On September 29, KINWONG (3228.HK), the world's largest automotive electronics PCB supplier, will officially list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a board lot of 100 shares and stock code 3228. The final H-share offering price was set at HK$69.88 per share, with a global offering of 72.9443 million H shares and net proceeds of approximately HK$4.96 billion. From the heated subscription during the IPO phase to the unexpected break below the offer price in grey market trading, the market response to this "A+H" hard-tech new stock has shown a distinctly two-sided picture.
Subscription End: Strong Public Market Enthusiasm
During the subscription period, KINWONG received HK$29.506 billion in margin subscriptions. Based on the public offering size of HK$509.74 million, the oversubscription reached 56.88 times. The final allotment results showed that the Hong Kong public offering was oversubscribed 94.25 times, while the international offering was oversubscribed 10.57 times. The lineup of cornerstone investors was equally noteworthy, including well-known institutions such as CPE Redwood, Zhongji Innolight, E Fund, Bosera Funds, JPMorgan Asset Management and Barings Asset Management, which collectively subscribed approximately US$310 million, accounting for 47.69% of the global offering. Mok Ho Nam, a fund manager at Yuanyu Securities, pointed out that the H-share pricing of KINWONG represents a discount of about 43% to its A shares, with a forecast price-to-earnings ratio of about 50 times. For a PCB company, this is not cheap, but the AI concept endorsement makes it highly attractive to "northbound" funds.
Grey Market End: Break Below Offer Price by More Than 6%, Short-Term Sentiment Under Pressure
However, the subscription enthusiasm did not carry over into the grey market. In grey market trading on September 28, KINWONG opened at HK$65, down 6.98% from the offer price, touched a low of HK$65 during the session, and finally closed at HK$65.45, a decline of 6.34%, with a book loss of HK$443 per board lot. The grey market break below the offer price reflects to some extent Hong Kong stock investors' cautious attitude toward the company's fundamentals.
Fundamentals: Automotive PCB Leader, AI Opens New Growth Driver
The industrial foundation of KINWONG is the core support for its investment value. According to China Insights Consultancy data, based on 2025 revenue, the company is the world's largest automotive electronics PCB supplier with a market share of 10.6%, ranking 11th among global PCB suppliers. Eight of the world's top ten Tier 1 automotive suppliers are its customers, and its products have been widely applied in the automotive products of the world's top ten automotive groups. From 2023 to 2025, the company's revenue increased from RMB10.757 billion to RMB15.308 billion, with a compound growth rate of 19.3%. The AI business has become a new focus of attention. A research report by SDIC Securities showed that the revenue share of communications and data infrastructure rose from 7.2% in 2023 to 15.6% in the first four months of 2026, while the share of AI-related PCB revenue rose from 1.3% in 2025 to 5.0%. The company has mass-produced high-end products such as high-layer PCBs with more than 40 layers, 6-order 22-layer HDI and 14-layer HDI using mSAP process. Institutions generally believe that a solid automotive base combined with accelerating AI order ramp-up constitutes the company's core upward logic.
Hidden Concerns: Revenue Growth Without Profit Growth and Raw Material Pressure
But the challenges facing the company are equally obvious. In the first half of 2026, KINWONG achieved revenue of RMB8.611 billion, up 21.37% year on year, while net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB602 million, down 7.38% year on year, showing a characteristic of "revenue growth without profit growth." Gross margin fell from 23.2% in 2023 to 20.2% in the first half of 2026. Profit pressure mainly stemmed from rising prices of copper and copper-clad laminates, price competition in automotive electronics, and the high costs and initially low yields during the ramp-up period of new production bases. In the first half of the year, exchange losses amounted to RMB123 million, compared with exchange gains of RMB38 million in the same period last year, further dragging down profit performance. SDIC Securities (Hong Kong), taking into account industry prosperity, leading position, financial growth and the A/H discount, gave KINWONG's IPO a special rating of 5.5 points and advised investors to consider subscribing in cash.
What to Watch Going Forward: Hong Kong Stock Connect Inclusion and A/H Discount Convergence
One positive catalyst is that the Shanghai Stock Exchange has included KINWONG in the list of Hong Kong Stock Connect targets under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, effective from the next Hong Kong Stock Connect trading day. Inclusion in Hong Kong Stock Connect means southbound funds will gain a direct buying channel. For the H shares, which trade at a significant discount of about 45.8% to the A shares, this is expected to provide a driving force for valuation repair. Overall, KINWONG's listing story combines certainty and elasticity: the industry position as a global leader in automotive PCBs provides a performance foundation, the accelerating ramp-up of AI computing power PCBs opens up growth space, and Hong Kong Stock Connect inclusion and the A/H discount constitute medium-term valuation support. The short-term pressure in the grey market reflects more the market's immediate pricing of pressure on the profit side. The subsequent share price trend will depend on whether the company's profitability in the second half of the year can recover alongside the release of high-end production capacity.
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