Trump Leads 17 US Corporate Giants to China, What Are the Investment Targets Worth Watching?

It is reported that the business delegation accompanying Trump on his visit to China covers sectors such as semiconductors, aerospace, heavy machinery, financial services, and agriculture. The 17 members include:

Tesla ( TSLA )

Tesla's stock rose 2.73% on Wednesday. With Elon Musk serving as CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, the market is focusing not only on Tesla's business breakthroughs in China but also on whether SpaceX's Starlink and rocket launch services might gain potential cooperation opportunities.

Tesla's Gigafactory Shanghai is its largest global production base and is deeply integrated with the Chinese supply chain. Any positive signals regarding the expansion of the Shanghai plant, compliance for autonomous driving technology, or energy storage product exports would directly boost the stock price.

Musk may push forward the approval process for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China and initiate preliminary discussions regarding SpaceX's ground equipment cooperation in the country.

NVIDIA ( NVDA )

Jensen Huang was invited at the last minute to join the delegation during Trump's departure. Following the news, NVIDIA's stock price rose 2.29%, hitting an all-time high. The market generally expects that this visit will clear key hurdles for the export of NVIDIA's H200 AI chips to China.

Jensen Huang has publicly stated that the Chinese market represents a potential opportunity of approximately $50 billion. Currently, the U.S. has granted conditional approval for H200 exports, but China has not yet officially allowed procurement. If this trip clears the sales channel, it will directly unlock a massive incremental market.

Notably, on May 14, Reuters cited three people familiar with the matter reporting that the U.S. has approved approximately 10 Chinese companies (including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, and JD.com) and several distributors to purchase NVIDIA's second-most powerful AI chip, the H200.

The market is closely watching the possibility of NVIDIA signing procurement memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Chinese cloud service providers (such as Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and ByteDance) after the visit.

Micron Technology ( MU )

Micron's stock price rose 4.83%, also hitting a new high. The company's sales of certain products in China were previously restricted by cybersecurity reviews. The market believes that the participation of Micron executives in the visit could serve as a bargaining chip.

Potential catalysts include Chinese regulators announcing that a certain Micron memory product has passed compliance reviews or allowing it to participate in server bidding. If Micron is permitted to expand sales to China, Western Digital ( WDC) and Seagate ( STX) will also benefit, as they also rely on the Chinese market.

Qualcomm ( QCOM )

Qualcomm's stock closed up 1.36% as the market expects the company to push for long-term 5G patent licensing agreements with Chinese smartphone manufacturers (Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and potentially Huawei).

China is the world's largest smartphone market, and Qualcomm's licensing fees account for approximately 60% of its pre-tax profit. Following the visit, Qualcomm may sign an MOU with the China Communications Enterprise Association or announce a contract renewal with a smartphone manufacturer.

Boeing ( BA )

Boeing shares closed up 1.57%. Since 2019, China had suspended most deliveries and orders of Boeing aircraft. Although recovery began in 2024, the order backlog still lags behind Airbus.

Boeing hopes to finalize long-awaited orders from China during this trip. It is reported that the order could include 500 737 MAX jets and dozens of wide-body aircraft, marking China's first major Boeing order since 2017.

BofA Securities aerospace analyst Ronald J. Epstein stated that Boeing could be the most obvious commercial winner of the summit.

The next 48 hours will be a critical window to determine whether the "delegation premium" can be sustained. Investors should focus on three key areas: the potential release of a "U.S.-China Joint Statement" on the evening of May 15; post-market announcements from companies such as Boeing, Qualcomm, and Micron; and updates on the official websites of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

During Donald Trump's first state visit to China in November 2017, the accompanying delegation of 29 corporate executives similarly triggered a wave of stock market volatility.

Qualcomm's overall gain was approximately 1.1%–2.5%. It closed at approximately $64.08 on November 10, 2017, up over 20% from its pre-visit low, and traded sideways between $64.80 and $65.70 on December 11, 2017. The gains were driven in advance by Broadcom acquisition rumors and expectations for large Chinese orders.

Boeing's gain was approximately 8.5%. It closed at $260.85 on November 10, 2017, and rose above $283 by December 11, 2017. Benefiting from $37 billion in Chinese orders, the stock showed resilience against the market trend.

General Electric ( GE) fell approximately 13.5%. It closed at $20.49 on November 10, 2017, and dropped to $17.70 by December 11, 2017. A financial bombshell triggered a sell-off after the new CEO announced a restructuring and slashed the dividend by half.

Honeywell ( HON) rose approximately 4.8%. It closed at $144.38 on November 10, 2017, and rose to $151.30 by December 11, 2017. Supported by strong fundamentals and long-term agreements in China, the stock price recovered its losses.

This content was translated using AI and reviewed for clarity. It is for informational purposes only.