CXMT shares soar 470% after China's biggest chip IPO in years

Hongkong,UPDATED: Jul 27, 2026 10:26 IST

Shares of CXMT, China’s largest memory chipmaker, jumped sharply on Monday after the company began trading in Shanghai in mainland China’s biggest initial public offering in recent years. The company raised at least USD 8.6 billion through the share sale, and its stock was up about 470 per cent by midday.

The listing comes as chipmakers benefit from the boom in artificial intelligence, with demand also rising as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in advanced technologies while facing American-led restrictions on access to high-end chipmaking machines. Even so, CXMT’s estimated market value remains much smaller than that of memory chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, priced its offering at 8.66 yuan, or about USD 1.3, a share for its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board. Founded in 2016 in Hefei, the company is one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM, or dynamic random access memory chips, which are used in products ranging from AI servers and cars to smartphones and personal computers.

"CXMT plays a critical role in China’s AI push, particularly in the face of US export controls," said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China’s technology policies. US restrictions have also stopped China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips, which are a type of DRAM chip. The company’s revenue rose more than 700 per cent year-on-year to 50.8 billion yuan, or USD 7.5 billion, in the first three months of 2026 as demand climbed with the rapid rise of AI.

Chan said one major question is whether CXMT can help ease the wider global memory chip shortage that has pushed up prices for some computers and smartphones. He said CXMT is seen as China’s best chance of developing its own advanced HBM chips to run Chinese AI models, but added that it faces several hurdles, including supply chain bottlenecks in expanding production because its access to the world’s best chipmaking tools is heavily restricted, forcing it to rely on Chinese equipment makers.

According to Counterpoint Research, CXMT was the world’s fourth biggest DRAM chipmaker by shipments in 2025, with about 6 per cent of the global market. Samsung Electronics had 36 per cent, SK Hynix 29 per cent and Micron about 24 per cent. In the first three months of this year, CXMT accounted for about 9 per cent of global shipments. Counterpoint has forecast its market share will reach about 11 per cent by 2028, but estimated that the company will probably need at least a 15 per cent global market share to remain 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 specialises in memory semiconductors.

Some US lawmakers have recently urged President Donald Trump’s administration to stop American companies from buying CXMT’s memory chips, citing national and economic security concerns. CXMT, along with several other Chinese companies, has also been designated by the Pentagon as having links to the Chinese military, a label Beijing has rejected in most cases. The company’s market debut followed a USD 26.5 billion IPO by South Korea’s SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month, underlining the strong focus on memory chipmakers as AI demand continues to drive the sector.

With PTI Inputs

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