Kuaishou Stock Rises Over 5% on UBS Endorsement and Share Buybacks

Shares of Kuaishou Technology (1024.HK) surged 5.6% to HK$47.22 in Hong Kong trading on Thursday, lifted by a significant institutional endorsement and the company's continued efforts to support its stock through share repurchases.

UBS Adds Kuaishou to Focus List

The primary catalyst for the rally was UBS adding the Chinese short-video platform to its China Global Equity Focus List. According to the bank's note, Kuaishou was assigned a 3% weighting, representing a meaningful vote of confidence from a major financial institution.

The move was part of a broader positive call on Chinese technology and internet stocks by UBS. The bank also increased its weightings in Alibaba, Ping An Insurance, WuXi AppTec, and Xiaomi, and added Meituan to the same focus list.

Corporate Buybacks Signal Confidence

Ad

Underpinning the positive sentiment is Kuaishou's active share repurchase program. On July 15, the company bought back 445,000 of its own shares for approximately HK$19.89 million, according to market filings. This is the latest in a series of buybacks initiated after a major block sale by Tencent on July 6.

That sale, which saw Tencent reduce its stake from roughly 15.68% to 9.37%, sent Kuaishou shares tumbling more than 10% in a single session. Market participants widely interpret the consistent buybacks as a signal of management's confidence in the stock's intrinsic value.

Market Context and AI Tailwinds

The stock also benefited from a positive trading day in the broader Hong Kong market, where the Hang Seng index rose 1.8%. Additionally, investor optimism has grown around Kuaishou's artificial intelligence initiatives, including the development of advanced models and the popularity of its Kling video generation model.