A 1500% surge in one year, surpassing Moutai to become the "new king" of A-shares—what makes SourceJet Technology so special?

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The capital direction of A-shares is completing a generational handover: from "sauce aroma" to "silicon-based".

On April 17, A-shares welcomed a change of the "king of stocks". A semiconductor company, YJT Technology, which was only listed in 2021, hit a price of 1445 yuan, officially surpassing Kweichow Moutai and becoming the highest-priced company in A-share history.

YJT Technology’s core product is a laser chip that “lights up” optical communication systems. Last year, its revenue was 601 million yuan—not even a fraction of Moutai's revenue.

Coincidentally, on the previous night, Moutai broke its “undefeated” streak of more than 20 years, delivering its first annual report since listing showing simultaneous declines in both revenue and net profit, and its market value instantly evaporated by nearly 80 billion yuan at opening.

The fall of the old king and the coronation of the new king happened on the same day—which is no coincidence. It signals a major migration of capital preference: a shift from traditional consumption to advanced technology.

But after the celebration, we need to see the cards clearly: Who exactly is this new “king of stocks”? How deep is its business moat? Behind the thousand-yuan stock price, what risks are lurking?

Stock price surged 1500%, profits pale in comparison to Moutai—how come?

First, let’s feel the magnitude of this market move.

From the intraday low of 88.1 yuan on April 9, 2025, to the closing high of 1445 yuan on April 17, 2026, YJT Technology achieved about a 1500% gain in one year. By the close, its total market capitalization was about 124.2 billion yuan, with a PE (TTM) of 650 times.

According to the latest financial report, the company turned profitable in 2025, with net profit of 191 million yuan. In contrast, Kweichow Moutai, which was overtaken, had a 2025 net profit attributable to parent shareholders of 82.32 billion yuan.

The scale of profits differs by more than 400 times, but in terms of stock price, there has been a "reverse overtaking".

What does a PE of 650 mean? In A-shares, this valuation is typically reserved for two types of companies: either their profits are barely climbing, with a near-zero denominator, or the market is pricing current shares based on profits expected three years from now.

YJT Technology belongs to the latter.

Driven by the boom in AI computing power, the company is undergoing a structural switch from a traditional telecom chip manufacturer to a core optical chip supplier for data centers.

The data center business has seen explosive growth, with revenue reaching 393 million yuan in 2025, up 719% year-on-year, surpassing the telecom market for the first time and becoming the company’s largest revenue source.

Portrait of the founder: A technical entrepreneur who "bet on optical chips" after returning to China

The rise of YJT Technology is inseparable from its founder, Zhang Xingang.

Zhang Xingang was born in 1970, holds US citizenship, graduated in undergrad from Tsinghua University, later earned a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Southern California, and has long been engaged in optoelectronics and semiconductor device R&D.

Before founding YJT Technology, he worked in the US optical communications supply chain, serving successively as R&D engineer and management, and as R&D director at Source Photonics, deeply involved in the engineering and industrialization of optical communication devices.

In 2013, he chose to return to China and founded YJT Technology in Xianyang, Shaanxi, turning his long-term expertise in optical chip technology towards domestic production. The company was finally listed on the STAR Market in 2022.

According to his resume, his path is not the typical “capital-driven entrepreneurship,” but more like an “engineer-type entrepreneur”—with core capabilities rooted in the process and manufacturing system for optical communication devices, rather than business expansion itself.

This also explains the company’s early strategic choices: deeply cultivating the high-barrier segment of laser chips for a long time, rather than rapidly expanding product lines.

The business: Lighting up optical communication

To understand YJT Technology more deeply, one must clarify one thing: How does data run in AI data centers?

When you use a large model for tasks, behind the scenes, thousands of GPUs are computing together. These GPUs need to transfer massive amounts of data—optical fiber is the fastest medium now. But fiber transmits only light, servers only process electrical signals. You need someone in between to handle the conversion—that's the job of the optical module.

One of the most crucial consumables in an optical module is the laser chip.

Simply put, the laser chip is the "light source" of optical communication; without it, the optical module has no usable light.

In its IPO prospectus at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, YJT Technology positions itself as a "global leading laser chip supplier." Its product lines cover CW laser chips, EML laser chips and DFB laser chips, and are mainly used in AI data centers, 5G communications and fiber access scenarios.

According to data from Zhoushi Consulting, based on 2025 external sales revenue, the company ranks among the top six laser chip suppliers globally. It is the world’s second-largest supplier of silicon photonics high-speed optical interconnect laser chips, and among the few companies able to mass-produce CW laser chips at a scale of "tens of millions of units".

Why is it happening right now?

Optical communication is a long-established industry, but this round of explosive demand has its own specifics.

The key lies in two words: rate upgrade and silicon photonics CPO.

Rate upgrade is easy to understand. Data transmission between AI servers is moving from 400G to 800G, 1.6T, 3.2T—each new upgrade means higher performance requirements for optical chips, and much greater demand, which doesn’t increase linearly but leaps in steps.

Silicon photonics CPO is a more long-term variable. Simply put, the silicon photonics approach integrates optical components directly into chips, but this architecture needs continual external supply of laser light sources—that is, CW laser chips. With widespread deployment of CPO in the future, every optical engine requires a matching external laser, representing a whole new incremental demand, with few substitutes.

YJT Technology’s CW laser chips are right at the entry point of demand in the silicon photonics+CPO era.

Supply side factors also fuel this logic. The core raw material of laser chips is Indium Phosphide (InP), whose process is complex and barriers very high. Third-party institutions judge that insufficient InP chip capacity will likely sustain tight supply until the end of 2026, while major global players’ expansion plans may only balance supply and demand starting in 2027-2028.

For manufacturers capable of large-scale mass production, tight supply means stronger bargaining power and broader windows to onboard customers.

YJT Technology’s two moats

According to industry insiders, YJT Technology’s core advantages focus on two points.

First, technical depth in CW products. CW laser chips have extremely tough requirements for high power, high coupling efficiency and wide operating temperature.

Reports show the company has mass-produced and delivered CW 70mW chips, completed customer verification for CW 100mW chips, achieved breakthrough in 300mW high-power CW light sources for matching CPO and silicon photonics integration needs, and established a screening and reliability testing system spanning -40 to 95°C. Most competitors are still on this path.

Second, the IDM full-process manufacturing model. YJT Technology adopts the IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) mode, covering chip design, epitaxial growth (MOCVD), wafer manufacturing, grating/waveguide processing, and test packaging—a complete chain, and a rarity among domestic optical chip firms.

Industry insiders say: AI data centers require nearly “zero failure” standards for optical devices. The IDM model allows deep customization for leading customers, shortens iteration cycles, and accumulates advantages in yield and cost control.

Expansion and capital resonance—the wealth effect magnifies rapidly

Against the backdrop of continued explosive demand, YJT Technology is entering an obvious accelerated expansion cycle.

Unlike the early stage focused on technological breakthroughs, since 2025 the company has begun advancing a dual-track strategy of “capacity expansion + capital market expansion.”

On one hand, the company has continuously launched large-scale expansion plans, focusing on building high-end optoelectronic chip manufacturing capacity and industrializing products of 50G and above, to meet the structural demand growth brought by AI data centers.

On the other hand, it is officially advancing plans to issue H-shares in Hong Kong, building an “A+H” dual-capital platform. This action means not only expanded financing channels, but also that the company is beginning to reprice its growth based on global capital market valuation systems.

If past growth relied on technological breakthroughs, the new keyword now is “capacity realization ability.”

Meanwhile, the capital market is also magnifying its wealth effect.

As share prices rise rapidly, founder and actual controller Zhang Xingang's shareholdings have been significantly revalued, reaching a value close to 20 billion yuan.

With high growth and high valuations resonating, this company is evolving from an "industry company" to a "capital pricing target".

Conclusion

The “coronation” of YJT Technology is not an accidental event for one company, but a microcosm of a broader structural change.

As consumer assets enter a slower growth cycle and AI computing infrastructure acceleration kicks in, capital market pricing anchors are starting to shift.

From "sauce aroma" to "silicon-based", from consumption premium to computing premium, this transition is ongoing.

The true dividing line is not whether share prices set new highs, but whether the new growth logic can be continually delivered.

This race has just begun.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market carries risks, investment should be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider the unique investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific circumstances. Investing based on this is at your own responsibility. ```