Revenue in 2023 increased 45.43% year over year, and net profit to mother increased 56.04% year over year. The company achieved revenue of 8.733 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 45.43% year on year; net profit to mother was 1,634 billion yuan, an increase of 56.04% year on year. Benefiting from the large-scale expansion of TopCon battery technology, the company's performance grew rapidly. The gross margin and net margin were 28.95%/18.77% respectively, with year-on-year changes of +3.51/+1.34 pcts, increasing profitability.
Revenue of 2,579 billion yuan was achieved in the first quarter of 2024, up 33.53% year on year; net profit to mother was 578 million yuan, up 71.93% year on year. Continued rapid growth in the first quarter was mainly due to the continuous expansion of TopCon battery production in 2023 and the increase in company orders. The increase in profitability in the first quarter of 2023 and 2024 was mainly due to the company's confirmation of a shift in revenue orders from PERC to TopCon. The company had a high market share of wet process equipment and coating equipment in the TopCon route, and the high gross margin of the new equipment during the introduction period.
Contract liabilities have increased, and perovskite equipment and HJT equipment have continued to make breakthroughs. As of March 31, 2024, the company's contract debt was 18.203 billion yuan, an increase of 133.79% over the previous year. The sharp increase in contract debt indicates a high increase in the company's orders and supports the rapid growth of the company's future performance. On the HJT side, the company won the bid for the entire mass production HJT line order from the world's leading photovoltaic companies, and the average conversion efficiency of Changzhou HJT batteries reached 25.4%, and the competitiveness of the company's HJT equipment continued to increase. In terms of perovskite, the company already has the R&D and supply capacity for mass-produced perovskite and perovskite laminated line equipment, and has provided perovskite equipment and services to more than 10 leading photovoltaic companies and industry start-ups and research institutes. The types of equipment cover RPD, PVD, PAR, CVD, evaporation coating, and precision gap coating. Core process equipment such as crystal silicon lamination printing.
Expand the semiconductor field and promote platform-based development. The company has 4 to 12 inch wet-type and single-wafer etching and cleaning wet process equipment, which can meet the wet process requirements of third-generation semiconductors, microelectromechanical, back-end packaging, integrated circuit IDM, and wafer foundries. In addition, the company has broken through core technologies such as process furnace chamber design and manufacturing technology, developed silicon carbide high-temperature heat treatment equipment, and sent it to a leading domestic semiconductor IDM company after pre-inspection. Currently, the localization rate of equipment in the semiconductor field is low, and there is plenty of room for replacement. The company's continued expansion into the semiconductor field is expected to open up more room for growth.
Risk warning: New PV installations fall short of expectations; TopCon expansion falls short of expectations; excess PV production capacity; new technology expansion falls short of expectations.
Investment advice: The company is a leader in photovoltaic cell equipment. It has sufficient orders on hand, continues to make breakthroughs in HJT and perovskite equipment, and is actively expanding into the semiconductor field. Considering the slowdown in production expansion and increased competition in the photovoltaic industry, we lowered our 2024-2025 profit forecast and added the 2026 profit forecast. We expect net profit to be 26.25/34.13/3.775 billion yuan in 2024-2026 (the original value was 2,768/38.33 billion yuan), corresponding to 9/7/6 times PE, maintaining the “buy” rating.