China’s CXMT begins book-building for $4.3B STAR Market IPO

South Korean memory-chip giants are under pressure as China's largest DRAM manufacturer prepares for a landmark public offering, fueling a rotation of investor capital toward Chinese semiconductor names.

A Tale of Two Listings

SK Hynix shares tumbled more than 15% in Seoul on Monday after the chipmaker's blockbuster Nasdaq debut just days earlier, according to CNBC. The company raised $26.5 billion through its U.S. listing on July 10, pricing American Depositary Receipts at $149 each in what marked the largest foreign stock offering in U.S. history. Yet the euphoria was short-lived — shares in Seoul suffered a record single-day drop as investors questioned whether the AI-driven rally had become overstretched.cnbc+3

Samsung Electronics has also been caught in the downdraft, with memory stocks broadly entering bear-market territory. Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron ↘ 2.22%, and the Roundhill Memory ETF are all down more than 20% from recent closing highs, according to Yahoo Finance, turning one of 2026's hottest trades into a bear market.finance.yahoo

China's DRAM Champion Steps Forward

Against this backdrop, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is entering the final stage of its closely watched IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market. The company began book-building on July 15, with investor subscriptions opening July 16 and listing expected around July 24, according to Reuters. CXMT plans to raise 29.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion), which would make it the largest IPO the tech-focused exchange has ever seen after SMIC's 2020 offering.kucoin+3

The STAR 50 index surged 4.5% last week as memory-chip-related stocks hit limit-up on excitement around the CXMT supply chain. Shanghai's STAR Board gained 8.41% on July 8 alone, led by semiconductor names. The frenzy stands in contrast to the Kospi, which has been dragged lower by the selloff in Korean chip stocks.pandaperspectives.substack+1

Competitive Threat Crystallizes

CXMT held a 7.67% share of the global DRAM market in the fourth quarter of 2025, ranking it fourth globally, according to market research firm Omdia. Bloomberg described the company as "launching the country's biggest initial public offering of 2026" as it seeks to challenge Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Its estimated post-listing valuation of up to 300 billion yuan would make it the second-largest company on the STAR Market.douglasresearch.substack+2

The simultaneous listing activity — SK Hynix's record U.S. offering and CXMT's imminent Shanghai debut — has underscored a growing bifurcation in the global semiconductor landscape, with Chinese state-backed champions gaining ground even as their Korean and American rivals face a sharp correction.