Astro-century(SZ:300654) China Post Securities·2025-12-22 12:41Investment Rating - The report assigns a "Buy" rating for the company, marking its first coverage [1]. Core Insights - The company is experiencing short-term pressure on its performance, with a focus on advancing AI and education new business models [4]. - The third quarter of 2025 saw a slight revenue increase of 0.33% year-on-year, but overall revenue for the first three quarters decreased by 1.73% [4][5]. - The company is well-positioned in the K12 education sector, particularly in high school-related products, benefiting from a structural growth in the high school population [5]. - The "Double Reduction" policy continues to support the demand for standardized and systematic educational resources, with the company's well-known brand "Zhihong Optimization" leading in the supplementary education market [5]. - The AI+ education market is projected to exceed 70 billion yuan in 2025, with the company establishing AI+ education as a second growth curve [6]. Financial Performance - For the first three quarters of 2025, the company reported a comprehensive gross margin of 35.89%, a decrease of 1.05 percentage points year-on-year [7]. - The company expects revenues of 568 million yuan in 2025, with a projected net profit of 46.37 million yuan, corresponding to an EPS of 0.13 yuan [9][11]. - The company’s financial metrics indicate a steady growth trajectory, with expected revenue growth rates of 7.06% in 2025 and 9.29% in 2026 [11][12].