China’s leading memory chipmaker CXMT Corp has attracted strong investor interest for its $8.6 billion Shanghai IPO, despite a sharp decline in global semiconductor stocks. The offering, which is expected to be Asia’s biggest IPO of the year, comes as investors remain cautious about the recent selloff in AI and chip-related companies.
Institutional investors, including mutual funds, pension funds, and insurance companies, subscribed for 1.24 trillion shares, compared to the 2.17 billion shares available in the institutional portion of the IPO. This resulted in an oversubscription of around 570 times, according to the company’s latest filing.
Although the demand was impressive, it was lower than several recent listings on Shanghai’s STAR Market. Companies such as Zhuhai Trinomab Pharmaceutical, Chongqing Genori Technology, and Wuhan Changjin Photonics each recorded institutional oversubscription levels of more than 5,000 times, showing that investor enthusiasm has cooled.
The reduced demand comes as global chip stocks continue to face heavy selling pressure. Investors across Asia and the United States have become more cautious, questioning whether the artificial intelligence-driven semiconductor rally has become overvalued. In China, the STAR Market index has fallen around 25% since July 1, wiping out more than 4 trillion yuan ($590 billion) in market value.
The retail portion of CXMT’s IPO was also 243.93 times oversubscribed, reflecting solid but more measured demand from individual investors.
CXMT is currently the world’s fourth-largest DRAM memory chipmaker, behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. The company is expected to debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market later this month. The IPO will serve as an important test of investor confidence as China continues to strengthen its domestic semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on foreign technology.
