Memory chip stocks fell on Tuesday after China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, said it had made progress on new designs. Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics all dropped, and CXMT's share of the global DRAM market has risen to around 10%.
Chip stocks sank on Tuesday after a Chinese memory chipmaker said it had made significant progress in developing new and more efficient designs. CXMT announced over the weekend that it had made headway on new architecture that will increase memory density by packing more data into a smaller space.
Rivals tumble across Asia and the US
CXMT is China's leading rival to Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung. Micron sank 5% on Tuesday, while SK Hynix's South Korean-listed shares closed 10% lower and Samsung Electronics fell 7.4%. SanDisk, Seagate and Western Digital also fell.
CXMT reportedly plans to roll out a new server-memory product based on new cell architecture by the end of 2026. The new design is based on 4F square tech, which SK Hynix is also pursuing, and SK Hynix presented a roadmap for it in 2025.
From July IPO to a $520 billion valuation
Until its July listing, CXMT was little known outside its home market. The company soared nearly 466% in its debut on Shanghai's STAR Market, making it the most valuable China-listed company at the time.
Shares have since declined by 4% from the IPO-day price of 49 yuan, but CXMT keeps a market cap of 3.46 trillion Chinese yuan ($520 billion), not far off Tencent's 3.87 trillion yuan.
Market share gains despite export controls
CXMT's share of the global DRAM market has risen to around 10%, up from about 4% a year ago, according to an HSBC note from Thursday. Huge domestic demand supports the company, yet U.S. export controls have effectively barred chipmaking equipment, including ASML's EUV lithography machines, from China.
Analysts often see CXMT as trailing global competitors at the frontier of memory development, so news of breakthroughs can significantly affect investor perception of rivals' market advantages.
Source: CNBC
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