Chinese precision parts maker and Apple supplier Lingyi iTech (1688) fell 4.6 percent below its offer price in its Hong Kong debut on Friday, reversing early gains, even as several other new listings surged.
Lingyi closed at HK$9.71, compared with its HK$10.18 offer price, after rising as much as 15.9 percent earlier in the session. About 192.05 million shares worth HK$2.08 billion (US$265.24 million) changed hands.
Lingyi, which makes precision parts used in smartphones, tablets, robots and cars, raised HK$8.3 billion after pricing its listing at the top of the marketed range.
It and five other companies have together raised about HK$19.8 billion in recent public offerings, highlighting both renewed interest in Hong Kong listings and demand for companies related to artificial intelligence, chips and advanced manufacturing.
The recovery in listings has also been helped as large Chinese companies increasingly seek offshore funding.
Lingyi's shares first traded at HK$10.80 and later rose to as much as HK$11.80 before turning lower. The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI closed down 1.8 percent while the Hang Seng TECH Index .HSTECH dropped 3.4 percent.
"Despite the overall sluggish performance of the Hong Kong stock market, investor enthusiasm for AI stocks remains robust," said Kenny Ng, a strategist at China Everbright Securities International. IPO demand was likely to stay strong into the second half of the year, judging by recent subscription levels, Ng said.
Hong Kong IPOs and secondary listings have raised US$21.6 billion so far this year as of June 17, up 51 percent from the same period in 2025, according to LSEG data.
Besides Apple, Lingyi counts Huawei and Samsung Electronics 005930.KS among its customers.
It plans to use part of the proceeds to expand production for AI servers, humanoid robot hardware and AI optical communication infrastructure, which helps move data quickly between chips, servers and data centres.
Still, one analyst warned that demand for new listings had become more selective after weak trading in several recent IPOs.
Dickie Wong, executive director of research at Hong Kong-based uSMART Securities, said the new listing market had cooled quickly, citing recent IPOs that fell below their offer prices and others that traded flat despite strong demand before listing.
"We're no longer in the 'IPOs are guaranteed winners' phase, investors really need to watch the risks," Wong said.
Other debutants mostly posted sharp gains:
- SG Micro (3661), a Chinese analog chip designer, closed up 47 percent after raising about HK$4.6 billion.
- Circuit Fabology Microelectronics Equipment (9630), which makes imaging equipment used in printed circuit board and semiconductor production, closed up 103.8 percent after a HK$3.25 billion share sale.
- Beijing Zhongke WengeAI Science and Technology (1956), an enterprise AI company, ended up 84 percent.
- Keytop Parking (2272), a smart parking systems provider, closed up 203.9 percent.
- PT Merdeka Gold Resources' Hong Kong depositary receipts (6228) ended down 6.5 percent after opening flat at HK$26.60 after the Indonesian gold miner raised about HK$2.39 billion.
Reuters
