Major foreign investment funds significantly increased their holdings in Chinese technology stocks during the first quarter of 2026, according to a review of U.S. 13F filings. Firms including Citadel, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan Chase made substantial new investments in companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com, signaling renewed institutional confidence in the sector.
Several of the world’s largest investment firms substantially increased their exposure to Chinese technology companies in the first quarter, with some boosting their holdings by more than 500 percent.
The renewed buying interest is a response to an improving profit outlook and valuations that have yet to reflect new growth drivers like cloud computing, according to industry analysts cited in the Shanghai Securities News.
Regulatory filings show Citadel Advisory and Deutsche Bank AG both increased their positions in e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. by over 500 percent. Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG made significant additions to their holdings in search and AI leader Baidu Inc., while Point72 Asset Management and Bank of America Corp. were large-scale buyers of JD.com Inc.
This wave of institutional accumulation suggests large funds are repositioning for a recovery in a sector that has been under pressure. The move comes as major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan and Citigroup Inc., have also recently raised their price targets for these companies, expecting a stronger performance ahead.
The increased stake in Baidu comes after a period of stock price weakness, which analysts attribute to post-earnings repositioning. While the company’s legacy advertising business remains soft, investors are pointing to strong growth in its AI Cloud unit as a key future driver. Filings show Morgan Stanley added over 3.8 million shares of Baidu in the quarter, a 140 percent increase.
The broad-based buying by multiple foreign institutions could signal a pivotal shift in sentiment for China's technology sector. Investors will now watch second-quarter earnings reports to see if the anticipated profit recovery materializes and justifies the renewed confidence.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
