Prime Highlights

• Zhipu shares surged up to 35% and closed 31.94% higher after the company delivered strong revenue growth in its first earnings report since listing in Hong Kong.
• Investors showed strong confidence in the company’s long-term growth outlook, supported by rising AI demand and expanding product adoption.

Key Facts

• Zhipu reported revenue growth of about 132% year-on-year to 724 million yuan, reflecting strong business expansion in the AI sector.
• The company’s AI products are now used by over 4 million SMEs and developers across 218 countries and regions, highlighting its growing global reach.

Background

Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence firm Zhipu rose sharply on Wednesday, climbing as much as 35% before closing 31.94% higher, after the company reported strong revenue growth in its first earnings results since listing in Hong Kong.

The Beijing-based company, which raised $558 million in its initial public offering in January, saw strong investor interest despite reporting losses. It had earlier been described as one of China’s first major pure-play AI model developers to go public.

In its earnings report released on Tuesday, Zhipu said revenue increased about 132% year-on-year to 724 million yuan in 2025. However, the figure came in below analyst expectations of 760 million yuan. The company stepped up its investment in research and development, with spending rising 29.1% from the previous year as it pushes to build for the future.

Founded in 2019 by researchers from Tsinghua University, Zhipu has positioned itself as a key player in China’s fast-growing AI sector. The company recently launched its GLM-5 model, which it says matches leading US competitors on several performance benchmarks, and it continues to expand its AI agent products.

The company also reported that more than 4 million small and medium-sized enterprises and developers now use its products, which are available across 218 countries and regions. It highlighted rising demand driven by the adoption of its open-source AI agent OpenClaw, which has increased token usage and computing needs.

Zhipu has moved to increase the use of domestic Chinese chips as computing demand rises, in line with Beijing’s push to build up its semiconductor industry. The shift comes as US export restrictions have cut off access to advanced chip technology, affecting the capacity to train AI models.

The company, seen as one of China’s “AI tigers” competing with global leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, remains under scrutiny after being added to the US Commerce Department’s Entity List last year over alleged military links. Meanwhile, rival MiniMax also gained in trading, rising about 16% on the same day.