If you thought tech IPOs were having a quiet year, China's semiconductor scene just sent a very loud message. MetaX Integrated Circuits, a Shanghai-based GPU maker, saw its shares soar over 600% in its Wednesday debut on the Star Market, the latest sign that Beijing's drive for chip independence is attracting serious investor enthusiasm.
The Numbers Behind The Surge
MetaX shares opened at 700 yuan (about $99.40) on Wednesday, rocketing 569% above their offer price of 104.66 yuan ($14.86). By last check, they were trading at 792.02 yuan ($112.47). That's the kind of first-day pop that makes IPO investors very happy.
The company raised nearly $600 million through the offering, with a valuation that puts it at 56.4 times its 2024 per-share revenue. Revenue growth has been impressive—up fourfold year-over-year to 1.24 billion yuan ($180 million) during the January-September period, according to the prospectus. The catch? MetaX isn't profitable yet. The company points to heavy R&D spending and Nvidia (NVDA)'s dominant market position as key factors behind its losses.
Founded in 2020 by Chen Weiliang, a former Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) employee, and colleagues, MetaX is betting big on its C600 chip, a general-purpose processor headed for mass production after its July launch. The company is already working on the next-generation C700 product, with IPO proceeds earmarked for high-performance GPU research and development.
Part Of A Larger Wave
MetaX isn't riding this wave alone. Earlier this month, Moore Threads Technology—dubbed "China's Nvidia" by some—saw its shares surge over 500% in its Shanghai debut. That IPO was oversubscribed by more than 4,000 times, underlining the intense appetite for domestic chip plays.
Other Chinese contenders like Enflame Technology and Biren Technology are also jockeying for position in the AI chip market, trying to carve out territory in what was once Nvidia's exclusive playground. Chinese regulators have been greenlighting more semiconductor IPOs as part of the country's broader push toward AI and tech autonomy.
The backdrop here matters. China's semiconductor industry is racing to reduce dependence on U.S. chips, particularly as Beijing plans to restrict access to Nvidia's H200 chips despite President Donald Trump giving the green light for their export to China. It's a complicated dance—regulators want independence, but Chinese companies still want cutting-edge hardware.
Case in point: reports suggest Nvidia is considering ramping up production of H200 AI chips because demand from Chinese clients has outstripped supply. Major players like Alibaba (BABA) and ByteDance have reportedly placed large orders, showing that while domestic alternatives are gaining traction, the hunger for top-tier chips hasn't disappeared.
The message from these blockbuster IPOs? China's semiconductor ambitions are real, investor enthusiasm is strong, and the race to build a homegrown chip ecosystem is heating up fast.