Description of the event
On August 23, the company released its 2024 semi-annual report. Among them, in the first half of 2024, the company achieved revenue of 42.064 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.71%; in the first half of the year, the company achieved net profit of 0.597 billion yuan, an increase of 90.56% over the previous year, and realized the deduction of non-net profit of 0.422 billion yuan, compared to -0.001 billion yuan in the same period last year. 24Q2 achieved revenue of 24.457 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58.49% and a month-on-month increase of 38.91%; 24Q2 achieved net profit of 0.291 billion yuan, an increase of 129.01% year-on-year and a decrease of 5.19% month-on-month, and realized deduction of 0.182 billion yuan in non-net profit, an increase of 222.60% year-on-year and a decrease of 24.17% month-on-month.
Incident reviews
The server business maintained rapid growth in the first half of the year, and net interest rates increased. Market demand in the server industry gradually improved in the first half of 2024, and the company accelerated the improvement of the product line layout, while vigorously expanding domestic and foreign customers to achieve rapid business growth. By product, the company's server and components business achieved revenue of 41.881 billion yuan in the first half of 2024, up 70.02% year on year; by region, domestic market revenue in the first half of 2024 reached 29.8 billion yuan, up 45.97% year on year, and overseas market revenue reached 12.264 billion yuan, up 171.54% year on year. Affected by the year-on-year decline in the gross margin of the server and components business, the company's gross margin in the first half of the year was 7.74%, down 3.61% year on year. Due to the company's strengthened cost control, the company's sales, management, and R&D expenses decreased by 1.06%, 0.87%, and 2.46%, respectively, in the first half of 2024, driving the company's net interest rate to increase by 0.17% to 1.37% year on year.
Contract liabilities and inventory amounts have increased dramatically, and R&D and delivery efficiency continues to improve. The company's inventory value increased dramatically in the first half of 2024. As of June 30, 2024, the inventory amount reached 31.905 billion yuan, an increase of 12.791 billion yuan from the end of 23. The share of total assets also increased from 39.72% to 50.54%, indicating that the company remains optimistic about strong downstream demand in the future. Meanwhile, as of June 30, 2024, the company's contract liabilities reached 7.725 billion yuan, an increase of 5.813 billion yuan over the end of 23, and its share of total assets increased from 3.97% to 12.24%. Furthermore, the company has accelerated its R&D and delivery efficiency. Among them, by building a digital R&D system with PLM and GCP as the core, the company's average cycle of new product development has been reduced by 50% from 1.5 years to 8 months; with the introduction of an ultra-large intelligent three-dimensional warehouse, the company's material preparation efficiency has increased 4 times; and by building a digital and intelligent supply chain management system, the company can still shorten the order delivery cycle from 15 days to 5-7 days when customized business accounts for more than 95%.
Investment advice
As a leader in the domestic server industry, the company is expected to fully benefit from the continued release of domestic computing power demand. The company's 2024-2026 EPS is expected to be 1.60\ 1.93\ 2.26, corresponding to the company's closing price of 31.12 yuan on September 6, and the 2024-2026 PE was 19.50\ 16.09\ 13.75, respectively. It was covered for the first time, giving it a “buy-A” rating.
Risk warning
Technology research and development risks. Under the trend of AI and other technologies being further accelerated, the server industry where the company is located requires high product development speed, supply efficiency, and service response speed for supporting technology. If the company lags behind in technology and product development in the future, the company's competitive advantage may weaken.
Continued macroeconomic downside risk. The operating development of the server industry is closely related to the country's overall macroeconomic development. If the macroeconomic economy continues to slow down in the future, it will adversely affect downstream demand in the server industry, thereby putting pressure on the company's performance growth.
Market competition increases risk. Currently, the company's main competitors in the server industry include domestic and foreign server brand manufacturers, ODM manufacturers, and system integrators. If other vendors seize market share by increasing marketing efforts and strengthening channel development in the future, it will adversely affect the company's business development.
The risk of exchange rate fluctuations. Due to the characteristics of the company's business model in the server industry, the company needs to purchase some raw materials through import trade, and the company also exports and sells some products, so large fluctuations in exchange rates may have a negative impact on the company's import and export business.