CXMT shares set to debut in Shanghai after $8.6 billion IPO tests appetite for Chinese tech

CXMT is due to start trading in Shanghai on Monday after raising 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) in Asia’s biggest IPO this year, setting up a market debut that will test investor appetite for a flagship Chinese chipmaker after a recent pullback in technology shares. The company sold shares at 8.66 yuan each, implying a valuation of about 579 billion yuan ($85.5 billion) before any exercise of an over-allotment option that could lift proceeds to 66.61 billion yuan. Only 6.73% of CXMT’s enlarged share capital will be freely tradable at listing because most shares are locked up, a structure that could amplify early price swings and turnover. HSBC Qianhai Securities said the offering may temporarily drain liquidity from the wider Chinese market before and on debut, though past technology listings suggest a rebound could follow on the next trading day. BlockBeats reported on July 27 that ChangXin Technology had been listed and that Northeast Securities used market-share anchoring, earnings-split price-to-earnings and unit-capacity methods to derive a valuation range of 3.2 trillion yuan to 5.7 trillion yuan. The brokerage said ChangXin’s 2025 minority-interest profit share could reach 73.76%, far above Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron at under 1%, and argued that valuation should exclude that effect; it assumed a 24% ratio for 2026 and 2027. The company, formally ChangXin Memory Technologies, makes DRAM memory chips used in phones, computers and servers and is described as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM maker after Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. Morningstar analyst Jing Jie Yu said CXMT is well positioned to benefit from rising domestic AI demand, but warned that its technology gap with global leaders may constrain its share of the AI memory market. CXMT said AI demand helped drive the latest DRAM upcycle, while cautioning that the market could weaken if AI investment slows or rivals add too much supply. It expects first-half revenue to rise more than sevenfold to 110 billion yuan to 120 billion yuan and net profit of 66 billion yuan to 75 billion yuan, reversing a year-earlier loss.