On November 20, news broke that goldman sachs published a research report stating that based on a PE of 22.6 times the 2025 earnings, $AAC TECH (02018.HK)$ the target price was raised by 11.6% from HKD 42.1 to HKD 47, maintaining a "buy" rating. The bank raised its earnings forecasts for 2024 and 2025 by 5% and 6% respectively.
The bank expects that the group's revenue in the second half of 2024 will increase by 42% year-on-year, or a 33% year-on-year increase in total revenue for 2024, mainly due to the growth of smartphone lens sales, the increased contribution of 6P lenses, and the incremental revenue from the PSS autos business. It is expected that the gross margin will rise to 22.6% in the second half of 2024, and the operating profit margin (OPM) will increase from 7% in 2024 to 10% in 2027. Additionally, the forecast for gross margin in 2024 has been raised by 0.4 percentage points due to the higher gross margin in the optical business, product mix upgrades, and higher utilization rates.
