CXMT shares jump over 470% in STAR Market debut

In short: Chinese memory chip maker CXMT soared on its first day of trading in Shanghai, lifting its market value above China’s biggest bank.

What happened

ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, listed on Shanghai’s STAR Market, which is a stock exchange focused on technology companies. The company makes DRAM memory chips, which are the short-term memory inside computers (like a desk where work is laid out so it can be used quickly).

CXMT set its IPO price at 8.66 yuan per share. That pricing valued the company at about 579 to 580 billion yuan before trading began, and it raised roughly 57.9 to 66.6 billion yuan in the offering, according to reports.

When trading opened, the stock price was around 49.50 yuan, about 471 to 472% above the IPO price. During the day, some reports said the gain reached about 500 to 535%, with the price near 55 yuan at its peak.

At the opening price, CXMT’s market value was estimated at about 3.3 trillion yuan, or about $487 billion. That put it ahead of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, which was valued around 2.6 trillion yuan, making CXMT the most valuable company listed in mainland China on day one.

Why it matters

Memory chips are a basic part of running AI systems, cloud services, and large data centers. The sharp first-day jump suggests strong investor demand for China-based chip companies, and it highlights how important these parts are for modern computing.

Source: NYTimes