Technology and the New Economy Take Center Stage: Hong Kong IPO Fundraising in Q1 Reaches a Five-Year High

Securities Times reporter Wang Jun

In the first quarter, the Hong Kong stock IPO market delivered an eye-catching performance of “HK$1 billion-plus in financing,” a figure that marked a quarterly high since Q2 2021. According to Wind data, as of March 31, the Hong Kong stock market had 40 companies complete their IPOs, up 150% year over year; the total amount raised was nearly HK$110 billion, up 489% year over year. These figures demonstrate the appeal and financing capacity of the Hong Kong stock market.

“A+H” companies became the core force behind fundraising in the first quarter. Among the 40 newly listed Hong Kong stock companies, 15 were “A+H” companies listed on both the two Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets. Among the top 10 companies by financing size, 7 had already been listed on the A-share market; the combined financing size of those 7 exceeded HK$52 billion, accounting for nearly half of the total IPO financing amount in the Hong Kong stock market in the first quarter, highlighting the strategic position of the Hong Kong stock market as an important hub for global capital allocations by Mainland companies.

Technology and the new economy take the lead

The core driving force behind the first-quarter Hong Kong stock IPO market came from large companies listing in batches. Two Mainland leading enterprises, Muyuan Foods and Eastroc Beverage, listed in Hong Kong one after another, with each raising more than HK$109.93B and together contributing over HK$23 billion. In addition, listings by semiconductor and AI-sector leaders such as Lattice Semiconductor and Biren Technology further pushed up the fundraising scale. Data show that in the first quarter of this year, IPOs in Hong Kong raised HK$18.67B, an increase of HK$91.26B from HK$73.35B in the same period of 2025, representing a growth rate of 489%.

By industry distribution, the first-quarter Hong Kong stock IPO market showed a distinct “technology profile.” Data indicate that 26 companies in total were listed in sectors including semiconductors, hardware equipment, machinery, pharmaceutical and biologicals, software services, medical equipment and services, accounting for 65%; the fundraising amount was HK$45.68B, accounting for 66.73%.

Among them, companies in areas such as semiconductors, software services, and robotics were densely listed. These include Zhipu AI, MINIMAX-W, the AI large-model leader; Zhiguang Innovation, a semiconductor design company; OmniVision Group, a leading image sensor company; Lattice Semiconductor, a leading memory interface chip company; and many robotics companies such as Huayan Robotics and Euston.

The strong performance of technology companies is also reflected in the secondary market. After Zhipu AI’s listing, the stock price kept rising. On April 1, it briefly climbed to HK$938 per share intraday, more than 7 times higher than its offering price, and its market capitalization at one point exceeded HK$400 billion. After MINIMAX-W’s listing, the stock price also continued to climb. Its highest price briefly reached HK$1,330 per share, making it the “highest-priced stock” in Hong Kong. In sharp contrast, traditional consumer and industrial companies performed poorly after listing. Companies such as Ulelsai Shared Services, Red Star Cold Chain, and Copper Master all showed worse performance after listing, and some companies even broke their issue price on the first day.

According to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing data, as of March 31, there were still 430 companies in the queue for listing in Hong Kong. Of these, 17 had been approved and were awaiting listing, while 413 were still being processed. According to LiveReport big data, as of March 31, seven companies in Hong Kong had passed the hearing process, or would be listed soon, namely Huaqin Technology (A+H), Sigren New Energy, Junhe Technology, Shenghong Technology (A+H), Changguang Chenxin, Hexun Optoelectronics (A+H), and Sunmi Technology.

The rapid rebound of the Hong Kong IPO market is the result of a resonance between system optimization and abundant liquidity. Huatai Securities said that Mainland companies still have financing needs, and Hong Kong is carrying out targeted reforms in response; the faster “A+H” listings and the reduction of time-to-market costs and uncertainty for technology companies via dedicated channels to Hong Kong lowered thresholds such as these. Meanwhile, a weaker U.S. dollar, low interest rates, and the performance of the secondary market have also prompted companies’ IPO intentions to warm up again.

The total foundation investment grew more than 7 times

As a distinctive feature of Hong Kong stocks, new shares at IPO time usually introduce cornerstone investors. Among the new shares listed in the first quarter, 35 introduced cornerstone investors. The total number of cornerstone investors participating in the subscriptions was 318, up nearly 280 year over year from the same period last year. The total cornerstone investment amount was HK$5.34B, up more than 7 times from the same period last year.

Specifically, in the first quarter, 14 new shares received subscriptions from cornerstone investors with subscription amounts of no less than HK$1 billion. Among them, 10 had cornerstone investment scales of more than HK$2 billion. The top three new shares by cornerstone investment scale were Muyuan Foods, Eastroc Beverage, and Lattice Semiconductor, with subscriptions of HK$3.51B, HK$200k, and HK$10k, respectively. In addition, cornerstone investment scales for Zhipu AI, MINIMAX-W, Dahua CNC, Lattice Semiconductor, and OmniVision Group were all no less than HK$2 billion. Among cornerstone investors, international and domestic top institutions such as Temasek, BlackRock, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Tencent Holdings appeared frequently.

Rising subscription enthusiasm for new shares

Against the backdrop of new shares being listed in a hot wave, investors have also become enthusiastic about the Hong Kong IPO market.

According to LiveReport big data statistics, in the first quarter, a total of 8 new shares received subscriptions of more than 200k lots, including Biren Technology, MINIMAX-W, Lattice Semiconductor, HySite Technology Group, Mingming Very Busy, Huayan Robotics, Zhipu AI, and Guanghe Technology; there were 4 new shares with a public subscription exceeding 5,000 times, namely BBSB INTL, Ulelsai Shared Services, HySite Technology Group, and Huayan Robotics. Among them, because BBSB INTL had a relatively small offering size, the effective public offering subscription multiple exceeded 10k times.

It is worth noting that a high subscription multiple does not mean the new shares will not break their issue price. For example, Ulelsai Shared Services received strong attention and funding during the application period, but its share price fell 43.64% on the first day of listing.

In recent times, the probability of new shares breaking their issue price in Hong Kong has increased, which may be related to the market environment. Yuan Mei, research and investment director at Sullivan Jieli (Shenzhen) Cloud Technology Co., Ltd., analyzed to a Securities Times reporter that more new shares breaking issue prices mainly stems from an energy crisis triggered by geopolitical conflicts, which puts pressure on risk assets and causes major indices across multiple markets to retreat clearly. For IPO subscriptions, new shares’ performance is affected more noticeably by short-term capital and market sentiment. As for whether stocks rise or fall over the long run, it is mainly influenced by changes in industry trends and company performance.

In the view of Wen Tiana, CEO of BoDa Capital International in Hong Kong, the valuations for some new share offerings tilt toward A-share anchors or prior highs, while Hong Kong stock investors focus more on discounted cash flows, dividend returns, and liquidity. At the same time, some companies’ pricing did not fully account for differences in secondary-market risk preferences, leading to adjustments after listing. Hot tracks can attract capital; stocks in traditional sectors or with pressured fundamentals are more likely to “cool off.”