Symbolic imageChinese memory maker CXMT surges around 470% on Shanghai debut after $9.8bn IPO
9 sources
Chinese DRAM manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) began trading on Shanghai's STAR Market on Monday, 27 July 2026, after raising 66.5 billion yuan — reported as roughly $9.8bn and as €9.8bn by Le Monde — in the largest fundraising in Asia this year. The stock rose by roughly 470% and closed up 466%, according to the South China Morning Post, valuing the company at 3.28 trillion yuan (about $484.6bn). Nikkei Asia reports the debut briefly lifted CXMT's market capitalisation above that of Intel.
China South Korea United StatesChina Securities Regulatory CommissionCXMTSamsungShanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market
What happened
CXMT, founded about ten years ago and China's leading producer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), listed on the STAR Market, the technology-focused segment linked to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Le Monde reported ahead of the sale that the company expected to raise 66.5 billion yuan; Bloomberg and other outlets put the size at $9.8bn, while Le Monde gave the figure as €9.8bn. All sources agree it is the largest fundraising in Asia this year and, according to the South China Morning Post, well above the 53.2 billion yuan raised by chip foundry SMIC in 2020. Reported first-day gains differ slightly by outlet and by measurement point: Reuters cited a 470% surge, Nikkei Asia 471%, the SCMP a 472% rise intraday and a 466% close, and the Financial Times described the move as almost 500%. The SCMP puts the closing market capitalisation at 3.28 trillion yuan, or about $484.6bn, making CXMT mainland China's most valuable onshore listing; Nikkei Asia reports the company overtook Intel by market value. Turnover on the first session exceeded 140 billion yuan, which the SCMP says made CXMT the first mainland-listed stock to cross 100 billion yuan of single-day trading. Le Monde places CXMT fourth among global DRAM producers, behind South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix and the United States' Micron.
The camps
The parties visible in the sources are market participants and the Chinese regulator, not opposing states. According to the SCMP, there were concerns in the market that an offering of this size would draw money away from other Chinese technology stocks. That prompted the China Securities Regulatory Commission to hold a series of meetings with listed companies, securities firms, fund managers and academics; participants called for stronger guidance of market expectations and a more institutionalised market-stabilisation mechanism, and the regulator pledged in a statement on 21 July to address the concerns and strengthen the market's inherent stability. The issuer's own case, as described by Le Monde, rests on demand: China is the second-largest market for AI infrastructure after the United States, and CXMT benefits from that build-out.
The view from outside
No outlet from a party to a geopolitical dispute is among the sources; the framing differences run between financial media. Nikkei Asia ties the listing to the AI memory boom and foregrounds the comparison with Intel's market capitalisation. The Financial Times and Handelsblatt present it primarily as a market event, using the largest percentage figures. Reuters reports the debut without interpretive framing. The SCMP, from Hong Kong, emphasises the domestic market-structure angle — record turnover, the SMIC comparison and the regulator's response. Le Monde stresses the industrial logic: CXMT is not at the technological frontier in memory, but profits from the three leading producers shifting capacity towards high-bandwidth memory for AI, which reduces competition in conventional electronics such as smartphones and connected devices, and has allowed manufacturers to raise prices.
What's new
Until the weekend the listing was a pending event: Le Monde reported on 26 July that CXMT was about to complete the fundraising, citing the expected 66.5 billion yuan proceeds. Bloomberg's earlier coverage described the company as set to debut after the $9.8bn IPO. Since Monday the figures are actual rather than projected — the first-day move, the closing valuation, the record turnover and the position relative to Intel. The regulator's consultations on 21 July preceded the debut; how the wider Chinese technology market reacts to the capital absorbed by the offering is not yet settled in the reporting.
What could happen next
The valuation reached on day one rests on a single session's trading, and subsequent sessions will show whether it holds; the SCMP notes that turnover was without precedent for a mainland listing, which can accompany both sustained interest and rapid reversal. Attention may also shift to the concern the regulator addressed before the debut — whether capital flowing into CXMT is drawn from other Chinese technology stocks, and whether the stabilisation measures discussed on 21 July are put in place. Over a longer horizon, the proceeds give CXMT resources to expand DRAM output at a moment when, according to Le Monde, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are prioritising high-bandwidth memory for AI; the resulting supply and pricing in conventional memory would follow from how quickly that capacity arrives.