60 days: This post-85 Shenzhen entrepreneur earned 1.8 billion

On March 18, the A-share market’s sectors experienced mixed fluctuations, with the storage chip concept collectively exploding. Zhaoyi Innovation (603986), Jiangbolong, Langke Technology, and Beijing Junzheng (300223) all achieved significant gains.

Among them, Beiwei Storage hit a new all-time high with a rise of over 9.46%, reaching a total market value of 120.6 billion yuan.

What’s particularly notable is that Beiwei Storage announced that, in the first two months of 2026, the company’s net profit is expected to reach 1.5 to 1.8 billion yuan, roughly double the total for last year.

In the current super cycle of the storage industry, the personal wealth of Beiwei Storage Chairman Sun Chengsi has also surged, exceeding 15 billion yuan. This 38-year-old young second-generation entrepreneur from Shenzhen now faces the question of how to maintain this glory.

Holding “Surplus” Funds

From losses to earning 1.8 billion yuan in just half a year, Beiwei Storage has achieved this remarkable turnaround.

If we go back nine months, Beiwei Storage was still mired in losses. Public data shows that in the first half of 2025, the company suffered a huge loss of 200 million yuan in its memory chip business.

However, supported by the super cycle, the company then experienced a sharp rise. In Q4 2025, Beiwei Storage achieved a net profit of 820 million to 970 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of up to 1450%. Looking at the full year of 2025, its net profit attributable to the parent was 867 million yuan, up 437.56% year-on-year.

In the first two months of 2026, this upward trend continued. If calculated at the maximum, Beiwei Storage earned twice last year’s full-year profit in just two months, averaging 30 million yuan per day—truly a “daily windfall.”

Accompanying this surge was a rapid increase in Beiwei Storage’s stock price. At the start of 2026, on January 5, its closing price was 114.79 yuan per share, with a market value of 57.7 billion yuan. By the close on March 18, the stock price had risen to 258.09 yuan, with a market value reaching 120 billion yuan, doubling in just over two months.

Regarding the significant performance increase, Beiwei Storage explained in its announcement that storage prices have been declining quarter by quarter since Q3 2024, reaching a low point in Q1 2025. Prices stabilized and began to recover in Q2, as the company’s key projects were gradually delivered, leading to a steady rebound in sales revenue and gross margin.

This wave of price increases has provided more support to storage manufacturers holding inventory than expected. Besides domestic manufacturers benefiting from this, overseas traditional storage giants are also reaping huge profits.

At the end of last year, SK Hynix, one of the “Big Three” in the memory chip industry, announced a record year-end bonus of 640,000 yuan per employee, astonishing many.

The root cause of this explosion is still the global transfer of storage capacity. The storage industry mainly involves NAND Flash, DRAM, and HBM (High Bandwidth Memory). DRAM is mainly used in computers and mobile phones, including DDR4, DDR5, and other categories. HBM chips are more expensive and better suited for AI data centers.

With the global AI boom, HBM has become a key focus for overseas storage giants, heavily invested in high-capacity production. This shift has squeezed the space for mature processes like DDR, leading to a significant reduction in capacity.

Although DDR chips haven’t gained favor with giants, they are also in a demand surge phase. Widely used in AI smartphones, AI glasses, and other edge devices, and with major internet companies building related business lines, the market space is broad and profitable.

In this supply-demand mismatch, the phased “abandonment” of DDR chips by storage giants has led to a sharp rise in their prices.

Who holds “surplus” funds can seize this wave of “great wealth,” and Beiwei Storage is one of them. As a storage module manufacturer, it sells its own brand of SSDs and memory sticks on e-commerce platforms. In its official flagship store, a 32GB DDR5 desktop memory kit is priced at 2,785 yuan, up from only 1,699 yuan two months ago, indicating strong sales.

Currently, the shortage wave in storage has begun to transmit downward to consumer electronics markets.

OPPO has taken the lead in signaling price increases. An announcement on its official store states that some mobile phones will see price adjustments starting March 16, with increases of over 500 yuan in some models. Subsequently, vivo and Honor also announced price hikes.

How Long Can the “Dividend” Last?

Looking back at Beiwei Storage’s rise, the “father-and-son team” is undoubtedly a key part of its story.

Beiwei Storage was founded in Shenzhen by Sun Chengsi’s father, Sun Rixin, originally under the name “Shenzhen Taisheng Micro Technology Co., Ltd.,” mainly engaged in trading. During this process, they gradually established partnerships with global wafer manufacturers like Intel, Micron, Toshiba, and Samsung, and expanded into storage chips.

By 2011, Beiwei’s flash drive shipments accounted for about 11% of the global market, establishing a foothold. In May 2012, the company was renamed “Shenzhen Beiwei Storage Technology Co., Ltd.” and officially focused on this sector.

In the same year, Sun Chengsi, a returnee from studying abroad, joined the company. Starting as vice president, he later served as general manager, and in November 2015, became executive director and chairman, taking the helm. He also began assembling a young management team: the average age of executive directors was under 40, and the general manager, He Han, was only 36.

In 2022, Sun Chengsi pushed for a shareholding restructuring, successfully listing on the STAR Market in 2022.

However, the story of “the older generation completing initial accumulation, the younger generation taking over and expanding” is not easily written. In fact, after going public, the company faced operational challenges.

The storage industry is known for its cyclicality—good for two years, bad for two years. Despite continuous revenue growth, profitability has been volatile.

In 2018, the company lost 1.36 billion yuan; in 2019 and 2020, profits were only 190 million and 270 million yuan respectively. Profits improved in 2021 and 2022, reaching 1.17 billion and 710 million yuan, but in 2023, a huge loss of 6.24 billion yuan occurred. During this period, gross margins also fluctuated.

A turning point came in 2025, when Beiwei Storage entered the super cycle. However, capitalizing on this wave is not easy.

Most competitors in the same sector lack wafer fabs, limiting capacity and resulting in lower profit margins. In contrast, Beiwei Storage’s “R&D, packaging, and testing 2.0” integrated model combines chip design, manufacturing, and packaging, giving it a competitive edge.

This model is especially advantageous in today’s tense geopolitical climate. Unlike many fabless companies that struggle to secure foundry slots, Beiwei Storage can ensure stable shipments.

Particularly, packaging technology is a critical factor for end-device customers, demanding higher standards in storage capacity, performance, and size. This has been a focus for Beiwei Storage.

The industry has successful precedents. SK Hynix, leveraging advanced packaging technology, has achieved significant success in the HBM market, providing valuable lessons.

Thanks to its packaging expertise, most of Beiwei Storage’s revenue now comes from emerging AI and smart mobile devices, accounting for 43% of total revenue. Its product portfolio includes AI smartphones, AI PCs, AI glasses, and more.

Especially in the AI glasses sector, Beiwei Storage is a key supplier for overseas giants like Meta, with related revenue expected to grow over 500% year-on-year in 2025.

However, the AI glasses industry still faces many challenges, such as poor battery life, heavy weight, and incomplete ecosystems. Despite high expectations, reality often falls short. Media reports indicate that the Doubao AI glasses project has been suspended, and ByteDance’s internal assessment is that AI glasses currently lack truly differentiated capabilities.

To withstand the cyclicality, after making a big profit, Sun Chengsi has chosen to expand capacity and “stockpile.” In March 2025, Beiwei Storage completed a private placement of no more than 1.9 billion yuan, with 880 million yuan allocated to Huizhou Beiwei’s advanced packaging and storage manufacturing expansion, and 1.02 billion yuan to wafer-level advanced packaging projects.

Based on estimates, the new capacity is expected to double from about 300,000 units per year to 600,000 units per year after commissioning. This move also reflects Sun Chengsi’s long-term optimism about the industry.

Beiwei Storage is accelerating its capital expansion during this upward cycle, submitting its IPO prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2025 to actively raise funds.

However, the storage industry’s price increase cycle will not continue linearly forever. Balancing strategic inventory buildup with financial security remains a key challenge for Sun Chengsi.

(End of translation)