When does an 87 percent rise in your share price in just 3 months make you a laggard? The answer: When your name is online travel agent Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR), and the 87 percent rise makes you the worst performer among a quartet of Chinese Internet companies to make New York IPOs at the end of last year. The sudden surge in investor interest towards these companies will almost certainly lead many Chinese Internet firms to speed up their New York listing plans in the first quarter of this year, starting off with word that Tuniu, another online travel services firm, is accelerating its plans for a listing in the next few months. Read Full Post…
App stores have suddenly become a hot ticket in China’s online space, with word that 4-year-old operator Wandoujia has just landed $120 million in funding from a group led by Japanese tech investor giant Softbank. The deal comes just a half year after online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) acquired another app store, 91Wireless, for more than $1 billion, leading me to wonder if Wandoujia could soon become a target for one of China’s cash-rich and recently very acquisitive top Internet companies. Such a purchase would certainly make sense for names like e-commerce leader Alibaba and social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), which, along with Baidu, are all spending heavily to build up their mobile Internet business. Read Full Post…
US-listed Chinese stocks neared the end of 2013 with a wild ride last week, as 3 major developments provided a glimpse of the bumpy road that lies ahead in the New Year. That performance points to a strong start for new IPOs at the start of 2014, even though momentum could quickly flag due to the highly volatile and unpredictable nature of these stocks. Read Full Post…
An interesting picture is emerging from the mini-rush of Chinese IPOs now hitting the market, as reflected by word that online car seller Autohome has cut the size of its upcoming New York offering. On the one hand, the 4 companies to launch IPOs in the last month have all seen their shares perform quite well since their trading debuts. But at the same time, the size of the offerings has been rapidly shrinking, and all have seen their trading volumes drop dramatically since their first trading days. That seems to indicate the market is filled with speculators right now, and there’s much less longer-term interest in the companies once their shares start trading. Read Full Post…
Media are hailing the big first-day gains of 500.com (NYSE: WBAI) and Sungy Mobile (Nasdaq: GOMO) in their New York trading debuts, saying the strong performance reflects a return of investor confidence to Chinese Internet stocks after a 2 year pause. I agree with that assessment somewhat, but would also offer the contrarian viewpoint that this pair of offerings was quite small, and thus the gains for both companies could have been easily influenced by the big banks underwriting the deals. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 23-25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Rectification Coming For Mobile Game Sector – Culture Ministry Official (Chinese article)
Shares of 500.com, Sungy Mobile Roar On NY Trading Debut (English article)
Chinese Nokia Workers Pledge To Continue Strike (English article)
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) CEO Says NSA Fallout Impacting China Business (English article)
Alibaba Blocks Referrals To Mobile E-Commerce Platforms From WeChat (Chinese article)
More mixed signals are coming from the IPO space, with listing candidate 500.com raising the price range for its shares indicating that demand is better than previously thought. The lifting of the range for its American Depositary Shares (ADSs) comes just a day after 2 recently listed Internet companies, Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR) and LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB), announced new quarterly results that showed both were losing money. In what could be another piece of IPO news, Internet aspirant Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) has made a high profile move outside China by opening an R&D center in the US, leading me to speculate that perhaps the company could be eying an offshore IPO in the next year or two. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Hundreds Of Chinese Nokia Workers Protest At Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Deal (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 762), Huawei Partner To Offer Internet TV In Qingdao (English article)
Chalco (HKEx: 2600) Vice President Li Dongguang Under Investigation (Chinese article)
Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) Sets Up Silicon Valley R&D Center (Chinese article)
500.com Raises Price Range For IPO To $11-$13 Per ADS, From Previous $9-$11 (Chinese article)
After a roaring few weeks in late October, the market for offshore Chinese IPOs has lost some momentum in the last 2 weeks as investors return their focus to important issues like company quality and growth prospects. In the latest sign of the market’s fickle nature, Chinese bank Huishang (HKEx: 3698) has sputtered in its trading debut in Hong Kong, boding poorly for other mainland banks lining up to list there. Another piece of IPO news is less ominous, with media reporting that education services firm Tarena is preparing to list as early as next year, most likely in New York. While that news is relatively neutral, reports are also pointing out that one of Tarena’s top executives recently joined the company from NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), the former New York-listed Chinese high flyer whose stock has tanked recently on doubts raised by a short seller. Read Full Post…
There’s a flurry of news in the fund-raising realm, led by word that online lottery company 500.com has sharply cut the size of its upcoming New York IPO following recent successful trading debuts for 2 other companies. At the same time, struggling online clothing seller Vancl has reportedly raised a new $100 million to keep funding its operations, as it looks for elusive profits. Meantime, Nasdaq-listed chipmaker RDA Microelectronics (Nasdaq: RDA) may be moving in the opposite direction of 500.com, with word that it has received a buyout offer that would see its shares de-listed from the Nasdaq. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 9-11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Cinda Hong Kong IPO To Test Investor Appetite For China’s Bad Debt (English article)
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to Take Over China Skype Operation From Tom (English article)
500.com Sets IPO Price Range At $9-$11 per ADS (Chinese article)
Holder Of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Name In China Wants $30 Mln For Trademark (Chinese article)
Vancl Raises Another $100 Mln In Quest To Regain Lost Glory (Chinese article)
