Cambrian's first annual profit in five years since listing: Chen Tianshi, with an annual salary of 1.4642 million yuan, received a dividend of 179 million yuan.

Image Source: Visual China

Text | Yaxuan

Editor | Ye Jinyan

Produced by | DeepWeb · Tencent News Xiaoman Studio

Since its listing on the STAR Market in July 2020, “China’s First Domestic AI Chip Company” Cambrian has experienced its first profitable year since going public.

On the evening of March 12, Cambrian released its 2025 annual report: the company’s total revenue was 6.497 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 453.2%; net profit attributable to the parent was 2.059 billion yuan, successfully reversing the loss of 452 million yuan in the previous year.

Regarding the explosive growth in performance, Cambrian stated in the financial report that this is mainly due to advances in core technologies such as AI chips, basic software platforms, and cluster software toolchains. Currently, the company’s products have been deployed at scale in key industries including telecommunications, finance, and the internet. Their stability and ease of use have been validated in customer environments and have gained market recognition.

High R&D investment has historically been a key factor limiting profitability for domestic AI chip companies. In 2025, Cambrian’s R&D expenditure was 1.169 billion yuan, accounting for 17.99% of revenue. Compared to the 91.3% R&D ratio in 2024, this change indicates that Cambrian has moved out of the “purely burning money on R&D” phase and entered the “scaling commercial returns” phase.

In terms of product composition, cloud products remain Cambrian’s main revenue source, contributing 6.477 billion yuan in 2025; edge products and IP licensing generated revenues of 3.39 million yuan and 2.29 million yuan, respectively.

Notably, its production, sales, and inventory data show that in 2025, Cambrian’s intelligent chip and board production volume was 127,700 units, with sales of 117,400 units, while inventory reached 857,000 units.

Despite the high inventory levels, the market might initially have concerns, but this also signals that Cambrian is proactively expanding capacity and increasing raw material reserves to seize the opportunities presented by the rising demand for AI computing power. This strategy aims to prepare for large-scale, urgent tenders from key industries such as telecommunications, finance, and the internet.

Surprisingly, after achieving its first annual profit, Cambrian announced a substantial dividend plan.

According to the announcement, based on the company’s total share capital minus repurchased shares, totaling 421,648,570 shares, a cash dividend of 15 yuan (including tax) will be distributed for every 10 shares, amounting to a total of 632,472,855 yuan (including tax). Additionally, a capital reserve transfer will convert every 10 shares into 4.9 new shares, totaling 206,607,799 new shares.

As the company’s founder and controlling shareholder, Chen Tianshi holds 119,530,650 shares, representing a 28.35% stake. Based on the “15 yuan per 10 shares” plan, Chen Tianshi is expected to receive approximately 179 million yuan in pre-tax cash dividends.

In terms of compensation, Chen Tianshi received a total pre-tax salary of 1.4642 million yuan in 2025.

Furthermore, well-known retail investor Zhang Jianping also appears among the top ten circulating shareholders. As of the end of Q4 2025, Zhang Jianping increased his holdings by 1.4761 million shares to 6.8149 million shares, accounting for 1.62% of the circulating shares. Based on this shareholding, Zhang Jianping is expected to receive pre-tax cash dividends of approximately 10.22 million yuan.

From continuous losses to generous dividends, this annual report not only boosts confidence in domestic AI chips but also demonstrates Cambrian’s “self-sustaining” capability in the era of intelligent computing.