Innolight's HK$53B listing — the biggest since Alibaba — opened below price

Zhongji Innolight, the world's leading maker of optical modules for AI data centers, listed in Hong Kong on 30 July 2026 at HK$980 a share — about 3% below the HK$1,010 top of its range — raising roughly HK$53.4 billion, or about HK$61.4 billion with the greenshoe in full. Thirty-three cornerstones, including Temasek, ADIA, Hillhouse, BlackRock, Alibaba and Tencent, took about HK$27 billion — over 49% of the offer, locked for six months. It was the largest Hong Kong IPO of 2026 and the biggest since Alibaba's 2019 secondary listing.

The pricing happened mid-crash. Innolight's A-share had peaked at ¥1,416.88 on 23 June; on 28 July, the day the H-share price was fixed, it fell 15.69%. On listing morning it dropped a further 6%, touching ¥863.98 — more than 30% below the June peak. Grey-market trading on 29 July had already flagged the break, closing at HK$971 after a HK$931 low. On the debut the shares opened at HK$971, 0.92% under the offer, and had fallen to HK$938 — down 4.29% — by press time.

Debut day brought its own headwinds: the stock entered the designated short-selling list immediately, options launched alongside it, and rumours of price cuts on 1.6T modules circulated, which the company denied. The H-share slid to HK$925, down 5.61%, valuing the company at HK$1.08 trillion, while the A-share fell more than 11% intraday. A record raise had priced into a home-market slide, and the float kept agreeing with the fall.