AMEC becomes first 100-billion-yuan company on STAR Market

The STAR Market has seen the first listed firm with market value over 100 billion yuan (US$14.3 billion), six months after the tech board's debut in Shanghai. 

AMEC, or the Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc, one of the first firms listed on STAR, is now valued 105 billion yuan. 

The Shanghai-based semiconductor vendor, has seen its share price more than doubled this year already, following doubled net profits in 2019.

There are four firms on the board valued at more than 50 billion yuan: AMEC at 105 billion yuan, Montage Technology Co 98 billion yuan, Kingsoft Office Software Inc 84.4 billion yuan and the China Railway Signal Communication Corp 80 billion yuan. Share of AMEC has risen 112 percent this year to close at 196.01 yuan on Friday.

More STAR firms will surpass the 50 billion yuan or even 100 billion yuan this year, GF Securities said in a recent note.

AMEC expects its 2019 net profit to come in between 176 million yuan and 192 million yuan, according to a company statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

AMEC’s growth comes from China’s expanding domestic semiconductor industry, especially in the face of the US tech export ban, industry insiders said.

In the long term, the semiconductor industry has opportunities, though faces the short-term challenges of the US-China trade dispute, Bill Lu, Asia semiconductor analyst with UBS, said recently in Shanghai.

AMEC is “winning the trust of top chip manufacturers and other technological innovation enterprises,” the company said.