China International Capital Co research says high external uncertainty will
drive investors to use interim reports to find structural winners. Key themes:
upstream oil, gas, chemicals and select metals as potential earnings bright
spots; technology hardware and power equipment exposed to the AI cycle and to
overseas demand, and non-bank financials; the AI supply chain—optical
communications that directly benefit from AI deployment, plus batteries and
energy storage that also gains from energy‑security and supply‑chain security.
Also monitor cyclical industries with relatively balanced supply–demand and
improving demand/capacity dynamics, notably specialty chemicals, optoelectronics
and certain innovative pharmaceuticals.