ZTE Shares Surge Over 8% in Early Trading Following AI Phone Launch at WAIC

Shares of ZTE Corporation (HKEX: 00763) rose more than 8% in early trading. At the time of writing, the stock was up 6.97% to HK$26.1, with a turnover of HK$669 million.

The catalyst for the move is news from the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) recently held in Shanghai. At the event, ZTE's Nubia brand officially unveiled the world's first AI agent smartphone, the "Nubia NaviX Ultra."

Company representatives at the conference highlighted that the NaviX Ultra is positioned as the "world's first deeply embedded AI smartphone," featuring a deeper integration of ByteDance's Doubao AI phone assistant into the mobile operating system.

A recent research report from Morgan Stanley suggested that ZTE could be due for a re-rating as investor focus shifts to a recovery phase, coupled with the re-emergence of AI catalysts.

On the edge device front, the report noted ZTE's collaboration with ByteDance on the Doubao AI assistant, integrating agent, multimodal, and system-level AI capabilities into smartphones. Early demand indicators, such as the initial batch of products selling out, show strong market interest.

The firm expects ZTE to deepen this collaboration, potentially paving the way for broader commercialization of AI phones, which could serve as a significant catalyst for sentiment and valuation.