Moore Threads, China's answer to NVIDIA, surges 500% on debut
What's the story
Moore Threads Technology Co., a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chip maker, has made an explosive stock market debut. The company's shares skyrocketed by as much as 502% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 114.28 yuan per share. If the gains hold, it will be the biggest first-day surge for a Chinese IPO over $1 billion since 2019 reforms, Bloomberg data showed.
IPO success
Moore Threads' IPO oversubscribed 4,000 times
Moore Threads' IPO has been a resounding success, with bids exceeding a whopping $4.5 trillion. This amount is higher than the total market cap of NVIDIA, the world's most valuable company at present. The shares on offer were oversubscribed more than 4,000 times during the public offering period.
Market conditions
Moore Threads' debut amid US chip export restrictions
Moore Threads' stock market debut comes at a time when US legislators have introduced a Secure and Feasible Exports Act. If passed, the law would require the Commerce Ministry to suspend export licenses for chip sales to adversaries like China and Russia for at least 30 months. The regulation would apply not only to NVIDIA but also other chipmakers like AMD and Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company.
Company history
Moore Threads' journey and challenges
Founded in 2020 by former NVIDIA China head James Zhang Jianzhong, Moore Threads has already launched four generations of architecture in its short history. Despite being on the US "entity list" since 2022, which restricts importing western technology, the company has grown under Zhang's leadership and with help from other ex-AMD engineers.
Financials
Moore Threads' financial performance and early backers
Despite its rapid growth, Moore Threads remains unprofitable, reporting a net loss of $271 million in the first half of 2025. The company has been backed by tech giants like Tencent and ByteDance as well as venture capital firms such as GGV Capital and Sequoia China.