Liantech Technology seeks to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange—what are Hong Kong stock investors concerned about?

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Author | Huang Yu

Amid the AI boom, from computing power chips and servers to the optical communications industry chain, more and more AI infrastructure companies are accelerating their capital operations.

On June 29, Wuhan Liantek Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Liantek Technology) officially submitted its IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This optical module company, which had already landed on the Shenzhen GEM board in 2022, has chosen to seek a secondary listing in Hong Kong as the construction of AI computing power enters a new cycle.

The optical module industry is now red-hot, and the reason for Liantek Technology's Hong Kong listing is not complicated— the explosion of AI demand brings not only an increase in optical module orders, but also means that technological iteration speed, supply chain organization capabilities, and capacity building have entered an unprecedented stage of arms race, and Liantek Technology needs to deepen its global layout.

Huang Lichong, President of Huisheng International Capital Limited, told Wallstreetcn that this is very much in line with the reality of the optical module industry, because the customers, capacity, supply chain, and valuation logic of high-speed optical modules are inherently globalized.

Therefore, for Liantek Technology, what the Hong Kong stock market provides is not just funds, but a fuel card to enhance its competitiveness in the global AI industry, facilitating connection with international capital and increasing global brand influence.

However, Huang Lichong also pointed out that Liantek Technology’s listing in Hong Kong coincides with the AI hardware chain and the hard tech financing window in Hong Kong stocks, but whether it can achieve a good valuation in the end does not depend on whether “optical modules are hot,” but on whether the company can prove that its high-speed product growth, overseas customer orders, cash flow, and supply chain resilience are real and sustainable.

From Telecom Supplier to AI Optical Interconnect Player

Liantek Technology was established in 2011, with headquarters in Wuhan, and in its early days mainly served the telecom communications market. In 2022, Liantek Technology landed on the Shenzhen GEM board, raising a net amount of about 600 million yuan.

By the traditional telecom industry chain classification, it was originally not the type of company most favored by capital.

It was AI that truly changed the industry narrative.

As large model training clusters continue to expand and the number of GPUs keeps increasing, simply improving chip performance can no longer meet the demand for computing power. More and more people in the industry are forming a consensus: in the future, what limits AI capabilities is not just computing power, but interconnection.

Optical modules are the core devices to solve the interconnection problem.

Simply put, GPUs are responsible for computation, switches for scheduling, while optical modules are responsible for transporting data at high speed. Without optical modules, no matter how powerful the chip, it is difficult to form an effective cluster. Therefore, in large-scale AI GPU clusters, they are the "lifeline."

To capture the demand for high-speed optical modules driven by AI computing power, Liantek Technology began mass production of 400G and 800G optical modules in 2024, and is one of the few manufacturers with 1.6T optical module design and production capabilities.

Against this backdrop, Liantek Technology's revenue grew from 606 million yuan in 2023 to 1.254 billion yuan in 2025; benefiting from the increased contribution of high-speed optical module revenue, its gross margin rose from 18.6% to 24.4%; net profit grew to 103 million yuan.

However, from an industry standpoint, Liantek Technology does not belong to the top echelon.

According to Frost & Sullivan data, in 2025, Liantek Technology ranks 11th among global optical module manufacturers by revenue, and 8th in China, with a global market share of about 0.8%.

But in high-speed products, its growth rate is significantly faster: revenue from products 400G and above had a compound annual growth rate of 247.6% from 2023 to 2025; for 800G and above products the CAGR reached 1069%, the fastest among the world’s top 10 high-speed optical module manufacturers.

In other words, Liantek Technology is not the largest player, but is a fast chaser.

This is also clearly reflected in the financial statements. In 2025, Liantek Technology's operating cash flow turned negative, at -206 million yuan; during the same period, it continued to increase capital expenditure and capacity expansion.

This reveals a typical feature of the AI infrastructure industry—extremely rapid growth, but also extremely capital intensive.

In the past three years, Liantek Technology’s R&D investment was 57.3 million, 58.4 million, and 98.6 million yuan respectively, accounting for 7%—10% of revenue; R&D personnel account for about one third of total employees.

In terms of capacity construction, Liantek Technology has already formed dual manufacturing bases in Wuhan and Malaysia, and is continuing to build a second-phase plant in Malaysia.

By the end of 2025, Liantek Technology's total production capacity will reach 4.2 million units, which is double that of 2023 but slightly less than the 4.3 million units in 2024.

Liantek Technology stated that while expanding production, the company is optimizing its product mix, especially continuously expanding the capacity for 800G and above products. By the end of 2025, its designed capacity for 800G and above products will reach approximately 600,000 units, and by April 2026 will further expand to 1.6 million units.

For Liantek Technology, which is in a critical period of expanding capacity and R&D, fundraising is clearly very important.

In addition, in the past few years, a common trend for Chinese technology manufacturing companies going public in Hong Kong is: Hong Kong not only offers financing, but also provides international capital pricing, endorsement from overseas customers, and global organizational capabilities.

Especially for optical module companies, downstream customers are often global cloud vendors, AI infrastructure operators, and network equipment manufacturers. Having a Hong Kong stock identity is essentially obtaining a global supply chain pass.

This is also the core direction for Liantek Technology’s fundraising this time—expansion, R&D, and global expansion, rather than just replenishing cash flow.

What Tests Will Liantek Technology Face?

Liantek Technology has caught a highly explosive cycle.

Citing prospectus data, the global optical module market has grown from 77.6 billion yuan in 2021 to 161.8 billion yuan in 2025, and is expected to reach 503.4 billion yuan in 2030; of that, the data communication optical module market will grow to 429.4 billion yuan; products of 800G and above are expected to maintain a compound growth rate of more than 47% over the next five years.

This means that the industry dividend is far from over. But alongside opportunity, the challenges are equally clear.

“The prospectus shows that the core intent of Liantek Technology’s Hong Kong listing is to further package and build itself from an A-share optical module company into a high-speed optical interconnect supplier serving global AI data center clients. But there are also plenty of challenges in listing in Hong Kong now; investors in Hong Kong will look very closely,” said Huang Lichong to Wallstreetcn.

Huang Lichong said, A-share investors may be more willing to give a growth premium along the AI chain, but Hong Kong investors place greater emphasis on order certainty, customer quality, cash flow, and valuation comparisons with international peers.

In other words, Hong Kong stocks are more pragmatic than A-shares. Huang Lichong pointed out institutional investors will keep asking three things: first, whether a company has truly entered the supply chain of major overseas clients; second, whether revenue and gross profit from high-speed optical module products are sustainable; and third, if the AI boom cools, whether orders, inventory, and cash flow will be adversely affected.

According to the prospectus, the share of revenue from the top five customers of Liantek Technology in 2023, 2024, and 2025 was 46.8%, 63.4%, and 65.7%, respectively, indicating increasing concentration.

Huang Lichong believes that such a high proportion of revenue from major customers may concern Hong Kong investors: if the pace of capital expenditures, product certification, order delays, or price negotiations by these major customers change, will profit and revenue volatility become significant?

From the prospectus, this concern seems not unfounded. Liantek Technology pointed out that the gross margin of its 400G and above optical modules was 32.2% in 2024, but fell to 24.6% in 2025, mainly because it cut prices on some high-speed optical modules to respond to market competition.

Huang Lichong pointed out that currently Hong Kong stocks are enthusiastic about optical module companies, but this enthusiasm is not simply buying "optical modules" as a concept, but is paying for "AI computing power infrastructure + high-speed optical interconnect + global delivery capabilities."

The story of AI infrastructure never lacks for short-term star companies.

What is truly scarce are companies that can leap from one speed cycle to the next and remain at the table.

Therefore, Liantek Technology’s Hong Kong listing, in a sense, is not just a financing move, but a gamble: the global AI-era optical interconnect race has only just begun.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks, investment needs caution. This article does not constitute individual investment advice, nor does it consider the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific cases. Invest accordingly at your own risk. ```