Xiaomi founder Lei Jun can finally rejoice after the Chinese smartphone maker’s market value swelled past the $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,36,000 crores) mark, a figure his company fell far short of when it listed two years ago.
The firm’s stock rallied as much as 9.1 percent Wednesday to a fresh record in Hong Kong, making it the 13th stock in the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index to have a market capitalization above $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,36,000 crores). It ended the day 7.6 percent higher with a market value of HKD 802 billion (roughly Rs. 7,60,800 crores) .
Xiaomi, which generates the majority of sales from its smartphone business, originally eyed a $100 billion (roughly Rs. 7,36,000 crores) valuation for its initial public offering, people close to the deal said in May 2018. But it was only at half that level upon its debut, and shares traded below the HKD 17 (roughly Rs. 150) offering price for most of its first two years as a public company.
The stock saw its fortunes reverse in August, after it was announced that Xiaomi would be added to the Hang Seng Index. Shares have more than doubled since. Strong sales during China’s “Double 12” shopping festival have helped fuel this month’s 20 percent stock jump, and a proposal to boost the weighting of companies like Xiaomi in the Hang Seng Index to 8 percent from 5 percent could lead to further gains.
Xiaomi in November reported its fastest quarterly sales growth in two years, while earnings beat analysts’ estimates. It remains one of the few major Chinese tech firms to enjoy strong growth abroad while also benefiting from China’s adoption of 5G technology and winning domestic market share from competitor Huawei.
© 2020 Bloomberg LP
Is MacBook Air M1 the portable beast of a laptop that you always wanted? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
