Pony.ai, WeRide tumble after splashy Hong Kong IPO debuts

Shares of ￰0￱ and WeRide both dropped hard on Thursday after their big-ticket IPOs in Hong Kong, according to data from ￰1￱ tumbled more than 12% and WeRide slid close to 13% right after trading ￰2￱ sharp fall came even though both self-driving firms raised serious money; HK$6.71 billion (about $860 million) for Pony. ai, and HK$2.39 billion for ￰3￱ companies are already listed in the U. S., but they chased a dual listing to pull in more capital, expand in Asia, and reduce risk as ￰4￱ tighten their grip on Chinese ￰5￱ didn’t ￰6￱ the Hong Kong debut, shares were already falling in New ￰7￱ Wednesday, WeRide dropped 5.2% and ￰8￱ fell 2%. That’s not what you want before you open trading in a second ￰9￱ damage isn’t just market-related.

There’s pressure from all ￰10￱ companies are running behind major players like Baidu’s Apollo Go in China and Waymo in the ￰11￱ firms are focused on building Level 4 autonomous driving systems, meaning the vehicle can operate without human input in some areas. That’s where this new cash is supposed to ￰12￱ and WeRide face pressure from regulators, rivals, and each other James Peng, the CEO of ￰13￱ , said the funds will be used to grow infrastructure, including charging and parking systems designed for self-driving vehicles, as well as for pushing more into AI ￰14￱ at WeRide, CEO Tony Xu Han told CNBC they’ll invest in AI capability and data center expansion to support their ￰15￱ bosses claim that safety is still the top goal, especially as they start operating robotaxis in a few Chinese ￰16￱ aren’t stopping in China ￰17￱ are trying to enter new territories like Singapore, Europe, and parts of the Middle East, but the process is ￰18￱ haven’t gotten full approval to run robotaxis in those places ￰19￱ top of that, there’s a fight brewing between the two ￰20￱ CFO Li Xuan recently accused ￰21￱ of misleading investors by underreporting how many cities WeRide currently operates ￰22￱ claim hit right before the IPO and stirred up even more controversy.

They’re also eyeing a potential link-up with Uber in the U. S., hoping to run robotaxis on the ride-hailing app once they get the green light from ￰23￱ that approval may never ￰24￱ this year, ￰25￱ finalized a rule that blocks Chinese tech from being used in connected vehicles, which includes self-driving ￰26￱ puts both companies at a disadvantage, no matter how polished their tech might ￰27￱ Le, managing director of Sino Auto Insights, told CNBC that with global uncertainty and pressure in the U. S., going public in Hong Kong is a way to lower the risks and keep raising ￰28￱ said, “A dual listing is a lot about risk mitigation,” and added that ￰29￱ and WeRide need serious capital and support from outside the ￰30￱ stay in the ￰31￱ Kong plays a bigger role in funding China’s autonomous future The dual listings also reflect a wider shift among Chinese tech ￰32￱ Kong’s stock exchange gave the go-ahead in mid-October, and the move fits a rising ￰33￱ May, CATL, a major battery firm, pulled off a massive $5.2 billion secondary listing, still the biggest IPO in the world this ￰34￱ Bulk, an equity analyst at New Street Research, said dual listings like these help shape Hong Kong as the go-to place for Asia’s tech ￰35￱ he also made it clear it won’t help these companies win over Western regulators.

“If anything, gaining approval in Western markets may be more challenging with a HK secondary listing,” he said . Still, Le believes ￰36￱ and WeRide remain in the global ￰37￱ said, “WeRide has diversified their service portfolio a bit more but they both see Uber and the Middle East as two viable partners in their ability to get more pilots launched outside of China.” The issue now is whether they can keep up with the rapid pace of AI evolution, with Le adding, “Investors should pay special attention to how their technology evolves with AI and other new tools becoming more mainstream.” Join Bybit now and claim a $50 bonus in minutes