Cambricon Technologies (688256) Stock Price, Fundamentals & Analysis

Cambricon Technologies (688256) is a Chinese semiconductor company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, focused on the research, development, design, and sale of core AI chips for terminal devices. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Beijing, China, the company employs around 1,249 people and operates in the Technology sector, Semiconductors industry.

Its product range covers cloud-based intelligent chips and boards, edge intelligence chips, and smart accelerator cards such as the Siyuan 370 and Siyuan 270 series, along with the Siyuan 220 computing module. It also licenses terminal intelligent processor IP (Cambricon-1M and Cambricon-1H) and provides software development platforms including Cambricon NeuWare and MagicMind. It operates alongside peers in the Chinese chip space such as Hygon Information Technology (688041) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (688981).

What 688256 does

Cambricon designs AI processing hardware and the software ecosystem around it. Its business spans three layers: silicon (cloud and edge chips and accelerator cards), modules and complete machines, and supporting system software. This "chips plus software" model is common among AI chip designers, as developers typically need both the hardware and a programming platform to build applications on it.

Key numbers explained

• Market capitalization of 686.38B CNY — the total market value of all shares; this places Cambricon among the largest companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
• Trailing P/E ratio of 208.3 — the price is 208.3 times the last twelve months' earnings per share of 5.24 CNY. A high trailing P/E often reflects either rapid expected growth or a price that has run ahead of current profits.
• Forward P/E of 52.4 — based on expected earnings, this is far lower than the trailing figure, suggesting analysts expect earnings to grow substantially.
• Revenue of 9.61B CNY, up 75.8% year over year — strong top-line growth for a company of this size.
• Profit margin of 34.7% and return on equity of 32.8% — the company keeps a large share of each unit of revenue as profit and generates solid returns on shareholders' capital.
• Dividend yield of 0.14%, with 29% of earnings paid out as dividends — income is minimal; the stock is primarily a growth-oriented holding.
• 52-week range of 649.66 – 1,620 CNY and a 22.9% gain over the last year — the price has moved widely, which is typical for high-growth semiconductor names.
• Debt-to-equity ratio of 0.1% — essentially no leverage, meaning the balance sheet carries almost no debt relative to equity.

What to watch

As with most AI chip designers, results depend heavily on demand for AI computing capacity, the pace of product adoption, and competition from domestic and international peers such as Will Semiconductor (603501). The gap between the trailing and forward P/E means the valuation rests on earnings expectations being met. Supply chain conditions for semiconductors, research and development spending, and broader sentiment toward Chinese technology stocks — often tracked through benchmarks like the CSI 300 — can also influence how the stock trades.