Three Squirrels(SZ:300783) Guotai Junan Securities·2024-10-28 17:10Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Accumulate" rating for the company [5][11]. Core Views - The company has shown significant improvement in profitability and plans to invest up to 660 million yuan in mergers and acquisitions to enhance its retail, manufacturing, and branding strategies [3][11]. - Revenue growth remains strong, with a reported revenue of 7.169 billion yuan for the first three quarters of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of 56.46% [11]. - The company is focusing on optimizing its supply chain and enhancing its product offerings, which is expected to support continued growth momentum [11]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - For Q3 2024, the company reported a revenue of 2.095 billion yuan, up 24.03% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 52 million yuan, up 221.89% year-on-year [11]. - The gross margin for Q3 2024 increased by 0.1 percentage points to 24.5% [11]. - The company plans to invest up to 200 million yuan to enhance its snack supply chain and establish centralized bases in various regions [11]. Investment and Mergers - The company announced plans to acquire control of the snack chain "Ai Ling Shi" for up to 200 million yuan and the discount supermarket chain "Ai Zhe Kou" for up to 60 million yuan [11]. - Additionally, it aims to invest up to 100 million yuan in "Zhi Yang Food" to enter the dairy beverage sector [11]. Financial Projections - The report maintains EPS forecasts for 2024, 2025, and 2026 at 1.02 yuan, 1.34 yuan, and 1.84 yuan respectively, with a target price of 31.39 yuan [11]. - The company’s total revenue is projected to reach 10.218 billion yuan in 2024, with a net profit of 408 million yuan [11].