Grants ubs group on October 30th released a report stating that Sinopec's third-quarter net profit fell 52% year-on-year and 51% quarter-on-quarter to 8.54 billion yuan, lower than the bank's expectations. The main reason is the inventory losses recorded by the refining and marketing departments due to the drop in oil prices. Management pointed out that the inventory losses of the two departments were 4.3 billion yuan and 1.36 billion yuan respectively, and the chemical department remains in a loss-making state. The bank indicated that the company's oil product consumption in the fourth quarter is positive. With the decline in oil prices, the economic viability of liquefied natural gas is weakening, which may boost diesel consumption. Natural gas demand remains robust. In addition, with the introduction of stimulus policies, the demand for chemical products is expected to rebound. The bank stated that due to Sinopec's third-quarter performance falling below expectations, it has lowered its 2024 earnings per share forecast by 15% to 0.47 yuan per share, and reduced the earnings per share forecasts for 2025 and 2026 by 1% to 0.62 yuan and 0.69 yuan per share respectively. The target price has been slightly reduced from 6.3 Hong Kong dollars to 6.2 Hong Kong dollars, with a "buy" rating.