Moore Threads shares dazzle with fivefold jump in Shanghai debut

Moore Threads Technology surged by more than fivefold in Shanghai, as enthusiastic investors vied to get shares of the Beijing-based semiconductor supplier used in artificial intelligence, helping to mark the second-biggest trading debut in China’s stock market this year.

Moore’s shares began trading at 650 yuan amid a declining market, a 468 per cent jump from their initial public offering (IPO) price of 114.28 yuan. China’s benchmark CSI300 Index slipped 0.1 per cent.

The surge in Moore reflects China’s prioritisation of technology self-sufficiency in a critical five-year plan that outlined the nation’s economic and social development goals through 2030. China is now engaged in a tit-for-tat competition with the US in the tech area from AI large-language models to sophisticated chips and robotics.

Moore raised 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) in the second-largest IPO on the mainland this year. Proceeds from the IPO will finance its next-generation projects in AI and graphics chips and supplement working capital. The offering is only smaller than Huadian New Energy Group’s US$2.7 billion IPO in July.

Dubbed “China’s Nvidia”, Moore had a quick path to the capital market, getting the green light from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in October, a mere four months after its application, compared with the average processing time of about 470 days for last year’s applicants on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR Market).

The company had significant backers. Liang Wenfeng, the founder of the large language model firm DeepSeek and the quantitative hedge fund HighFlyer, was listed as the top institutional investor, having invested 7 million yuan in Moore before its IPO, according to mainland media.