AI industry chain companies are accelerating their sprint towards Hong Kong stock IPOs.

On July 8, the autonomous driving company Momenta officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Founded in 2016, Momenta positions itself as a builder of physical AI foundational models, and the market has thus dubbed it the "first stock of physical AI."

However, it's worth noting that this listing's market performance is starkly different from the fervent atmosphere surrounding previous AI company listings. The market reaction was lukewarm after Momenta's debut. On the day of listing, Momenta's stock price closed flat with a 0% gain, and its total market capitalization at the close was HKD 69.6 billion.

So, why didn't Momenta, bearing the title of "first stock of physical AI," gain market favor? What is the true quality of this company's fundamentals?

Public information shows that Momenta was founded in 2016, and its founder, Cao Xudong, previously worked at SenseTime.

For Cao Xudong, 2016 was precisely the window of opportunity for the domestic autonomous driving industry's development, and he naturally chose the autonomous driving track for his venture. At that time, the industry primarily diverged into two technical paths: one was the Waymo-style high-level L4 route, focusing on achieving high-level autonomous driving in restricted areas; the other was a more incremental route closer to Tesla's, relying on the accumulation of massive real-world data and continuous algorithm iteration to gradually expand the scenarios for autonomous driving deployment.

Momenta charted a differentiated path early on: leveraging mass-produced advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to accumulate real-world road data, continuously refining algorithms, and then using that to empower the development of high-level autonomous driving. Later, Cao Xudong summarized this development logic as the company's "one flywheel, two legs" development strategy.

After completing a funding round in 2018, Momenta's valuation exceeded $1 billion, making it the highest-valued autonomous driving startup in China at the time. However, Momenta's development path was not smooth sailing. Around 2019, the autonomous driving industry entered a cyclical adjustment, and the company once faced a cash flow crunch. The team had only two options: either reduce costs and improve efficiency, or broaden business channels to increase revenue and monetization.

Financial data shows that from 2020 to 2022, the company's revenue continuously declined from 403 million yuan to 180 million yuan; net losses simultaneously widened from 82.192 million yuan to 233 million yuan.

In 2021, Momenta's first mass-production project was successfully delivered. It was precisely the long-term dedication to the mass-production ADAS route that gradually revealed the business value, allowing the company to ultimately weather the industry's winter smoothly.

The prospectus disclosed that from 2023 to 2025, Momenta's revenue grew significantly from 743 million yuan to 2.413 billion yuan, but net losses simultaneously widened from 2.57 billion yuan to 3.458 billion yuan. Financial report data shows that as of the end of 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents balance was only 1.307 billion yuan, while R&D investment for that year reached 1.869 billion yuan, indicating that the company is still in a phase of high-intensity R&D investment.

As of now, the scale of vehicles equipped with Momenta's mass-production solutions has exceeded 1 million units, with over 100 mass-production vehicle models deployed and more than 210 designated vehicle models accumulated. Data from CIC's industry blue book shows that whether measured by the sales volume of vehicles equipped with urban NOA solutions or the cumulative number of mass-production vehicle models equipped with urban NOA solutions, Momenta consistently ranks first among third-party suppliers.

Relevant statistics show that Momenta has now established cooperation with nine of the world's top ten automakers, holding a 65% market share in the third-party urban NOA market, continuing to lead the industry. Its technical solutions have achieved mass production deployment in over ten countries and regions across Asia, Europe, and Oceania, with their technical maturity and large-scale delivery capabilities validated by the global market.

In April this year, Momenta's R7 World Model achieved its first mass production, officially kicking off the industrialization of physical AI, which is also a core focus for attracting capital market attention.

The prospectus shows that the company's revenue consists of two main segments: technology development services and licensing services. From 2023 to 2025, revenue from technology development services was 720 million yuan, 1.03 billion yuan, and 1.44 billion yuan, respectively; revenue from licensing services was 20 million yuan, 290 million yuan, and 970 million yuan, respectively. During the same period, the company's overall gross margin increased from 17.5% to 71.6%. In other words, the claimed "gold content" of the company's "physical AI" still needs further testing.

For this Hong Kong IPO, Momenta has assembled a strong lineup of cornerstone investors, including GIC, Fidelity International, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Temasek, Wellington, Schroders, and other leading global investment institutions.

It is reported that in this global offering, Momenta issued approximately 22.93 million shares in total, raising about HKD 6.8 billion.

At the listing ceremony, Momenta CEO Cao Xudong said: "Over the past decade, we have taught AI to drive, creating a dedicated smart driver for every family. In the next decade, we will deploy humanoid robot service scenarios in various fields such as home care, healthcare, and education, ushering in the 'GPT moment' in the physical AI field. We look forward to marching forward side by side with all domestic AI companies to create a legendary technology innovation industry belonging to the East, going global, and letting the global market see the strength of China's self-developed technology."

Kan Jian Finance Viewpoint: As the AI industry wave continues to advance, the window of opportunity for large model, autonomous driving, and other AI track companies to deliver on their performance is constantly narrowing in the capital market. If companies fail to meet profit expectations within the stipulated cycle, the market often chooses to vote with their feet.

As can be seen from Momenta's listing performance, the zero gain on the first day of trading forms a stark contrast with the market's hot expectations during the IPO stage. Investors also need to rationally view the industry halo of leading startups to avoid bearing investment risks for excessively high valuations.