SenseTime shares gain in Hong Kong market debut

Stock of AI facial recognition company gains as much as 23%

SenseTime says 60% of the IPO proceeds will be devoted to research and development, with the rest used for business expansion and working capital. © Reuters

CISSY ZHOU, Nikkei staff writer

December 30, 2021 07:00 JST

Updated on December 30, 2021 17:33 JST

HONG KONG -- Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence developer SenseTime surged in initial trading in Hong Kong in the climax of the company's rocky journey to go public.

SenseTime shares were up as much as 23.1% in early trading. The stock ended the day up 7.3% at HK$4.13 as it gradually settled back down from the first bursts of trading. This left the company's market capitalization at 137.45 billion Hong Kong dollars ($17.63 billion).