Record wave of IPO lock-up shares to hit Hong Kong market

Published Mon, Jul 6, 2026 · 09:15 AM

[HONG KONG] Shares in some of Hong Kong’s hottest new listings are set to hit the market this week in an unprecedented wave of lock-up expirations, which brokers say could create an overhang on the city’s already struggling stock market.

Knowledge Atlas Technology will see 25.6 million shares freed from a six-month cornerstone investor lock-up on Wednesday, nearly 6 per cent of its outstanding shares. The Chinese AI developer’s stock price has surged more than 1,200 per cent since listing.

MiniMax and Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor are also among the six companies facing expirations this week, with 45 per cent and 4.3 per cent of their respective outstanding shares set to be unlocked.

The eye-catching returns of new listings could further fuel profit-taking pressure. The average first-day return of Hong Kong IPOs in the first half of 2026 was 61 per cent, according to EY, compared with a sluggish broader market.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index is down 8.9 per cent this year.

Secondary selling pressure will be most concentrated in July and September, analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note. “These events can create liquidity headwinds even when fundamentals remain intact,” which they said was one of the key reasons for the bank to remain cautious on the Hong Kong market in the near term.

Goldman Sachs estimated that US$274 billion worth of locked-up shares will be released into the Hong Kong market over the next 12 months, a record-high volume.

Historically, prices dip 4 per cent to 7 per cent within three to six months of release, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. REUTERS