By NUPIAO
On July 27, ChangXin Memory (688825.SH), China’s leading DRAM chip maker, officially debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market. With an IPO price of 8.66 yuan per share, it raised a whopping 579.19 billion yuan, smashing the record for the largest IPO on the tech-heavy board. As of this writing, its shares are trading at 47.65 yuan, a staggering 450.23% jump from the IPO price, giving it a market cap of 3.19 trillion yuan and making it the most valuable company in the A-share market.
With the listing, a flood of people from supply chain firms, brokerages, and research institutions have been pouring into ChangXin’s Hefei campus. The result? Hotels near the factory are packed, and room rates have gone through the roof.
A front desk staffer at the Hampton by Hilton near Hefei Xinqiao International Airport told me, “Our hotel is right across from ChangXin’s headquarters. Lately, because of the IPO, we’ve got tons of business travelers coming in. We’re booked solid about 90% of the time, and prices are high. For instance, today, our standard king and premium king rooms are all taken. Only a few luxury king and Hollywood twin rooms are available, going for 625 and 741 yuan, respectively.”
The staffer emphasized that since 2025, being fully booked has been the norm at their hotel. “Our rates are definitely on the high side for this area—we’re probably the most expensive Hampton by Hilton in Hefei. But the hotel is in great shape, and it’s super convenient for getting to ChangXin.” They added that it’s not just their hotel; all the places around ChangXin are facing a room shortage. “If you want a decent room, you’d better book at least a week, or even more, in advance.”
I checked on Ctrip, and sure enough, the Xinghe Mingyue Hotel, just a kilometer from ChangXin, has zero rooms available for today—and only two light luxury king rooms left for tomorrow, priced around 350 yuan. The Manxin Hotel, a budget option just 1.5 kilometers away, is also completely booked for today.
ChangXin’s headquarters sits at 388 Konggang Xingye Avenue in Hefei’s Economic Development Zone, right next to the Shuofang Road industrial support strip. Along Shuofang Road, you’ll find a mix of restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels, many of which are open 24/7. Locals have nicknamed this area “Changgang CBD,” and it’s the go-to spot for ChangXin employees to eat, shop, and unwind.
For those who don’t know, ChangXin Memory was founded in Hefei back in 2016. It’s the only company in mainland China that can mass-produce DRAM chips on a large scale, covering the whole IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) model from design to manufacturing to packaging. Globally, only four companies—Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and ChangXin—have the full set of capabilities for DRAM R&D, packaging, and testing.
According to market research firm Omdia, the big three—Samsung, Hynix, and Micron—have long controlled over 90% of the global DRAM market. ChangXin is the key domestic player breaking that stranglehold. In the first quarter of 2026, ChangXin’s global DRAM shipment share hit 8%, and its domestic share in server and PC storage has crossed 30%. Its major clients include Alibaba Cloud, ByteDance, Tencent, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Transsion, Honor, OPPO, and vivo.
Looking at ChangXin’s prospectus, the company posted net losses of 83.28 billion yuan in 2022, 163.4 billion in 2023, and 71.45 billion in 2024, totaling over 300 billion yuan in losses. But in 2025, the company turned things around, posting a net profit of 18.75 billion yuan.
In the first quarter of 2026, ChangXin reported revenue of 508 billion yuan—a 719% year-over-year increase—and a net profit of 247.62 billion yuan, up nearly 17 times. According to its projections, from January to June 2026, revenue will be between 1.1 trillion and 1.2 trillion yuan, a growth of 612.53% to 677.31%. Net profit is expected to range from 500 billion to 570 billion yuan, a mind-boggling jump of 2,244.03% to 2,544.19%. That means ChangXin could wipe out all its accumulated losses since inception in just six months.
The company’s announcement shows that the IPO involves issuing 6.688 billion new shares, bringing the total share count to 66.881 billion (before the over-allotment option is exercised). If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the total share count would rise to 67.884 billion.
Thirty investors participated in the IPO’s strategic placement, including national long-term funds (like the National Social Security Fund and basic pension insurance, with 36 product portfolios, plus the State-owned Enterprise Structural Adjustment Fund Phase II), underwriter follow-on investments, employee stock ownership plans, insurance funds, and strategic partners from across the semiconductor supply chain.
The funds raised from this IPO will be funneled into three major projects: upgrading storage production lines, advancing DRAM technology, and developing next-gen HBM high-bandwidth memory. Over 70% of the total raised will go toward equipment purchases and installation, a massive capital expenditure that will drive the expansion of the entire domestic memory supply chain.
Yuan Yuan, ChangXin’s Vice President and Board Secretary, previously mentioned that the company’s fifth-generation technology platform and related products are still in R&D. This platform uses a more refined multi-patterning technique to boost storage density and array performance. The R&D team is actively pushing forward the development of these processes and products.
Mapping out the supply chain, a complete ecosystem has formed around ChangXin, covering upstream equipment and materials, midstream wafer processing, and downstream packaging, testing, and module assembly, along with end-user applications. This ecosystem involves over 30 A-share listed companies. Upstream in semiconductor equipment, you have names like Naura Technology, AMEC, Piotech, and Hwatsing Technology. For electronic materials, players like Yoke Technology, Guanggang Gas, National Silicon Industry Group, and Xingfu Electronics are steady suppliers. Midstream packaging and testing companies include Shenzhen Kaifa Technology, Huatian Technology, and JCET. Downstream memory module and end clients include Jiangsu Lianhuan, Montage Technology, Dawning Information, and Unisplendour. Cloud giants like Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, Xiaomi, and NIO are also deeply tied to ChangXin’s chain through strategic placements.
A research report from Huaxi Securities suggests that ChangXin’s listing will completely rewrite the valuation logic for A-share semiconductor stocks, filling the gap for a pure DRAM manufacturing play. It ends the valuation imbalance where the storage sector had “only design, no manufacturing leaders.” Under a neutral scenario, the company’s stable market cap after listing is expected to be between 2 trillion and 3 trillion yuan, with an optimistic scenario even seeing it hit 4 trillion yuan.
