Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Hwatsing Technology Co. Ltd. booked a blistering Shanghai STAR Market IPO debut on Wednesday amid a Covid-induced global shortage of microchips, reports Caixin. The Tianjin-based firm’s shares surged 72% in early trading, but gave back some of those gains over the course of the day to close up 64% at RMB 224.1 ($33.5), valuing Hwatsing at about RMB 23.9 billion.
The strong landing contrasted with other chipmaking industry debuts which have slumped recently, such as ASR Microelectronics which dropped 33.75% on its first trading day in mid-January. Investors who spoke to Caixin put that down to Hwatsing’s profitability, sound fundamentals, and its competitive edge in 12-inch wafer polishing.
The firm, which makes chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) machines, raised about RMB 3.6 billion by issuing 26.7 million shares through the IPO. That’s more than three times its original target to raise RMB 1 billion. CMP machines are used to flatten a wafer’s front surface for adding the next layer of circuit features.
