CXMT Surges 466% in Shanghai Debut to Become China’s Most Valuable Listed Company

Shares jump 466% from IPO price

ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, a symbol of China’s push to build a domestic semiconductor industry, became the country’s most valuable listed company on its trading debut. The stock soared to nearly five times its offering price, lifting the company’s market capitalization to 3.2771 trillion yuan, or about $456 billion. Investor demand was driven by strong government backing and expectations for rising demand for artificial-intelligence memory chips.

CXMT, which listed on Shanghai’s Star Market on July 27, closed at 49.0 yuan, up 466% from its IPO price of 8.66 yuan. The company raised as much as 66.61 billion yuan, or about $9.3 billion, in the offering. Its market value surpassed Intel’s.

The rally may have further room to run. Nomura Securities said CXMT’s stock could rise to more than 12 times its IPO price. The Star Market imposes no daily price limit during a stock’s first five trading days. Trading is halted for 10 minutes if shares rise more than 30% or 60% intraday. Starting next week, CXMT’s daily trading band will be limited to plus or minus 20%.

CXMT is one of the flagship memory-chip makers Beijing has nurtured since the US tightened semiconductor export controls on China. China is counting on the company to reduce domestic reliance on foreign DRAM suppliers. Bloomberg said the listing could mark a milestone in China’s drive for semiconductor self-sufficiency.

If CXMT becomes more competitive, the global DRAM oligopoly led by Samsung Electronics Co., SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. could come under pressure. That helps explain why investors are closely watching the company’s next moves. Kim Kyung-hwan, an analyst at Hana Securities, said the stock has room to rise further if CXMT strengthens its position in higher-value memory products such as high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, and sustains earnings after turning profitable this year.

China’s CXMT Raises $9.3 Billion, Putting Memory Supply Chain in Focus

Asia’s Biggest IPO This Year

CXMT, the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker, made a blockbuster debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market. The company raised 57.92 billion yuan, or about $8.1 billion, in the IPO, topping the 53.2 billion yuan raised by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China’s largest contract chipmaker, in 2020.

Day-One Windfall

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 27 that CXMT sold 6.688 billion new shares at 8.66 yuan apiece in the IPO. Including the greenshoe option, the deal could expand to as much as 66.61 billion yuan, or about $9.3 billion. On its first day of trading, the stock at one point surged 535% from the offering price to 55.03 yuan before closing at 49.00 yuan.

The strong debut reflected an improving memory market and stronger earnings. Output of artificial-intelligence processors designed by Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Google has surged, worsening DRAM shortages across the market. Tight supply has spread from high-end DRAM used in AI servers to commodity DRAM, allowing CXMT to benefit despite lagging industry leaders in technology. Founded in 2016, CXMT posted its first annual profit last year, reporting net income of 1.875 billion yuan. Growth accelerated in the first quarter. Revenue climbed 719% from a year earlier to 50.8 billion yuan, while net income reached 24.8 billion yuan, more than 13 times last year’s full-year profit in a single quarter.

Expectations are also building for a broader role in the supply chain. Apple Inc. is discussing with the administration of President Donald Trump the use of CXMT products in iPhones sold in China as it responds to surging DRAM prices. Asked about the possibility of adopting China-made memory, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said all options remain open.

Nomura Holdings also sees further upside. The firm said CXMT could climb as much as 1,239% above its IPO price as it gains market share. That estimate is based on applying a price-to-earnings ratio of 20 times to projected fiscal 2028 earnings per share. The view implies CXMT could command a valuation about twice that of Micron. Donny Teng, an analyst at Nomura Securities, said the global memory shortage is unlikely to ease quickly over the next several years. He added that global memory demand could rise more than sevenfold by 2030, particularly as agentic AI spreads. Teng also projects CXMT’s production capacity will expand 40% to 45% a year through 2030, with its DRAM market share rising from about 10% now to 18% by the end of 2028.

Technology Gap Persists

Geopolitical risks remain. It will be difficult for CXMT to move to more advanced process technology as long as US restrictions on semiconductor-equipment exports to China remain in place. SMIC offers a prominent example of how those risks can curb momentum. Its stock jumped 202% on its first day on the Star Market in 2020, driven by retail demand, but growth slowed months later when the US Commerce Department placed the company under export controls. SMIC was then effectively blocked from advancing to processes below 7 nanometers after it was denied access to extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment from ASML Holding NV, a crucial tool for advanced chipmaking.

The technology gap remains another challenge. CXMT has been ramping up DRAM output quickly, but it still trails Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron in competitiveness. In HBM, a key market for AI semiconductors, Korean and US companies hold more than 90% market share, while CXMT accounts for about 8%. In the global DRAM market, the key is no longer simple output volume but the ability to produce high-end products such as HBM. Nomura Securities said the speed at which CXMT narrows the advanced-memory technology gap with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will be a key determinant of its long-term valuation and share price.

Lee Hye-in, Hankyung.com reporter hey@hankyung.com