighed on performance.
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The U.S. is preparing a major rollback of bank capital rules tied to the Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) — one of the most significant cuts since post-2008 reforms, per FT.
This move would lower the required cushion of high-quality capital large banks must hold against total leverage, including Treasuries and derivatives. It comes amid lobbying from the banking sector, which argues the current SLR punishes lenders for holding low-risk assets and limits their capacity to support liquidity.
Regulators may present proposals by summer, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling it a “high priority.” Fed Chair Powell also backs revisiting the SLR. The plan could include exempting Treasuries and central bank reserves — a change that during the pandemic freed up $2T in balance sheet space.
The eight biggest U.S. banks are currently held to a 5% tier 1 capital minimum under the SLR. That’s higher than international peers.
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The U.S. is preparing a major rollback of bank capital rules tied to the Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) — one of the most significant cuts since post-2008 reforms, per FT.
This move would lower the required cushion of high-quality capital large banks must hold against total leverage, including Treasuries and derivatives. It comes amid lobbying from the banking sector, which argues the current SLR punishes lenders for holding low-risk assets and limits their capacity to support liquidity.
Regulators may present proposals by summer, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling it a “high priority.” Fed Chair Powell also backs revisiting the SLR. The plan could include exempting Treasuries and central bank reserves — a change that during the pandemic freed up $2T in balance sheet space.
The eight biggest U.S. banks are currently held to a 5% tier 1 capital minimum under the SLR. That’s higher than international peers.
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Raymond James Downgrades $JBLU to Market Perform from Outperform, PT $5
Analyst comments: "We are downgrading JetBlue to Market Perform on more balanced risk-reward, with the shares having reached our $5.00 target price following our April tactical upgrade — the third best performing scheduled service U.S. airline in our coverage. Our estimates are unchanged since our April 29 post-earnings report, although improvements in the global trade landscape have likely eased external pressures on both JetBlue and the broader U.S. airline group. Potential catalysts remain, including those cited at the time of the upgrade — industry capacity consolidation related to Spirit, improved GTF-related aircraft availability (some of which materialized in 1Q25), and new developments such as the rumored United partnership. However, after the notable improvement in sentiment, we now view the risk/reward as more balanced. Importantly, in the event of a significant market or economic downturn, we continue to view JetBlue as a survivor with no liquidity risk."
Analyst: Savanthi Syth
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Raymond James Downgrades $JBLU to Market Perform from Outperform, PT $5
Analyst comments: "We are downgrading JetBlue to Market Perform on more balanced risk-reward, with the shares having reached our $5.00 target price following our April tactical upgrade — the third best performing scheduled service U.S. airline in our coverage. Our estimates are unchanged since our April 29 post-earnings report, although improvements in the global trade landscape have likely eased external pressures on both JetBlue and the broader U.S. airline group. Potential catalysts remain, including those cited at the time of the upgrade — industry capacity consolidation related to Spirit, improved GTF-related aircraft availability (some of which materialized in 1Q25), and new developments such as the rumored United partnership. However, after the notable improvement in sentiment, we now view the risk/reward as more balanced. Importantly, in the event of a significant market or economic downturn, we continue to view JetBlue as a survivor with no liquidity risk."
Analyst: Savanthi Syth
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Jefferies Reiterates Buy Rating on $NKE, Cites $DKS- $FL Deal as Positive Read-Through, Maintains PT at $115
Analyst comments: "DKS, the nation’s largest sports retailer, is nearing a $2.3 billion deal to acquire FL—its biggest acquisition to date. We view this as a positive for Nike, given DKS’ strong management and efficiency. Nike maintains strong ties with both retailers and leads footwear sales across both banners. A better-run FL, combined with a cleaner marketplace and resonant innovation, should support Nike’s recovery.
With shares still below COVID lows, we’d be buyers at current levels. A better-run FL under DKS leadership would be a net benefit for Nike, reinforcing its distribution strategy and solidifying its position in athletic retail. Nike continues to cleanse the marketplace, with recent innovations resonating well with consumers. With expectations reset after several EPS revisions, this appears to be a classic self-help recovery. As the brand becomes less promotional, there’s meaningful room for margin expansion ahead."
Analyst: Randal Konik
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Jefferies Reiterates Buy Rating on $NKE, Cites $DKS- $FL Deal as Positive Read-Through, Maintains PT at $115
Analyst comments: "DKS, the nation’s largest sports retailer, is nearing a $2.3 billion deal to acquire FL—its biggest acquisition to date. We view this as a positive for Nike, given DKS’ strong management and efficiency. Nike maintains strong ties with both retailers and leads footwear sales across both banners. A better-run FL, combined with a cleaner marketplace and resonant innovation, should support Nike’s recovery.
With shares still below COVID lows, we’d be buyers at current levels. A better-run FL under DKS leadership would be a net benefit for Nike, reinforcing its distribution strategy and solidifying its position in athletic retail. Nike continues to cleanse the marketplace, with recent innovations resonating well with consumers. With expectations reset after several EPS revisions, this appears to be a classic self-help recovery. As the brand becomes less promotional, there’s meaningful room for margin expansion ahead."
Analyst: Randal Konik
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Goldman Sachs Reiterates Conviction Buy Rating on $UBER, PT $110
Analyst comments: "Uber hosted their GO-GET 2025 event where the company highlighted a number of announcements primarily aimed at affordability. Specifically: 1) Mobility – focused on making the commute use case more affordable and reducing friction (e.g., Commute Alerts, Price Lock Pass, Prepaid Pass, Route Share); 2) Delivery – updates skewed toward driving affordability and savings with proactive price comparison and substitution recommendations (Uber Eats Savings Slider); 3) Uber One – added benefits including 10% Uber One credits back when using Uber Rent (including Turo) or taking Lime rides on Uber, as well as the first Uber One Member Days; and 4) Autonomous Vehicles – partnership with Volkswagen to launch the first shared autonomous ride. Starting in Los Angeles in early 2026, Uber and Volkswagen will deploy the fully electric, fully autonomous ID. Buzz AD.
We view these announcements as aligned with Uber's broader platform initiatives to drive adoption, frequency, and retention through products aimed at solving pain points across use cases, particularly around affordability and usability. We reiterate our Buy rating on UBER shares (also on the Conviction List) and maintain our 12-month price target of $110."
Analyst: Eric Sheridan
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Goldman Sachs Reiterates Conviction Buy Rating on $UBER, PT $110
Analyst comments: "Uber hosted their GO-GET 2025 event where the company highlighted a number of announcements primarily aimed at affordability. Specifically: 1) Mobility – focused on making the commute use case more affordable and reducing friction (e.g., Commute Alerts, Price Lock Pass, Prepaid Pass, Route Share); 2) Delivery – updates skewed toward driving affordability and savings with proactive price comparison and substitution recommendations (Uber Eats Savings Slider); 3) Uber One – added benefits including 10% Uber One credits back when using Uber Rent (including Turo) or taking Lime rides on Uber, as well as the first Uber One Member Days; and 4) Autonomous Vehicles – partnership with Volkswagen to launch the first shared autonomous ride. Starting in Los Angeles in early 2026, Uber and Volkswagen will deploy the fully electric, fully autonomous ID. Buzz AD.
We view these announcements as aligned with Uber's broader platform initiatives to drive adoption, frequency, and retention through products aimed at solving pain points across use cases, particularly around affordability and usability. We reiterate our Buy rating on UBER shares (also on the Conviction List) and maintain our 12-month price target of $110."
Analyst: Eric Sheridan
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BOFA RAISES $CRWV PT TO $76 FROM $42 - BUY
Analyst comments: "CoreWeave delivered a solid first quarter as a public company, with 16% revenue upside to our model driven by better return on net assets. The return of 10.3% well exceeded our estimate of 8.6%. Some of the upside came from capital expenditure timing, which pushed into Q2 and lowered the denominator. However, strength was also supported by better consumption.
Q1 was an impressive quarter for contract signings, including a new $11.9 billion deal with OpenAI and a $4 billion expansion with a large AI enterprise. These results validate that CoreWeave is well positioned to capitalize on the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market as a best-in-class data center provider. While the business remains capital-intensive, expanding return on net assets points to a widening spread over cost of capital.
We reiterate our Buy rating and raise our price objective from $42 to $76 to reflect revenue upside. Our new target is based on a forward 16x CY27e EBIT valuation (up from 13x prior), a premium to the cloud datacenter group at 15x given CoreWeave’s long runway of EBIT growth."
Analyst: Brad Sills
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BOFA RAISES $CRWV PT TO $76 FROM $42 - BUY
Analyst comments: "CoreWeave delivered a solid first quarter as a public company, with 16% revenue upside to our model driven by better return on net assets. The return of 10.3% well exceeded our estimate of 8.6%. Some of the upside came from capital expenditure timing, which pushed into Q2 and lowered the denominator. However, strength was also supported by better consumption.
Q1 was an impressive quarter for contract signings, including a new $11.9 billion deal with OpenAI and a $4 billion expansion with a large AI enterprise. These results validate that CoreWeave is well positioned to capitalize on the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market as a best-in-class data center provider. While the business remains capital-intensive, expanding return on net assets points to a widening spread over cost of capital.
We reiterate our Buy rating and raise our price objective from $42 to $76 to reflect revenue upside. Our new target is based on a forward 16x CY27e EBIT valuation (up from 13x prior), a premium to the cloud datacenter group at 15x given CoreWeave’s long runway of EBIT growth."
Analyst: Brad Sills
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From Feb 2024 to Apr 2025, Google $GOOGL (incl. DeepMind) filed 140 U.S. patent apps in agentic AI—70% more than $NVDA (80), and well ahead of IBM (61), Intel (43), and Microsoft (42).
Agentic AI filings are up 56% YoY. https://t.co/aq0P23JL9t
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From Feb 2024 to Apr 2025, Google $GOOGL (incl. DeepMind) filed 140 U.S. patent apps in agentic AI—70% more than $NVDA (80), and well ahead of IBM (61), Intel (43), and Microsoft (42).
Agentic AI filings are up 56% YoY. https://t.co/aq0P23JL9t
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$BABA | Alibaba Q4 FY2025 Earnings Highlights
🔹 Revenue: ¥236.45B (Est. ¥237.91B) 🔴; +7% YoY
🔹 Adj EPS: ¥12.52 (Est. ¥12.81) 🔴; +23% YoY
Segment Revenue (Q4):
🔸 Cloud Intelligence Group: ¥30.13B; UP +18% YoY
🔸 Taobao & Tmall Group: ¥101.37B; UP +9% YoY
🔹 Customer Management Revenue: ¥71.08B; UP +12% YoY
🔹 Direct Sales & Others: ¥24.50B; DOWN -1% YoY
🔸 Alibaba International Digital Commerce: ¥33.58B; UP +22% YoY
🔹 Retail: ¥27.60B; UP +24% YoY
🔹 Wholesale: ¥5.98B; UP +16% YoY
🔸 Cainiao Logistics: ¥21.57B; DOWN -12% YoY
🔸 Local Services Group: ¥16.13B; UP +10% YoY
🔸 Digital Media & Entertainment: ¥5.55B; UP +12% YoY
🔸 All Others: ¥53.99B; UP +5% YoY
Segment EBITA (Q4):
🔹 Taobao & Tmall Group: ¥41.75B; UP +8% YoY
🔹 Alibaba International Digital Commerce: -¥3.57B; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Cloud Intelligence Group: ¥2.42B; UP +69% YoY
🔹 Cainiao Logistics: -¥606M; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Local Services: -¥2.32B; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Digital Media & Entertainment: ¥36M profit vs. loss YoY
🔹 All Others: -¥2.54B; loss narrowed YoY
Other Key Metrics:
🔹 Adj. EBITDA: ¥41.78B; UP +36% YoY
🔹 Operating Income: ¥28.47B; UP +93% YoY
🔹 Net Income: ¥11.97B; UP +1203% YoY
🔹 Net Income Attributable to Shareholders: ¥12.38B; UP +279% YoY
🔹 Net Cash from Operating Activities: ¥27.52B; UP +18% YoY
🔹 Free Cash Flow: ¥3.74B; DOWN -76% YoY
Dividend and Shareholder Returns:
🔹 Total Share Repurchase FY25: $11.9B (5.1% net reduction in shares)
🔹 Declared Total Dividend: $2.00 per ADS (Regular $1.05 + Special $0.95)
🔹 Aggregate Payout: ~$4.6B
CEO Eddie Wu Commentary:
🔸 "Core business growth is accelerating, driven by AI adoption and strong cloud momentum. AI-related product revenue grew triple-digits for the 7th straight quarter."
CFO Toby Xu Commentary:
🔸 "We delivered 7% revenue growth and 36% EBITA growth. Share repurchases and special dividends reflect our commitment to shareholder value."
Cloud & AI Strategic Commentary:
🔸 Alibaba Cloud named Emerging Leader in all four GenAI categories by Gartner.
🔸 Launched Qwen3 open-source AI models, including MoE architectures for hybrid reasoning.
🔸 AI product revenue continues triple-digit YoY growth across verticals including retail, manufacturing, and media.
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$BABA | Alibaba Q4 FY2025 Earnings Highlights
🔹 Revenue: ¥236.45B (Est. ¥237.91B) 🔴; +7% YoY
🔹 Adj EPS: ¥12.52 (Est. ¥12.81) 🔴; +23% YoY
Segment Revenue (Q4):
🔸 Cloud Intelligence Group: ¥30.13B; UP +18% YoY
🔸 Taobao & Tmall Group: ¥101.37B; UP +9% YoY
🔹 Customer Management Revenue: ¥71.08B; UP +12% YoY
🔹 Direct Sales & Others: ¥24.50B; DOWN -1% YoY
🔸 Alibaba International Digital Commerce: ¥33.58B; UP +22% YoY
🔹 Retail: ¥27.60B; UP +24% YoY
🔹 Wholesale: ¥5.98B; UP +16% YoY
🔸 Cainiao Logistics: ¥21.57B; DOWN -12% YoY
🔸 Local Services Group: ¥16.13B; UP +10% YoY
🔸 Digital Media & Entertainment: ¥5.55B; UP +12% YoY
🔸 All Others: ¥53.99B; UP +5% YoY
Segment EBITA (Q4):
🔹 Taobao & Tmall Group: ¥41.75B; UP +8% YoY
🔹 Alibaba International Digital Commerce: -¥3.57B; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Cloud Intelligence Group: ¥2.42B; UP +69% YoY
🔹 Cainiao Logistics: -¥606M; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Local Services: -¥2.32B; loss narrowed YoY
🔹 Digital Media & Entertainment: ¥36M profit vs. loss YoY
🔹 All Others: -¥2.54B; loss narrowed YoY
Other Key Metrics:
🔹 Adj. EBITDA: ¥41.78B; UP +36% YoY
🔹 Operating Income: ¥28.47B; UP +93% YoY
🔹 Net Income: ¥11.97B; UP +1203% YoY
🔹 Net Income Attributable to Shareholders: ¥12.38B; UP +279% YoY
🔹 Net Cash from Operating Activities: ¥27.52B; UP +18% YoY
🔹 Free Cash Flow: ¥3.74B; DOWN -76% YoY
Dividend and Shareholder Returns:
🔹 Total Share Repurchase FY25: $11.9B (5.1% net reduction in shares)
🔹 Declared Total Dividend: $2.00 per ADS (Regular $1.05 + Special $0.95)
🔹 Aggregate Payout: ~$4.6B
CEO Eddie Wu Commentary:
🔸 "Core business growth is accelerating, driven by AI adoption and strong cloud momentum. AI-related product revenue grew triple-digits for the 7th straight quarter."
CFO Toby Xu Commentary:
🔸 "We delivered 7% revenue growth and 36% EBITA growth. Share repurchases and special dividends reflect our commitment to shareholder value."
Cloud & AI Strategic Commentary:
🔸 Alibaba Cloud named Emerging Leader in all four GenAI categories by Gartner.
🔸 Launched Qwen3 open-source AI models, including MoE architectures for hybrid reasoning.
🔸 AI product revenue continues triple-digit YoY growth across verticals including retail, manufacturing, and media.
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Mizuho Downgrades $CRWD to Neutral from Outperform, Says Valuation Now Crowded, Maintains PT at $425
Analyst comments: "Very consistently throughout CRWD's nearly six-year tenure as a publicly traded company, this has been one of our favorite stocks. Our initial thesis—that CRWD would very successfully extend beyond its initial focus on endpoint protection—has long been proven, and we believe CRWD remains very well positioned for future growth.
That said, our recent CRWD checks have moderated while some potential risk factors have emerged, and yet the shares have remained remarkably robust, now trading above our $425 price target. As such, we are downgrading our rating on CRWD to Neutral from Outperform and recommend waiting for a better entry point."
Analyst: Gregg Moskowitz
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Mizuho Downgrades $CRWD to Neutral from Outperform, Says Valuation Now Crowded, Maintains PT at $425
Analyst comments: "Very consistently throughout CRWD's nearly six-year tenure as a publicly traded company, this has been one of our favorite stocks. Our initial thesis—that CRWD would very successfully extend beyond its initial focus on endpoint protection—has long been proven, and we believe CRWD remains very well positioned for future growth.
That said, our recent CRWD checks have moderated while some potential risk factors have emerged, and yet the shares have remained remarkably robust, now trading above our $425 price target. As such, we are downgrading our rating on CRWD to Neutral from Outperform and recommend waiting for a better entry point."
Analyst: Gregg Moskowitz
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