Chinese chip manufacturer shares soar in trading debut

MetaX Integrated Circuits soared on its trading debut in Shanghai, reports the South China Morning Post. This is the second producer of graphics processing units (GPUs) to go public this month amid optimism about China’s push for self-sufficiency in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

The shares of the Shanghai-based company began trading at RMB 700 on 17 December on the technology-heavy Star Market, surging 569% from their offer price of RMB 104.66. That made the five-year-old company the fourth-best trading debut in Shanghai’s stock market this year.

The frenzy for MetaX underscores investors’ reaction to China’s ambitions in using domestically made chips to replace imports for powering AI applications and services, even after the US government relaxed some of the export restrictions on Nvidia. Less than two weeks ago, Moore Threads Technology, a local rival of MetaX that has been dubbed “China’s little Nvidia,” soared 425% on its Shanghai trading debut.