Shares of Chinese AI model developer Zhipu surged 33% on Monday, trading at around 1,461 Hong Kong dollars ($186), following a spike of up to 48% earlier in the day, according to LSEG data [1]. The rally was driven by Wall Street banks raising their bets on Zhipu's ability to capture global AI demand, especially as Washington imposed new restrictions on foreign access to Anthropic's most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns [1].
JPMorgan maintained its overweight rating on Zhipu and raised its target price to HK$1,400 from HK$950, citing the company's model visibility and pricing power in a competitive market. At the same time, JPMorgan downgraded domestic rival MiniMax, although MiniMax shares still rose 7.4% on Monday [1]. Bank of America analysts initiated coverage with "buy" ratings for both Zhipu and MiniMax, setting target prices at 1,250 Hong Kong dollars for Zhipu and 500 Hong Kong dollars for MiniMax [1].
On the day of the US curbs, Zhipu announced the release of GLM-5.2, its latest open-source large model, which will be available with no usage restrictions. Zhipu positioned the launch as a response to Washington's intervention, stating, "Cutting-edge intelligence should not belong to only a few, nor should it be withdrawn at any time. It should be open, available, extensible and built to serve every developer" [1]. Preliminary feedback indicated GLM-5.2 performs comparably to Claude Opus 4.7 in coding and long-horizon agentic tasks, according to Ellie Jiang of Macquarie Capital, who maintained an "outperform" rating with a target price of 1,221.4 Hong Kong dollars [1].
Chinese AI developers, including Zhipu, are leaning into open distribution, attracting demand from cost-sensitive enterprise users as US developers face increasing restrictions. Bank of America analysts noted that China is positioned to capture a substantial share of the global AI market within the "value-for-money" segment, with Chinese models gaining traction as "cheap-and-capable performers" amid rising US pricing for frontier models [1]. Zhipu raised its cloud API prices by 8% to 17% with the GLM-5.1 launch in April, marking its second price hike this year in response to surging demand and investor pressure for profitability [1].
CONCLUSION
Zhipu's share surge reflects growing investor confidence in Chinese AI firms as US restrictions on Anthropic's models shift global demand. Wall Street analysts have raised target prices and ratings, highlighting Zhipu's pricing power and market potential. The company's open-source strategy and recent price hikes signal strong momentum and revenue prospects in the evolving AI landscape.