On August 21, 2024, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) released a research report maintaining an "outperform" rating and a target price of $90 on Futu Holdings. In the report, CICC pointed out the following:

1) The performance is in line with CICC's expectations and exceeds market expectations, mainly due to the increase in new paying clients and the active trading of customers, which drive revenue and profit beyond forecast.

2) With the increase in the number of users and paying clients, the company has once again raise its guidance to 550 thousand new paying clients after raising guidance for its Q1 performance.

3) Active trading, along with enhancements in margin financing and securities lending balance, contributes to steady growth in revenue.

4) The impact of interest rate cuts on total revenue is controllable. The company's own alpha is expected to further amplify under market beta conditions.

CICC maintained the company's target price at $90, corresponding to a 19x 24e P/E and a 44% upside potential. The Outperform rating was maintained.

Risk factors:

• Poor market transactions and sentiments.

• Industry competition exceeds expectations.

• International expansion falls short of expectations.