Chinese chipmaker shares surge nearly 470% in blockbuster stock market debut
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- CXMT shares surged nearly 470% on debut at Shanghai's Star Market, reaching ~3.3 trillion yuan ($487bn) — making it mainland China's most valuable listed company
- Only 7% of CXMT shares were available for trading, fueling the extraordinary bounce per Hargreaves Lansdown investment strategy director Anna Macdonald
- CXMT manufactures DRAM chips powering AI data centres, phones, PCs, and tablets; IPO proceeds will fund production expansion and R&D, per the company
- Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron dominate the DRAM market with ~90% of global production — CXMT's listing advances Beijing's tech self-reliance push
- SK Hynix raised $26.5bn in its New York share offering earlier this month, the largest US listing by a foreign firm; SK Hynix is a key supplier to Nvidia
- Memory prices have more than doubled in recent months, with further increases expected through end of 2027 per TrendForce analyst Ellie Wong
Why it matters: Chinese investors handed CXMT a $487bn debut valuation — making it mainland China's most valuable listed company — despite a $1.5tn broader stock slump. The listing gives Beijing a publicly traded champion against the Samsung-SK Hynix-Micron oligopoly controlling 90% of global DRAM, with memory prices already more than doubled and hikes extending through 2027.
