Tesla Battery Maker Soars on HK Debut

Tesla Battery Maker Soars on HK Debut

Shares of Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co [3750:HK] — supplier to Tesla [TSLA] and Volkswagen [VWAGY] — climbed 16% on its Hong Kong IPO, the Financial Times reported, raising $4.6bn in the year’s biggest listing to date. The IPO drew backing from Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund and Italy’s Agnelli family. Founder Robin Zeng said CATL aims to lead the zero-carbon economy as it expands globally; plans include a $7.3bn factory in Hungary.

Trump U-Turn Pushes Up Wind Stocks 

The Trump administration’s unexpected reversal of its order to halt Equinor’s [EQNR] $5bn Empire Wind 1 project off the coast of New York provided a lift to the offshore wind sector. Denmark’s Ørsted [DNNGY] climbed 18%, Vestas [VWDRY] 8% and Equinor itself 2%, Bloomberg outlined. The move eases concerns over $28bn in US offshore wind investments, though Trump’s broader opposition to the industry remains a potential issue.

Is Microsoft Falling Out of Love with OpenAI?

Microsoft [MSFT] is to offer xAI’s Grok artificial intelligence (AI) models alongside OpenAI’s models on its Azure AI Foundry platform, the Financial Times detailed, in what may be a further sign of its cooling relationship with the ChatGPT maker. “We don’t have a strong opinion about which model customers use. We want them to use Azure,” Eric Boyd, Corporate Vice President of the Azure AI Platform, said. 

Li Leans into Smart Driving

Li Auto [LI] has started mass production of the Home variant of its high-end Li Mega MPV, with deliveries to begin on May 23. The Li Mega, the company’s first battery electric vehicle, features Nvidia’s [NVDA] Thor-U chip and supports visual-language-action large models, highlighting Li’s push into advanced smart driving tech. On Foresight, OPTO recently detailed the performance and prospects of Li Auto, alongside two other up-and-coming EV stocks. 

CoreWeave Extends Gains

The cloud computing company [CRWV] jumped 8% on Monday, extending a post-earnings rally that has seen its share price more than double since its March IPO, according to Seeking Alpha. The cloud provider reported a 420% year-over-year surge in Q1 revenue to $981.6m and revealed a $4bn cloud deal with OpenAI. Backlog hit $25.9bn. Analysts at Wells Fargo, BofA and Morgan Stanley raised their price targets. 

Major Lithium Mining Deal

Rio Tinto [RIO] will invest up to $900m for a 49.99% stake in Chile’s Maricunga lithium project, the largest foreign investment since the industry’s semi-nationalization in 2022. The high-grade project will be co-developed with state-owned Codelco. Rio will join US-based Albemarle [ALB] and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile [SQM] in the country’s lithium space, the Financial Times noted.

Warren Buffett Is Quite Fond of this Internet Stock

Virginia-based VeriSign [VRSN] has operated the ‘.com’ domain registry since acquiring Network Solutions for $21bn back in 2000. Against a backdrop of macroeconomic turmoil, however, it has become the S&P 500’s 10^th-best performing stock in 2025. OPTO examines what could be fueling VRSN’s performance — as well as what draws investors like Warren Buffet to the stock — alongside the potential warning signs for its share price.