Nan Fang Du Shi Bao·2025-08-28 22:10Core Viewpoint - ZTE Corporation is undergoing a significant business transformation, shifting towards a "connection + computing power" strategy, which has resulted in a mixed financial performance with revenue growth but declining net profit [2][5]. Financial Performance - For the first half of 2025, ZTE reported revenue of 71.553 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.51%, while net profit attributable to shareholders was 5.058 billion yuan, down 11.77% [2]. - The disparity between revenue growth and profit decline reflects the ongoing business transition, with enterprise business revenue doubling, while traditional operator network business contracted due to changes in investment cycles [2][4]. Business Segments - The enterprise business, driven by computing power, achieved revenue of 19.254 billion yuan, soaring 109.93% year-on-year, primarily due to rapid growth in server and storage sales [2][3]. - The operator network business saw revenue decline to 35.064 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.99% year-on-year, attributed to the maturity of domestic 5G network construction and reduced operator investments [4]. Profitability and Margins - The gross margin for the enterprise business was only 8.27%, down 13.50 percentage points year-on-year, indicating that growth is heavily reliant on lower-margin hardware sales [3]. - The overall gross margin for the group decreased to 32.45%, down 7.99 percentage points year-on-year, due to the declining share of high-margin operator business and the rising share of low-margin enterprise business [4]. Cash Flow and Investment - The net cash flow from operating activities was 1.299 billion yuan, a significant drop of 81.44% compared to 7 billion yuan in the same period last year, highlighting cash flow pressures during the business expansion and structural transition [4]. - ZTE maintained high R&D investment of 12.66 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 18% of revenue, to support innovation in core technologies and computing infrastructure [3]. Future Challenges - ZTE faces the challenge of improving the profitability of its new business while stabilizing its traditional business and managing cash flow pressures during this transition period [5].