Damo: Raise the target price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) to HK$538 to maintain the “Overweight” rating

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that it will raise the target price on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) by 4.5% from HK$515 to HK$538, maintaining the “gain” rating. The bank expects the Hong Kong capital market cycle to last longer, mainly supported by the positive performance of China's capital development cycle. In the medium to long term, newly issued stocks rather than cash stocks are the main drivers of growth.

Morgan Stanley expects the overall average daily turnover (ADV) of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2026 to be HK$268 billion, HK$285 billion in 2027, and HK$300 billion in 2028, mainly reflecting strong performance from the beginning to date, expected increase in transaction speed, and maintaining a certain level of capital market activity. At the same time, the bank raised the HKEx transaction fee and settlement fee forecast, and raised the company's 2026/2027/2028 earnings forecast per share by 10.0%/9.3%/9.1%, respectively.