Key points of investment
New product introduction & high R&D investment affect performance: In 2023, the company achieved operating income of 582 million yuan, +2.35%, of which precision laser processing equipment sales revenue was 419 million yuan, -1.78% year over year, accounting for 71.94%, laser revenue of 49 million yuan, +17.69% year over year, mainly due to the long acceptance cycle for some of the company's new products and customized equipment, and some orders have not been accepted, resulting in a slow revenue growth rate; net profit to mother was 0.39 million yuan, -42.06% year-on-year; net profit not attributable to mother of 0.25 million yuan Yuan, -51.13% YoY, mainly due to new product introduction and R&D expenses +21.65% YoY. At the same time, high-margin optical processing equipment sales revenue decreased. 2024Q1's revenue was 116 million yuan, +18.2% year over year, net profit attributable to mother - 0.07 billion yuan, -251.57% year on year, net profit after deducting non-return to mother - 10 billion yuan, -540.11% year on year.
Affected by product restructuring, profitability declined: in 2023, the company's gross margin was 46.61%, -3.09pct year on year, mainly due to the impact of product restructuring in sales revenue, sales revenue of high-margin semiconductor-related laser processing equipment decreased; net sales margin was 6.71%, -5.14pct year on year; the period cost ratio was 43.16%, +4.25pct year on year, of which the sales expense ratio (including R&D) was 27.64%, +3.51 pct year on year, The financial expense ratio was -1.77%, -0.21pct year over year. 2024Q1's gross margin was 49.3%, -2.05pct year on year; the net sales margin was -6.28%, -11.18pct; the period expense ratio was 55.97%, +3.72pct year on year, of which the sales expenses ratio was 21.7%, +1.89pct year on year, the management expense ratio (including R&D) was 36.62%, +2.85pct year on year, and the financial expenses ratio was -2.36%, -1.02pct year on year.
The high increase in inventory & contract liabilities indicates abundant orders: as of the end of 2024Q1, the company's contract debt was 147 million yuan, +24.46% year over year, inventory was 5.2 billion yuan, +37.69% year over year; 2024Q1's net cash flow from operating activities was -34 billion yuan, -1023.17% year over year, mainly due to an increase in new orders and advance payments. Material payments for new orders also increased over the same period. At the same time, the number of employees and employee remuneration payments increased.
Focusing on cutting-edge development of laser fine microprocessing, rapid breakthroughs from 0 to 1 on multiple tracks: The company actively lays out cutting-edge product development in the fields of SiC ingot slicing, Mini/Micro LED, and new energy, and makes rapid breakthroughs 0 to 1 on multiple tracks. (1) SiC crystal ingot laser slicing: We obtained batch orders from leading customers in 2023, introduced mass production to customer production lines, and is currently in the market development stage for key customers. (2) Micro LED massive transfer equipment: The first customer order was received in 2022, and the new customer order successfully landed in 2023. (3) Perovskite laser equipment: In 2022, the first generation of products was delivered to customers and put into use, and a new generation of large-format processing equipment was actively developed. New orders from new customers broke through in 2023. (4) Lithium battery equipment: In 2022, laser cell blue film removal equipment received the first order from a leading customer. Orders were gradually increased in 2023. At the same time, the development and customer introduction of various other devices is being carried out in an orderly manner.
Profit forecast and investment rating: Taking into account factors such as the company's R&D investment and equipment acceptance pace, we lowered the 2024-2025 net profit forecast to be 0.6/90 million yuan, the previous value was 140/213 million yuan, and the net profit to the mother for 2026 was 120 million yuan. The PE corresponding to the current market value is 38/25/20 times.
Maintains an “gain” rating based on the company's potential to break through 0 to 1 in multiple fields.
Risk warning: Market competition intensifies, and the industrialization of new products falls short of expectations.