ChangXin Memory Technologies is a Chinese DRAM memory-chip maker founded in 2016 in Hefei. It is now the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer, behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

How big was CXMT's IPO and stock surge?

CXMT raised about $8.6 billion pricing shares at 8.66 yuan, implying an $85 billion valuation before trading. Shares then surged as much as 466% on their July 27 debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market, pushing its market value past $480 billion.

Why did Micron and SK Hynix shares fall after CXMT's listing?

Investors worried that CXMT’s growing production capacity and China’s push for chip self-sufficiency could eventually add supply and pressure global memory prices, which had been rising sharply on AI-driven demand.

China's CXMT Chip IPO Surges 466%, Rattles Global Rivals

ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), a Chinese maker of DRAM memory chips, priced the largest semiconductor IPO in mainland Chinese history and then watched its shares surge as much as 466% on their July 27 trading debut, according to CNBC and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE).

The Hefei-based company sold about 10% of its enlarged share capital at 8.66 yuan per share, raising roughly 57.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) and implying a pre-listing valuation near $85 billion, the SSE said in its release. The debut-day rally pushed CXMT’s market value past 3.3 trillion yuan (more than $480 billion), making it the most valuable company listed on a mainland Chinese exchange.

Riding the AI memory boom

CXMT’s DRAM chips are used in servers, PCs, and phones — a core piece of the AI hardware buildout — and its global market share climbed from about 4% a year earlier to roughly 8% in the first quarter of 2026, the SSE release said. The company’s first-quarter revenue reached 50.8 billion yuan (about $7.5 billion), with net profit up 1,688% year-over-year, driven largely by LPDDR chips for mobile devices, which made up 66% of revenue versus 32% for server- and PC-oriented DDR products.

That growth tracks a broader surge in memory demand as data centers add capacity for AI workloads, a squeeze that has pushed memory prices up more than 25% in the third quarter alone, according to industry reports. Beijing has also been pushing domestic chip self-sufficiency, a drive already visible in China’s homegrown chipmaking tools.

Rivals feel the pressure

The listing rattled competitors in the business of memory chips: shares of Micron, SK Hynix, and SanDisk each fell, with some dropping more than 10% in the following sessions, as investors weighed the prospect of new Chinese supply pressuring prices industry-wide. Samsung, whose own AI chip ambitions include a $200 billion pact with Broadcom, also declined. Apple has reportedly begun testing CXMT’s chips, fueling concern that Chinese memory could reach top-tier customers sooner than expected.

CXMT still leans heavily on its home market — overseas sales excluding Hong Kong made up just 3% of revenue — and remains the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker, well behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. The company said IPO proceeds will go mainly toward expanding wafer production capacity.

Riding the AI memory boom

Rivals feel the pressure

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