CXMT IPO: China’s Biggest Chip Listing Ever
CXMT prices a record $8.5bn Shanghai IPO, valuing China’s memory champion at $85bn
July 15, 2026 – 2:48 pm
Image by: CXMT
China’s biggest memory chipmaker is set to go public. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has priced its Shanghai IPO at 8.66 yuan ($1.28) per share, according to the South China Morning Post, raising approximately 57.9 billion yuan ($8.5bn).
This makes it the largest listing by a Chinese semiconductor company on a mainland exchange, surpassing SMIC’s record of 53.23 billion yuan in 2020.
CXMT is selling nearly 6.7 billion shares, representing around 10% of the company, which values it at roughly 579 billion yuan ($85bn) upon its Star Market debut (a 15% overallotment could increase the raise to $9.8bn).
Founded in 2016 with government backing, CXMT is China’s answer to Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. It specializes in DRAM, the working memory found in phones, PCs, and servers, and holds an estimated 7.7% of the global DRAM market. Major Chinese tech companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are among its customers.
The IPO comes amid a backdrop of rising global demand for memory chips driven by AI applications, leading to sharp price increases. CXMT’s first-quarter revenue jumped over 700% year-on-year to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.4bn), and it swung to profitability according to reports on its filings.
The listing is significant for Beijing as part of its push for chip self-reliance. It provides CXMT with a war chest to expand capacity and buffer against potential US export restrictions. The company was recently added to the Pentagon’s list of "Chinese military companies" and faces scrutiny from the US Commerce Department’s Entity List.
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