Will they shine next week?

While $Palantir Technologies Inc.(PLTR)$  and $C3.ai, Inc.(AI)$   may not be as well-known as NVidia and Microsoft, I like the duo for carving out their niches in the big data analytics and enterprise AI spaces. Among the first movers in rolling out AI solutions, Palantir and C3.ai are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demands for AI applications. In fact, known for its close collaborations with the US government, over the last couple of years the company has made a deliberate effort to expand beyond the public sector, and indeed the strategy is paying off as Palantir has been enjoying impressive growth in the private sector. Likewise, with rapid acceleration of digital transformation being all the rage since the onset of the COVID pandemic, C3.ai has found itself in the centre of rising demands for enterprise AI applications.

It also appears to be a turning point for the Chinese EV startup trio $NIO-SW(09866)$  , $XPENG-W(09868)$  and $LI AUTO-W(02015)$  , as the Chinese EV industry charges ahead to dominate the global market. With the prevailing price war easing as Tesla reaches its "natural limit of cost down" according to Elon Musk, and is finally calling for a ceasefire by raising prices in order to avoid further erosion of its own margins, this will end the race to the bottom that has witnessed various EV makers undercutting one another in price to gain or defend their market shares amidst softening EV demands, Hopefully, this will reverse the downward spiral in profit margins among the Chinese EV makers and help to improve their profitabilities.