Alibaba Cloud and Baidu Cloud Raise Prices 30%+ on the Same Day—Is the Computing Power Gap Really That Large? | 0318

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I. Daily Market Analysis

1. Market Observation

On March 18, the A-share market experienced a corrective rebound, with all three major indices closing in the green, successfully halting the previous day’s decline. Technology stocks led the market rally, while previously strong cyclical sectors saw significant pullbacks.

By the close, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.32%, ending a four-day losing streak; the ChiNext Index performed the strongest, surging 2.02%. The total trading volume across both markets was approximately 2.05 trillion yuan, continuing to shrink by 161.8 billion yuan from the previous trading day, hitting a new low this month. This indicates that the rebound is mainly driven by existing funds, and market enthusiasm for chasing higher remains cautious.

Analysis of stocks with consecutive limit-ups: Chemical industry leaders stand alone in deepening their positions.

Trend stock sector analysis: Return of computing power and chips

The market on March 18 was a “full-scale counterattack by tech stocks, while cyclical resource stocks collectively faltered.” This clear shift indicates that market funds are refocusing on high-growth technology sectors with strong industry trends and high prosperity.

2. If Israel suffers a coordinated attack, it may use nuclear weapons.

3. The Golan Heights in Israel are being encroached upon.

II. Cloud Computing Prices Rise by 30%+

1. Major companies have increased prices

Alibaba Cloud price increase: On March 18, Alibaba Cloud announced on its official website that due to the global AI demand surge and supply chain price hikes, it is adjusting prices for AI computing power, storage, and other products. Among them, computing cards like the Pingtouge Zhenwu 810E increased by 5%-34%, and the file storage product CPFS (Intelligent Computing Edition) increased by 30%, with the highest increase reaching 34%.

Baidu Smart Cloud price increase: After market close on the same day, Baidu Smart Cloud also announced price adjustments for AI computing power, storage, and related products, with services increasing by approximately 5%-30%, and parallel file storage rising about 30%.

Main reasons for price hikes: Besides the global AI demand explosion and rising supply chain costs mentioned in the announcements, informed sources reveal that another key reason is the “surge in token call volume.” During the Spring Festival, AI agent applications exploded, and Alibaba Cloud’s MaaS business, BaiLian, achieved its highest growth rate from January to March this year. Alibaba Cloud is shifting its scarce AI computing resources toward token-related services.

Industry background: This is not an isolated event. Previously, overseas cloud providers like AWS (which increased prices by 15% on January 22) and Google Cloud (which raised prices by up to 100% on January 27) also increased core cloud product prices. Domestic Tencent Cloud also adjusted some model prices on March 11.

Market impact: These series of price hikes send a clear signal—the era of AI-driven computing power shortages has arrived, and the pricing inflection point in China’s cloud industry chain has been officially established. This marks a shift from the past “only price cuts” competitive pattern to a phase of value reversion driven by AI demand surges and cost pressures.

The explosive penetration of AI agent applications represented by OpenClaw has led to a geometric increase in token consumption compared to traditional conversational AI. This indicates that AI industry value is shifting from “model capability” to “task completion ability,” upgrading traditional one-time Q&A to continuous, multi-round complex workloads.

2026 will be a critical year for China’s computing power demand to transition from “cloud training” to a dual-driven model of “training + inference.” When supply cannot keep up with demand, cloud infrastructure will enter an inflationary era. This is a major cycle turning point, and AI computing infrastructure is expected to see relatively certain and sustained growth.

2. QingCloud Technology

QingCloud’s main business is providing cloud computing products and services to clients, with revenue mainly from two segments:

Where is the incremental growth in 2026?

3. Kingsoft Cloud (03896.HK)

Where is the incremental growth in 2026?

What is currently driving the stock price?

III. Shipping Industry Booming

1. Oil supply crisis escalates! Multiple countries urgently seek oil

Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries are also significantly impacted.

2. Persistent shortage of oil tankers

Due to conflicts between the US, Israel, and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is under control, with a daily global crude oil deficit of about 8 million barrels. Oil-producing countries have reduced supply due to limited storage capacity. Once sanctions are lifted, production will increase transportation demand.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency has released 400 million barrels from strategic reserves, but downstream “scar effects” may trigger excessive replenishment, potentially exceeding expectations. Future demand for oil tankers could remain high, and industry prosperity is expected to continue rising.

Before the conflict, Middle Eastern crude oil exports via maritime routes were about 17 million barrels per day. Even considering full capacity replacement by Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipelines, UAE’s Fujeirah pipeline, and strategic reserve releases by IEA member countries, the global daily crude oil deficit still approximates 8 million barrels.

Currently, the global daily crude oil deficit is about 8 million barrels. If the Strait of Hormuz is blocked for one month, the global deficit could reach 240 million barrels. To replenish this gap within six months after the blockade is lifted (to compensate for strategic reserves consumed), roughly 40 VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers) would be needed—about 4.4% of the current VLCC fleet and 5.3% of the compliant VLCC fleet.

The potential for excess inventory replenishment caused by the blockade could further boost the oil tanker industry’s prosperity.

V. Technical Analysis Lecture 15— Types of Bullish Reversal Patterns

1. Open low, close high, full reversal of a bearish candle

2. Open low, close high, half reversal of a bearish candle

3. Gap high open, full reversal of a bearish candle

4. Gap high open, half reversal of a bearish candle

5. Volume reduction with reversal, showing some advantage over volume increase

Special Notice:

This article includes an audio interpretation—please consult Huzi Ge;

The stocks mentioned are for investment logic only, with no buy or sell recommendations.