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Here’s a fun paradox in the semiconductor cold war: the US has spent years trying to slow China’s chip ambitions, and China’s leading memory chipmaker just posted revenue growth that would make a SaaS startup blush.
Changxin Memory Technologies, better known as CXMT, reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of approximately $7.3 billion. That’s a 700% year-over-year increase. For context, the company’s entire 2025 revenue was about $8.6 billion, meaning it nearly matched a full year’s haul in a single quarter.
The export control tightrope
Since October 2022, US export controls have required licenses for shipping equipment and technology needed to produce DRAM at 18nm half-pitch or below. The intent was straightforward: keep China from manufacturing cutting-edge memory chips that power everything from AI servers to military systems.
Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., another major Chinese chipmaker, was placed on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List in 2022. That move effectively cut YMTC off from critical American tooling and know-how.
CXMT, however, has avoided that fate. The company remains off the BIS Entity List as of mid-2026, giving it a narrow but meaningful lane to continue operating and advancing. While general export restrictions apply to the broader category of advanced DRAM production, staying off the Entity List means CXMT faces fewer absolute prohibitions on acquiring certain tools and components.
Big contracts, bigger ambitions
In June 2026, CXMT landed a multi-year server DRAM supply deal with Tencent valued at over 20 billion yuan, roughly $3 billion. That’s one of China’s largest tech conglomerates betting real money on domestically produced memory chips for its cloud and AI infrastructure.
CXMT has also demonstrated advancements in DDR5 memory production and has presented gate-all-around transistor design insights at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting. The company’s push into high-bandwidth memory production adds another dimension. HBM is the memory technology strapped directly onto AI accelerators, and if CXMT can produce competitive HBM at scale, it reduces China’s dependence on SK Hynix and Samsung, which currently dominate that market.
Washington sharpens its tools
In April 2026, lawmakers introduced the MATCH Act, legislation specifically designed to close export control loopholes affecting CXMT, YMTC, and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). Rather than relying on broad, technology-based restrictions, the MATCH Act targets specific production facilities.
The broader US strategy rests on a theory that controlling access to the most advanced manufacturing equipment, predominantly made by ASML in the Netherlands, Applied Materials and Lam Research in the US, and Tokyo Electron in Japan, can maintain a durable technological gap.
What this means for investors
Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix have long operated in a cozy three-player market where supply discipline kept margins healthy. CXMT’s single-quarter revenue of $7.3 billion puts it in the same conversation as established memory giants. For Micron in particular, which has significant exposure to Chinese customers, the risk is twofold: losing sales to CXMT in China while facing potential price pressure globally as CXMT increases supply.
If the US moves CXMT onto the Entity List, it would represent a major escalation with unpredictable consequences for global DRAM supply and pricing. If it doesn’t, CXMT’s growth trajectory suggests the current export control framework may need a fundamental rethink.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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