NEW YORK, January 4, 2026, 10:20 ET — Market closed
- Pony AI shares closed up 10.7% on Friday at $16.07 after CLSA initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $22 price target. Briefing
- The $22 target implies roughly 37% upside from Friday’s close, based on trading data.
- In Hong Kong, the exchange said Pony AI (2026) will become eligible for short selling from Jan. 9.
Pony AI Inc shares surged 10.7% on Friday to close at $16.07, after brokerage CLSA initiated coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $22 price target. Briefing
The move matters because new sell-side coverage can widen the shareholder base for a relatively young listing, especially in volatile growth names tied to autonomous driving.
It also lands as investors reset positioning for 2026 after Pony.ai expanded its capital markets footprint with a Hong Kong listing late last year, alongside its Nasdaq-traded ADRs.
CLSA’s $22 “price target” — an analyst’s estimate of where the shares could trade — implies about 37% upside from Friday’s $16.07 close. Briefing
Trading was brisk. The stock opened at $14.94, touched a high of $16.15 and a low of $14.63, with about 4.9 million shares traded, according to market data.
CLSA’s call follows other recent initiations tracked by data providers, highlighting how divided Wall Street remains on the timing of robotaxi scale-up and profitability. Investing.com’s analyst table lists December starts including Barclays at $15 and Macquarie at $29.
Pony.ai develops autonomous driving technology and has been expanding fully driverless commercial robotaxi operations in China as local regulators open more zones to such services, the company has said.
In Hong Kong, investor attention is also on market structure changes. The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong said in a Jan. 2 circular that Pony AI (stock code: 2026) will be added to the list of securities eligible for short selling from Jan. 9.
Short selling — betting a stock will fall by borrowing shares to sell — can improve liquidity, but it can also amplify near-term volatility when a stock is moving on sentiment and analyst notes.
But the bullish case still hinges on execution and regulation. If permit approvals slow or utilization and unit costs do not improve as expected, the path to sustainable margins can slip, and price targets may not matter in the near term.
Pony.ai last hosted a quarterly earnings conference call on Nov. 25 and has not yet posted the next results date on its investor events page.
For Monday’s U.S. session, traders will watch whether shares hold above the prior close near $14.52 and retest Friday’s $16.15 peak; a slide back under $15 would unwind much of the breakout.
