AI chip company Cambricon Technologies Corporation Limited (688256.SH) officially disclosed its "2026 Restricted Stock Incentive Plan (Draft)" on the evening of July 28, revealing a comprehensive employee stock ownership proposal. The plan involves granting a total of 5 million second-class restricted shares, representing 0.80% of the company's total share capital, with a uniform grant price of 750 yuan per share.
The scheme is divided into two parts: an initial grant of 4 million shares, with an additional 1 million shares reserved for attracting future talent. The initial grant targets 945 incentive recipients, covering approximately 85.37% of the company's total workforce based on the end of 2025 headcount, meaning more than 80% of employees are included in the incentive scope, encompassing executives, core technical experts, and various key personnel.
A simple calculation shows that with 4 million shares distributed among 945 people, the average allocation per person is about 4,232.8 shares. Based on Cambricon's closing price of 1,128 yuan per share on July 28, the price difference per share is 378 yuan, translating to a theoretical average paper profit of approximately 1.6 million yuan per person.
However, this substantial paper gain is not easily attainable. The plan sets strict tiered revenue performance targets, which is the most noteworthy aspect of this incentive scheme. Different assessment criteria apply to various batches of employees: the performance period for newly included incentive recipients is 2026-2028, with targets set at three levels: 2026 revenue not less than 13.5 billion yuan; cumulative revenue for 2026-2027 not less than 40.5 billion yuan; and cumulative revenue for 2026-2028 not less than 100 billion yuan.
A revenue trigger threshold is also established: if revenue reaches the trigger level but falls short of the target, the vesting ratio of restricted shares is only 80%; if revenue falls below the trigger threshold, the corresponding batch of shares is directly invalidated, with a vesting ratio of zero. The cumulative revenue trigger threshold for the three years is set at 80 billion yuan. Additionally, executives face extra net profit growth assessment conditions.
Furthermore, different vesting schedules are set for the three categories of incentive recipients: new employees vest in three tranches at 30%, 30%, and 40%; existing employees and executives vest in two tranches. However, this incentive plan is currently only a draft and must be submitted for approval at a shareholder meeting before it can be implemented.
With a generous, nearly company-wide equity incentive on one side and a highly challenging three-year, 100-billion-yuan revenue target on the other, the market will continue to watch whether Cambricon can deliver on its growth expectations.
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