Last year sold nearly 120,000 cards, net profit surged 555%! Cambricon turned profitable for the full year, becoming the first enterprise to "graduate" from Science and Technology Innovation Growth Board

Source: Times Finance Author: Guo Meiting

Cambricon (688256.SH) has finally announced its first profit report since going public.

Image source: TuChong Creative

On the evening of March 12, Cambricon disclosed its 2025 annual report, showing total annual revenue of 6.497 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 453.21%; net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.059 billion yuan, turning from loss to profit with a year-on-year increase of 555.24%; net profit after non-recurring gains and losses of 1.77 billion yuan, up 304.63% year-on-year; gross profit of 3.583 billion yuan, up 437.99% compared to the same period last year.

Image source: Screenshot from Cambricon financial report

Along with turning profitable, Cambricon also announced that starting March 16, it will remove the “U” stock designation and exit the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, becoming the first company to “graduate” from the Sci-Tech Innovation Board.

On March 13, Times Finance contacted Cambricon regarding issues such as high customer concentration, significant inventory growth, and market competition response. As of press time, no reply has been received.

In its financial report, Cambricon stated that the significant increase in revenue was mainly due to the sustained rise in demand for computing power in the artificial intelligence industry. The company continues to expand its market and promote the implementation of AI application scenarios.

Cambricon’s main business involves the research, design, and sales of AI core chips used in various cloud servers, edge computing devices, and terminal devices. Currently, the company’s main product lines include cloud products, edge products, IP licensing, and software.

In terms of product revenue, the revenue growth rates for cloud products and IP licensing/software are relatively fast, both reaching 455%. The gross margin for cloud products is 55.22%, a decrease of 1.47 percentage points compared to the previous year, while the gross margin for IP licensing/software is 100%. Meanwhile, revenue from edge products decreased by 48.12% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 44.52%, down 6.98 percentage points.

Image source: Screenshot from Cambricon financial report

In 2025, Cambricon’s production volume of intelligent chips and boards will reach 127,700 units, a year-on-year increase of 409.84%; sales volume will be 117,400 units, up 201.57%; inventory will be 857,100 units, a slight increase of 0.63%.

Image source: Screenshot from Cambricon financial report

By comparison, according to a report released last May by Mizuho Securities cited by Caixin, Huawei’s Ascend 910 series AI chips are expected to ship over 700,000 units in 2025. As of March 31, 2025, Muxi GPU sales had exceeded 25,000 units. In 2024, market research firm IDC reported that Kunlun Chip shipped 69,000 units, while Cambricon’s shipments were approximately 26,000 units.

In terms of R&D, in 2025, Cambricon’s R&D investment will reach 1.169 billion yuan, an increase of 9.03% compared to the previous year. R&D expenses account for 17.99% of revenue. Since revenue growth far exceeds R&D investment growth, the proportion of R&D expenses to revenue decreased by 73.31 percentage points from the previous year. Currently, Cambricon has a R&D team of 887 people, accounting for 80.13% of total employees, with over 80.95% holding master’s degrees or higher.

It is noteworthy that Cambricon still faces high customer concentration risks. The financial report shows that over the past three years, the top five customers’ sales accounted for 92.36%, 94.63%, and 88.66% of total revenue, respectively. Among these, the third-largest customer is a long-term partner, while the other four are new customers added in 2025. The sales of the top five customers are 1.703 billion yuan, 1.401 billion yuan, 764 million yuan, and 655 million yuan.

Cambricon warns that if its major customers experience operational changes or demand slows down, it could negatively impact the company’s performance. Additionally, the company faces pressure to develop new business with new customers. If expansion efforts do not meet expectations, it could also adversely affect operations.

Meanwhile, the top five suppliers accounted for 5.707 billion yuan in procurement, representing 75.23% of total annual procurement. The largest supplier’s procurement amount in 2025 was 4.198 billion yuan, accounting for 55.34% of the company’s annual procurement. The fourth and fifth suppliers are new additions among the top five, with procurement amounts of 318 million yuan each.

Furthermore, Cambricon faces a significant increase in inventory. As of the end of 2025, inventory value was 4.944 billion yuan, accounting for 36.79% of total assets, a year-on-year increase of 178.67%. The company explained that this was mainly due to an increase in raw materials at the end of the period.

Cambricon also warned in its financial report that in recent years, demand for raw materials in China’s semiconductor industry has continued to grow, with overall procurement prices rising. If upstream raw material prices continue to increase, it could negatively impact the company’s performance. The company plans to actively respond through strategic stockpiling and product iteration.

As of the close on March 13, Cambricon’s stock price fell 0.26%, closing at 1,096.10 yuan per share.