Capital returns to rational pricing? MiniMax, Zhipu stock price correction, focus on the rebound opportunities of large Hong Kong tech companies

On February 25th, major Hong Kong-listed tech companies Alibaba and Tencent Holdings saw their stock prices rebound; in stark contrast, AI newcomers MiniMax and Zhipu experienced significant declines. Both domestic large-scale AI model companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January this year, soaring immediately after listing, with market values once surpassing 300 billion yuan. Meanwhile, other tech giants listed on the HKEX, such as Baidu Group-SW, JD.com Group-SW, and Kuaishou-W, had previously shown relatively sluggish performance, with their latest market values hovering around 300 billion yuan.

After a brief surge in small-cap model companies, capital may return to rational valuation. Multiple horizontal comparisons indicate that China’s large tech giants are severely undervalued, and the current phase may be a bottoming period for strategic positioning, waiting for sentiment recovery and index-led gains.

Referring to A-shares, the Hang Seng Tech Index and the ChiNext Index (including the ChiNext and STAR 50 indices) show that the discount of Hong Kong tech stocks relative to A-shares is approaching historical highs. The last time Hong Kong tech stocks experienced such a discount was in March and October 2022 (due to rapid foreign capital outflows), and again at the end of 2023 (due to gaming regulations).

Comparing the performance of South Korean tech giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix over the past six months: SK Hynix increased by 300% within the period, and Samsung Electronics by 180%. Their latest market caps are approximately $831.4 billion and $513.5 billion, respectively, far surpassing China’s two major tech giants—Tencent Holdings (latest Hong Kong market cap of $608 billion, down 12% in the period) and Alibaba (latest Hong Kong market cap of $362 billion, up 25%).

Capital is actively deploying against the trend by accumulating positions through Hong Kong tech-related ETFs: Hang Seng Tech Index ETF (513180.SH), Hang Seng Internet ETF (513330.SH), Hong Kong Stock Connect Tech ETF (159101.SZ), and Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet ETF (520910.SH) have all experienced continuous large net inflows. These ETFs are listed on mainland Chinese stock exchanges and include a basket of Hong Kong-listed AI tech giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan, and Xiaomi. The Stock Connect ETFs focus more on Hong Kong Stock Connect-related targets and do not include non-HK Stock Connect stocks like Baidu Group, NetEase, or GDS Holdings.

Daily Economic News