Amid the recent sustained strength in the Hong Kong stock market's AI sector, two industry leaders, Zhipu and MiniMax, became the focus of market attention on July 9. Despite facing the pressure of share unlocking, both companies not only withstood the volatility but also saw their stock prices rise strongly, demonstrating the deep recognition of capital markets for core AI assets.
Zhipu (02513.HK) experienced a "rehearsal" of the concerns about share unlocking, and today, the bullish momentum fully erupted, with the stock rising by more than 20% during the session, becoming the leading stock in the sector. On the news front, Zhipu announced today that it has entered into a placement agreement with CICC Hong Kong, planning to place up to 19.78 million new H-shares at a price of HKD 1,588 per share, which represents a discount of approximately 13% compared to the previous day's closing price. Although placing new shares is usually seen as a negative signal in the market, investors responded positively this time, with industry experts interpreting it as a positive signal that the company is introducing long-term institutional funds and strengthening its capital strength, directly supporting its continued efforts in base model R&D and commercialization ecosystem development.
At the same time, MiniMax (00100.HK) faced its first major test since its listing—the unlocking of the initial restricted shares. The scale of this unlocking reached 107 million shares, with a market value of nearly HKD 38.8 billion, and this significant pressure for selling had sparked widespread discussion in the market. However, MiniMax not only smoothly passed through this critical point, but its stock price also rose by more than 9% during the session.
The success of MiniMax in breaking the "unlocking curse" largely owes to the consistent "confidence-inspiring" actions from its cornerstone shareholders and early investors. According to statistics, including international long-term funds such as Aspex, Boyu, IDG, and Martis Fund, as well as industrial strategic shareholders such as Alibaba, Mihoyo, and Yunque, over 80% of shareholders have clearly stated that they will continue to hold the shares for the long term.
In addition to the strong support at the capital level, MiniMax's business fundamentals also support its valuation logic. According to the latest data disclosed by Bank of America Securities, as of April this year, MiniMax's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) had reached $400 million. Management also revealed in an internal meeting that the company's revenue structure was accelerating toward enterprise-level services and cloud API, and explicitly stated that it aims to achieve at least $1 billion ARR by the end of 2026.
From Zhipu's capital expansion to MiniMax's ability to withstand the unlocking pressure, these performances not only reflect the strong resilience of the two top AI companies in the Hong Kong stock market, but also indicate that the AI sector is transitioning from a pure "technical narrative" to a stable development stage of "performance delivery." With continuous investment from various institutions, the market's re-evaluation of the AI value chain is clearly still ongoing.
