began trading in Hong Kong on July 7 and its current share price is up about 7 percent from its listing.

Xpeng Motors announced on Thursday the issuance of 1,201,652 Class A common shares, representing 0.07 percent of its total previously outstanding shares, according to an HKSE announcement.

The issuance is to satisfy restricted share units under the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan adopted on June 28, 2020, and approved by shareholders on August 20, 2020, the announcement said.

This is Xpeng's second issuance of shares under the plan. On August 20, Xpeng announced the issuance of 317,500 shares of Class A common shares, representing 0.02 percent of its total previously outstanding shares.

Xpeng began trading in Hong Kong on July 7 under the ticker symbol "9868" at an issue price of HK$165 per share.

At the close of trading on Thursday, Xpeng rose 2.98 percent to HK$176.4 in Hong Kong, up about 7 percent from the issue price.

China-based brokerage firm Guosen Securities initiated coverage on Xpeng with a buy rating in a research report issued Thursday.

Guosen Securities analyst Tang Xuxia's team expects Xpeng to post EPS of RMB -2.78, RMB -2.42 and RMB -1.99 in 2021-2023, respectively.

They give Xpeng a target price of HK$206-223 for the company's Hong Kong-traded shares based on a 2022 PS valuation of 8-9x, implying an upside of 17 percent to 26 percent.

At press time, Xpeng was up 0.45 percent to HK$177.2 in Hong Kong.