Cxmt Corporation (688825.SH) made a strong debut on the STAR Market on July 27, surging over 455% at the open and reaching a market capitalization of 3.2 trillion yuan. This valuation ranked first among all A-share companies, surpassing Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd. (600519.SH) at 1.61 trillion yuan and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (300750.SZ) at 1.84 trillion yuan. The company's market cap was roughly equivalent to two times that of Kweichow Moutai.
Cxmt Corporation is a major domestic DRAM manufacturer and the world's fourth-largest DRAM producer. Its market share has grown rapidly since last year, but it still lags significantly behind the three major overseas DRAM manufacturers.
According to data from Counterpoint, Cxmt Corporation’s share of the global DRAM market rose from 3% in the first quarter of last year to 8% in the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron held shares of 38%, 29%, and 22%, respectively.
At the close of U.S. markets on July 24, Micron Technology (MU.O) had a market cap of $1 trillion (approximately 6.8 trillion yuan). During trading on July 27, South Korea's SK Hynix (000660.KS) had a market cap of 1,226 trillion won (about $0.84 trillion/5.66 trillion yuan), and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) had a market cap of 1,441 trillion won (about $0.98 trillion/6.66 trillion yuan). Cxmt Corporation’s market cap still shows a notable gap compared to these three overseas manufacturers.
In terms of financial performance, the company turned profitable last year. Revenue for the year reached 617.99 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 155.6%, with net profit attributable to parent company shareholders of 1.87 billion yuan. In the first quarter of this year, revenue surged to 508 billion yuan, up 719.13% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to parent company shareholders of 24.762 billion yuan. The company also expects revenue for the first half of the year to be between 110 billion yuan and 120 billion yuan, representing a more than sixfold increase year-on-year, with net profit attributable to parent company shareholders ranging from 50 billion yuan to 57 billion yuan.
Cxmt Corporation is in a phase of capacity expansion. The proceeds from this issuance are expected to reach 57.919 billion yuan (before exercise of the over-allotment option). The funds will be used for technology upgrades and transformations in the mass production line of memory wafer manufacturing, as well as DRAM memory technology upgrade projects.
Meanwhile, other overseas manufacturers are also actively expanding and forming new supply partnerships. At the end of June, the South Korean government, together with Samsung and SK Group, announced a total domestic investment plan of 4,755 trillion won, focusing on three core super projects: semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers. The southwestern region of South Korea plans to invest 800 trillion won (approximately $518 billion) to build four semiconductor manufacturing plants, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each planning to build two.
In July, SK Hynix listed on the Nasdaq through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), raising approximately $26.5 billion. The funds will be used to expand production capacity, including building the first wafer fab of the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster and the Cheongju advanced packaging factory.
On July 25, Beijing time, NVIDIA and SK Group reached a $500 billion cooperation agreement covering AI factory construction and next-generation memory supply. The total value of SK Group's cooperation with the U.S. company is as high as $750 billion. Samsung Electronics also reached a $200 billion memory supply and foundry cooperation agreement with Broadcom.
With the world's top four DRAM manufacturers now all present in the secondary market, investors are focusing on how long the current upward cycle driven by AI demand will last. The industry has recently predicted that tight memory supply conditions will persist until next year and gradually improve starting in 2028, but has not made a precise judgment on the timing of the end of the supply tightness. The industry expects that AI demand may continue to expand memory demand in the future.
Regarding the cyclical nature of the industry, Cxmt Corporation warned in its prospectus that the impact of future AI development on DRAM market demand is uncertain. If downstream AI demand falls short of expectations or market supply-demand dynamics change significantly, the DRAM industry could enter another downturn. This could lead to a sharp drop in product prices and a significant decline in the company's performance, potentially resulting in a loss.
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