(Yicai) Aug. 31 -- Chinese startups MetaX Integrated Circuits and Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor swung back into the black in the first half of the year as demand surged for their graphics processing units used in artificial intelligence computing infrastructure. Rivals Moore Threads and Biren Technology shrank their losses.

MetaX had a net profit of CNY612 million (USD91.1 million) in the six months ended June 30, compared with a net loss of CNY186 million a year earlier, the Shanghai-based firm’s latest earnings report showed yesterday. Revenue jumped 45 percent to CNY1.3 billion (USD197 million).

MetaX noted that its products have been commercially deployed in computing clusters equipped with more than 1,000 GPUs.

Iluvatar, also headquartered in Shanghai, logged a net profit of CNY106 million, versus a net loss of CNY300 million in the same period last year. Revenue nearly tripled to CNY946 million, the company said on Aug. 28, thanks to the accelerated commercialization of intelligent computing clusters.

Shares of MetaX [SHA: 688802] closed 2.4 percent higher at CNY691.20 (USD102.84) each in Shanghai today, bringing the gain to 19 percent so far this year. Iluvatar’s shares [HKG: 9903] ended down 2.2 percent at HKD388.20 (USD49.52) apiece in Hong Kong. The stock has more than doubled in value since being listed in January.

Moore Threads almost halved its first-half net loss to CNY11.6 million (USD1.7 million), from CNY271 million a year ago, while revenue climbed 147 percent to CNY1.7 billion, according to the Beijing-based company’s financial statement released on Aug. 9.

Biren’s Aug. 28 earnings release showed that the Shanghai company shrank its net loss 76 percent to CNY377 million year on year, while revenue skyrocketed nearly 20-fold to CNY1.2 billion. Biren highlighted customer expansion, noting that its GPUs are being used by leading internet companies, AI model developers, and AI data centers.

All four companies hiked outlays on research and development in the first half, with Biren spending the most at CNY804 million, up 41 percent from the same period last year. Moore Threads, Iluvatar, and MetaX invested CNY769 million, CNY559 million, and CNY525 million in R&D between January and June, up 38 percent, 24 percent, and 15 percent, respectively.

Editor: Futura Costaglione