Chinese Internet Firms are in the Spotlight as Trade Rhetoric Heats Up

There is an ongoing competition between China and the United States for worldwide economic supremacy. One particularly fertile battleground in the competition is technology. Data indicates that the gap in venture capital funding between Chinese and American companies is closing fast. China has used grand ambitions and careful government planning to create powerful, profitable companies uniquely positioned to take advantage of their market – and beyond.

Home to the largest internet and mobile markets in the world, Chinese companies tend to be more transaction-based than their Western counterparts. Many of these companies have become skilled at leveraging rapid adoption rates and a tech-savvy population to sell virtual and physical goods. E-commerce, gaming, and social network businesses are particularly successful – big names include Alibaba, Weibo, and Tencent – but the space is diverse. Some companies, like Huami, create wearable devices; others, like Baidu, traffic in A.I. and internet services (including the largest search engine in China).

While the trade wars and questions about Chinese technology companies’ ability to innovate remain, many economic experts see a positive future, driven in part by the impending arrival of 5G technology. Whether this is the impetus for the next great wave of Chinese tech companies remains to be seen, but its big names are proven successes, making them accessible, enticing options for investors.

In addition to the increased attention due to the barbs being traded between Beijing and Washington, a couple of members of the group are set to report earnings this week. Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) is set to report on June 1 and Baozun (Nasdaq: BZUN) is set to report on June 2. Both companies are expected to see earnings decline slightly compared to last year.

Looking at the fundamental ratings for the companies in the industry, the Tickeron screener shows that NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) is the highest rated among the 18 stocks in the group. It scores very highly in its Valuation Rating, Profit vs. Risk Rating, and the SMR Rating. It also scores well in the Seasonality Rating. The only area where it is below average is in the PE Growth Rating.

The other four companies in the top five for fundamental ratings are JOYY Inc. (Nasdaq: YY), JD.Com (Nasdaq: JD), Bitauto Holdings (Nasdaq: BITA), and Alibaba (NYSE: BABA).

The technical ratings show three of the same companies in the top five for their various ratings—Alibaba, NetEase, and Bitauto Holdings. The top company for its overall technical ratings is Vipshop Holdings (Nasdaq: VIPS). The stock scores well in its Stochastic indicators, MACD, Momentum, and the Moving Averages. The only area where the stock doesn’t score well is with the AROON indicator. Alibaba scores highly in four out of five as well with its only subpar rating being from the MACD.

NetEase scores highly in four of the seven categories with one neutral reading and two below average ratings. Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE: TME) is the second company that makes it in to the top five, but wasn’t in the top five in the fundamental ratings. All five of the companies score highly in at least four technical categories.

With political tensions high between China and the United States, all Chinese stocks that trade on U.S. exchanges could be volatile in the coming months. There are also concerns about accounting practices after the recent events at Luckin Coffee (Nasdaq: LK) raised red flags about the filing requirements of foreign companies on U.S. exchanges.

These stocks could be volatile in the coming months and quarters. If investors try to stick with the stocks that the screener ranks as the highest ones, both for fundamental and technical analysis, they should fare better than investing in the stocks that don’t rank as highly.

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