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 a remarkable set of results featuring “HK$100 billion in financing,” a figure that reached a quarterly high since the second quarter of 2021. Data from Wind shows that, as of March 31, there were 40 companies in the Hong Kong stock market that completed IPOs, up 150% year over year; the total fund-raising amount was nearly HK$110 billion, surging 489% year over year. These figures highlight the appeal and financing capacity of the Hong Kong stock market.

“A+H” companies became the core driving force behind fundraising in the first quarter. Among the 40 newly listed Hong Kong stock companies, 15 were dual-listed “A+H” companies. Among the top 10 companies by financing size, 7 were already listed on A-shares; the combined financing size of those 7 companies exceeded HK$52 billion, accounting for nearly half of the total IPO financing in Hong Kong stocks for the first quarter, underscoring the strategic position of the Hong Kong stock market as an important hub for Mainland companies’ globalization capital allocation.

Technology and the new economy take the lead

The key driving force behind the first-quarter Hong Kong stock IPO market came from large companies batching listings. Two Mainland industry leaders—Muyuan Co., Ltd. and Dongpeng Beverage—successively listed in Hong Kong, with individual fundraising exceeding HK$109.93B and combined contributions of more than HK$23 billion. In addition, the listings of semiconductor and AI sector leaders such as LaxTech and Biren Technology further boosted the fundraising scale. According to data, in the first quarter of this year, IPO fundraising by Hong Kong-listed companies reached HK$18.67B, up HK$73.35B from HK$45.68B in the same period of 2025, an increase of 489%.

From an industry distribution perspective, the first-quarter Hong Kong stock IPO market showed a clear “technology emphasis.” Data shows that, in total, 26 companies were listed across semiconductors, hardware equipment, machinery, pharmaceutical and biologicals, software services, medical equipment and services, accounting for 65%; the fundraising amount was HK$5.34B, accounting for 66.73%.

Among them, companies in fields such as semiconductors, software services, and robotics were densely listed, including AI large-model leader Zhipu, MINIMAX-W, semiconductor design company Zhaoyi Innovation, image sensor leader OmniVision Group, memory interface chip leader LaxTech, as well as multiple robotics companies such as Hwaeon Robotics and Aiston.

The strong performance of technology companies is also reflected in the secondary market. After Zhipu listed, its share price climbed one after another. On April 1, during intraday trading it rose as high as HK$938 per share, more than seven times higher than the offering price, and its total market value at one point exceeded HK$400 billion. After MINIMAX-W listed, it also kept climbing. Its highest price reached HK$1,330 per share at one point, becoming the “highest-priced stock” in Hong Kong stocks. By sharp contrast, traditional consumer and industrial companies performed sluggishly. After listing, companies such as Youle Sai Shared, Red Star Cold Chain, and Tongshifu all performed worse, and some companies even broke the issue price on the very first trading day.

According to data from the HKEX, as of March 31, there were still 430 companies queuing for a Hong Kong listing; among them, 17 had been approved and were awaiting listing, while 413 were still being processed. According to data from LiveReport, as of March 31, seven companies in Hong Kong had passed the hearing, or were expected to list soon. They were Huawei Tech (A+H), Siggen New Energy, Quanhke Technology, Winson Technology (A+H), Changguang Chenxin, Eoptics Optoelectronics (A+H), and Sunmi Technology.

The rapid rebound of the Hong Kong IPO market is the result of a resonance between institutional optimization and looser liquidity. Haitong Securities said that Mainland companies still have financing needs, and Hong Kong has carried out targeted reforms. The accelerated pace of “A+H” listings and the reduction of time-to-market costs and uncertainty for tech companies via dedicated channels lowered thresholds for enterprises to list in Hong Kong. At the same time, a weaker U.S. dollar, low interest rates, and performance in the secondary market have also pushed up companies’ willingness to list.

The total amount of cornerstone investment increased by more than 7 times

As a distinct feature of Hong Kong stocks, new issues at IPO time typically introduce cornerstone investors. Among new stocks listed in the first quarter, 35 introduced cornerstone investors. The number of cornerstone investors participating in subscriptions totaled 318, up nearly 280 year over year from the same period last year. The total amount of cornerstone investment reached HK$4.99B, up more than 7 times from the same period last year.

Specifically, in the first quarter, 14 new stocks received subscription from cornerstone investors with amounts no less than HK$1 billion. Among them, 10 cornerstone subscriptions were above HK$2 billion. The top three new stocks by cornerstone investment size were, in order, Muyuan Co., Ltd., Dongpeng Beverage, and LaxTech, with subscriptions of HK$3.51B, HK$200k, and HK$10k, respectively. In addition, Zhipu, MINIMAX-W, Dahua CNC, Zhaoyi Innovation, OmniVision Group, and others all had cornerstone investment sizes of no less than HK$2 billion. Among cornerstone investors, the presence of international and domestic leading institutions such as Temasek, BlackRock, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Tencent Holdings appeared frequently.

Subscription enthusiasm for new shares runs high

Against the backdrop of newly listed shares being all the rage, investors have also shown strong enthusiasm for the Hong Kong IPO market.

According to statistics from LiveReport big data, in the first quarter, a total of 8 newly issued stocks received applications of more than 200k lots, including Biren Technology, MINIMAX-W, LaxTech, Haimed Technology Group, Mingming Very Busy, Hwaeon Robotics, Zhipu, and Guanghe Technology. There were 4 new issues with public subscription multiples exceeding 5,000 times: BBSB INTL, Youle Sai Shared, Haimed Technology Group, and Hwaeon Robotics. Among them, BBSB INTL, due to its relatively small offering size, had an effective public offering subscription multiple exceeding 10k times.

It should be noted that a high subscription multiple does not necessarily mean the new stock will not break the issue price. For example, Youle Sai Shared received strong investor backing during the bookbuilding period, but on the first day of listing the share price still fell 43.64%.

In recent times, the probability of newly listed shares in Hong Kong breaking the issue price has increased, possibly related to the market environment. Yuan Mei, research and investment director at Sullivan Jieli (Shenzhen) Cloud Technology Co., Ltd., told Securities Times reporters in an analysis that more new shares are breaking the issue price mainly because a regional conflict triggered an energy crisis, putting pressure on risk assets and causing major indexes across multiple markets to clearly pull back. For those applying for IPO subscriptions, new shares’ performance is more noticeably affected by short-term capital and market sentiment. Meanwhile, the long-term rise or fall of stocks is mainly influenced by changes in industry trends and companies’ performance.

In the view of Wen Tien Na, Executive Director of Boda Capital International in Hong Kong, the valuations for some new issues are tilted toward A-share anchors or prior highs, while Hong Kong investors pay more attention to discounted cash flow, dividend returns, and liquidity. At the same time, some companies’ pricing did not sufficiently consider differences in risk preferences in the secondary market, leading to adjustments after listing. Hot tracks can attract capital, while individual stocks under pressure from traditional factors or weak fundamentals are more likely to “cool off.”