Chipmaker courted by Apple briefly becomes China’s most valuable company

CXMT, a Chinese chipmaker courted by Apple, saw its shares soar 466% on its market debut Monday, briefly becoming mainland China's most valuable company with a market cap of US$547 billion before closing at just under US$490 billion. The company raised at least US$8.5 billion in its IPO, which was 212 times oversubscribed, amid an AI-driven boom in demand for memory chips. CXMT remains on a Pentagon blacklist, but Apple has reportedly lobbied for a waiver to buy its chips.

CXMT—whose memory chips have been sought by Apple—made a blockbuster trading debut on Monday and briefly became the most valuable publicly listed company in mainland China, amid an AI-driven boom in demand. Key Facts - Shares of CXMT soared 466 per cent after its stock market debut on Monday, ending the day at RMB 49 US$7.24 . - Earlier in the day, CXMT’s market cap briefly eclipsed internet giant Tencent and surged to US$547 billion, making it the most valuable publicly listed Chinese company. - The Hong Kong-listed Tencent reclaimed the top spot at the end of the trading day, but CXMT remains the most valuable company listed in mainland China with a market cap just below US$490 billion. - The chipmaker raised at least US$8.5 billion from the sale of 6.7 billion shares as part of its initial public offering, making it China’s biggest market debut since the Agricultural Bank of China went public in 2010. - According to , the company’s IPO was 212 times oversubscribed—in contrast to SpaceX’s record-breaking market debut last month, which was more than Bloomberg oversubscribed. four times How does CXMT’s valuation compare with competitors? Despite its blockbuster debut, CXMT’s nearly US$490 billion market cap is still significantly smaller than rivals SK Hynix’s US$881 billion valuation and Micron’s US$1 trillion valuation. Samsung Electronics, whose chipmaking division is the third of the big three memory chipmakers, has a market cap of US$1.1 trillion. All three companies have seen their valuations soar amid an AI-driven surge in demand for high-speed memory chips. Earlier this month, SK Hynix raised US$26.5 billion from its US trading debut https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/07/10/sk-hynix-surges-17-in-record-setting-us-debut-heres-what-regular-investors-should-know/ . What do we know about Apple’s interest in CXMT? The AI-driven memory chip buying frenzy has significantly affected consumer electronics and forced the makers of smartphones, laptops, video game consoles, and other devices to raise prices. Last month, Apple announced an across-the-board increase in the prices of its Mac computers, iPads and other devices. Ahead of the price increase, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked by the Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-price-increases-memory-supply-199845b1 about the company potentially sourcing Chinese memory chips, and he said: “I think everything needs to be on the table…I think we should look at all supply.” CXMT is currently on a Pentagon blacklist for alleged ties to the Chinese military. However, the last month that Apple has been lobbying the Trump administration for a waiver to buy its memory chips. https://www.ft.com/content/d72a25e2-7bde-4aa9-bd8d-0c4f3d6cb2cb?syn-25a6b1a6=1 Financial Times reported This story was originally published on forbes.com Want to see more Forbes articles on your feed? Tap here to make Forbes Australia a preferred source on Google. Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here or become a member here .