Company positions itself as a 'chip department store'
Net profit shot up nearly 7 times in 2024, revenue jumped 28%
Chip and AI firms tapping HK market as Beijing seeks self-sufficiency
Updates with closing prices
By Jiaxing Li and Yantoultra Ngui
HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Shares of GigaDevice Semiconductor 3986.HK soared almost 40% in their Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday, with investors latching on to a company with surging earnings as China pushes for chip self-sufficiency amid tensions with the U.S.
GigaDevice, which raised HK$4.68 billion ($600 million) in a second listing, is a fabless integrated circuit design house that also trades on the Shanghai bourse 603986.SS and was founded in 2005.
Its shares closed at HK$222.8, 38% higher than the offer price of HK$162, giving the company a market cap of around HK$195 billion ($25 billion). The shares earlier rose as high as HK$248.8.
In NOR flash memory - which is used for storing code that runs devices, it ranks second globally with a market share of 18.5%, the company said, citing research from consultancy Frost & Sullivan.
"GigaDevice is a chip company with testing and assembly capabilities, as well as strong earnings and good future development prospects," said Kenny Ng, strategist at China Everbright Securities International.
GigaDevice's net profit climbed nearly seven times to 1.1 billion yuan in 2024 on a 28% jump in revenue, according to its Hong Kong listing prospectus.
Its NOR and other chips are used in areas such as consumer electronics, the auto industry and industrial automation.
Zhu Yiming, GigaDevice's founder and chairman, noted that the company had grown from a business formed in a garage in 2004 to become the first domestic chip design company to list on the main board ten years ago.
It was now well positioned as "a chip department store", he added.
"In the future, we will actively embrace AI, expand our product categories, and actively develop new business groups," he said at the Hong Kong listing ceremony.
Proceeds from the Hong Kong share sale are due to be used for research and development as well as strategic and industry investments, including potential acquisitions.
Cornerstone investors include China Pinnacle Equity Management, Yunfeng Capital, Xiaomi 1810.HK, TCL Industries and Huaqin Technology 603296.SS, according to its prospectus.
Chinese artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies are tapping a resurgent Hong Kong equity fundraising market, spurred on by the AI boom and Beijing's push to build up China's technology capabilities in response to U.S. curbs on high-end chips and chip-making equipment.
Hong Kong led global IPO fundraising in 2025, with $37.2 billion raised from 115 new listings, according to LSEG data.
On Monday, shares of OmniVision Integrated Circuits 0501.HK 603501.SS ended their first day of Hong Kong trade 16.2% higher. They dropped 6% on Tuesday.
($1 = 7.7988 Hong Kong dollars)
($1 = $1.0000)
(Reporting by Jiaxing Li in Hong Kong, Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore and Yiming Shen in Shanghai; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
((Yantoultra.Ngui@thomsonreuters.com;))
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