Lante Optics(SH:688127)2024-09-05 05:30Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" with a previous rating of "Buy" as well [1][2] - The market price is reported at RMB 17.00 [1] Core Views - The company has shown significant growth in revenue and net profit for the first half of 2024, with revenue reaching RMB 378 million, a year-on-year increase of 88.20%, and net profit of RMB 49 million, up 122.23% year-on-year [2] - Despite the growth, profitability is under short-term pressure due to increased R&D investments [2] - The outlook for the optical prism and glass wafer businesses is positive, supporting the "Buy" rating [2] Summary by Sections Financial Performance - In H1 2024, the company reported a revenue of RMB 378 million, a growth of 88.20% year-on-year, and a net profit of RMB 49 million, which is an increase of 122.23% year-on-year [2] - The gross margin was 31.60%, down 0.88 percentage points year-on-year, while the net profit margin improved to 13.08%, up 1.99 percentage points [2] - For Q2 2024, revenue was RMB 211 million, a year-on-year increase of 82.81%, and net profit was RMB 20 million, up 14.68% year-on-year [2] Business Segments - The optical prism business saw revenue of RMB 203 million, a significant increase of 313.32% year-on-year, but the gross margin decreased to 23.24%, down 19.9 percentage points from the previous year [2] - The glass aspheric lens segment generated RMB 123 million in revenue, up 16.01% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 48.87%, an increase of 2.3 percentage points [2] - The glass wafer business reported revenue of RMB 31 million, a growth of 47.50% year-on-year, with a gross margin of 12.28%, down 4.03 percentage points [2] R&D and Future Outlook - R&D expenses increased to RMB 45.99 million, a growth of 68.31% year-on-year, with a focus on micro-prism and wafer polishing technologies [2] - The company plans to continue investing in R&D, with 20 ongoing projects, including significant investments in high-precision wafer polishing and micro-prism technology [2] Valuation - The earnings per share (EPS) forecast for 2024, 2025, and 2026 is RMB 0.75, RMB 0.94, and RMB 1.12, respectively, with corresponding price-to-earnings ratios of 22.6x, 18.1x, and 15.2x [2][4]