Jack Ma’s Ant Group closes Hong Kong IPO book early

Ant Group will close its Hong Kong intuitional book early despite strong demand. Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita discusses.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: Ines Ferre is going to check markets for us. They used to say regarding Harley-Davidson that freedom is not given, it's taken. And Harley is taking it to the bank today, aren't they?

INES FERRE: Or is. Up 25% for the stock. The stock hasn't seen these prices since before the pandemic. The company beat on the top and the bottom line with the strongest third-quarter net income since 2015, really highlighting the business's overhaul plans, which are spearheaded by new CEO, Jochen Zietz.

Harley has streamlined its portfolio. It has refocused its international markets, exiting some 39 markets. It also has been focusing now on 50 markets, primarily in North America, Europe, and also parts of Asia-Pacific. One other note I want to mention is that Harley-Davidson also unveiled a new venture today focused on the electric bicycle market.

We're also watching Tencent in Hong Kong, which soared more than 4% today after the Trump administration lost an appeal in a bid to ban WeChat in the US. That appeal was filed after a judge had ruled that the ban likely violates free speech in the-- when it comes to the app's users.

JULIE HYMAN: Ines, we're also looking at-- ahead to earnings after the bell. I'm looking at Microsoft-- the shares up about 1.3% today. Of course, among the tech high flyers that we've seen this year. Will most the focus be on something like Azure, the cloud service, or what are investors going to be looking for?

INES FERRE: That will be a big focus. The consensus for Azure's cloud business really is expected to rise 45% year over year, although Dan Ives of Wedbush, for example-- he's bullish, expecting Azure to have grown 50% given the digital transformation of the businesses. When it comes to adjusted earnings, the Street is expecting a rise of 12% year over year and revenue increasing a little more than 8% year over year.

Microsoft, as you mentioned, will be reporting its earnings after the bell. But really quite a few bullish calls from Wall Street as this company has really been a standout during 2020. The year-- the stock year-to-date is up about 34%.