470% per day: the Chinese chip manufacturer that challenges the memory giants

CXMT raised about 57.9 billion yuan (about 8.6 billion dollars) in the initial offering, after pricing the share at 8.66 yuan and was one of the largest offerings in the history of China. Mainly it reflects the high appetite of investors for a company that is seen as a milestone in Beijing’s effort to build an independent chip industry.

At the end of the first trading day, the stock closed at 49 yuan, giving the company a market value of about 3.3 trillion yuan ($460 billion). The enthusiasm surrounding CXMT is mainly due to its strategic position in the Chinese chip industry. The company manufactures DRAM chips – an essential memory component used in computers, smartphones and servers – a market currently dominated by three global giants: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.

The issuance comes at a time when Beijing is promoting technological independence and reducing dependence on foreign chip manufacturers, especially against the backdrop of tensions with the US. In addition, the company gained attention after reports that Apple began testing the use of its DRAM chips in devices sold in China.

CXMT is currently considered the main “Chinese bet” on DRAM chips – a critical memory component found in almost every electronic device, from smartphones to artificial intelligence servers. For China, this is a particularly strategic area, as the global memory market is currently dominated by foreign companies such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.

The financial improvement also contributed to the optimism around the company: CXMT moved in the first quarter of 2026 to an operating profit of 35.4 billion yuan, compared to a loss of 2.83 billion yuan a year earlier, against the background of the increase in global demand for computing power and investments in the field of artificial intelligence.

The company is the fourth largest DRAM manufacturer in the world, and is one of the few companies that allow investors to be directly exposed to the Chinese effort to integrate into the global race for AI infrastructure. A successful IPO may also strengthen the position of other Chinese chipmakers that are in the process of going public.

“Speculative enthusiasm?”

However, the sharp jump on the first trading day was not only due to the long-term valuation. Analysts noted that the number of shares available for trading was relatively limited, while demand from investors was very high – a combination that could create “speculative enthusiasm” in the first days of trading.

Au Fei, investment manager at Beijing Xinhan Capital, said that although the opening of trading was in line with his expectations, the sharp rise after the opening was unusual. According to him, the lack of pure memory companies in the local Chinese stock market may lead to a period of speculative trading around the stock.

Despite the impressive jump, the value of CXMT is still significantly lower than the global memory giants: SK Hynix and Micron, whose value is estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. But Zhu Yiming, a US-trained chip expert who runs the company, aims to double production capacity this year and build a complete supply chain, from chip design to final assembly.

The optimism surrounding the company stems mainly from the combination of two key growth engines: the global race in the field of artificial intelligence and China’s ambition for technological independence. Analysts estimate that CXMT is still in relatively early stages of growth, and that increasing its market share may justify a higher value in the future.

However, the sharp increase also reflects very high expectations. Some analysts warn that chip stocks tend to be cyclical, and that abnormal margins in the memory industry may narrow as supply and demand balance out.