On April 24, the A-share market welcomed another leading company "standing in the light." Semight Instruments Co.,Ltd. debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market. The stock surged as much as 950.2% during its first trading day, setting a new record for the highest first-day gain among A-share IPOs with fundraising exceeding 1 billion yuan. With a maximum potential profit per lot reaching approximately 389,000 yuan, it became the most profitable new stock of the year.
Semight Instruments' share price hit a high of 766 yuan per share during the session, surpassing the previous first-day intraday gain record of 755% held by fellow STAR Market-listed GPU chip company Metax Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and claiming the top spot for first-day gains among A-share new listings. As of the latest update, the stock's gain remained around 800%, with full-day turnover exceeding 6 billion yuan.
The strong debut of Semight Instruments reflects the market's high recognition of the optical communication industry chain against the backdrop of continuous AI computing power expansion. Northbound capital data indicates that foreign investors are consistently increasing their stakes in Chinese optical communication industry-related targets. As one of the very few domestic leaders offering comprehensive coverage of core testing segments—including optical communication modules, chips, and wafers—the company has established deep cooperative relationships with major domestic and international optical communication industry giants such as Zhongji Innolight, Eoptolink Technology, and Lumentum.
The company stated that the funds raised from this IPO will be primarily allocated to projects including the research, development, and industrialization of next-generation optical communication testing equipment, automotive-grade chip testing equipment, and storage testing equipment. The total planned use of raised funds is approximately 1.71 billion yuan.
**Record-Breaking First-Day Performance**
Semight Instruments' share price reached a high of 766 yuan per share during Friday's session. As of the latest update, the gain remained over 800%, with full-day turnover exceeding 6 billion yuan. Calculating based on the intraday high, the maximum profit per lot exceeded 340,000 yuan.
The intraday maximum surge reached 950.2%, translating to a potential profit per lot of approximately 389,000 yuan. This gain surpassed the 755% maximum first-day gain achieved by STAR Market GPU company Metax Integrated Circuits upon its listing, setting a new historical record for first-day gains among A-share IPOs with fundraising exceeding 1 billion yuan. Consequently, Semight Instruments became the new stock with the highest single-lot profit on its debut day this year.
The company's IPO issue price was 81.88 yuan per share, corresponding to a diluted price-to-earnings ratio of 63.64 times, based on the lower of pre- or post-extraordinary items earnings per share for 2024. The total share capital after the issuance is approximately 103 million shares.
**Optical Communication Testing: Rare Full-Chain Coverage, Leading Domestic Market Share**
Founded in 2017, Semight Instruments' core advantage in the optical communication testing field lies in its simultaneous coverage of the three core testing segments of the industry chain: modules, chips, and wafers—a capability possessed by very few domestic companies. According to an April 14 report by a team at China Securities Co., Ltd., the company's communication testing instruments have completed product iterations from 400G to 800G to 1.6T. Three core products for 1.6T optical module testing needs—a 65GHz sampling oscilloscope, a 120GBaud clock recovery unit, and a 1.6Tbps bit error rate analyzer—are all in mass production and supply, making the company the second globally to launch all core testing instruments for 1.6T optical modules.
In optical chip testing, the company's three semiconductor testing equipment products achieve full-chain integration: the silicon photonics wafer test system covers wafer-level functional testing, the optical chip KGD sorting test system covers bare die-level sorting, and the CoC optical chip aging test system covers package-level aging testing. In 2024, the company ranked first in market share for China's photonic device testing equipment.
Regarding market space, according to Frost & Sullivan data, the scale of China's optical communication testing instrument market reached 3.3 billion yuan in 2024 and is expected to grow to 6.59 billion yuan by 2029. The global market is projected to expand from 950 million USD to 2.02 billion USD over the same period. A report from SDIC Securities on April 16 noted that, influenced by AI, the iteration cycle for data center-applied optical modules has shortened from 3-4 years to about 2 years recently. 800G optical modules have become the mainstream product in global data centers, while 1.6T optical modules are entering the commercialization stage. The trend towards higher speeds continues to drive demand for upgrades in high-end testing instruments.
In terms of customer resources, the company's coverage includes major domestic and international optical communication industry chain clients such as Zhongji Innolight, Eoptolink Technology, Accelink Technologies, Hisense Group, Lumentum, Coherent, Broadcom, Japan's Sumitomo Electric Industries, and Japan's Furukawa Electric.
**Semiconductor Testing: Leadership in Power Devices, Expanding into Storage Testing**
Power device testing is an important second pillar for the company's growth. According to a China Securities Co., Ltd. report, in 2024, Semight Instruments ranked first in market share (43.6%) for Silicon Carbide power device Wafer Level Burn-In systems in China. It ranked third in the Chinese market and first among local enterprises (12.1%) for power chip KGD sorting test systems. The company's customers cover major domestic and international power chip manufacturers like BYD Semiconductor, Silan Microelectronics, Sanan Optoelectronics, and onsemi.
According to Frost & Sullivan data, the scale of China's discrete device testing equipment market was 1.84 billion yuan in 2024 and is expected to increase to 4.36 billion yuan by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.8%. The rapid growth in testing demand for Silicon Carbide power devices is a primary driver.
Per an SDIC Securities report, the company is developing storage testing products such as high-speed memory chip test systems and HBM chip KGD sorting test systems. Currently, the global memory device testing equipment market is predominantly monopolized by US and Japanese companies like Advantest and Teradyne. There is a significant performance gap for domestic products, with high-speed products almost non-existent, indicating ample room for import substitution. The company also plans to expand into general testing fields like broadband real-time oscilloscopes and arbitrary waveform generators to open up new profit growth points. The use of IPO proceeds also includes projects for the R&D and industrialization of storage testing equipment (planned use of 385 million yuan) and digital testing instruments (planned use of 304 million yuan), aligning with the aforementioned strategic directions.
**Financial Performance: High R&D Investment Fuels Rapid Growth, Dual-Engine Structure Forms**
Semight Instruments has achieved an approximate 77% compound annual growth rate in revenue over the past three years, with significant improvement in profitability. The gross profit margin increased substantially from 43.61% in 2022 to 63.63% in 2024, and was 58.84% in 2025. R&D investment has been consistently intensified, with cumulative R&D expenditure reaching 350 million yuan from 2022 to 2024. In the first nine months of 2025, R&D expenses accounted for 24.89% of revenue. As of the end of September 2025, the company had 440 R&D personnel, representing about 40% of the total workforce, and held 113 authorized invention patents.
In terms of business structure, for the first nine months of 2025, revenue from electronic measurement instruments was 343 million yuan (43.06% of total), and revenue from semiconductor testing equipment was 398 million yuan (50.02% of total). This indicates the basic formation of a dual-engine growth structure, which helps mitigate risks associated with cyclical fluctuations in a single sector.
Regarding peer valuation, according to a China Securities Co., Ltd. research report, domestic comparable company Huafon Test Control had an estimated 2026 PE ratio of about 47.39 times, while Hangzhou Chang Chuan Technology was around 51.01 times, and Semitronix was about 78.39 times. Overseas peers Keysight Technologies had a PE of about 44.4 times and Advantest about 87.3 times. The average for comparable companies was approximately 63.61 times.
More updates to follow...
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