The recovery of the recruitment market is still slow due to macroeconomic fluctuations. According to RGF statistics, due to macroeconomic fluctuations, recruitment demand in various industries in 2024Q3 has declined, talent job search activity has increased dramatically, and the ratio between B-side and C-side customers has declined slightly. In the short term, companies' willingness to pay for recruitment is influenced by the macroeconomy and strong demand for jobs, but in the medium to long term, I am optimistic about the company's B-side monetization capacity. Furthermore, since the country announced a series of employment promotion policies at the end of September, B-side customer activity has increased to a certain extent, but it remains to be seen whether it will eventually lead to performance-side growth.

BOSS direct employment continued the growth trend in 2024Q3. According to Quest Mobile data, the average MAU of companies in 2024Q3 was 47.95 million, up 21% year on year and 2% month on month. The number of C-side users increased rapidly. The overall advantage of bilateral networks as a recruitment platform is expanding, showing BOSS's ability to continuously penetrate the job-seeking user base.

Continued buybacks show confidence. The company repurchased more than 6.2 million shares of common stock in November, for a total amount of more than 0.3 billion yuan. So far this year, the company has repurchased approximately 28.2 million shares of common stock, with a total amount of more than 1.4 billion yuan, accounting for 3% of the total share capital.

Profit forecast and investment advice: When the 24Q2 financial report was released, the company guided the 2024Q3 revenue to increase 18.2%-19.5% year-on-year to 1.9-1.92 billion yuan. We expect the company's performance to meet the guidelines. We are optimistic about the company's innovation model and the resulting network effects and brand bargaining power, potential penetration rate and monetization space brought about by increased market share. We expect the company's adjusted net profit to mother of 2.6/3/3.4 billion in 2024-2026, maintaining a “recommended” rating.

Risk warning: industry competition intensifies, macroeconomic recovery falls short of expectations, recruitment market recovery falls short of expectations, etc.