The stock market listing confirms the drastic reduction in Shein's value

BarcelonaThe fashion e-commerce platform Shein presented the conditions for its initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange this Monday. The platform expects to raise up to 1.513 billion euros, on a valuation of 23.122 billion, a substantially lower amount than the highs recorded in 2022. At that time, shortly after an e-commerce boom driven by the pandemic, the company founded in China, but headquartered in Singapore, had a valuation close to 100 billion dollars, about 85.6 billion euros.

Since then, however, the conditions in the fast fashion market have worsened substantially for Shein. Its main markets, the US and the European Union, have sought to place regulatory obstacles on cheap products imported from China, which has substantially slowed down its business. For instance, Washington last year eliminated the customs exemption for imports under 800 dollars. Brussels also, whichhas imposed a new tax on low-value imports this very summer.

These increases in taxes at the entry to its main markets, combined with the global tensions caused by Trump's trade war, led the company to record losses of 99 million dollars, about 85 million euros, in the first quarter of 2026. The red numbers came as a result of practically flat business growth, of 1.1%, to 9.025 billion dollars between January and March, about 7.752 billion euros.

It is on this reality that Shein seeks to access the Hong Kong stock exchange, after failed attempts to list on the London and New York stock exchanges in recent years. The subscription period for the initial public offering (IPO) begins this Monday and will conclude on Tuesday, September 1. The company will offer for sale nearly 280 million shares, at a unit price between 47.6 and 49.5 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to between 5.2 and 5.5 euros per share. The final price will be set on August 31.

Alibaba, also in Hong Kong

The end of summer has accelerated stock market activity in the Hong Kong market. Alibaba's share placement, announced on Sunday, adds to Shein's operation. The Chinese e-commerce giant has become a champion of artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company seeks to sell 710 million ordinary shares of new issue among investors outside the United States. With this move, it expects to raise around 80 billion Hong Kong dollars, approximately 10 billion US dollars (8.7 billion at the euro exchange rate).

The unit price will be 112.7 Hong Kong dollars, a discount of over 8% compared to the last quote before the announcement last Friday, when it was trading around 122 Hong Kong dollars. At the opening of Monday's session, the shares fell sharply, reducing the offer price, and opened around 111 local dollars.

The entirety of the revenue generated from the sale, as reported by Alibaba, will be directed towards financing the new "comprehensive AI capabilities" it aspires to. Among these, they list, will be the financing of new infrastructure – data centers, mainly – but also the development of its AI models.