Shares of Moore Threads, a Beijing-based graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer also known as “China’s Nvidia,” surged more than 400 percent on its debut in Shanghai after its $1.1 billion IPO.
Currently, the stocks are trading at 584.98 yuan, almost five times their IPO price of 114.28 yuan. Moore Threads’ IPO was headed by CITIC Securities, which operated as the lead underwriter for the offering.
However, BOC International Securities, China Merchants Securities, and GF Securities were the joint bookrunners on the deal.
The firm is yet to be profitable and, in its listing, stated that IPO proceeds are required to speed up various core research and development projects, including new-generation self-developed AI training and inference GPU chips.
A part of the funds will also be utilized to supplement working capital. The successful IPO of Moore Thread is in contrast to the company being put under U.S. sanctions in 2023, restricting its supply to sophisticated chip production processes and foundries.
The company stands among a rising number of Chinese firms creating AI processors in the face of Beijing’s attempts to reduce its dependence on American chip manufacturer Nvidia.
Other players in the field include tech giants such as Huawei and more specialized companies such as Cambricon, a company whose shares have shot up in Shanghai by more than 100 percent this year.
Washington has continued to impose different export restrictions on Nvidia over the years, which prevent it from selling its most advanced AI chips to China.
Beijing has more recently imposed limitations on imports of Nvidia chips, as it attempts to promote domestic substitutes such as Moore Threads.
More recent entrants such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology have also entered the space, hoping to take up a share of the billions of GPUs that are no longer being pursued by Nvidia.
Thus, the Chinese regulators are also clearing more semiconductor IPOs in their pursuit of increased AI independence.
