Two Chinese initial public offerings opened for trading Tuesday, with Qilian International Holding Group making a powerful debut.
Shares of Qilian (ticker: QLI) doubled during its first day of trading, while Kuke Music Holding (KUKE) added just 1%.
The two offerings continue the trend of Chinese companies going public in the U.S. There were 33 such offerings in 2020, collecting $13.4 billion, the most since 2018, when 34 Chinese companies went public, according to Dealogic. The $13.4 billion compares with $3.5 billion raised by 25 IPOs in 2019.
Qilian’s stock opened at $8.01 and hit a high of $22, up 340%. The stock closed Tuesday at $10, up 100%.
The company’s soaring debut is significant because Qilian has been waiting a long time to go public, initially filing for an IPO in November 2019. When Qilian finally did price its offering, the company raised $25 million after selling 5 million shares at $5 each, the low end of the range of $5 to $7 investors had been told to expect.
Univest Securities, Loop Capital Markets, and Alexander Capital are underwriters on the deal.
According to Qilian’s prospectus, sales at the pharmaceuticals and chemicals company fell 31% in the three months ended Sept. 30 as a result of the pandemic. Net income declined 17%, to $4.2 million, for the six months ended March 31 from $5 million for the same period in 2019. Revenue rose 2%, to $27.8 million, the prospectus said.
The company employs 288.
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