Shares in Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies surged on their Shanghai debut, lifting the company past every other listed firm in mainland China. Only a small slice of its stock was tradable at listing, and the sale landed in the middle of a global technology sell-off.
CXMT stock soared by nearly 470% as it began trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s tech-heavy Star Market. The surge pushed the chipmaker’s valuation to around 3.3 trillion yuan ($487bn; £365bn), making it the most valuable listed company in mainland China. Reuters put the move at almost 500% and said CXMT overtook the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
The debut came despite a sharp sell-off in technology stocks around the world this month. Its performance will offer some comfort to Chinese financial officials, who have been rolling out measures to help curb a stock market slump that wiped out more than $1.5tn in recent weeks.
A small float behind the surge
Analysts said the jump was also being driven by demand for the shares far outstripping supply. According to the BBC’s Today programme, Hargreaves Lansdown investment strategy director Anna Macdonald put the bounce down to the tiny tradable stake: “only 7% of the shares are available for trading”.
Reuters reported that only 6.73% of CXMT’s enlarged share capital was freely tradable at listing, as most shares are locked up, and that the small initial free float likely magnified the price swings. Asia’s biggest initial public offering of the year raised about $8.6 billion.
What CXMT builds, and what Beijing wants from it
The firm manufactures dynamic random-access memory (Dram) chips that power AI data centres, mobile phones, PCs, tablets and other devices. It was founded in 2016 by Chairman Zhu Yiming and is headquartered in Hefei, Anhui Province in eastern China.
CXMT has said it plans to use most of the proceeds to boost production of memory chips and carry out more research and developments. The listing also highlights Chinese investors’ appetite for a homegrown chipmaker as Beijing pushes ahead with plans to make its technology industry self-reliant.
Memory prices keep climbing
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron dominate the Dram market, with the three accounting for around 90% of global production. Memory prices have more than doubled in recent months and are still rising.
TrendForce analyst Ellie Wong told Reuters such price increases were expected to continue until the end of 2027. Given U.S. restrictions on Chinese chips, Reuters said CXMT is likely to be a pivotal part of China’s development of its own tech and AI ecosystem.
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