Quectel(603236) 华泰证券·2024-10-22 08:03Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is maintained as "Buy" with a target price of RMB 79.58 [1][4]. Core Insights - The company reported a revenue of RMB 13.246 billion for the first three quarters of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 32.90%. The net profit attributable to the parent company was RMB 357 million, marking a turnaround from losses to profits [1]. - In Q3 2024, the company's revenue reached RMB 4.997 billion, a year-on-year growth of 44.64%. The net profit attributable to the parent company was RMB 147 million, up 51.29% year-on-year [1][2]. - The company is positioned as a leading global player in the IoT module market and is expected to benefit from a recovery in industry demand and opportunities arising from AI edge computing in the long term [3]. Financial Performance Summary - For Q3 2024, the overall gross margin was 17.58%, a decrease of 2.29 percentage points year-on-year and 1.68 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, attributed to changes in shipment structure [2]. - The company effectively controlled expenses, with sales, management, and R&D expense ratios at 2.58%, 1.93%, and 8.64%, respectively, all showing year-on-year reductions [2]. - The company has projected net profits for 2024, 2025, and 2026 to be RMB 549 million, RMB 752 million, and RMB 909 million, respectively, with a corresponding PE ratio of 28x for 2025 [4]. Market Outlook - The IoT module market is expected to stabilize as downstream demand recovers. The development of AI large models is anticipated to increase the requirements for communication bandwidth and latency, presenting growth opportunities for high-speed products like 5G cellular modules [3]. - The transition of AI computing capabilities towards the edge is expected to enhance the value of IoT modules, shifting their role from mere transmission to "transmission + computation" [3].