The Chinese memory manufacturer everyone is talking about goes public, becoming the most valuable company in all of China

The Shanghai stock market debut of the leading Chinese memory chip producer, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), has logged an extraordinary surge of 470% during the first day of trading on the Star Market.

This sensational surge has driven the company’s overall valuation to around 3.3 trillion yuan, equivalent to 428.5 billion euros, making it the most valuable listed company in all mainland China.

The extraordinary success comes at a moment marked by strong global selling pressure on tech stocks, and it has been supported both by the extremely limited availability of tradable shares and by Beijing’s strong will to achieve full independence in its technological sector.

CXMT goes public and is now worth more than 400 billion euros

Founded in 2016 by president Zhu Yiming and based in Hefei, in Anhui province, CXMT is specialized in the production of DRAM memory chips.

They are fundamental electronic components to power data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence, as well as smartphones, computers, tablets and many other everyday devices.

Company leadership has clarified that the funds raised through the IPO will be used primarily to increase production volumes and to finance further research and development activities.

This exceptional result offers a bit of relief to Chinese financial authorities, which have long been implementing measures to curb the recent plunge in the domestic stock market, which burned more than 1.5 trillion dollars.

According to analysts, the stock’s exponential rise has also been driven by a strong imbalance. Anna Macdonald, head of investment strategy at Hargreaves Lansdown, explained in a BBC interview that the cause of this anomalous rebound lies in the fact that only 7% of total shares were actually available for public trading.

The push for independence and the rival giants

Local investors’ strong interest in CXMT’s shares reflects the Chinese government’s ambition for industrial self-sufficiency.

Currently, DRAM chip production is effectively under the near-total control of three major companies: the South Korean Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, along with the American Micron, which collectively account for about 90% of global supply.

Precisely SK Hynix, a crucial supplier for sector giants like NVIDIA, recently raised $26.5 billion through a share offering in New York, marking the largest-ever listing for a foreign company in the United States.

On that occasion it sold 177.9 million shares at $149 each. After an initial rise of 17% on the first day of trading on NASDAQ, the shares gave back some of their gains, while confirming the sector’s golden moment, which in May had already pushed SK Hynix’s market capitalization beyond the trillion-dollar mark at home, driven precisely by demand for AI components.

Impact on prices and long-term forecasts

Memory prices, once considered a cheap and widely accessible component for device assembly, have more than doubled in recent months and continue to rise relentlessly.

This cost dynamic has forced several companies to raise the listed price of their flagship products, including smartphones, tablets and consoles.

Ellie Wong, an analyst at the research firm TrendForce, told Reuters that these price increases are expected to continue uninterrupted until the end of 2027.

The persistent supply shortage is pushing large international buyers to seek greater diversification among memory manufacturers, just to ensure they have the necessary stock.

This urgency could significantly benefit new players like CXMT, creating meaningful business opportunities for the Asian company.