东方电缆：Q3盈利同比提升，合同负债维持高位

Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for Oriental Cable (603606 SH) [9] Core Views - Oriental Cable achieved a 13% YoY increase in net profit to 930 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, with Q3 net profit surging 40% YoY to 290 million yuan [2][7] - Q3 revenue grew 58% YoY to 2 63 billion yuan, driven by strong performance in both submarine cable systems (+60% YoY) and land cable systems (+53% YoY) [7] - The company's order backlog reached 9 24 billion yuan as of October 18, 2024, with submarine cable systems accounting for 2 95 billion yuan [8] Financial Performance - Q3 gross margin improved by 0 9 percentage points to 21 7%, while operating expense ratio decreased by 1 29 percentage points to 6 78% [8] - Contract liabilities stood at 860 million yuan at the end of Q3 2024, showing further growth from the interim report [8] - Capital expenditures in Q3 totaled 160 million yuan, indicating active capacity expansion efforts [8] Future Projections - The report forecasts net profits of 1 22 billion yuan for 2024 and 2 06 billion yuan for 2025, with corresponding P/E ratios of 31x and 18x [8] - Expected EPS for 2024 and 2025 are 1 78 yuan and 3 00 yuan respectively [18] - ROE is projected to increase from 15 9% in 2023 to 22 3% by 2026 [18] Market Position - Oriental Cable maintains a strong position in both submarine and land cable markets, benefiting from increased domestic power grid investments [7] - The company's order book composition shows a balanced portfolio across submarine cable systems (29 49 billion yuan), land cable systems (48 90 billion yuan), and marine engineering (13 97 billion yuan) [8]