Here’s what you need to know today

• Nvidia, the company at the core of the AI boom, exceeded expectations after reporting a 62% increase in revenue for Q3. Markets were skeptical in the lead-up with growing AI bubble sentiment. Shares were up over 5% in after-hours trading, adding more than $200 billion in value. (WSJ)
  
  

• The Nvidia news saw a broader rally in AI stocks. AMD was up 4%, TSMC up 3% and Broadcom up 3%. It extended beyond America, with Australia’s tech index up 2% yesterday.
  
  

• The AI boom extended to private markets, with Elon Musk’s xAI announcing plans to raise $15 billion at a $230 billion valuation. This puts xAI up there as one of the world's most valuable private companies alongside OpenAI ($500bn), SpaceX ($350bn) and ByteDance ($300bn).. (FT)
  
  

• Meta has begun notifying Australians under the age of 16 that they will lose access to Instagram, Facebook and Threads. This comes as social media companies prepare for 10 December when Australia’s under-16 social media ban begins. (ABC)
  
  

• Australia has put itself out as a global leader in regulating Big Tech with the under-16 social media ban, local content rules for streaming giants and the News Media Bargaining Incentive. Now Big Tech is fighting back. Lobby groups have lodged formal complaints with the US Trade Representative and are also lobbying President Trump. (AFR)
  
  

• The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has warned that high household debt and investor home loan growth are creating vulnerabilities in the banking sector. They identified that interest rate cuts have increased high-risk lending, namely high debt-to-income borrowing by investors. APRA is conducting stress tests on the banks and superannuation funds; they have passed thus far. (AFR)
  
  

• Infant formula maker, a2 Milk, reported that sales in China were accelerating and the New Zealand company is back to a top-four brand position in the Chinese market. This growth comes despite the Chinese market shrinking by 6% as China’s birth rate slows. (AFR)
  
  

• Chris Ellison, the troubled founder of mining services company Mineral Resources, will remain as CEO despite a previously announced plan for him to step down by mid-2026. Investors seemed okay with the announcement, as MinRes shares rose 4% on the day. (Capital Brief)
  

• South Korea has pledged to abandon all coal power by 2040. South Korea, the fourth largest importer of coal, presently imports $2.4 billion of coal from Australia, the second largest exporter of coal. The Australian Office of the Chief Economist forecasts a nearly 15% reduction to global thermal coal demand in the next three years. (9News)

   
  

• Alphabet, owner of Google, continues to rise after the successful launch of its Gemini 3 AI model and the news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought almost 18 million shares. The company, worth $3.5 trillion, is close to flipping Microsoft, worth $3.6 trillion, to become the world’s 3rd most valuable company. (WSJ)
  
  

• Target (the US version not the Australian version) reported profit fell 19% year-on-year as same-store sales dropped 3.8%. This is a worrying sign of American consumers tightening their belts. Shares of the $40 billion retailer are down 40% so far in 2025. (CNN)

What the…?

After an impressive 232 year innings, the US Mint in Philadelphia pressed its final penny last week. In a move that continues to edge the world closer to a cashless society, US President Donald Trump cancelled the production of the coin due to the cost of producing the coin far outweighing the actual value, coming in at 3.7 cents to produce. The government predicts it will save around $US56m per year.

Whilst Australia got rid of its one-cent coin 33 years ago, the five-cent coin has to be shaking in its boots. In 2022, Australian Mint revealed that it costs 12 cents to make the five-cent coin, so its days in circulation could also be numbered.

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

Why Pop Mart may have reached its peak with falling Labubu prices

This is an extract from the Buy or Sell episode titled ‘Buy or Sell: Ally Selby with Arms Rosenberg’ (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

Ally: Most people will know the company Pop Mart from the LaBubu dolls that went viral on the internet most of this year and a little bit of last year, Pop Mart's seen its share price fall around 35% since it peaked in August. Arms, you've been talking about it in the AFR why you're shorting that company, do you think it could fall even further?

Arms: The reason we went short is it's highly tied to Labubu. So Labubu, which are the cute little plush toys that Lisa from Black Pink made popular in case anyone here lives under a rock and doesn't know about it. Labubu is over 35% of Pop Mart sales, right? And we were tracking prices on reseller websites like StockX and you could see the reseller prices falling, which is a good indicator of forward demand.

The second reason we were short is it was trading at a large premium to competitors such as Miniso, which is trading on 14 times price to earnings valuation, Pop Mart at one point traded on 30 times, so well over double the PE premium. It’s now fallen to 20 times, so I think that valuation argument is definitely less compelling.

Should we close it? Look, I think Labubu prices do continue to fall on the reseller websites and I haven't seen a huge ability for the company to broaden out its IP base. Having said that, we do really like this sort of niche Asian consumerism or exporting Asian cute culture to the world trend and thematic.

Ally: Do you think we’ll continue to see that trend continuing of consumers buying these ultra hyped goods?

Arms: I don't know if my three and a half year old daughter is a litmus test at all, she loves all that stuff and so yeah, I think that it will continue.

Want to watch the full episode with Ally and Arms? Check it out on the Equity Mates YouTube channel:

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