Chinese DRAM leader Changxin Memory (CXMT) made a stunning debut on the STAR Market (科创板) on July 27, soaring 465.82% to close at 49 yuan per share, reaching a total market capitalization of 3.31 trillion yuan. This valuation surpassed established giants like ICBC, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Mobile, making it the highest-valued listed company on the A-share market.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Hefei, Anhui, Changxin Memory is China's largest and most advanced manufacturer of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), operating as an integrated device manufacturer (IDM). Its founder, Zhu Yiming, previously founded GigaDevice, which retains a stake in Changxin. As the top domestic and fourth-largest global DRAM supplier, its IPO has drawn intense market attention.
Based on its prospectus, the IPO generated massive paper gains for Hefei state capital, national semiconductor funds, the founding team, employees, industrial investors, and IPO subscribers. The biggest winner was Hefei state capital, which held 22.138 billion shares post-IPO. At the opening price of 49.5 yuan per share, the value of that stake exceeded 1.09 trillion yuan. This marks another successful venture for Hefei state capital, which has earned a reputation as "China's best venture capital" after astute investments in GigaDevice, BOE Technology, and NIO.
The Alibaba group also emerged as a major beneficiary, holding 3.013 billion shares post-IPO, valued at nearly 149.1 billion yuan at the opening price. Among private equity investors, Liang Wenfeng, founder of the leading AI model company DeepSeek, secured the largest share, with a paper profit of 827 million yuan from his IPO subscription.
Changxin's listing has also created a cohort of billionaire executives. At the opening price of 49.5 yuan, Chairman Zhu Yiming and Director/President Cao Kanyu each saw their holdings surpass 10 billion yuan. Five other executives now hold stakes exceeding 1 billion yuan, including Executive Vice President Zhu Wenju (2.915 billion yuan), Co-President Zhang Yu (2.765 billion yuan), and Senior Vice President/CFO Huang Danyang (1.983 billion yuan).
NIO Inc (NIO), the electric vehicle maker, also benefited. It appeared on the strategic placement list, subscribing to shares worth 158 million yuan. At Friday's closing price, NIO's paper profit reached approximately 740 million yuan, a return of over 465%. NIO founder Li Bin was photographed at Changxin's IPO celebration dinner, smiling with a glass of red wine. NIO is a strategic partner for Changxin's automotive-grade DRAM products, and Li Bin confirmed the cooperation is progressing well, helping to stabilize NIO's supply chain.
Insurance funds that invested in Changxin during its pre-IPO phase also saw a massive payoff. Six entities, including Hexie Health, China Life Investment, PICC Capital, and Sunshine Life, collectively invested 2.385 billion yuan for a 3.96% pre-IPO stake. Based on the closing price, their combined stake is now worth 116.87 billion yuan, yielding a profit of over 114.49 billion yuan. Additionally, four insurers (PICC P&C, China Life, China Post Life, and Taikang Life) each received about 11.55 million shares through strategic placement, turning their aggregate 400 million yuan investment into about 2.266 billion yuan, a collective profit of 1.866 billion yuan. A broader group of 6 pension firms, 19 insurance asset managers, and 7 life insurers subscribed to shares worth 5.665 billion yuan, realizing a paper profit of 26.387 billion yuan on the first day of trading. In total, insurance institutions recorded a combined paper profit of 142.74 billion yuan.
However, Country Garden Holdings appears to be the biggest loser. According to Changxin's prospectus, in March 2023, Country Garden's venture capital arm transferred its 1.6805% stake to a related entity, Huibi No.5. In December 2024, Huibi No.5 sold 1.56% of Changxin (90.13 million shares) to Hefei Jianchang for just 2 billion yuan, or 2.22 yuan per share. Compared to Changxin's first-day closing price of 49 yuan per share, that premature sale cost Country Garden an estimated 42.16 billion yuan in potential profits.
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