Cambricon sets a $14.8 billion revenue goal for its 2026 stock incentive plan — a 20x leap from its previous target

Revenue targets: 2026–2028

The plan's performance milestones are structured across three years :

• 2026: Annual revenue must be at least 13.5 billion yuan.
• 2026–2027 cumulative: At least 40.5 billion yuan.
• 2026–2028 cumulative: At least 100 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion).

The new target represents a nearly 20-fold increase from the previous 2023 incentive plan, which aimed for approximately 4.6 billion yuan in cumulative revenue over 2024–2026 . This dramatic jump reflects the company's explosive growth: Cambricon reported 2025 annual revenue of about 6.5 billion yuan, up 453% year-over-year, and posted its first annual profit ever .

Workforce coverage and structure

The 2026 plan grants 5 million restricted shares — equivalent to 0.8% of total share capital — at a grant price of 750 yuan per share, with a total value of roughly 5.7 billion yuan at the latest stock price .

Approximately 945 employees are eligible, divided into three categories :

• 245 new participants not included in the 2023 plan.
• 692 participants who also received grants under the 2023 plan.
• 6 senior executives.

This coverage — more than 85% of Cambricon's total workforce — signals a broad-based retention strategy in a fiercely competitive domestic chip talent market .

Broader market trends driving the plan

Three major forces are shaping Cambricon's aggressive incentive design :

1. China's push for semiconductor self-reliance. The plan places "an ambitious commercial benchmark behind China's push for greater semiconductor self-reliance" amid US export restrictions on advanced AI chips .

2. Explosive AI chip demand in China. Cambricon's revenue surged over 450% in 2025, driven by domestic AI infrastructure buildout . The company posted its first annual profit ever in 2025, a milestone that makes ambitious revenue targets more credible .

3. Talent retention competition. With restricted shares valued at roughly 5.7 billion yuan total, the plan is designed to retain engineering and executive talent in a market where Chinese AI chip companies compete fiercely for a limited pool of experienced staff .

What this means for Cambricon's trajectory

The 2026 plan is essentially a signal: Cambricon expects its AI chip business to continue growing at breakneck speed. To achieve the 100 billion yuan cumulative target, the company would need to more than triple its 2025 revenue by 2028. The plan also aligns employee incentives directly with the company's most optimistic growth scenario, making a broader strategic statement to investors and partners about management's confidence in the domestic AI chip market.

If the targets are met, the restricted shares would be worth about 5.7 billion yuan, making this one of the largest employee incentive packages in China's semiconductor sector .