The Week

MEITUAN (3690.HK) traded with a heavy tone this week, shedding 3.02% to close at HK$85. The broader market moved in the opposite direction — the Hang Seng Index added 2.19%, leaving the stock to underperform by roughly 5.21 percentage points. Monday (17 Aug) opened at HK$86.4 and pushed to the week’s high of HK$89.4 before fading. Tuesday (18 Aug) consolidated in a HK$85.5–88.2 range, closing at HK$87.05. Wednesday (19 Aug) saw another rally to HK$89.4 that was fully reversed by the close at HK$85.85. Thursday (20 Aug) was the weakest session: the stock touched a low of HK$83.3 before settling at HK$85. The pattern was a clear failed rally, and volumes ran below the 60-day average for the week.

Key Events

Two company-specific developments shaped the narrative this week. First, MEITUAN launched its 2027 campus recruitment drive, including Hong Kong for the first time and adding over ten AI-native roles — a signal that it continues to invest in blending local services with artificial intelligence. Second, the company announced on Tuesday that its board will meet on 28 August to approve interim results, sharpening the market’s focus on the upcoming earnings release. On the industry front, reports early in the week highlighted that JD.com, MEITUAN and Alibaba are all accelerating their discount supermarket expansion, underscoring that competition in the instant-retail space remains intense.

Analyst Ratings

As of this week, 39 brokers cover the stock. The breakdown: 23 rate it buy, 6 overweight, 7 hold, 2 underweight, and 1 has no opinion — no sell ratings. The consensus recommendation is buy, with a consensus target price of HK$109.86, which implies roughly 29.2% upside from the latest close of HK$85. Individual targets range from a low of HK$57.32 to a high of HK$168.51 — a wide spread that suggests the sell-side is still split on what the right multiple should be. Within the restaurant-industry peer group, MEITUAN ranks first out of 19 names.

The Week Ahead

The main event is MEITUAN’s second-quarter 2026 earnings, due after the Hong Kong close on Friday, 28 August. The market is looking for revenue of around HK$117.4 billion and an EPS of -HK$0.53. With the stock having pulled back this week, the revenue trajectory, core local-commerce margins and the pace of loss reduction in new initiatives will be the key numbers that either validate the current valuation or force a rethink. Separately, the Hang Seng Index firmed late in the week on rotation into insurers and gold miners — whether that rotation continues into next week will influence how much attention tech names receive.

In Short

This week set up a tension between a broadly favourable sell-side view and cautious on-the-ground price action. Nearly three-quarters of covering brokers have a buy or overweight rating on MEITUAN, and the consensus target sits about 30% above spot — yet the stock fell against a rising market and volumes were light. That suggests buyers are waiting for concrete numbers before committing. The Q2 results next week are the obvious catalyst: if core metrics show marginal improvement, the current pullback may attract fresh demand; if the numbers disappoint, the valuation may come under further pressure.

This article is generated by LongbridgeAI from market data, for information only and not investment advice.