China’s AI chip stocks face crucial test as MetaX lock-up period expires

China is bracing for a potential massive sell-off of a high-profile artificial intelligence chip stock on Thursday, when a lock-up period affecting 14 million shares in MetaX Integrated Circuits is set to expire.

Analysts expect MetaX to face “significant selling pressure” when the restricted shares are released for trading, after the expiry of a similar lock-up period for shares in fellow AI chip firm Moore Threads last week sparked an avalanche of sales that wiped nearly 49 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion) off the company’s value in a single day.

The looming release of the MetaX shares is seen as a crucial test for China’s AI chip stocks, which have attracted huge investor interest as China strives to develop domestic challengers to US graphics processing unit behemoth Nvidia.

Moore Threads and MetaX both enjoyed blockbuster market debuts on Shanghai’s Star Market in December, with their share prices skyrocketing by several hundred per cent amid a wave of investor hype. The companies are known as part of the “four little dragons” in China’s AI chip sector alongside Biren Technology and Enflame.