Shares of Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT (SHA: 688825) soared 466% after they began trading on Shanghai’s stock market July 27.
The stock soared on its first trading day to become China’s most valuable public company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan ($490 billion U.S.).
The China-based chipmaker raised 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion U.S.) after pricing its IPO at 8.66 yuan per share, making it Asia’s biggest IPO in several years.
CXMT’s stock closed at 49 yuan per share, giving the company a market capitalization greater than that of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s 2.6 trillion-yuan valuation.
The blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) of CXMT helped to propel the Shanghai Composite index to a 1.2% gain, lifting the bourse to 3,858.25 at the day’s close.
Based on sales figures for the fourth quarter of 2025, CXMT held a 7.67% share of the global memory chip market, according to its IPO prospectus.
Memory chips are widely used in electronic devices ranging from smartphones to artificial intelligence (A.I.) servers that are found in data centres around the world.
The global memory chip market is dominated by companies such as SK Hynix (SKHY) and Micron Technology (MU), which have seen their share prices more than double this year.
Owing to A.I. demand, memory chips are in short supply around the world, leading to strong pricing power and earnings from the dominant players in the space.
CXMT received increased attention ahead of its IPO on reports that Apple (AAPL) has begun testing the Chinese chipmaker’s microchips and processors for devices sold in China.
CXMT, which was founded in 2016, said it plans to use proceeds from its IPO to boost its technological capabilities and global competitiveness.
The company swung to an operating profit of 35.43 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year after posting a loss of 2.83 billion yuan a year ago.
