Gelonghui, Feb. 18 | CICC released a research report saying that maintaining SMIC's “outperforming the industry” rating, as a core foundry in the mainland, it is still optimistic about the company's position in mature manufacturing processes, and the target price was lowered by 13% to HK$20. Considering that in 2024 there may be slow growth in demand and price competition issues in mature manufacturing processes, the company may experience a “increase in revenue without increase in profit” situation, and lowered the net profit forecast of Hong Kong stocks by 39.6% to US$592 million, and introduced a net profit forecast of US$992 million for 2025. According to the report, the Group's fourth-quarter results were slightly higher than expected. Currently, the semiconductor industry is still in the midst of “double U” cyclical fluctuations. Downstream inventories show slow production of old products and short supply of new products, showing varying performance across regions and downstream product categories around the world. In the medium term, when production of mature manufacturing processes around the world expands a lot, there is a high possibility that OEM prices will be pressured. It is expected that in 2024, the company may experience “volume increase and price reduction” to maintain a moderate growth trend. It is also expected that SMIC's capital expenditure this year will be flat compared to the same period last year.