Hong Kong stocks are facing a major test of restrictions being lifted, with a boom in IPOs concentrated on realization.

In 2026, the Hong Kong capital market is entering a peak of restricted stock unlocking. The direct source of this pressure is the strong rebound of the Hong Kong IPO market in 2025 - that year, the amount raised by Hong Kong stocks surged to the top global position, and a large number of new stocks with lock-up periods of 6 to 12 months after listing will be concentrated in 2026 when their lock-up periods expire, leading to a wave of cross-year and phased unlocking of shares. As of now, the total market value of shares awaiting unlocking for the entire year of 2026 in the Hong Kong stock market is expected to reach as high as 1.72 trillion Hong Kong dollars, significantly higher than the approximately 600 billion Hong Kong dollars for the whole of 2025.