CXMT shares surge 466% in blockbuster $8.6 billion IPO as China's memory chipmaker rides AI boom

China's memory chipmaker CXMT shares soar in its blockbuster share listing in Shanghai

HONG KONG (AP) -- Shares of CXMT, China's largest memory chipmaker, soared Monday after they began trading in Shanghai in mainland China's biggest initial public stock offering in recent years. CXMT is among many chipmakers that have profited mightily from the boom in artificial intelligence. Its business is thriving as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in leading edge technologies while contending with limited access to advanced chipmaking machines due to American-led restrictions. As of midday its shares were up about 470%. CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, raised at least $8.6 billion with the offering, priced at 8.66 yuan ($1.3) per share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board. The company's estimated market value is still much smaller than those of South Korean and American memory chipmakers like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world's largest makers of DRAM, or "dynamic random access" memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers. "CXMT plays a critical role in China's AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls," said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China's technology policies. U.S. restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips - a type of DRAM chip. The company's revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) on jumping demand from the rapid rise of AI in the first three months of 2026, a more than 700% rise year-on-year. Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage. CXMT is seen as China's best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world's most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers. According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world's fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 6% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%. In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term. "Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT," said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specializes in memory semiconductors. Some U.S. lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump's administration to block American companies from buying CXMT's memory chips over national and economic security concerns. CXMT, among many other Chinese companies, has been designated by the Pentagon as having links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases. CXMT's public share offering followed a $26.5 billion IPO by South Korea's SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month. ___ AP journalist Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

CXMT's blockbuster IPO will test whether China's memory makers are ready for the spotlight: 'It does not yet mean China is broadly catching up' | Fortune

Yet experts are split on whether the rise in CXMT's stock price is a temporary boost fueled by AI-driven memory shortages, or a long-term shift in global AI supply chains where Chinese chipmakers are now coming to the fore. "China is clearly becoming a more important memory chip player, but this is happening in a market distorted by AI demand, supply shortages and state-backed industrial policy," says Barbora Valockova, a research fellow at Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. "It does not yet mean China is broadly catching up to the leaders across the full chip stack." According to Valockova, though shortages are forcing companies to explore Chinese chip supplies, adoption is still likely to be selective and politically contested, especially in the U.S. On July 30, a group of U.S. lawmakers led by Indiana Republican Jim Banks and New York Democrat Chuck Schumer penned a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, urging him to abandon any efforts to buy chips from 'blacklisted' Chinese semiconductor suppliers like CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., or YMTC. "This short-sighted move would be a mistake, and it would ensure the world's most valuable consumer electronics company grows dependent on critical supplies from a firm the U.S. government has formally designated as a Chinese military company," the senators wrote, noting that the two Chinese chipmakers were on an updated Pentagon list of Chinese entities believed to be supporting Beijing's military. Apple had previously been in negotiations to acquire chips from both firms, as it battles a global memory supply shortage which sent product prices skyrocketing. "We're seeing some very significant constraints currently, with limited flexibility in the supply chain," Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call last Thursday (July 30). "We're in what I would characterize as a 100-year flood on the memory pricing, with exponential increases in memory prices." Other experts, like Kong Tuan Yuen, a research fellow from the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS), argue that while the memory shortage will boost demand for Chinese chips, most global firms will still look to CXMT only as a secondary source. "While it may be necessary for companies to diversify their supply chains, they will maintain multiple sources of supplies that are located in different geographic locations to mitigate long-term geopolitical risks," he said. Most firms will likely also opt to use SK Hynix, Micron or Samsung chips as their primary source, since CXMT still incurs higher costs in chip manufacturing, Rolf Bulk, Futurum's head of semiconductor and infrastructure equity research, told CNBC. "CXMT is still two to three generations behind SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron when it comes to the performance of their chips. So for every chip they produce, they have to spend 20% to 30% more on a cost per bit basis," Bulk said. Global chipmaker stocks tumble Though Chinese chipmakers remain a few generations behind other incumbents, the global tech market was rattled by recent advances in China's AI space, which included CXMT's blockbuster debut and Moonshot's Kimi K3 release. AI chip giant Nvidia saw its stocks fall by 5% on Monday, while South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung both plunged over 13%. (Semiconductor stocks recovered by Friday, however, with strong earnings from Microsoft and Amazon reigniting optimism over AI spending.) Experts like Chen Gang, the deputy director and senior research fellow at NUS East Asian Institute, are positive that this momentum will lead to long-term gains for Chinese chipmakers. "We should not underestimate the pace at which Chinese companies can catch up to top global manufacturers," Chen says. "Companies like CXMT and YMTC can leverage China's massive capital market and governmental support to expand their scales of production and research at much faster speeds than their foreign peers." Last Monday, The Information reported that an unnamed Chinese company has started manufacturing an immersion deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) machine. These machines etch circuit patterns onto silicon wafers, a critical part in the process of producing semiconductors, and are primarily made by Dutch manufacturer ASML. China has long tried to make a lithography machine that could be competitive with non-Chinese offerings, as part of a broader effort to build its own semiconductor industry. This drive has taken on greater intensity in recent years in response to U.S. export controls barring the sale of chips and chipmaking equipment to China. "The combination of government-led AI investment, mandates for local tech companies to tap domestic memory suppliers and rising demand from foreign firms like Apple will create a self-reinforcing cycle helping Chinese chip companies to move up the semiconductor value chain," concludes Kong of NUS, though he admits the negative impact from geopolitics and U.S.-China relations will "always be a drag". Investors, on the other hand, will get another chance to bet on China's semiconductor sector. Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC) is now in the pre-IPO process for a listing on Shanghai's stock exchange.

Chinese chipmaker CXMT soars more than 500% on debut

Shanghai (AFP) - China's leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the most valuable company in the mainland after soaring 500 percent on its market debut Monday, underscoring the impact of AI-driven demand on the semiconductor sector. The race to build data centres that power artificial intelligence has fuelled a major global memory chip shortage and caused business to boom for the companies that produce them. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is the world's fourth-largest maker of DRAM memory chips, with nearly eight percent market share. It wants to rival South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and US giant Micron. The firm's shares rocketed more than 500 percent by mid-morning, taking its market capitalisation to 3.5 trillion yuan ($520 billion) -- surpassing megabank ICBC as the mainland's most valuable company. "China is taking its place at the table for the first time, rather than merely being a sideline observer," Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website eetrend.com, told AFP. He called the initial public offering a "turning point in the global storage industry landscape and the development trajectory of China's semiconductor sector". The country is increasingly counting on homegrown hardware to boost its position in the AI race against the United States. CXMT, based in the eastern region of Anhui, had raised 66.6 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) in a blockbuster IPO, Bloomberg News reported. That marked China's biggest ever mainland tech share sale -- beating the 46.3 billion yuan raised by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) in 2020. Advanced memory chips are in huge global demand for their key role in AI servers, alongside other powerful data-crunching semiconductors made by the likes of Nvidia. That has created a major shortage of the less flashy DRAM chips used in laptops, phones and other electronics, pushing up prices. US giant Apple, feeling the pinch of shortages, is reportedly testing CXMT's DRAM chips for use in its products. CXMT, founded in 2016, is on the Pentagon's list of Chinese companies with alleged military ties, although that does not prohibit US firms from doing deals with them. It is not the only memory chipmaker whose shares have benefited massively from the AI boom. This month, SK hynix soared 13 percent on its first day of trading on Wall Street, capping one of the world's biggest ever stock sales. Its market capitalisation on Seoul's Kospi index soared past $1 trillion in May. That milestone was also recently hit by Samsung Electronics and US chipmaker Micron -- with AI thrusting the three memory chip firms into a previously exclusive club of around a dozen companies, nearly all American.

A Chinese chip maker's shares surged 466% in their first day of trading as AI boom worm turns | Fortune

Shares of CXMT, China's largest memory chipmaker, shot skyward Monday as they began trading in Shanghai in mainland China's biggest initial public stock offering in recent years. CXMT's shares surged 466% in their first day of trading. The company has become the most valuable one listed on a mainland Chinese exchange, with an estimated market capitalization of about 3.3 trillion yuan (more than $487 billion). But that's still smaller than those of South Korean and American memory chipmakers like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, is among many chipmakers that have profited mightily from the boom in artificial intelligence. Its business is thriving as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in leading edge technologies while contending with limited access to advanced chipmaking machines due to American-led restrictions. The company raised at least $8.6 billion with the offering, priced at 8.66 yuan ($1.3) per share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board. It was mainland China's second largest IPO after the $22.1 billion share offering of Agricultural Bank of China in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2010. Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world's largest makers of DRAM, or "dynamic random access" memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers. "CXMT plays a critical role in China's AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls," said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China's technology policies. U.S. restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips - a high-performance type of DRAM. The company's revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) on jumping demand from the rapid rise of AI in the first three months of 2026, a more than 700% rise year-on-year. Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage. CXMT is seen as China's best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world's most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers. According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world's fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 8% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%. In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term. "Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT," said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specializes in memory semiconductors. Some U.S. lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump's administration to block American companies from buying CXMT's memory chips over national and economic security concerns. CXMT is one of many Chinese companies the Pentagon says have links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases. CXMT's public share offering followed a $26.5 billion IPO by South Korea's SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month. ___ AP journalist Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

China's Memory Chipmaker CXMT Shares Soar in Its Blockbuster Share Listing in Shanghai

HONG KONG (AP) -- Shares of CXMT, China's largest memory chipmaker, soared Monday after they began trading in Shanghai in mainland China's biggest initial public stock offering in recent years. CXMT is among many chipmakers that have profited mightily from the boom in artificial intelligence. Its business is thriving as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in leading edge technologies while contending with limited access to advanced chipmaking machines due to American-led restrictions. As of midday its shares were up about 470%. CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, raised at least $8.6 billion with the offering, priced at 8.66 yuan ($1.3) per share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Nasdaq-like STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board. The company's estimated market value is still much smaller than those of South Korean and American memory chipmakers like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world's largest makers of DRAM, or "dynamic random access" memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers. "CXMT plays a critical role in China's AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls," said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China's technology policies. U.S. restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips - a type of DRAM chip. The company's revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) on jumping demand from the rapid rise of AI in the first three months of 2026, a more than 700% rise year-on-year. Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage. CXMT is seen as China's best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world's most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers. According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world's fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 6% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%. In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term. "Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT," said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specializes in memory semiconductors. Some U.S. lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump's administration to block American companies from buying CXMT's memory chips over national and economic security concerns. CXMT, among many other Chinese companies, has been designated by the Pentagon as having links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases. CXMT's public share offering followed a $26.5 billion IPO by South Korea's SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month. ___ AP journalist Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

Explainer: Why investors are betting big on China's chipmaker CXMT

China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) became the country's most valuable listed company after its shares surged 470% on their Shanghai debut. The blockbuster listing, Asia's largest IPO this year, highlights strong investor confidence in China's semiconductor ambitions as Beijing pushes for greater technological self-reliance amid global chip competition. China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) became the country's most valuable listed company after its shares surged 470% in their Shanghai debut on Monday, highlighting strong investor enthusiasm for a domestic semiconductor champion at the centre of Beijing's push for technological self-reliance, Reuters reported. The memory chipmaker raised 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) through its initial public offering, making it Asia's largest IPO this year. CXMT shares opened at 49.50 yuan against an IPO price of 8.66 yuan, sending the company's market capitalisation to around 3.3 trillion yuan ($487 billion), surpassing state-owned banking giant Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. US MarketsPowered By As on 25 Jul 2026, 01:30 AM IST S&P 500 Top Gainers International Paper42.16(11.21%) Smurfit WestRock48.56(11.10%) SLB52.42(11.01%) Digital Realty Trust199.08(11.01%) Gainers" S&P 500 Top Losers C.H. Robinson Worldwide186.51(-9.25%) Coterra Energy32.56(-8.62%) Intel92.32(-7.89%) West Pharmaceutical Servs328.20(-7.67%) Losers" The massive first-day rally lifted CXMT's valuation well above its IPO valuation of about 579 billion yuan before the exercise of its over-allotment option. The surge reflects investors' willingness to assign a premium to a rare pure-play Chinese semiconductor company with strategic importance. The blockbuster listing also serves as a key test of investor appetite for Chinese chipmakers at a time when global technology stocks have experienced sharp swings between artificial intelligence-driven growth expectations and concerns over valuations, Reuters added. What is CXMT? CXMT is China's leading manufacturer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, a critical type of semiconductor used in smartphones, personal computers, servers, artificial intelligence systems and other electronic devices. The global DRAM industry has historically been dominated by South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with US-based Micron Technology. CXMT is currently the world's fourth-largest DRAM producer, with a market share of around 7.7% in 2025, according to its IPO prospectus. The company has benefited from a global memory-chip recovery that began last year, driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The AI boom has increased demand for advanced memory products and supported higher chip prices. CXMT reported a sharp rise in revenue, with first-quarter sales jumping 719% year-on-year to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.51 billion), according to its prospectus. Revenue for the first half of the year is expected to reach between 110 billion yuan and 120 billion yuan, nearly double its full-year 2025 revenue of 61.8 billion yuan. Why CXMT matters for China's semiconductor ambitions Memory chips are essential components in modern computing systems. DRAM has become especially important for AI servers, where large amounts of high-speed memory are required to train and operate advanced AI models. For China, CXMT represents an important step in reducing dependence on foreign semiconductor suppliers. Beijing has invested heavily in developing domestic chip capabilities, particularly as the United States and its allies have tightened restrictions on advanced semiconductor technology and manufacturing equipment. Reuters reported that CXMT's listing is also being viewed as a measure of whether China can create a globally competitive semiconductor company in a sector still dominated by international players. Despite its record valuation, CXMT remains much smaller than global rivals in terms of technology and market presence. Its post-listing market value of about $487 billion is roughly half that of Micron and SK Hynix, even though CXMT holds a significantly smaller share of the global DRAM market. State-backed support behind CXMT CXMT's shareholder structure reflects China's broader strategy of supporting strategic technology companies through state-backed financing. According to company filings, state-owned shareholders controlled 36.29% of CXMT before the IPO. These investors include government-linked entities from Hefei and Anhui province, along with China's state-backed semiconductor investment vehicle commonly known as the "Big Fund", Reuters said. A key figure associated with CXMT is Zhu Yiming, founder of GigaDevice Semiconductor, a Chinese memory chip design company specialising in NOR flash memory. Company filings identify Zhu as an important contributor to CXMT's establishment and development, and he later became chairman of the company. CXMT's position against global chip giants Although CXMT has become the world's fourth-largest DRAM maker, it continues to lag global leaders in advanced memory technologies, particularly high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence accelerators. Samsung and SK Hynix dominate the HBM market, benefiting from decades of manufacturing expertise, advanced process technology and relationships with global technology companies. Micron has also emerged as a major supplier of advanced memory products. CXMT's competitive advantage comes from strong domestic demand, government support, access to state-linked financing and growing interest among Chinese customers seeking alternatives to foreign semiconductor suppliers. Challenges and risks ahead CXMT faces several challenges, including the cyclical nature of the memory-chip industry, where prices and profitability can fluctuate sharply depending on supply and demand conditions. The company also faces restrictions linked to US export controls, which have limited China's access to some advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Reuters has previously reported that CXMT was approved by a US interagency committee for possible addition to the Entity List, though the move had not yet been implemented at the time of reporting. In addition, the US Department of Defence recently designated CXMT as a "Chinese Military Company", adding to geopolitical concerns surrounding the company. CXMT plans to use proceeds from its IPO to expand production capacity, improve manufacturing technology and increase investment in research and development, according to its prospectus. The company's extraordinary market debut underscores investor confidence in China's semiconductor ambitions, but its long-term success will depend on whether it can close the technology gap with global memory-chip leaders while navigating rising geopolitical pressures.

Chinese chipmaker CXMT soars more than 500% on debut

China's leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the most valuable company in the mainland after soaring 500 percent on its market debut Monday, underscoring the impact of AI-driven demand on the semiconductor sector. The firm's shares rocketed more than 500 percent by mid-morning, taking its market capitalisation to 3.5 trillion yuan ($520 billion) -- surpassing megabank ICBC as the mainland's most valuable company. Shanghai, Jul 27, 2026 -China's leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the most valuable company in the mainland after soaring 500% on its market debut Monday, underscoring the impact of AI-driven demand on the semiconductor sector. The race to build data centres that power artificial intelligence has fuelled a major global memory chip shortage and caused business to boom for the companies that produce them. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is the world's fourth-largest maker of DRAM memory chips, with nearly 8% market share. It wants to rival South Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and US giant Micron. The firm's shares rocketed more than 500% by mid-morning, taking its market capitalisation to 3.5 trillion yuan ($520 billion) -- surpassing megabank ICBC as the mainland's most valuable company. "China is taking its place at the table for the first time, rather than merely being a sideline observer," Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website eetrend.com, told AFP. He called the initial public offering a "turning point in the global storage industry landscape and the development trajectory of China's semiconductor sector". The country is increasingly counting on homegrown hardware to boost its position in the AI race against the United States. CXMT, based in the eastern region of Anhui, had raised 66.6 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) in a blockbuster IPO, Bloomberg News reported. That marked China's biggest ever mainland tech share sale -- beating the 46.3 billion yuan raised by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) in 2020. Advanced memory chips are in huge global demand for their key role in AI servers, alongside other powerful data-crunching semiconductors made by the likes of Nvidia. That has created a major shortage of the less flashy DRAM chips used in laptops, phones and other electronics, pushing up prices. US giant Apple, feeling the pinch of shortages, is reportedly testing CXMT's DRAM chips for use in its products. CXMT, founded in 2016, is on the Pentagon's list of Chinese companies with alleged military ties, although that does not prohibit US firms from doing deals with them. It is not the only memory chipmaker whose shares have benefited massively from the AI boom. This month, SK hynix soared 13% on its first day of trading on Wall Street, capping one of the world's biggest ever stock sales. Its market capitalisation on Seoul's Kospi index soared past $1 trillion in May. That milestone was also recently hit by Samsung Electronics and US chipmaker Micron -- with AI thrusting the three memory chip firms into a previously exclusive club of around a dozen companies, nearly all American.

Chinese chipmaker CXMT soars 500% on debut as AI fuels shortages - The Korea Times

SHANGHAI -- China's leading memory chipmaker CXMT became the most valuable company in the mainland after soaring more than 500 percent on its market debut Monday, underscoring how AI demand is boosting the semiconductor sector. The race to build data centres that power artificial intelligence has fuelled a global memory chip shortage while causing business to boom for the companies that produce them. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is the world's fourth-largest maker of DRAM memory chips, with around eight percent market share. It wants to rival Korea's Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and U.S. giant Micron, companies that have also seen profits and share prices skyrocket in recent months. The firm's shares rocketed 530 percent Monday, taking its market capitalisation to 3.65 trillion yuan ($540 billion) -- surpassing megabank ICBC as mainland China's most valuable company. The interest "reflects investors' overwhelmingly bullish sentiment toward China's flagship domestic memory chip firm", Larry Yang, chief economist of First Seafront Fund Management, told AFP. China's government is increasingly counting on homegrown hardware to boost its position in the AI race against the United States. Going public allows CXMT to secure capital that will "lay a solid foundation" for expanding production capacity and spending on chip development, Yang said. "Meanwhile, it will boost the company's global influence and help lift its market share in the worldwide memory chip sector." That view was shared by Zhang Guobin, founder of Chinese specialist website eetrend.com. He called the initial public offering a "turning point in the global storage industry landscape and the development trajectory of China's semiconductor sector." Memory shortage CXMT, founded in 2016 and based in the eastern region of Anhui, had raised 66.6 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) in a blockbuster IPO, Bloomberg News reported. That marked China's biggest ever mainland tech share sale -- beating the 46.3 billion yuan raised by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) in 2020. Advanced memory chips are in huge demand for their key role in AI servers, alongside other powerful data-crunching semiconductors made by the likes of Nvidia. That has created a major shortage of the less flashy DRAM chips used in laptops, phones and other electronics, pushing up prices. U.S. giant Apple, feeling the pinch of shortages, is reportedly testing CXMT's DRAM chips for use in its products. CXMT is on the Pentagon's list of Chinese companies with alleged military ties, although that does not prohibit U.S. firms from doing deals with them. "Broadly speaking," CXMT is a viable challenger to the top three memory chipmakers, said Ellie Wang, an analyst at Taiwan-based market intelligence firm TrendForce. "As customers diversify their supplier base amid the shortage, CXMT should gain further opportunities," she told AFP. Although the IPO should support CXMT's long-term capacity investments, "it is unlikely to ease the current shortage immediately," as such expansion typically takes around a year or longer, Wang added. CXMT is not the only memory chipmaker whose shares have benefited massively from the AI boom. This month, SK hynix soared 13 percent on its first day of trading on Wall Street, capping one of the world's biggest ever stock sales. Its market capitalisation on Seoul's KOSPI index soared past $1 trillion in May. That milestone was also recently hit by Samsung Electronics and U.S. chipmaker Micron -- with AI thrusting the three memory chip firms into a previously exclusive club of around a dozen companies, nearly all American.

CXMT: +500% for China's new memory champion

Priced at 8.66 CNY per share, the stock opened at 49.50 CNY, then climbed as high as 54.65 CNY by noon. In a few hours, the shares jumped nearly 500% from the IPO price. That surge pushed CXMT's market cap to about 3,650 bn CNY (nearly $539bn). In just a few hours, the company, little known to the general public, became one of the largest market caps in mainland China. The group raised 57.92 bn CNY, or about $8.6bn, making it the largest IPO ever completed by a semiconductor company in the country. With the overallotment option, proceeds could reach 66.61 bn CNY. According to Reuters, nearly 122 bn CNY of CXMT shares changed hands in Shanghai during the morning, also making it the first A-share to exceed 100 bn CNY in volume in a single day. Why so much enthusiasm? To understand the frenzy, you have to understand what CXMT makes: DRAM. DRAM is the working memory used in computers, smartphones, servers, cameras, and consumer electronics. Since the AI boom, the chip market has focused on GPUs and data centers. But memory is one of the other AI-related bottlenecks. AI models have to store an immense amount of data. Demand is exploding, prices are rising, and memory makers are taking advantage of this window. CXMT has become the world's fourth-largest DRAM producer, behind SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron. But while global leaders are focusing on the most advanced memory, like HBM, the group is benefiting from tightness in mainstream chips that the leaders have left behind. It is less flashy than HBM, but it is very profitable in the current environment: prices for consumer RAM have simply doubled. According to Reuters, CXMT expects first-half revenue to be multiplied by more than seven, to between 110 bn and 120 bn CNY, with net profit expected between 66 bn and 75 bn CNY, versus a loss a year earlier. Chinese technological sovereignty The frenzy is also explained by its listing venue. The group debuted on the STAR Market, which hosts tech companies. Marketed as a kind of Chinese Nasdaq, it allows Beijing to finance its champions in semiconductors, AI, biotech... The Shanghai Stock Exchange launched the STAR Market in 2019, then created the STAR 50, an index designed to track the leading listed names. CXMT's IPO is therefore also a geopolitical move. For several years, Beijing has wanted to reduce its dependence on foreign technologies. US restrictions on semiconductors have increased that urgency. Memory is essential because without DRAM, no servers, no smartphones, and no AI stack. So CXMT checks every box. It is a Chinese company, in semiconductors, exposed to AI, in a fast-growing market. That helps explain part of the market fever. Investors are also paying for the promise of a Chinese champion capable of reducing Korean and American dominance in memory. But the sector remains mixed. On the day of the listing, Chinese chip manufacturing names were down 0.4%, while semiconductors were up 0.8%. The CXMT euphoria did not lift the whole segment. The market is moving faster than the industry Industrially, the group is behind the global leaders. It is working on HBM, but it is not yet producing it at scale. According to the Financial Times, US restrictions limit its access to the most advanced equipment, notably ASML's, which makes catching up harder. That is where the paradox emerges. The market is already valuing CXMT like a global champion, even though for now the company is mainly benefiting from a favorable cycle in less advanced memory. That gap is fueling fears of a bubble. And the small free float magnifies the phenomenon further. Only 6.73% of the expanded share capital was tradable at the IPO, with most shares locked up. Investors looking to get in found themselves competing for a limited number of shares, which amplified the rise. The first-day spike does not fully reflect investor confidence in CXMT. The real test will come later, when more shares are in circulation and the market can judge the company on its results and its ability to catch up with Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.

CXMT lifts market sentiment in the chip sector

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A dream IPO by CXMT in China is likely to give domestic chip stocks a boost at the start of the week as well. Infineon, Aixtron and Suss Microtec, for example, were up as much as 2 percent in premarket Tradegate trading compared with Friday's Xetra close. The hunger for computer chips in the global race to develop artificial intelligence paved the way for a sparkling market debut by Chinese manufacturer CXMT. At the start of trading, the shares jumped more than 472 percent to 49.50 yuan. As trading continued, they extended gains to as much as 535 percent. Based on the resulting share price of around 55 yuan, CXMT is valued at roughly 3.7 trillion yuan. That is equivalent to just under $550bn. That makes the chipmaker, in one stroke, the most valuable company in China. "The prize for the most successful IPO of the year probably goes to China," analyst Jochen Stanzl at Consorsbank commented. With demand from retail investors 222 times oversubscribed, the likelihood of a successful IPO for the memory chipmaker had already been high. But that the shares would peak at 55 yuan, rising to multiples of the issue price of 8.66 yuan, would still eclipse even the most optimistic expectations, Stanzl said. Investors are betting that CXMT can "successfully compete with companies like Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix." In Seoul, Samsung and SK Hynix shares also rose sharply on Monday./ajx/jon/mis