Improve profitability, upgrade strategy, and maintain “buying”
Neusoft Group achieved revenue of 10.544 billion yuan (yoy +11.39%) in 2023, net profit of 73.9125 million yuan (yoy +121.56%), after deducting non-net profit of 147 million yuan (yoy +72.21%). The increase in the company's profitability was mainly due to gross margin optimization. In March '24, the company launched a new intelligent strategy, focusing on AI+ data elements. We estimate that the company's net profit for 24-26 will be $3.62/515/647 million, respectively (prior to 24-25, it was $391/538 million). Using the segmented valuation method, 24E smart cars had net profit of 188 million yuan and net profit of other businesses of 174 million yuan. Refer to the comparable company's smart car/other business 33.3x/26.2x 24PE, consider the company's strategic transformation advantages, and give smart cars/other businesses 40x/30x 24PE respectively, with a target price of 10.49 yuan (previous value 10.56 yuan), maintaining the “buy” rating.
The gross margin increased by 3.42 pct year on year, and the overall gross margin of the company was 24.20% in the direction of strengthening research and development in the new technology direction in 23, an increase of 3.42 pct over the previous year. By business, revenue from healthcare and social security, smart car connectivity, smart city, enterprise connectivity, and others in '23 was 25.71, 39.16, 16.23, and 2,433 billion yuan (yoy +29.74%/+9.36%/-2.41%/8.64%), respectively, with gross margins of 35.55%, 15.34%, 24.55%, and 26.24% (yoy +4.04/+0.28/+5.22/+4.73pct), respectively. The company's 23-year sales/management/R&D expense ratio was 5.01%/6.21%/9.79%, -0.10pct/+0.07pct year-on-year. The increase in R&D rates is mainly due to the company's strengthened layout in AI, data elements, etc., and the number of new patents added by the company in the field of AI and big data in '23 was about 3 times that of the same period last year.
Actively embracing AI transformation, core businesses such as Big Health are expected to accelerate growth in 23 years. The company launched the Neusoft Big Language Model System Project LLM-SE, which can be widely used in medical, social, health insurance, government affairs, media, finance, and administration of justice. In 23, the company achieved a benchmark in the medical field, pioneered the launch of the “Big Model in the Medical Field”, a vertical model in the medical field, and successively launched various AI applications such as AI assistants for health insurance policies, AI claims services for commercial health insurance, risk prediction for rare blood diseases, digital doctor assistants, etc., and launched several benchmark projects. We believe that as the company clarifies a new AI enabling strategy, AI technology is becoming the company's new growth engine, which is expected to accelerate the growth of core businesses such as healthcare and social security, smart car connectivity, and smart cities.
Strategic layout of data elements to accelerate in-depth application in the field of people's livelihood
The company attaches great importance to opportunities in the data element industry, and has gradually implemented business in people's livelihood fields such as smart cities and healthcare. In '23, the company jointly formed data companies with the government in Shenyang, Jinzhou, etc., and began operations one after another. At the same time, the company has grasped the “data element ×” development opportunity, deeply participated in the national platform and health insurance data governance work in various provinces and cities such as Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Suzhou, and Nantong, participated in the design and launch transaction of “medical insurance data products” in data product supermarkets in Hainan Province, and various data products such as the “OCR Intelligent Identification Service for Medical Insurance Bills” have been listed and traded on the Guizhou Data Exchange. We believe that data is becoming a new factor of production, and the company is expected to use its first-mover advantage to open up a new business space.
Risk warning: The intelligent driving industry has fallen short of expectations; subsidiary business has dragged down more than expected.