Xiaomi has a scant 7 per cent share of the smartphone market and is still clawing its way back from a particularly torrid low point. Now bankers advising the Chinese handset maker on a potential initial public offering reckon it could be worth up to $100bn — roughly the same as investment bank Goldman Sachs or miner Rio Tinto.
It may be unfair to call out the bankers. In Xiaomi’s case their view is doubtless aided by founder Lei Jun. After the company was valued at $45bn in a 2014 funding round, he has swiftly segued from last year’s hubristic to exuberant.
More generally, markets are whipping up animal spirits, with indices in the US and Hong Kong setting fresh highs in recent days. That has already wooed US tech groups like Dropbox, the file-sharing platform, which this month appointed bankers to lead its initial public offering.