SHANGHAI: MetaX Integrated Circuits shares jumped 700 per cent on their market debut yesterday as investors sought to benefit from a government push to reduce reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) chips from United States majors Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Founded by former AMD executive Chen Weiliang, MetaX raised roughly US$600 million in an initial public offering (IPO) last week, days after bigger rival Moore Threads made its debut with a 400 per cent pop.
MetaX shares opened at 700 yuan apiece in Shanghai versus an IPO price of 104.66 yuan, before surging as far as 895 yuan in early trade, stirring persistent AI bubble concern.
“It’s another IPO tale in China that turns a crow into a phoenix,” said fund manager Yang Tingwu at Tongheng Investment.
The price surge “creates huge arbitrage opportunities” for pre-IPO investors, Yang said, and “we’re likely witnessing the stock’s peak level for the next five years”.
Makers of AI chips are rushing to sell shares to capitalise on interest generated by a government drive to boost local production in competition with the US.
“AI and semiconductors are key areas of competition in the Sino-US tech rivalry,” Guotai Haitong Securities said in a report ahead of MetaX’s listing.
“Against the backdrop of geopolitical tension, AI chipmaking has huge growth potential” as China seeks to achieve self-sufficiency.
Researcher Frost & Sullivan forecast China AI chip sales to top US$189 billion by 2029 versus US$54 billion in 2026.
MetaX, which makes graphics processing units, raised 4.2 billion yuan last week in a share sale that was more than 4,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors.
The IPO priced the money-losing startup at 50 times its 2024 sales, compared with a multiple of 34 for Nvidia and 14 for AMD, MetaX said in a pre-listing statement.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
