Knowledge Atlas (2513 HK, HK$2,032, HK$449bn): Defying Lock-up and Placement Fears on AI Core Competitiveness

The company made a rare case among the IPOs in recent years where Knowledge Atlas (KA) successfully raised new capital upon expiry of the post-IPO lock-up date.  The company issued 19.78mn new H-shares at HK$1,588 each, raising about HK$31.4bn primarily for large‑scale model R&D, additional computing resources as well as business expansion.

Unlike most IPOs, on the eve of the lock-up expiry, it was reported in the media that a number of the cornerstone investors from the time of IPO revealed their intention to keep the investment for long time.  It is estimated they are holding an aggregate of approximately 18mn (around 70% of the 25.68mn cornerstone shares), representing an estimated 28.7% of the 62.78mn shares in issue upon completion of the share placement or HK$36.6bn worth of shares at today’s price.    

Our views: Knowledge Atlas is one of the leading core AI assets in China, and its recent capital market performance strongly reflects market conviction in its AI competitiveness.

On the technology front, Knowledge Atlas's GLM-5.2 ranks among the global top three across multiple benchmarks, particularly in coding and long-context tasks, where it has reached or approached the level of industry leader Anthropic. Coding represents AI's most commercially viable and highest willingness-to-pay vertically, and its technological edge has translated directly into strong revenue growth. As of 31 March 2026, API Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reached RMB1.7 bn (USD250mn), up 60x YoY. More notably, ARR surged from USD39mn in December 2025 to USD250mn in March 2026, a 6.4x jump in only three months, validating the commercial traction of its large model coding capabilities. Currently, token demand outstrips supply, and the recent placement will directly address the compute bottleneck, enable continued token volume growth and further unlock revenue upside. Management has set an ambitious target of USD1bn in ARR by December 2026.

In addition, the A-share listing regulatory guidance has been completed and the expected STAR Market IPO would be a key catalyst to investment sentiment. Overall, we are of the view that Knowledge Atlas is fundamentally sound with multiple positives to sustain a near-term momentum in the share price. The counter is trading at 232x FY26E EV/Revenue. (Research Department).