Tencent ramps up AI agents; BABA unveils Qwen3.5-Omni | Daily News Recap

0331 ｜Dolphin Focus

🐬 Macro / Industry

1. The NBS reported Mar manufacturing PMI at 50.4%, up 140bps MoM and back in expansion. The non-manufacturing business activity index came in at 50.1%, up 60bps MoM and rising for a second straight month.Both production and new orders were in expansion, with a clear pickup in SME sentiment. This points to a rapid post-CNY rebound in manufacturing activity.

2. Trump told aides he is willing to end military action against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz is not fully reopened, prioritizing the goal of weakening Iran's navy and missile capabilities and shifting to diplomatic pressure with allied coordination. The U.S. military does not want a protracted war of attrition, increasing the odds of de-escalation.In the short term, oil may pull back, the USD could soften, and risk assets may rebound. However, with the strait not fully cleared, energy supply-chain risks persist, and inflation as well as Fed rate-cut expectations may remain choppy.

🐬 Stocks

1.$TENCENT(00700.HK)

Tencent launched its AI agent product 'WorkBuddy' as a mini program, alongside the WeChat 'ClawBot' plug-in. The system integrates with the OpenClaw ecosystem, enabling voice and camera input on mobile to generate documents and videos directly.This signals a shift in Tencent’s AI push from model competition to ecosystem capture. Leveraging WeChat’s massive traffic to roll out agents should meaningfully lift stickiness across both enterprise and consumer users.

2.$iQIYI(IQ.US)

iQIYI opened its AI film/TV agent platform 'Nadou Pro' for pre-commercial access. It supports end-to-end AI generation across scriptwriting, storyboarding, and final cut, connecting to multiple models including Qizhi, and targets long-form series, films, and animation-grade production.Internal and partner pilots are underway. The first AI film 'Tianwen' will go live.

3.$BABA-W(09988.HK)

Alibaba released its Qwen3.5-Omni multimodal model. It set new SOTA on 215 tasks across audio/video understanding, recognition, and real-time interaction, and outperformed Google's Gemini-3.1 Pro on several core metrics.Now live on Alibaba Cloud’s Bailian platform, the model materially lowers the barrier to build real-time voice/video conversational apps. This should support Alibaba Cloud monetization, strengthening growth outlooks for enterprise cloud and consumer-facing applications.

4.$Uber Tech(UBER.US)

Uber filed a 13G disclosing its stake in WeRide has risen to 5.82%. The same day, WeRide announced a $100mn buyback over the next 12 months, with HKD 189mn repurchased as of Mar 30.For 2025, revenue is guided to RMB 690mn (+90%), with losses narrowing by 34.2%. Uber’s increased stake signals recognition of WeRide’s technology and commercialization, while the buyback underscores management confidence.WeRide’s Robotaxi is scaling rapidly with global deployments, and synergy with Uber enhances moats across ride-hailing and autonomous driving.

5. Dolphin earnings and calls to watch

Dongpeng Beverage: 'Dongpeng Beverage: Energy-drink growth stalls; hydration fails to 'hydrate' growth—high-growth myth fading?'.China Tourism Group Duty Free: 'With Hainan customs closure tailwinds, can CTG Duty Free be the next big winner?'Earnings after hours: Zhipu, MingMing Busy, Miniso, BOE.

🐬 Top Gainers by Sector

A-shares: Tobacco, forest products, residential builders;

HK: Home appliances, motorcycle manufacturers, security & alarm services;

U.S.: Aluminum, seaport operators, insurance brokers.

🐬 Watchlist for Tomorrow

1. Sungrow and MingMing Busy report earnings.

2. China Mar RatingDog Manufacturing PMI.

3. U.S. Mar ADP employment change (10k persons), U.S. Feb retail sales MoM, U.S. Mar S&P Global Manufacturing PMI final, U.S. Mar ISM Manufacturing PMI.

Risk disclosure and statement: Dolphin Research Disclaimer and General Disclosure