WeRide and PonyAI (NAS100:PONY) slumped on their Hong Kong market debut, but that came after a weak phase for EV stocks.
PonyAI – Daily Chart
Pony’s ADR has been weak from the $22.00 level, which is close to yearly highs.
“I personally don’t care about the short-term stock price volatility at all,” said Pony AI founder and CEO James Peng. Shares of the Guangzhou-based tech firm slid 13% in their first day of trading. At the same time, rival WeRide also had a similar debut, dropping 14%, a possible reflection of investors’ doubts about the robotaxi outlook.
However, Chinese robotaxi companies have been strong this year, due to overseas partnerships with big names like Uber and Lyft. They are yet to turn a profit and will face a later test as juggernaut Tesla meets its FSD taxi plans.
Peng believes that the company will be profitable in 2028 or 2029, when its fleet size could reach around 50,000 units. Pony AI has scaled up its robotaxi fleet from 270 cars last year to 726, it said in its IPO prospectus. It hopes to reach the 1,000 mark before the year is up.
He believes the company will be profitable in 2028 or 2029, when the fleet could reach up to 50,000 units. Spending on research and development, which has dragged on company finances, is also expected to slow, according to Peng, who has a PhD from Stanford in the U.S.
Pony AI’s R&D spending almost doubled in 2024 and has also risen in the first half of this year, but that is expected to slow to 20% in the next few years. The Hong Kong listing can also help by bringing domestic investors and a larger market for raising finance.
“We think it’s key to be listed in Hong Kong because only being listed in the U.S. won’t help us much with access to investors in Asia or our branding efforts in the region,” Peng said.
The listing starts that process, and the opening-day pressures are short-term rather than long-term issues.
