China’s CXMT shares rise 472% on Star Market debut, valuing DRAM maker at US$489 billion

China’s leading DRAM maker completes the biggest-ever Star Market IPO amid an AI-driven memory boom

Shares of ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s leading maker of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, rose 472 per cent on their Shanghai trading debut, giving the company a market capitalisation of 3.31 trillion yuan (US$489 billion).

The size of the closely watched offering, up to 66.6 billion yuan, is set to surpass the 53.2 billion yuan raised by chip foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) in 2020.

There were market concerns that CXMT would draw funds away from other Chinese technology stocks, prompting the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to hold a series of meetings with representatives of listed companies, securities firms, fund managers and academia.

Participants called for stronger guidance of market expectations and a more institutionalised market-stabilisation mechanism, while the regulator pledged to respond to concerns and enhance the market’s inherent stability, according to a CSRC statement issued on July 21.

However, state-run newspapers, including the Shanghai Securities News and Securities Daily, published commentaries dismissing fears that the IPO would drain liquidity from the wider market.