What happened
Chinese tech company Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (KC -1.03%) was in a cloud for much of this week. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the company's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) were rising at a 16% clip week to date as of Friday before market open. A general bullish move toward Chinese stocks is a major part of this, as is a modest but meaningful analyst price target bump.
So what
China seems to be moving past -- or being pushed away from -- its strict zero-COVID regime into a less restrictive means of handling the coronavirus pandemic. This has given investors hope that the now-handcuffed national economy will be able to move more freely, benefiting the country's companies.
If they start to get back on their feet, those enterprises will theoretically have larger budgets for tech products and services. This, of course, would benefit domestic tech enterprises, of which Kingsoft is one of a great many.
What's also helping investor sentiment is the fact that Kingsoft has been doing relatively well lately. Last week it reported its third-quarter earnings and while its revenue missed the average analyst estimate, the company did much better than expected on the bottom line. Its per-ADR net loss was 0.22 yuan ($0.03), on the collective prognosticator anticipation of a much deeper 1.77 yuan ($0.25) deficit.
Now what
It's not only investors who are getting more optimistic about Kingsoft stock. After market hours last Friday, Credit Suisse analyst Kyna Wong bumped her price target on the company to $2.90 per ADR, from the former $2.70. Although she maintained her neutral recommendation, this move is a sign that the bear-shaped cloud hanging over the cloud company might be dissipating somewhat.
