The first surge of the Year of the Horse, AI stocks are going wild

The wealth-creating effect of AI is indeed astonishing.

The AI craze in the Hong Kong stock market has been burning from before the holiday until after, and in this frenzy, MiniMax and Zhipu are undoubtedly the most dazzling stars.

On February 20, the first trading day of the Lunar Year of the Horse, the domestic AI large models’ “twin stars” saw their stock prices surge simultaneously. By the close, Zhipu soared 42.72%, closing at HKD 725 per share; MiniMax also rose over 14%, closing at HKD 970 per share. The combined market capitalization of the two companies broke through HKD 300 billion.

What does HKD 300 billion mean? In comparison, JD.com’s current market value is about HKD 294.58 billion. This means that two AI companies founded less than ten years ago have quietly surpassed the well-established internet giants that have been operating for over twenty years.

The wealth-creating effect of AI is truly remarkable.

Stock prices up over 400% in two months

The stock price myth of MiniMax and Zhipu did not start with the Spring Festival but was foreshadowed from the moment they went public. As among the first domestic AI large model companies to list in Hong Kong, both firms have experienced a spectacular upward trend since their IPOs.

First, Zhipu, known as the “world’s first large model stock,” officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 8, 2026. The IPO price was HKD 116.2 per share, and on the first day, it achieved a strong debut, with a market cap soaring to HKD 57.89 billion. Notably, during the pre-IPO public offering phase, it received nearly 1,160 times oversubscription, reflecting high market enthusiasm.

After listing, Zhipu’s stock price steadily increased. Especially in February, the mysterious anonymous model “Pony Alpha” became a hit in overseas communities. Market rumors suggested that this model was the upcoming new generation large model GLM-5 from Zhipu. Stimulated by this news, Zhipu’s stock price launched a “rocket” mode, with a maximum increase of over 110% within four trading days from February 9 to 12.

On February 12, Zhipu officially open-sourced its new flagship model GLM-5 and announced a price increase for the GLM Coding Plan subscription, with an overall rise starting at 30%. The next trading day, the stock surged by 20.65%. On February 20, the first trading day of the Year of the Horse, Zhipu surged 42.72%, adding HKD 96.7 billion in market value in a single day—equivalent to the size of Bilibili.

In just 43 days since listing, Zhipu’s stock price has increased by over 524%, with a market cap reaching HKD 323.24 billion.

Compared to Zhipu, MiniMax’s debut was even more impressive. On January 9, MiniMax listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. That day, it closed up 109.09%, with a share price of HKD 345, and its market value jumped directly to HKD 106.7 billion.

Since February, MiniMax’s stock price has followed the AI sector’s upward trend, rising from HKD 515 per share on February 9 to HKD 970 on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, nearly doubling in just over ten days. Compared to the IPO price of HKD 165, this is a 4.88-fold increase, and its market cap has grown from HKD 106.7 billion on the first day to HKD 304.23 billion.

It’s worth noting that on February 13, MiniMax officially announced the launch of its new generation text model MiniMax M2.5, which is widely regarded as a key catalyst for its continued stock price strength.

From the “strong opening” on the first day to a more than fourfold increase in stock price, the IPO debut of Zhipu and MiniMax has been nothing short of perfect. Their strong performance in the Hong Kong market has not only made secondary market investors very profitable but also enabled their employee stock ownership plans to realize significant gains.

According to previous prospectuses, both companies launched employee stock ownership plans before going public. Zhipu’s employee ownership ratio reached 51.2%, while MiniMax almost has all employees holding shares. Based on current market value, a considerable number of core employees have achieved “financial freedom” through their holdings.

Investors enjoy a prosperous start to the year

Of course, compared to retail investors and employees holding shares in the secondary market, the most notable beneficiaries of this wealth boom are the primary market investment institutions that have accompanied the companies since their early days.

Starting with Zhipu. Zhipu originated from the technological成果 of Tsinghua University’s Department of Computer Science, stemming from the Knowledge Engineering (KEG) Laboratory established in 1996. The key figure and chief scientist, Tang Jie, comes from this lab. He led the development of China’s first trillion-parameter open-source large model “悟道 2.0” and designed the GLM series architecture, promoting自主化 of domestic large model technology.

The company’s CEO, Zhang Peng, graduated from Tsinghua University’s Department of Computer Science and is a leading PhD in Tsinghua’s innovation. Chairman Liu Debing previously served as deputy director of the Big Data Research Center at Tsinghua’s Data Science Institute.

With the dual background of “Tsinghua lineage” and “scientist entrepreneurship,” Zhipu has attracted significant capital attention since its inception, quickly becoming a star project in the primary market.

According to CVSource by Tianzhong Jiacuan, before going public, Zhipu received investments from over 50 institutions, including Zhongke Chuangxing, Dacheng Caizhi, Junlian Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Today Capital, Lightspeed, Sequoia China, Hillhouse, Yunhui Capital, China Merchants Venture, and industry giants like Meituan, Ant Group, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, among others, as well as local state-owned enterprises from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, and Hangzhou.

Currently, these pre-IPO investors are still in the lock-up period, but based on the current stock price, their unrealized gains are substantial.

Early investors’ returns are especially impressive. In 2019, Zhipu received angel funding of 40 million yuan from Zhongke Chuangxing, with a post-investment valuation of 375 million yuan. As of now, Zhongke Chuangxing still holds about 1.34% of Zhipu’s shares. With the company’s market cap rising to HKD 323.24 billion, their stake is worth approximately HKD 4.33 billion.

Looking at MiniMax, in early 2022, former SenseTime vice president Yan Junjie resigned and declined stock options to start MiniMax, focusing on full-modal model development.

Over the past three years, the company has assembled a top-tier investment lineup, including leading financial investors like Hillhouse, IDG, Sequoia, Matrix Partners, MingShi, and China Life, as well as industry investors such as MiHoYo, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaohongshu.

Among them, Hillhouse, MiHoYo, Yunqi Capital, and IDG were the earliest angel investors. At that time, the post-investment valuation was $200 million (about RMB 1.38 billion). Based on the February 20 closing price, these early investors have seen returns exceeding 100 times.

When the lock-up periods of these companies expire, these institutions will truly reap the harvest.

AI large models are entering a “money-making” mode

In fact, the rapid rise in the stock prices of MiniMax and Zhipu is just a microcosm of the recent capital market frenzy in the AI large model sector. The fundraising stories in the primary market are equally eye-catching.

The earliest news came from “Moon of Darkness.” On December 31, Moon of Darkness announced a $500 million Series C funding round led by IDG, with oversubscriptions from Alibaba, Tencent, and other existing shareholders. The post-money valuation reached $4.3 billion.

Subsequently, on January 26, 2026, Jiēyuè Starry announced over RMB 5 billion in Series B+ funding, with investors including State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shanghai, China Life, Pudong Venture Capital, Xuhui Capital, Wuxi Liangxi Fund, Xiamen International Trade, and Huawei Technologies, with Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, and Wuyuan further participating.

This round of funding set a new record for the largest single investment in China’s large model sector over the past 12 months.

The enthusiasm has not waned. Just recently, on February 17, media reports indicated that Moon of Darkness was about to complete a new round of over $700 million in funding, led by Alibaba, Tencent, Wuyuan, and Jiuan, with a valuation exceeding $10 billion.

In addition, Baichuan Intelligence, one of the “Six Little Tigers” of AI large models, has also signaled capital interest, planning an IPO around 2027.

In just three months, massive funding news has kept coming, driven by technological breakthroughs and promising commercialization prospects, leading to a revaluation of capital.

As an early investor in Zhipu, Zhongke Chuangxing stated that the capabilities of large models are experiencing unprecedented leaps. Breakthroughs in language, multimodal, video, code, and tool invocation are pushing these models from “usable” to “highly usable,” opening a significant window of large model dividends.

However, it is foreseeable that as competition intensifies, future funding and resources will increasingly concentrate in a few leading companies.