This screenshot taken on Jan 15, 2021, shows the official website of Yidu Tech Inc.

Yidu Tech Inc, which offers artificial intelligence and big data products to the healthcare industry, saw its shares jump 148 percent in its Hong Kong debut after a HK$4.12 billion (US$531 million) initial public offering that met with overwhelming demand from investors.

Yidu Tech shares closed at HK$65.2, after rising as high as HK$69.8, a massive jump from the IPO price of HK$26.30. The company sold about 156 million shares at the top of a marketed range.

The opening performance is the third-best for a Hong Kong IPO raising over US$500 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show

The opening performance is the third-best for a Hong Kong IPO raising over US$500 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Only e-cigarette maker Smoore International Holdings Ltd last year and Alibaba.com Ltd - when it first listed in 2007 - have seen their shares jump by more on their first day of trading.

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Yidu Tech is the latest example of a company soaring on its debut amid a frenzy of trading around IPOs, particularly in the tech space. In the US technology company Affirm Holdings Inc almost doubled on its debut on Wednesday after raising US$1.2 billion.

Yidu Tech’s IPO was hugely popular with retail investors, with demand for a whopping 1,634 times the shares initially reserved for them, the third-highest retail subscription rate for a Hong Kong IPO in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The positive reception shows retail buyers’ appetite for IPOs remains unabated after last year, when individual investors piled into an equity rally and contributed to first-day pops by stocks.

Tech and health care emerged as particularly hot sectors, buoyed by the pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home trend. Biotech IPOs became extremely sought after in Hong Kong, with the city’s legions of small-time traders crowding out institutional funds from some stock offerings.

READ MORE: HKEX chief: HK may become top biotech fund-raising center

Beijing-based Yidu had to increase the number of shares allocated to individual buyers to 78.2 million from the initial 15.6 million.

Yidu Tech’s IPO attracted Tencent and seven other cornerstone investors who committed to buying about US$210 million of stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and China International Capital Corp were joint sponsors for its offering.