Enflame shares soar 179% in Shanghai debut as Nvidia challenger taps investor fever for AI
Tencent-backed company valued at US$25 billion, highlighting its role in Beijing’s push for domestic chips amid US export restrictions
Enflame Technology, one of the major challengers to Nvidia in China, saw its share price surge 179 per cent in its Shanghai trading debut on Friday, giving the Tencent Holdings-backed artificial intelligence chipmaker a market capitalisation of 170.9 billion yuan (US$25.5 billion).
The Shanghai-based company opened at 410 yuan, up from its issue price of 142.18 yuan. It surged as much as 234 per cent to 475 yuan during the day, before closing at 397 yuan. The performance reflects continued investor appetite for domestic AI chip champions, with Enflame being the last of China’s “four little dragons” in the sector to go public.
Enflame’s gains stood out against the broader market on Friday. The Star 50 Index fell 1 per cent, while the benchmark CSI 300 Index dropped 0.8 per cent.
Enflame raised about 6.12 billion yuan by selling 43.04 million shares. The offering valued the firm at about 61 billion yuan before trading began, making it one of the largest tech listings in mainland China this year.