EASPRING(SZ:300073) Soochow Securities·2024-02-07 16:00Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company [1] Core Views - The company plans to raise between 800 million to 1 billion yuan through a private placement to its controlling shareholder, which will enhance its financial strength and support capacity expansion [2] - The significant capital injection from the controlling shareholder will bolster the company's ability to invest in research and development, ensuring technological leadership and risk resilience during the lithium battery industry cycle [2] - The private placement will stabilize the company's equity structure and boost market confidence, reflecting the controlling shareholder's optimism about the lithium battery sector and the company's future [2] - The company is expected to outperform its peers in profitability for 2023 and maintain this advantage into 2024, with projected sales growth of approximately 20% in 2024 [2] Financial Forecasts and Valuation - The company’s projected net profit for 2023-2025 is 1.9 billion, 1.5 billion, and 1.8 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year changes of -15%, -23%, and +22% [2] - The report assigns a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18x for 2024, with a target price of 53 yuan [2] - The company’s earnings per share (EPS) for 2023 is estimated at 3.81 yuan, with a projected decline to 2.92 yuan in 2024 before recovering to 3.57 yuan in 2025 [1][2]