Incidents:
According to the company's official account: On March 18, Pioneer Intelligence officially signed a global strategic cooperation agreement with American battery manufacturer American BatteryFactory (ABF). According to the agreement, Pilot Intelligence will provide ABF with smart lithium battery production line services with a total target of 20 GWh.
To supply ABF, Pioneer Intelligence has received the largest US lithium battery equipment order so far from a Chinese company. Accelerating the global layout has been the core strategic goal of Pilot Intelligence for a long time. Establishing a partnership with ABF is a key step for the company to explore the US and North American markets. After signing this agreement, the company is expected to become the exclusive equipment supplier for ABF's first production line of the Gigafactory network project, providing ABF with a complete set of customized intelligent fully automated line solutions.
Global lithium battery equipment leaders continue to develop new orders, and demand for equipment such as energy storage lithium batteries, overseas power lithium batteries, and photovoltaics is booming
1. Overseas markets. According to the previous annual strategy, we expect the lithium battery equipment market size in Europe and the US to be 298 billion yuan and 18.9 billion yuan, up 43% and 64% year on year, all ahead of the domestic market growth rate (22%). Overseas markets are the highlights of the 2023 lithium battery equipment tender. According to the annual strategy report, we estimate that the planned production capacity of the plants to be built in Europe is expected to exceed 1000 GWh, of which the mainland (Northvolt, Volkswagen, ACC, etc.) will total about 750 GWh.
2. Energy storage market. According to the annual strategy, we forecast that the global energy storage lithium battery equipment market will be 25.7 billion yuan in 2023, with a year-on-year growth rate of 100%, accounting for 13% of the total demand for lithium battery equipment, which is expected to increase by 5 pct from 2022.
3. Automakers build their own batteries. OEMs such as Geely (Zhejiang Hengyuan), GAC (Yinpai Battery), Chery, and NIO have all announced plans to build their own batteries, so the actual bidding requirements for lithium battery equipment in 2023 may be superior to theoretical values.
Committed to building a non-standard automation equipment platform enterprise, the non-lithium battery equipment business is expected to flourish. The company covers nine major businesses (lithium battery equipment, photovoltaic equipment, 3C equipment, automobile production lines, intelligent logistics, hydrogen energy equipment, laser processing equipment, capacitor equipment and smart factory solutions). It is expected that advanced R&D and management experience will be replicated in various fields and become a leader in non-standard automation equipment.
Profit forecasting and valuation
The company's net profit for 2023-2025 is estimated to be 34.7 billion, 4.59 billion yuan, and 5.69 billion yuan, respectively, with a three-year compound growth rate of 35%, corresponding to PE 12, 9, and 7 times, respectively. Maintain a “buy” rating.
Risk warning:
Lithium battery companies' expansion of production fell short of expectations; new business expansion fell short of expectations.