Hong Kong IPOs Surpass India to Reclaim Second Place; With U.S. Capital Outflows, Can Companies Like Circle Go Public as Scheduled?
BYD, Xiaomi and Other Chinese Companies’ Stock Prices Rebound, Driving Surge in Hong Kong Stock Market Sales
Hong Kong has surpassed India this year to become the world’s second-largest stock sales market (IPO). Although the United States remains first, the ongoing market turbulence caused by President Trump’s tariff threats has weakened investors’ risk appetite. Currently, half of the top 10 new stocks this year are trading below their issue price.
Hong Kong Reclaims IPO Runner-Up Position After 2021
Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that the revenue from initial public offerings, block sales, and stock placements in Hong Kong during the first quarter skyrocketed 11 times compared to the same period last year, reaching over $16 billion, second only to the United States. Due to the sharp decline in the Indian stock market, trading volume in India has nearly halved to $6.9 billion, falling behind Japan and the UK. The last time Hong Kong ranked second was in the second quarter of 2021.
Chinese companies are currently seizing the opportunity presented by the stock market surge. The emergence of DeepSeek has reignited global enthusiasm for China’s tech industry, making the Hang Seng Index one of the best-performing indices worldwide this year.
Continuous IPOs in Hong Kong, Hot Money Flooding into BYD, Xiaomi, and Mixue
After years of trading drought, Hong Kong has regained its status as Asia’s most vibrant financial center with its active stock market. In March alone, electric vehicle giant BYD and smartphone electric vehicle manufacturer Xiaomi raised over $11 billion, setting a record for the largest stock issuance in Hong Kong in years.
Besides tech stocks, the recent IPO of Chinese bubble tea producer Mixue was so popular that retail investors attempted to borrow a record HK$1.8 trillion (approximately $231 billion) to purchase the stock, which is over 5,000 times its issue price, forcing Hong Kong regulators to take measures to curb this frenzy.
Additionally, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) has recently received approval from Chinese regulatory authorities to plan a listing in Hong Kong. This listing is expected to raise at least $5 billion, making it the largest listing activity in Hong Kong in nearly four years.
U.S. Tariff War Weakens Investors’ Risk Appetite, Poor IPO Performance
In the United States, the ongoing market turbulence caused by President Trump’s tariff threats has led to a 10% decline in first-quarter stock sales revenue, amounting to around $50 billion. Some notable IPOs have failed, with half of the top 10 new stocks this year trading below their issue price.
The below-expected issue price and amount of CoreWeave’s IPO, an AI cloud computing infrastructure provider, has dealt a blow to the U.S. market. The company sold shares to investors at the end of the first trading day, with a trading amount of only $1.5 billion, while the target just weeks prior was $4 billion.
(The mysterious Ethereum mining company turns into an AI cloud partner of NVIDIA, CoreWeave (CRWV) will IPO on Nasdaq)
Unstable performance and a harsh environment have forced companies to reconsider entering the public market. Genesys Cloud Services, backed by Permira and Hellman & Friedman, has postponed its IPO plans. Startup financial trading platform eToro has once again challenged the U.S. stock market listing, submitting an IPO application to the SEC on March 25, with a target valuation of up to $5 billion.
(eToro officially applies for a U.S. IPO! Target valuation of up to $5 billion, with Goldman Sachs and UBS as lead underwriters)
Many cryptocurrency companies were initially poised to apply for listings this year due to expected regulatory easing under the Trump administration. These include stablecoin issuer Circle, exchanges BitGo, Gemini, and Bullish. However, recent market turmoil triggered by the tariff war has eroded investor confidence, causing stock prices to fall and capital to exit the U.S. Will the original IPO boom in the U.S. fade away?
Risk Warning
Investing in cryptocurrencies carries a high level of risk, and their prices can be highly volatile, resulting in the potential loss of your entire principal. Please assess the risks carefully.
