{
  "id": 6867671,
  "title": "China’s CXMT Tops Memory Profitability With 82% Margin",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/11/chinas-cxmt-tops-memory-profitability-with-82-margin",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-11T12:35:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BusinessKorea",
    "slug": "businesskorea",
    "url": "https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=276741"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a groundbreaking shift, China's ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has emerged as the top performer in the global memory semiconductor market, boasting an astonishing 82% operating profit margin. This marks a remarkable turnaround for the company, which had suffered a 29 billion yen loss in the previous year and has now turned profitable. CXMT's revenue surged tenfold year-over-year, reaching 2.3 trillion yen, and marking the most significant growth among the six major memory companies.\n\nThe surge in CXMT's profitability can be attributed to the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which has led to a structural shift in the market. Established players like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have shifted their focus to high-value-added products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), leaving traditional DRAM, including DDR5, more susceptible to market fluctuations. As DDR5 prices soared, CXMT's conventional DRAM offerings became increasingly profitable. Unlike HBM, which is supplied under annual contracts with less sensitivity to spot-market fluctuations, CXMT's main product, DDR5, is directly linked to prevailing market prices.\n\nTaiwan-based market research firm TrendForce observed that DDR5 profitability began to surpass that of HBM in the first quarter of the year. Industry analysts suggest that companies with a higher share of conventional DRAM sales are better positioned to capitalize on the current price uptrend. To further bolster their position, CXMT is leveraging the cash it generates by expanding production capacity. In the first half of the year, the company reported a surplus of approximately 2.2 trillion yen in free cash flow (FCF) and is investing in its factory in Hefei, Anhui Province, as well as constructing a new facility in Shanghai.\n\nChinese technology giants, such as Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, are providing strong domestic demand for CXMT's products, driven by their priority on locally produced chips. Additionally, favorable capital market sentiment has propelled CXMT's market capitalization to approximately 87 trillion yen, making it the largest company on China's stock market and surpassing Tencent. With a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio nearing 20 times, CXMT is attracting stronger growth expectations compared to its Korean and Japanese counterparts, whose P/E ratios remain in the single digits.\n\nThe Chinese memory industry, led by CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) in NAND flash memory, is building a broader competitive front. The two companies are collaborating to develop next-generation HBM, while the Chinese government is channeling substantial funding through its \"Big Fund.\" State-level backing remains robust, with local governments and government funds owning more than half of CXMT's shares. Although CXMT currently holds around 7% of the global DRAM market, the potential for Chinese companies to pose a formidable threat to the existing market order cannot be overlooked. As observed in the electric vehicle battery and consumer electronics sectors, Chinese companies could use profits from conventional products to fund aggressive capacity expansion and secure an even larger share of the market.",
  "summary": "An unprecedented reversal has taken place in the profitability rankings of the global memory semiconductor market. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s largest DRAM manufacturer, recorded an operating profit margin of 82% in the second quarter of this year, overtaking established players inc",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}