Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC) is set to continue its upward trajectory, surging 5.08% in pre-market trading on Thursday. This follows a 9.42% jump on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive day of gains for the cloud services provider.
The stock's rally is primarily driven by a positive rating from Citi, which reaffirmed its Buy recommendation with a price target of $21.50, representing a 58% upside potential from Wednesday's closing price. Citi's bullish stance is based on Kingsoft Cloud's strong momentum, buoyed by the recent release of Xiaomi's first Large Language Model, MiMo.
Investors are speculating that advancements in Xiaomi's AI capabilities could positively impact Kingsoft Cloud, given the shared leadership of businessman Lei Jun. The outperformance of MiMo against competitors like OpenAI's O1 mini and Alibaba's Qwen-32 B-Preview in specific tasks such as mathematical reasoning and code generation has further fueled optimism surrounding Kingsoft Cloud's potential in the AI space.