The latest round of interim earnings releases has reignited momentum across the contract research and manufacturing services sector, with heavyweight players delivering outsized gains on August 25. WUXI XDC soared 14.83% to hit a fresh yearly high on the Hong Kong exchange, while WuXi Biologics and GenScript Biotech followed with substantial advances. Asymchem Laboratories surged as much as 20% intraday in Hong Kong before closing sharply higher, and its A-share listing hit the daily limit. WuXi AppTec climbed over 3% across both its A-share and H-share listings, while Tigermed advanced 5.95% in Hong Kong and 6.33% on the mainland.

Exchange-traded funds with heavy CXO exposure staged a powerful rebound. The Hong Kong Stock Connect Healthcare ETF (159137), which allocates more than 50% of its portfolio to CXO names, rallied throughout the session and printed a bullish engulfing pattern on the daily chart. Trading volume surged to 247 million yuan, more than triple the previous day's figure and the highest single-session turnover in nearly seven months.

The Medical ETF (512170), with CXO exposure exceeding 30%, climbed steadily through the afternoon to close near its session highs. The fund reclaimed its 20-day moving average and pushed toward the annual line, posting an intraday range of 3.54% on turnover of 614 million yuan.

The catalyst came directly from interim results released by sector leaders. On August 24, both WUXI XDC and Asymchem published their 2026 half-year reports, with adjusted net profits attributable to shareholders growing at double-digit rates year-on-year, up 37.4% and 12.9% respectively. Order backlogs further validated the industry's robust trajectory. WUXI XDC reported unfinished total orders of $2.2 billion, a 62.2% year-on-year increase, while Asymchem's total order backlog reached $1.673 billion, up 53.77% from the prior year, with new contract signings growing 54.59%.

Other disclosed filings painted a similarly bright picture. WuXi AppTec carried an order backlog of 66.43 billion yuan, up 25.2% year-on-year, while Pharmaron saw new contract signings grow more than 30% in the first half. Analysts suggest the proactive inventory replenishment cycle for innovative drug outsourcing demand may have begun, with the fundamental inflection point likely confirmed on the right side of the curve.

Research from Zheshang Securities healthcare team highlights that order growth across leading CXO companies exceeded expectations in the first half of 2026, reflecting a positive sector-wide trend and robust industry momentum. The team anticipates the CXO sector will re-enter an accelerated growth phase for orders and earnings from 2026 onward, potentially surpassing historical growth rates, and expects share prices to replicate the epic rally witnessed between 2019 and 2021.

For investors seeking to capture the CXO rebound, two vehicles stand out. The Hong Kong Stock Connect Healthcare ETF (159137) tracks an index with CXO exposure exceeding 50%, ranking first among all investable indices, with WuXi-related names accounting for over 38% of the portfolio. Its underlying assets are Hong Kong-listed shares, offering high beta and T+0 trading. The off-exchange feeder fund is available under code 026922.

The Medical ETF (512170) tracks the CSI Medical Index, which covers eight CXO leaders with a combined weight exceeding 30%. As a flagship healthcare ETF, it held 25.624 billion yuan in assets at the end of the second quarter and averaged 675 million yuan in daily turnover since the start of the year. The corresponding feeder fund carries code 012323.

Data sources include public information from the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, the CSI Index Company, and the Hang Seng Index Company. Weighting figures are as of August 24, 2026, while market and turnover data are as of August 25, 2026. Institutional views are drawn from Zheshang Securities research published on August 24, 2026.

Please note that ETFs do not charge sales service fees. When subscribing or redeeming fund shares, securities brokers acting as agents may charge commissions of up to 0.5%, which includes fees levied by stock exchanges and registration institutions. Detailed fee structures are available in each fund's legal documents.

Risk disclosure: Index constituent stocks are shown for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute investment advice in any form, nor do they represent the holdings or trading activities of any fund under the management company. Weightings of mentioned stocks in the Hong Kong Stock Connect Healthcare Index are as follows: WUXI XDC 5.47%, Asymchem 0.48%, GenScript Biotech 7.76%, WuXi AppTec 15.19%, Tigermed 0.73%, and WuXi Biologics 18.47%. In the CSI Medical Index, weightings are: WuXi AppTec 13.83%, Asymchem 4.63%, and Tigermed 4.36%. The management company assesses the risk level of the Medical ETF as R3-moderate risk, suitable for balanced (C3) and above investors. The Hong Kong Stock Connect Healthcare ETF, its feeder funds, and the Medical ETF feeder funds are assessed as R4-moderately high risk, suitable for aggressive (C4) and above investors. Any information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, commentary, forecasts, charts, indicators, theories, or any form of expression) is for reference only. Investors are solely responsible for their own investment decisions. Furthermore, any views, analysis, or forecasts contained herein do not constitute investment advice to readers, and no liability is assumed for direct or indirect losses arising from the use of this content. Performance of other funds managed by the management company does not guarantee the performance of any fund. Past performance does not indicate future returns. Fund investment carries risks.