AI chipmaker Cambricon briefly overtakes Moutai as China's most valuable stock

Chinese AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies briefly surpassed liquor giant Kweichow Moutai to become the country's most valuable onshore stock, highlighting the shifting drivers of China's economic growth, analysts said.

On Wednesday, Cambricon's shares jumped nearly 10 percent in intraday trading to 1,461 yuan ($204) apiece, overtaking Moutai to claim the title of "stock king". The stock later closed at 1,372.1 yuan, up 3.24 percent from the previous day.

The rally underscores growing momentum in China's domestic AI chip industry. Cinda Securities noted in a recent report that the domestic AI chip industrial chain is "poised to seize a strategic opportunity".

As one of the country's leading AI chipmakers, Cambricon designs terminal processors as well as cloud and edge AI accelerator chips and cards, which are used in servers, data centers and other applications.

The company's half-year earnings report, released on Tuesday, showed revenue of 2.88 billion yuan in the first six months of 2025 — a year-on-year surge of more than 4,300 percent. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 1.04 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 533 million yuan a year earlier, marking a strong turnaround.

China's State Council on Tuesday unveiled guidelines for implementing the "AI Plus" initiative, which aims to deeply integrate artificial intelligence into six key sectors by 2027. The plan targets an adoption rate of over 70 percent for next-generation smart terminals and intelligent agents.

Despite Cambricon's surge, Chinese equities broadly declined on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 1.76 percent to 3,800.35 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.43 percent lower at 12,295.07.