BYD, Power Metallic Mines, Intel: Electric Vehicles and AI Data Centers Are Driving a Copper Crisis

BYD: Export Record Masks Deep Domestic Market Crisis

At first glance, it appears to be a cause for relief. BYD reported 383,453 vehicles sold in May. This marks the first year-over-year increase since October 2025. But appearances are deceiving. While exports surged by 80% to over 160,000 units, domestic sales plummeted by 24% for the 13th consecutive month. The export share climbed to around 42%. A year ago, it was still 23.6%. International expansion is increasingly becoming a lifeline, but also a risk, as it makes BYD more vulnerable to trade conflicts and tariffs.

The first quarter highlights the downside. Net profit fell by 55% to CNY 4.1 billion, and revenue declined for the third consecutive quarter. BYD is responding with a radical strategic shift. Instead of bleeding out in a price war, the company is focusing on technological leadership. Its own 4-nanometer chip for autonomous driving, an unprecedented full warranty for the driver-assistance system, and the second generation of the Blade battery are expected to deliver long-term advantages. BYD aims to transition from a volume supplier to a tech conglomerate.

The key question right now is whether export growth can offset the domestic decline. The new flagship, the Z9GT, with over 100,000 pre-orders, and the premium brand Denza in Europe are aimed at improving margins. But the price war in China continues to erode returns. Analysts warn of overcapacity and dwindling subsidies. However, one should not overlook the battery and energy storage divisions. The half-year results will show whether BYD's turnaround is successful, or whether the export boom is merely masking the severity of the domestic market crisis. The stock is currently trading at EUR 10.288.

Power Metallic Mines: Drilling Successes and a High-Tech Look into the Depths

The latest results from the Lion Zone underscore the exceptional nature of the discovery. Drill hole PML-26-095 returned 11.46% copper equivalent (CuEq) over 22 m, including a 6.5-meter-thick core with nearly 19% CuEq. Additional intervals, such as 10.3 m at 4.04% or 4.07 m at 8.73%, demonstrate the continuity of the high-grade zone. Of particular interest to investors is that the NISK project hosts 11 different metals, primarily copper, platinum, palladium, gold, silver, nickel, and cobalt. There are only 20 such orthomagmatic systems worldwide. NISK is expected to be the 21st—a geological unicorn.

The company advanced two initiatives in May. The first was muon tomography with Ideon Technologies. The technology uses cosmic radiation to create density models of the subsurface. The goal is to "x-ray" structures below a depth of 200 m, where conventional methods fail. A six-month program is already underway. This is a lever for exploring the district's full potential. Most recently, SGS tested a low-grade sample containing 0.62% copper and still achieved a 98% recovery rate with a concentrate grade of 25%. This allows for low cut-off grades later on.

The NISK project covers 330 km². The Tiger Zone, just 700 m east of Lion, has already yielded similar mineralization. The 5-km-long corridor between Lion and the Nisk Main deposit remains largely untested at depth. Geologists suspect an east-dipping structure controls the high-grade mineralization. The upcoming July resource estimate for NISK will provide concrete figures for the first time. Before that, the estimate for the Lion Zone will be released in June. Those who understand the unique geology could be looking at one of the most significant polymetallic discoveries of the last two decades. The stock is currently trading at around CAD 1.32.

Intel: In The AI Boom

The artificial intelligence market is undergoing a structural shift and moving away from pure training toward inference. This fundamentally changes the requirements for server architectures. While GPUs have dominated until now, the classic x86 CPU is regaining importance. In many data centers, the ratio of GPUs to CPUs is dropping to 4:1; in complex multi-agent systems, it is even approaching parity. Intel is benefiting directly from this. The data center division recently grew by 22%, and AI-related businesses now account for 60% of the company's revenue.

At Computex in June, Intel is currently showcasing the Xeon 6+ with 288 Efficient cores, manufactured using state-of-the-art 18A technology. Added to this is the new "Crescent Island" GPU for cost-effective inference tasks. It relies on LPDDR5X memory and air cooling instead of expensive HBM. At the same time, Nvidia is encroaching on Intel's business territory with the "RTX Spark." An ARM-based processor for Windows PCs, which will be installed in Dell and Lenovo devices starting this fall, is competing with the company—a new front in its traditional core business.

The most important news from a manufacturing perspective is that Intel and Apple have reached a preliminary agreement on chip production. Starting in 2027, Intel is set to manufacture the first M-series chips for select iPads and Macs, and possibly for iPhones later on. This will bring much-needed capacity utilization to the plants in Arizona, Ireland, and Ohio. The foundry business aims to break even by 2027. This will require external revenue in the low-to-mid single-digit billion range. 18A technology remains the key to achieving this. Currently, a share costs USD 107.93.

Electric vehicles and AI data centers are devouring the red gold, triggering a copper crisis. BYD is countering sales losses in its home market with record exports, but remains a massive consumer of copper. Power Metallic Mines owns a geological unicorn in NISK, and thus holds the key to alleviating the supply deficit. Intel, in turn, is driving the AI boom, as every new CPU infrastructure consumes tons of the metal for cables and cooling.