Hong Kong’s stock market is bracing for an unprecedented surge of newly available shares this week, as lock-up periods expire for some of the city’s most talked-about recent initial public offerings — a development that brokers warn could add further strain to an already sluggish market.
Among the companies affected is Knowledge Atlas Technology, a Chinese artificial intelligence developer whose stock has skyrocketed more than 1,200% since it began trading. On Wednesday, roughly 25.6 million shares — nearly 6% of the company’s total outstanding stock — will be freed from a six-month cornerstone investor lock-up restriction.
Two other notable companies facing lock-up expirations this week are MiniMax and Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor. When their restrictions lift, 45% and 4.3% of their respective outstanding shares will become available for trading. In total, six companies are facing these expirations during the week.
The strong performance of recent new listings may be adding to concerns about profit-taking. According to EY, the average return on the first day of trading for Hong Kong IPOs during the first half of 2026 was 61% — a stark contrast to the broader market’s weak performance. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index has fallen 8.9% so far this year.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley noted in a research report that selling pressure from these share releases will be most concentrated in July and September. “These events can create liquidity headwinds even when fundamentals remain intact,” they wrote, citing this as one of the main reasons the bank is staying cautious about the Hong Kong market in the near term.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs has calculated that a record-high $274 billion worth of locked-up shares will be released into the Hong Kong market over the coming 12 months. Based on historical patterns, Goldman Sachs analysts said prices typically decline between 4% and 7% within three to six months of such releases.
