During the recent trading week (August 17-21), the A-share market initially rallied then retreated, with major indices declining for three straight days after Monday's surge before stabilizing on Friday. Fewer than 1,800 stocks posted gains this week, down from the previous week, while over 3,600 declined, testing the resilience of the earlier rebound. However, Friday's trading showed a more balanced distribution of gains and losses, suggesting a new equilibrium between bulls and bears, potentially signaling a phase of repeated adjustment and consolidation before the market picks a direction.
Going forward, fundamental verification and news flow will be pivotal in determining the A-share market's direction. First, next week marks the tail end of the interim earnings reporting window. Beyond the heavyweight blue-chip results taking center stage, earnings validation for stocks in hot sectors—especially previously speculated concept stocks—will draw significant attention. Second, as the market reaches a new balance, major news triggering substantial expectation shifts could serve as a crucial emotional catalyst for a directional breakout.
Yangtze Memory's IPO Filing Shakes the Market
Over the weekend, major IPO news emerged: Yangtze Memory Technologies has had its STAR Market listing application accepted. Following the listings of CXMT Corporation and Unitree Robotics, Yangtze Memory's IPO process as the next mega-listing is now a focal point for market observers. According to its prospectus, the company plans to issue no fewer than 1.98 billion shares and no more than 2.43 billion shares, representing 10% to 12% of post-issuance total share capital, with an over-allotment option available. CITIC Securities and CSC Financial will serve as joint sponsors and lead underwriters.
The IPO proceeds, after deducting issuance costs, will be allocated to two projects, with total planned use of 33 billion yuan. Financially, the company posted 63.185 billion yuan in revenue for 2025, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 14.211 billion yuan. In the first quarter of 2026, Yangtze Memory recorded 47.042 billion yuan in revenue and 33.379 billion yuan in net profit—averaging over 10 billion yuan per month. The single quarter's net profit already reached approximately 2.35 times the full-year 2025 figure.
What drives Yangtze Memory's exceptional profitability? The prospectus reveals it is a semiconductor memory IDM enterprise integrating chip design, wafer fabrication, packaging, testing, and system solutions. Its primary product is NAND Flash, used in enterprise servers, data centers, and consumer electronics. Citing TrendForce data, Yangtze Memory ranked third globally and first in China among NAND Flash manufacturers in Q1 2026, by both sales value and shipment volume.
Yangtze Memory and CXMT Corporation are often jointly referred to as the "memory duo," and both saw explosive profit growth in Q1. Yangtze Memory's performance even surpassed CXMT Corporation's 24.762 billion yuan. Consequently, market expectations for Yangtze Memory's listing often draw parallels to CXMT Corporation, particularly regarding capital market impact and valuation. On the capital impact front, references to earlier analyses of CXMT Corporation's listing effects suggest that, given Yangtze Memory's filing is still in the acceptance stage, any impact remains largely at the expectation level.
Regarding valuation, Yangtze Memory's earnings data has sparked chatter across investment circles, with many saying: "If CXMT is worth 3 trillion yuan, Yangtze Memory should start at 3 trillion too." While this sounds exciting, a reality check is warranted. Breaking down the Q1 data, the core driver of surging profits is price increases, not volume doubling. Behind this lies the AI-driven storage super-cycle—explosive demand from CSPs for enterprise-grade SSDs in AI servers, plus structural HDD shortages shifting orders to QLC enterprise SSDs, while major suppliers add almost no new capacity in 2026. Goldman Sachs' assessment is blunt: the global storage market faces its most severe supply shortage in 15 years, with NAND prices projected to rise 200%-250% annually, and the shortage lasting at least through 2027.
Thus, Yangtze Memory's 33.379 billion yuan quarterly profit represents a peak under the triple confluence of one-way AI demand growth, near-frozen supply, and domestic substitution premiums. It cannot be linearly extrapolated, nor can it be annualized by simply multiplying by four for valuation purposes. Once supply releases and prices correct in 2027-2028, a return to normal profit margins is highly probable. Additionally, regardless of conventional or super-cycle metrics, the DRAM segment represented by CXMT Corporation is larger than the NAND segment of Yangtze Memory. At the same 7%-8% market share, DRAM's billion-scale quarterly market size offers a naturally larger revenue pool than NAND, which faces more fragmented competition and greater challenges to profit resilience and sustainability.
Considering these factors, mainstream institutional consensus currently places Yangtze Memory's reasonable market capitalization range at 500 billion to 800 billion yuan. A valuation above 3 trillion yuan is not a "fair value" but rather a theoretical ceiling requiring multiple low-probability events to coincide.
Key Shareholders and Beneficiaries
Turning to stocks that could benefit from Yangtze Memory's listing, its shareholder roster reads like a who's who of state-backed entities. Pre-issuance, Hubei Changsheng holds 26.54% as the largest shareholder; Xinfei Technology holds 25.35%; the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase I and II hold 11.97% and 11.38%, respectively; and Guanggu Industrial Investment and Guoxin Fund hold 9.25% and 5.9%.
Among institutional investors, banking entities stand out prominently. Investment arms or platforms of the five major banks (ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and BoCom) hold direct stakes, jointly ranking as the ninth-largest shareholder. The China Development Bank holds indirect stakes through both Big Fund phases, making it the largest licensed financial institution by shareholding. China Merchants Bank also participates indirectly through private equity fund products.
Securities firms are also well represented. Beyond sponsors CITIC Securities and CSC Financial, multiple brokers hold indirect stakes. Huaan Securities holds the largest indirect position among peers, with its private equity subsidiary Huaan Jiaye estimated to hold nearly 15 million shares. Additionally, Guosen Securities, Guotai Haitong, and China Merchants Securities have positioned themselves, alongside investment arms of E Fund and China Post Life Insurance.
Weekend Developments: Tariffs, Oil, AI, and More
Several other significant developments unfolded over the weekend. On August 22, Canadian Prime Minister Carney delivered a national address outlining Canada's stance following the breakdown of Canada-U.S. trade talks. Carney announced that, given the U.S. 50% tariff on 20 billion U.S. dollars of Canadian goods, Canada's equivalent retaliatory tariffs would take effect on September 8. These counter-tariffs will cover dairy, steel, appliances, pulp and paper, and electronics. This follows the U.S. imposition of 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods, effective 00:01 ET on August 22. Separately, Brazilian President Lula spoke with U.S. President Trump on August 21, opposing recent U.S. tariff hikes on Brazilian products.
In energy news, U.S. media reported on August 22, citing three U.S. officials, that approximately 40 oil tankers passed through the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz on the night of August 21, exporting about 16 million barrels of crude. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Rezaei stated on August 22 that Iran has told countries worldwide not to join the U.S. in an economic war against it, adding that any nation participating in economic restrictions against Iran would be considered an enemy.
In the computing power sector, a major boost arrived on August 22 at the 2026 Green Computing Power (AI) Conference in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Hohhot and Ulanqab signed 13 projects with leading companies including Volcano Engine and Cambricon, with total investment reaching 136.1 billion yuan. The signed projects span chip testing, equipment manufacturing, computing centers, and token factories. At the opening ceremony, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology released the "Green Computing Power Development Research Report (2026)," noting the accelerated formation of a national integrated computing network. Large-model-driven token economy is surging, with daily token calls in China jumping from approximately 100 billion in early 2024 to about 140 trillion by March 2026—a growth of over a thousandfold.
In AI pricing news, several U.S. AI companies have cut prices amid intensifying competition. OpenAI announced on August 21 that it would reduce benchmark pricing for its frontier model GPT-5.6 Sol for developers by over 20%, with the adjusted promotional price valid for three months. Late last month, OpenAI also cut prices on other models—20% for mid-tier models and 80% for low-cost models. Separately, Google released Gemini 3.7 Flash with pricing roughly half that of its predecessor.
In robotics, the Second World Humanoid Robot Games opened on the evening of August 22 at the National Speed Skating Oval "Ice Ribbon." In the 100-meter preliminaries, a robot from Team Tianzhu clocked 9.39 seconds, breaking the previous games record and surpassing Usain Bolt's human world record of 9.58 seconds.
Upcoming Week's Key Events
Looking ahead to next week: On Monday, August 24, the 2026 Wenchang International Aerospace Forum runs from August 24-26, with earnings from Pinduoduo, XPeng, and Leapmotor. On Tuesday, August 25, a State Council Information Office press conference will discuss the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade. On Wednesday, August 26, AGIC 2026 Shenzhen General AI Exhibition runs from August 26-28. On Thursday, August 27, China's July industrial enterprise profit data will be released, alongside earnings from Nvidia and Bilibili. On Friday, August 28, the 2026 China International Big Data Industry Expo runs from August 28-30, and domestic refined oil prices will enter a new adjustment window.