Surged 65%! Ant's Acquisition of Hong Kong Brokerage Approved

Reflation between cyclical stocks and tech stocks reappears on the “see-saw.”

This morning, A-shares of cyclical sectors performed actively, with major financials, steel, real estate, and automobile sectors rising; tech stocks retreated, with sectors like computing power, PCB, and semiconductors declining.

By the close this morning, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.04%, the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 0.4%, the ChiNext Index declined 0.58%, and the STAR Market Index decreased 0.72%.

Yao Cai Securities Financial stocks surged

This morning, major financials strengthened, with the insurance sector leading the gains as all five major insurers rose collectively. Influenced by news, the securities sector also rose, with Guosen Securities, GF Securities, and others gaining. Futures and banking sectors also increased, with Nanhua Futures soaring.

On the evening of March 16, Hong Kong-listed Yao Cai Securities Financial announced that the tender offer initiated by Ant Group has been approved by relevant authorities, with settlement expected to be completed by March 30. Yao Cai Securities Financial stated that, as part of the acquisition by Ant Group, all conditions for the transaction have been met.

Yao Cai Securities Financial’s stock was briefly suspended on March 16 and resumed trading on March 17, after which the stock price surged, reaching over 82% intraday. By the close this morning, the stock had risen 65.91%, trading at HKD 15.38 per share, with a latest market value of HKD 26.104 billion.

On April 25, 2025, Ant Group, through a subsidiary of Shanghai Yunjin Information Technology Co., Ltd., launched a tender offer to Yao Cai Securities Financial at HKD 3.28 per share, for approximately 50.55% of Yao Cai Securities Financial’s total shares, with a total transaction amount of HKD 2.814 billion.

Additionally, the securities industry saw another M&A case. On the evening of March 13, Dongwu Securities announced a plan to acquire Donghai Securities, proposing to purchase 83.77% of Donghai Securities held by 61 shareholders, through issuing shares and cash payments.

Shanxi Securities stated that the securities industry is shifting from scale expansion and channel-driven growth to value-oriented and professional service-driven growth. Leading brokerages with strengths in industry and tech investment banking are benefiting more deeply from reform dividends. Business synergy is also strengthening, creating a closed loop of “investment research + investment banking + investment.”

Tech stocks retreat

This morning, tech stocks declined, with the computing power industry chain leading the fall, as sectors like optical modules and optical fibers plunged, possibly related to some funds “realizing gains.”

At around 2 a.m. Beijing time on March 17, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivered a keynote speech at the GTC 2026 conference. According to China Securities Overseas Information, with AI inference demand surging, Huang predicted NVIDIA’s revenue would reach $1 trillion in 2027. In October 2025, Huang stated that products from Blackwell and Rubin are expected to generate $500 billion in revenue in 2025 and 2026.

Dongwu Securities’ latest research report indicates that AI development is driving a surge in optical module demand, with full benefit expected for packaging and testing equipment providers. As AI training and inference clusters continue to expand, optical module speeds are moving from 400G to 800G and accelerating towards 1.6T, with shipment structures rapidly shifting toward high-end specifications. High-speed products require higher precision in mounting, more stable coupling, and increased testing bandwidth and consistency, pushing equipment upgrades toward high precision, automation, and uniformity. Additionally, the architecture is evolving from traditional pluggable to CPO/OIO, with new demands for advanced packaging and integrated testing, boosting investment in unit production line equipment. The combined effect of demand growth and technological upgrades is driving both volume and price increases.

The semiconductor industry chain declined, with sectors like photoresists and lithography equipment falling.

Price hikes across various segments of the semiconductor industry remain a key market focus. Following storage chips and packaging, recently, analog chips have also seen price increases.

CITIC Securities noted that overseas analog chip manufacturers like Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and Infineon have recently issued price increase notices. Analog chips are critical for AI system stability, efficiency, and scalability, playing key roles in power conversion, voltage regulation, and signal chain management. They are vital in large-scale AI data center construction, with demand for power management and signal chain chips surging due to AI server growth. Demand in industrial and automotive sectors is recovering, indicating that the analog chip industry is rebounding.

(Chart images in the article sourced from Tonghuashun and Wind)