Top Hang Seng Index stocks to watch this week: Alibaba, Baidu, Trip, HSBC

The Hang Seng Index has pulled back in the past few weeks, moving from a high of H$26,413 in January to the current H$26,413. This pullback has mirrored the performance of other global indices like the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500. This article explores the top Hang Seng companies to watch this week.

Trip.com

Trip, a top Chinese travel group, will be in the spotlight this week as it publishes its financial results. Its numbers will come as its stock has crashed to $415, its lowest level since April last year. It has plunged by 33% from its highest level this year and is the worst-performing Hang Seng Index company this year.

Trip’s stock crashed after publishing its financial results in November. Its revenue jumped by 16% to $2.6 billion, helped by the robust travel demand. Its accommodation revenue rose by 18%, while its transportation ticketing rose by 12%. On the other hand, the packaged-tour business grew by just 3%.

The upcoming results will provide more color on its business and its growth trajectory. Also, the management will provide more information on the recently launched antitrust case that Beijing launched in January this year.

HSBC 

HSBC, the sixth-biggest bank globally, is another top Hang Seng Index company to watch this week. It will be in the spotlight as the management publishes its financial results.

HSBC’s results will provide more information about how its business is doing. Most importantly, they will give more data on its Chinese business, where it is investing heavily in. It is seeking to gain more market share both organically and through acquisitions, including the recent Hang Seng Bank buyout. 

The upcoming results will provide more details about its cost-cutting measures. For example, it slashed 10% of its US-based debt capital markets team. The company aims to cut 8% of its global employee costs and save about $1.8 billion annually.

Most banks have published strong financial results and boosted their forward guidance recently. 

Alibaba 

Alibaba, the top Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing company, will be in the spotlight this week as it releases its results. Its stock has slumped by 20% from its highest point last year.

Alibaba stock recently dropped after the United States added it to an entity list for providing services to China’s defense industry. This addition means that it may be barred from buying NVIDIA’s H200 chips.

Alibaba is one of the few companies that have been approved by Chinese authorities to buy these chips. The others are ByteDance and Tencent.

The upcoming Alibaba results will provide more color on its AI businesses, which it has built in the past few years.

JD.com

JD a top e-commerce company, has been one of the worst-performing companies in the Hang Seng Index. It was trading at H$27.4, down by 40% from its highest point last year.

JD has struggled because of its relatively slow growth and the ongoing price war with other companies like Meituan and Alibaba. Most of the intensive price war is in the food delivery business.

Therefore, the upcoming results will provide more information about its business and growth trajectory. The most recent results showed that its revenue rose by 14% in the third quarter, while its net income tumbled to RMB 5.3 billion from the RMB 11.7 billion it made in the same period last year.

Baidu

Baidu, China’s answer to Google, will be in focus this week as it releases its numbers. These results will come as the stock has slumped from a high of $160 to the current $130. 

The upcoming numbers will be important as they will show whether its advertising business has returned to growth. Also, the company will release more details about its upcoming Kunlunxin IPO, which is set to happen this year.