Moore Threads는 하루 만에 시가총액 약 500억 위안을 잃었으며, 이는 국내 GPU 관련 주식들이 평가 우려 증대에 따라 일제히 부진한 가운데 발생한 것이다.

Moore Threads (688795.SH), dubbed the “first domestic GPU stock,” experienced its first limit-down trading session following its public listing. On September 7, the stock opened approximately 4% lower before plunging to the daily limit-down price of 415.49 RMB per share, marking a new low since its debut. Consequently, the company’s market capitalization fell below the 200-billion-RMB threshold to 195.3 billion RMB, wiping out nearly 50 billion RMB in a single day.

The unlocking of restricted shares served as the immediate catalyst for the decline. When Moore Threads listed on the STAR Market last December, it issued 70 million publicly traded shares. Of these, 25.7745 million offline restricted shares became tradable on September 7, representing 5.48% of the company’s total share capital and 85% of its currently circulating shares. At the latest price, the unlocked shares correspond to a market value of approximately 1.071 billion RMB.

Shareholders holding these newly unlocked shares have strong incentives to reduce their positions. Acquired at the IPO price of 114.28 RMB per share, selling even at the limit-down price of 415.49 RMB would still yield a return of roughly 2.6 times. Responding to the limit-down, a Moore Threads representative stated, “Today is the large-scale unlock date for offline placement restricted shares. Please view this rationally; the company’s fundamentals are normal.”

Beyond the unlock event, the impending listing of another domestic GPU leader, Enflame Technology (燧原科技, 688801.SH), likely contributed to pressure on Moore Threads’ stock. On September 7, Enflame announced its issuance results, planning to issue 43.0352 million shares at 142.18 RMB per share, with a STAR Market listing expected shortly. As Enflame enters the market, Moore Threads’ scarcity as an A-share GPU investment target will be significantly diluted. Post-issuance, Enflame’s total market capitalization is projected at approximately 61.187 billion RMB, less than one-third of Moore Threads’ current valuation.

Notably, this recent unlock only covers offline restricted shares. Larger waves of unlocking are anticipated as pre-IPO shareholders’ lock-up periods expire. According to Tonghuashun iFind data, major institutional shareholders such as fourth-largest shareholder Shenzhen Minghao and fifth-largest shareholder Guosheng Capital will see their holdings unlock in December. The December unlock volume is expected to reach 186 million shares, accounting for 39.55% of total share capital, with a corresponding market value of approximately 77.242 billion RMB at the latest price. Further unlocks are scheduled for December 2028 (73.81 million shares) and December 2029 (145 million shares).

Following Moore Threads, MetaX (沐曦股份, 688802.SH) will also face a smaller unlock wave. On September 17, 13.966 million offline restricted shares will become tradable, representing 3.49% of total share capital and valued at approximately 7.962 billion RMB. With Moore Threads’ single-day limit-down, its current share price has been halved from its post-listing peak. The stock reached a high of 941.08 RMB in December last year; compared to that peak, it has fallen approximately 56%, eroding nearly 250 billion RMB from its market capitalization.

Real controller Zhang Jianzhong’s net worth has also contracted. He directly holds 9.41% of the listed company and indirectly holds an additional 1.42% through Nanjing Shenao and employee holding platforms Hangzhou Hua’ao, Hangzhou Zhong’ao, and Hangzhou Jing’ao, totaling a 10.83% stake. Valued at the latest price, his holdings amount to approximately 21 billion RMB. On the same day as Moore Threads’ limit-down, multiple domestic GPU companies across A-shares and Hong Kong saw synchronized declines. MetaX fell 9.67% to 570.08 RMB, Tianshu Zhixin (9903.HK) dropped 11.42% to 339.8 HKD, and Biren Technology (6082.HK) declined 1.06% to 41.16 HKD.

These four domestic GPU firms listed between December last year and January this year, initially benefiting from a semiconductor sector rally between March and June. By June, Tianshu Zhixin and Biren Technology hit all-time highs, followed by MetaX in July, while Moore Threads reached its year-to-date peak. However, stocks have trended downward since, shedding more than 40% over roughly two months, with Tianshu Zhixin losing up to 60%.

The broader downturn in domestic GPU stocks stems not only from lock-up expiries and increased circulating shares but also from the industry entering an overheating and correction cycle. In July, Michael Wilson, Chief U.S. Equity Strategist at Morgan Stanley, sent a clear signal to the market regarding sector rotation, advising investors to trim semiconductor exposure and rotate into hyperscale cloud providers. Since then, the global AI compute supply chain has undergone a profound correction.

From a fundamental perspective, although several companies achieved rapid revenue growth in the first half of the year, their revenue bases remain relatively low, and none have achieved profitability in their core businesses, making it difficult to sustain elevated valuations long-term. Regarding price-to-sales (P/S) ratios, as of July 1, global compute leader Nvidia’s P/S (TTM) stood at 18.86. In contrast, Moore Threads, MetaX, Tianshu Zhixin, and Biren Technology traded at multiples of 125, 152, 103, and 59, respectively—significantly above the industry leader. Following the recent stock pullback, their P/S ratios had decreased to 77, 111, 48, and 42 by the September 7 market close.

In terms of profitability, during the first half of the year, Moore Threads and Biren Technology narrowed their net losses but have yet to turn profitable. MetaX and Tianshu Zhixin reported positive net profits attributable to parents of 612 million RMB and 106 million RMB, respectively. However, both companies’ profitability was primarily driven by unrealized gains on financial assets. MetaX recorded a fair value change gain of 887 million RMB from trading financial assets, which the company explicitly noted as “not sustainable.” Excluding this impact, MetaX’s non-GAAP net loss was 49 million RMB. Similarly, Tianshu Zhixin’s turnaround stemmed from fair value gains on its stake in SJ Semiconductor (盛合晶微), which contributed 756 million RMB. After excluding this item, the company’s net profit would revert to negative territory.

As the first of the “domestic GPU four little dragons” to access capital markets, Moore Threads was founded in 2020 by Zhang Jianzhong, former Global Vice President and Greater China General Manager of NVIDIA. It remains one of the few domestic manufacturers capable of mass-producing and selling full-function GPUs, having established a complete chip product matrix spanning cloud, edge, and terminal applications. In the first half of the year, Moore Threads generated revenue of 1.736 billion RMB, a 147.42% year-over-year increase, exceeding the full-year 2025 figure. Net loss attributable to the parent company narrowed 95.73% year-over-year to 120 million RMB, while non-GAAP net loss contracted 52.37% year-over-year to 151 million RMB.

Behind the revenue growth, Moore Threads is accelerating its commercialization efforts. In 2024, the company released its fourth-generation GPU architecture, “Pinghu,” whose flagship product, the MTT S5000, delivers full-precision compute support ranging from FP8 to FP64. Leveraging the S5000, Moore Threads built the Kuai’e (KUAE) 10,000-card intelligent computing cluster to provide compute power for the training and inference of ultra-large models. During a recent earnings call, the company highlighted cluster deployment cases: partnering with the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) to conduct end-to-end training of the self-developed embodied AI model RoboBrain2.5; enabling Peking University’s EvoPhys team to train the 5D world model EvoPhys-World on MTT S5000 GPUs; and achieving immediate compatibility upon release for cutting-edge models including DeepSeek-V4, MiniMax H3, Kimi-K3, and Zhipu GLM-5.3-Flash. On the client front, Moore Threads confirmed it onboarded key accounts across critical sectors, including top-tier internet enterprises and telecommunications operators, in the first half of the year.

While advancing commercialization, Moore Threads is actively developing next-generation GPU products. The company previously unveiled its fifth-generation GPU architecture, “Huagang,” which supports full-precision computation and delivers significantly enhanced compute density and efficiency. Based on this architecture, Moore Threads will introduce the high-performance AI training and inference chip “Huashan,” alongside the “Lushan” chip dedicated to high-performance graphics rendering. The company indicated that Lushan-related GPU products are expected to launch within the year.