Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits saw its shares surge by over 600% in its blockbuster debut on Wednesday in Shanghai.
IPO Buzz Despite Losses
Shares of the Shanghai-based firm began trading at 700 yuan ($99.40) on Wednesday on the tech-focused Star Market, jumping 569% from their offer price of 104.66 yuan ($14.86). It was trading at 792.02 yuan ($112.47) at last check.
This surge follows the company’s successful initial public offering (IPO), which raised nearly $600 million. The IPO values the company at 56.4 times its 2024 per-share revenue. MetaX's revenue has surged fourfold year over year to 1.24 billion yuan ($180 million) during the January–September period, as per the prospectus. However, the company has yet to turn a profit, attributing its loss to substantial R&D expenditures and Nvidia‘s (NASDAQ:NVDA) GPU market monopoly.
MetaX, founded in 2020 by former Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) employee Chen Weiliang and others, plans to allocate its IPO funds to high-performance GPU research and development. The company’s C600 chip, its primary general-purpose processor, is set for mass production following its July launch, with the next-generation C700 product currently in development.
China's GPU IPO Boom Gains Momentum
MetaX’s debut is part of a larger trend in China’s semiconductor industry. Earlier this month, Moore Threads Technology, known as “China’s Nvidia,” saw its shares surge by over 500% during its Shanghai IPO. This surge followed a robust response to the IPO, which was oversubscribed by more than 4,000 times.
Other emerging Chinese players in the AI sector, such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology, are also vying for a portion of the GPU market, no longer dominated by Nvidia. As part of its push for greater AI autonomy, Chinese regulators have been approving more semiconductor IPOs.
China’s semiconductor industry has been experiencing significant growth, with companies like MetaX and Moore Threads Technology aiming to reduce the country’s reliance on U.S. chips. This push for greater independence comes in response to Beijing’s plans to restrict access to Nvidia’s H200 chips, despite the green light from President Donald Trump for their export to China.
But reports suggested that Nvidia is considering boosting production of its H200 AI chips after demand from Chinese clients outpaced supply, with Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and ByteDance among those placing large orders.
READ NEXT:
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
