Chinese chipmaker Moore Threads shares soars 502% after $1.1 billion IPO

Cambricon Technologies Corp plans to more than triple its production of AI chips in 2026, aiming to wrest market share from Huawei Technologies Co. in China and fill a void left by Nvidia Corp.’s forced exit. The Beijing-based company is preparing to deliver half a million artificial intelligence accelerators in 2026, people familiar with the matter said.

That includes as many as 300,000 units of its most advanced Siyuan 590 and 690 chips, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private targets. The company will rely primarily on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.’s latest production process, known as “N+2” 7-nanometer, the people said.

The ramp-up at Cambricon underscores the rapid ascent of Chinese chipmakers after Beijing began actively discouraging the use of Nvidia’s product this year, part of a longer-term effort to wean the country off US technology. Huawei is also preparing to double the output of its most advanced artificial intelligence chips over the next year. And up-and-comer Moore Threads Technology Co. debuts Friday in Shanghai, showcasing its own ambitions to carve out a slice of the market.

Cambricon’s shares rose 2.8% in Shanghai, extending its gains just before the market closed Thursday. SMIC’s stock rose 3.9% in Hong Kong, while rival Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. climbed 3.1%.

Nvidia boss Jensen Huang said in November that his company is effectively blocked from China, which would spur the rise of more domestic competition from the likes of Huawei. And while the Trump administration is considering a plan to allow the sale of its H200 cards, there’s no guarantee Beijing won’t also hinder its adoption.

Few companies have benefited as visibly from that situation as Cambricon, which reported a 14-fold surge in its revenue in the September quarter — and a nine-fold leap in market value since 2021. It’s now on track to win new orders from some of China’s biggest AI spenders, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in the coming years, the people said. The chip designer already counts ByteDance Ltd. as a primary customer, which accounts for more than 50% of all Cambricon’s orders right now, the people said.

Alibaba, ByteDance, Cambricon and SMIC representatives did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Whether Cambricon will hit those targets depends in large part on not just the pace of AI development, but also its ability to secure capacity at SMIC — at a time Huawei and other rivals are also vying to place orders with China’s most advanced chipmaker.

For context, Cambricon will build just 142,000 AI chips this year, Goldman Sachs estimates. SMIC’s own technology may prove an obstacle. When it comes to Cambricon’s top-of-the-line 590 and 690 chips, the company is, for now, managing yields of just 20%, the people said.

That means about 4 out of 5 silicon dies — the basic components of a full chipset — are considered flawed and unusable. The top global contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., now has an estimated yield of at least 60% with its latest 2-nanometer process, which is three generations or seven years ahead of SMIC’s technology, according to some analysts.

Another potential bottleneck is the supply of the high-bandwidth memory chips required to make AI accelerators. That technology remains a challenge for Chinese companies, which is why Huawei’s latest 910C AI accelerators still rely on memory chips from SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

Chinese tech shares climbed as hopes of policy action lifted sentiment. The tech-heavy ChiNext ended 3.6% higher at 3171.57, with AI chip designer Cambricon Technologies surging 9.0% and China's largest chip maker, SMIC, advancing 4.5%. The readout of China's recently concluded fourth plenum signals a continuation of current policy directions, with an emphasis on technology and innovation. "The focus is on 'high-level self-reliance'--spanning semiconductors, AI, clean energy, and industrial automation--a clear sign that policy-led innovation remains Beijing's priority," writes Saxo's Charu Chanana. The chief investment strategist says the next catalyst will be earnings delivery--whether companies can turn policy momentum into profits. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

Net profit reached ¥1.60 billion for the first nine months, reversing last year’s loss, with revenue up 2,386% to ¥4.61 billion. Major capital was raised via a targeted share issuance, and R&D investment remained strong.

Original document: Cambricon Technologies Corp. Ltd. Class A [688256] Interim report — Oct. 18 2025

The recent rally in Hong Kong technology stocks could turn into a slow bull, CGS International analyst Edith Qian says in a research note. Southbound flow has been a driving force in September, they say. Stocks with exposure to AI chips trade are at far more reasonable valuations than the A-share chips names, such as Cambricon Technologies, Qian says. Markets await further catalysts from China's Fourth Plenum meeting in October, when they're expected to discuss its next five-year plan, the analyst says. CGSI expects more details on plans to boost the contribution of domestic household consumption to GDP growth as well as its crackdown on excess competition in some industries. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)

By Sherry Qin

Shares of Chinese analog chip vendors rose sharply after Beijing launched probes into the U.S. semiconductor sector, boosting hopes for local chip makers to gain market share.

Shares of SG Micro, a Beijing-based analog chip designer, surged by the 20% daily trading limit in Shenzhen on Monday. 3Peak, another Chinese analog chip maker, rose 10% in Shanghai. OmniVision Integrated Circuits Group gained 1.9% and Suzhou Novosense Microelectronics increased 11%.

China announced Saturday that it had launched two probes into the U.S. semiconductor sector, one targeting American analog chips for alleged dumping and the other concerning broader U.S. discrimination against the Chinese chip sector.

The probes are deemed to be retaliatory moves, as the U.S. recently blacklisted 23 more Chinese firms on national-security concerns.

Citi analysts said that the probes bode well for Chinese analog chip makers. China's analog localization remains low, with the domestic market accounting for only 10%-15% of Chinese companies' global revenue share. And as China strengthens its localization resolve, "market-share gain by domestic vendors over the coming years" will be likely, the analysts said in a research note.

Citi opened an upside 90-day catalyst watch on OmniVision and SG Micro, as China could impose tariffs on U.S. analog integrated circuits or restrictive measures on U.S. chip usage.

Despite the sharp gains in analog chip makers, broader semiconductor stocks ended mixed on Monday. SMIC, China's largest chip maker, edged 0.2% higher in Shanghai and artificial-intelligence chip designer Cambricon Technologies ended 3.2% lower.

Given the recent rallies amid Beijing's increasing efforts to localize chip production, Chinese chip stocks have likely priced in the positive developments.

Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com

By Sherry Qin

Chinese AI hardware stocks regained momentum after software giant Oracle's multibillion-dollar contract wins proved to investors that demand for AI-driven cloud computing remains high, easing concerns about tech companies' expensive valuations.

AI chip designer Cambricon Technologies, viewed as a potential future challenger to Nvidia, shot as much as 13% higher in Shanghai, while Chinese contract chip maker SMIC climbed by up to 8.6%. Fellow chip developer Hygon Information Technology surged by its daily permissible limit of 20%.

Thursday's strong, broad gains by semiconductor players reversed the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index's early losses, pushing it 1.65% higher. The Nasdaq-like ChiNext Price Index surged 5.15%, closing above 3000 for the first time since January 2022.

The advances came after database software provider Oracle said it won four multibillion-dollar contracts in its latest quarter and has $455 billion in outstanding contract revenue that it expects to collect for the latest quarter that ended in August.

Without mentioning all of the company's big-name customers, Chief Executive Safra Catz in the postearnings call said Oracle had signed "significant cloud contracts with the who's who of AI, including OpenAI, xAI, Meta, Nvidia, AMD and many others."

The U.S. tech titan's nearly half a trillion dollars in contracts has "stunned the market," Morningstar analyst Phelix Lee said.

"Oracle's blockbuster AI backlog reset the bar for global compute demand higher," Saxo chief investment strategist Charu Chanana said. "And Asia's hardware ecosystem quickly caught the updraft as a signaling effect."

Chinese stocks, especially tech hardware shares, had pulled back last week after posting big gains in August amid China's AI push and drive to produce chips locally. Analysts had previously voiced concerns about Chinese AI-related companies' stretched valuations and the speed of the rally that could alarm regulators.

The slump proved temporary, with Oracle's massive AI deals reviving market sentiment and giving Chinese investors another dose of confidence.

Morningstar's Lee said Oracle's emphasis on "AI inference" could have particularly excited the market, as the process of using a trained AI model to generate content represents real-life applications of the technology.

Global markets have also been seeking validation that the AI boom isn't turning into a bubble.

When U.S. tech leaders like Oracle and Nvidia show AI demand is surging, "it validates the case for Beijing to double down on its own compute capacity," Chanana of Saxo said.

As a result, "investors rush into local suppliers like Hygon or Cambricon as the best proxies," she said.

Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com