CXMT profit surge sends China chip stocks higher

Chinese memory chip stocks rose on May 18 after Hefei-based DRAM maker ChangXin Memory Technologies posted stronger first-quarter results and raised its first-half 2026 forecast in an updated listing prospectus.

CXMT said first-quarter revenue rose 719% year on year to 50.8 billion yuan or US$7.4 billion and net profit reached 33 billion yuan (US$4.85 billion) from a 2.8 billion yuan (US$416 million) loss a year earlier.

The company forecast first-half 2026 revenue of 110 billion yuan (US$16.2 billion) to 120 billion yuan (US$17.6 billion), compared with 15.4 billion yuan (US$2.27 billion) a year earlier.

It also expects net profit of 66 billion yuan (US$9.7 billion) to 75 billion yuan (US$11 billion), versus losses in the same period last year.

CXMT said higher DRAM prices, stronger sales volumes.

A better product mix drove the jump while Shanghai-listed GigaDevice rose 6.57% and Biwin Storage gained 8.10%.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

CXMT’s financial gains hinge on tech progress and geopolitics

A better product mix likely means CXMT is selling more advanced DRAM, including its 16-nanometer 16-gigabit DDR5 generation 1. The sources do not back claims that its 16nm DDR5 and LPDDR5X chips are in mass production or already used in high-end Huawei phones. They only describe DDR5 progress or availability, and discuss Huawei separately in relation to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) stockpiles and proprietary HBM plans 1 2 3.
Sales strength is reaching beyond China. With supply still tight, HP is evaluating memory purchases from CXMT 4.
CXMT also appears to have moved forward with stockpiled foreign equipment. One analysis says the company has stayed off the BIS Entity List, a US trade blacklist run by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), amid political and economic pressure involving Japanese equipment makers. The source does not support the narrower claim that Japanese tool suppliers lobbied for that result 2.

CXMT’s rise points to a more split and competitive memory market

That growth puts pressure on Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron in China, which imported US$78.9 billion in memory chips in 2023 1.
Still, CXMT remains limited in the AI memory business with the richest margins. One analysis says it is making second-generation HBM and trying to close the gap to about three to four years behind SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. Accessible sources do not back claims of an HBM3 mass-production plan for 2026 2.
This could create a two-track market. Chinese firms such as Huawei may gain a steadier supply chain, while established memory makers face more price pressure and faster product cycles as they defend their lead 5.