Cambricon, China’s ‘little Nvidia’, to pay maiden dividend after profitable 2025

Cambricon Technologies, often called China's 'little Nvidia,' has announced its first-ever dividend payout following a landmark profitable year in 2025. The Shanghai-listed semiconductor designer swung to a net profit of 2 billion yuan ($280 million) after years of operating losses, capitalizing on the explosive demand for AI acceleration hardware. The company's board has approved a cash dividend of 15 yuan for every 10 shares held, totaling over 632 million yuan ($89 million), alongside a 20 million yuan share buyback program. This combined outlay of 652 million yuan represents nearly one-third of its 2025 net profit, signaling both financial health and a commitment to returning value to shareholders for the first time since its 2020 listing.

The profitability is driven by the commercial success of Cambricon's flagship 'Siyuan' series of AI chips, designed for data centers and cloud-based acceleration. Its Siyuan 220 chip for edge computing has surpassed 1 million units sold since its 2019 launch. Crucially, Cambricon has achieved deep software integration, ensuring its chips offer 'day one' compatibility with leading Chinese AI models. This includes full support for DeepSeek-V3.2 and continuous adaptation with Alibaba's Qwen series and Tencent's Hunyuan model, making it a viable domestic alternative in a market constrained by US export controls on advanced semiconductors.