HONG KONG (AP) — China’s top memory chipmaker, CXMT, made a stunning debut on the Shanghai stock market Monday, with shares skyrocketing in what stands as mainland China’s most significant initial public offering in recent memory.
By early afternoon, CXMT’s stock had climbed as much as 472%, settling at a gain of around 462%. The company’s market capitalization reached approximately 3.3 trillion yuan — equivalent to more than $487 billion — making it the most valuable company currently listed on a mainland Chinese exchange. Even so, its valuation still trails global memory chip giants such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology of South Korea and the United States.
CXMT has been riding the wave of explosive growth in artificial intelligence, which has driven enormous demand for memory chips. The company has also benefited from China’s broader effort to develop homegrown technology as American-led restrictions have limited Beijing’s access to advanced chipmaking equipment.
The company’s shares were priced at 8.66 yuan, or about $1.30 each, and the offering raised a minimum of $8.6 billion. Trading took place on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR market, a board designed to support science and technology companies, similar in concept to the Nasdaq.
The IPO ranks as the second largest in mainland China’s history, behind only the $22.1 billion share offering by Agricultural Bank of China, which listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong back in 2010.
Established in 2016 in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, CXMT ranks among the world’s leading producers of DRAM — dynamic random access memory — chips. These semiconductors are essential components in a wide range of products, from AI-powered servers and automobiles to everyday consumer devices like smartphones and personal computers.
Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in China’s technology sector, highlighted the company’s strategic importance. “CXMT plays a critical role in China’s AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls,” he said. American restrictions have also cut off China’s access to high-bandwidth memory, or HBM chips — a specialized and powerful form of DRAM.
CXMT’s revenue exploded to 50.8 billion yuan, roughly $7.5 billion, during the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-over-year increase of more than 700%, fueled by surging AI-related demand.
The rapid expansion of AI applications has triggered a worldwide shortage of memory chips, pushing up prices on some computers and smartphones. Chan noted that a key open question is whether CXMT’s growth could help ease that global supply crunch.
Chan also described CXMT as China’s most promising candidate for developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to support Chinese AI systems. However, the company faces significant hurdles, including bottlenecks in scaling up production. Because it is largely shut out from accessing the world’s most advanced chipmaking tools, CXMT has had to rely heavily on domestic Chinese equipment manufacturers.
According to technology research firm Counterpoint Research, CXMT was the world’s fourth largest DRAM chipmaker by shipments in 2025, holding about 8% of the global market. Samsung Electronics led with 36%, followed by SK Hynix at 29% and Micron at roughly 24%.
In the first three months of this year, CXMT’s share of global shipments grew to approximately 9%. Counterpoint Research projects that figure could reach around 11% by 2028 — though the firm estimates the company would need at least 15% of the global market to be truly competitive over the long haul.
“Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT,” said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who focuses on memory semiconductors. Meanwhile, some U.S. lawmakers have recently urged President Donald Trump’s administration to prohibit American companies from purchasing CXMT’s memory chips, citing national and economic security concerns.
CXMT is one of numerous Chinese companies that the Pentagon has designated as having ties to China’s military. Beijing has rejected most such designations.
The Shanghai debut came shortly after South Korea’s SK Hynix completed a $26.5 billion IPO on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
