Putailai(SH:603659) Tianfeng Securities·2024-04-25 08:00Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company, indicating a positive outlook for the stock over the next six months [4]. Core Views - The company achieved a revenue of 15.34 billion yuan in 2023, a decrease of 0.8% year-on-year, with a net profit attributable to the parent company of 1.91 billion yuan, down 38.4% [1][2]. - The report highlights that the negative electrode business has reached a historical low, while the membrane and equipment segments have shown strong performance [2]. - The company is expected to recover from the low point in its negative electrode business, with membrane and equipment businesses continuing to expand [2]. Financial Performance Summary - In 2023, the company reported a comprehensive gross margin of 32.9%, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points year-on-year [1]. - The total expenses for the year amounted to 1.90 billion yuan, with an expense ratio of 12.4%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points [1]. - For Q4 2023, the company recorded a revenue of 3.65 billion yuan, a decline of 9.8% quarter-on-quarter, and a net profit of 280 million yuan, down 66.0% [1]. Business Segment Performance - The negative electrode and graphitization segment generated revenue of 6.61 billion yuan in 2023, down 16.0%, while sales volume increased by 11.4% to 155,000 tons [2]. - The membrane products and coating processing segment saw revenue rise by 23.6% to 4.82 billion yuan, with a gross margin of 52.1%, up 7.9 percentage points [2]. - Lithium battery equipment revenue increased by 49.6% to 3.59 billion yuan, indicating strong growth in this segment [2]. Future Projections - The report has adjusted the projected net profit for 2024 and 2025 to 2.8 billion yuan and 3.5 billion yuan, respectively, down from previous estimates of 5.5 billion yuan and 6.5 billion yuan [2]. - The company is expected to achieve a net profit of 4.2 billion yuan in 2026, corresponding to a valuation of 9 times earnings [2].