Cambricon posts 108% surge in first-half revenue amid China’s massive AI chip drive

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chip company Cambricon Technologies announced a staggering 108% increase in first-half revenue, reaching 6 billion yuan (US$890 million) for the six months ending in June. This surge in revenue has been driven by a massive domestic push in China to replace foreign AI hardware. The company's profit also jumped 122.6% year on year to 2.3 billion yuan.

In the second quarter alone, the firm reported revenue of 3.1 billion yuan, matching the consensus estimate of 3 billion yuan. Cambricon attributes its revenue growth to a growing demand for AI computing power.

The Chinese government's ambitious push for tech self-sufficiency is fuelling a boom in the AI chip sector, with Beijing's sweeping infrastructure buildout creating a market vacuum that domestic designers are eager to fill. US export controls have largely cut off China's access to advanced AI accelerators from companies like Nvidia, prompting domestic firms to step in.

Cambricon's stock saw a 2.7% rise to nearly 1,200 yuan ahead of the earnings release, making it the most valuable tech-focused stock on Shanghai's STAR market until July when it was surpassed by ChangXin Memory Technologies. The company has set an ambitious target of generating over 100 billion yuan in revenue over the next three years, representing a nearly 20-fold increase from its previous plan.

This growth is also being felt across the domestic AI chip sector, with Beijing-based Moore Threads expecting a 149% year-on-year revenue increase to 1.75 billion yuan and Hygon Information Technology forecasting up to 9.3 billion yuan, a 70% year-on-year rise. However, analysts warn of mounting challenges ahead for Cambricon, citing potential intensification of competition from peers launching new products in the second half of 2026, which will test the company's relative performance and price-to-performance positioning.