GREATER CHINA Results Contemporary Amperex Technology (300750 CH/BUY/Rmb189.35 /Target: Rmb250.00) 2Q24: Earnings in line while revenue misses. Maintain BUY. Update Weichai Power (2338 HK/BUY/HK$13.16/Target: HK$16.00) Upgrade from HOLD to BUY on strong stimulus policy. Raise target price from HK$12.50 to HK$16.00. INDONESIA Results Unilever Indonesia (UNVR IJ/HOLD/Rp2,490/Target: Rp2,700) 2Q24: Weakness and market share loss due to reoccurring boycot...
GREATER CHINA Sector Property: Channel checks and observations of Shanghai and Shenzhen home markets. Update Anta Sports (2020 HK/BUY/HK$71.35/Target: HK$109.60): 2Q24 sales performance in-line despite Fila’s lower growth; full-year targets maintained with confidence in achieving OPM guidance. Weichai Power (2338 HK/HOLD/HK$11.98/Target: HK$12.50): Sales dragged by market decline. Downgrade from BUY to HOLD. Cut target price from HK$20.00 to HK$12.50. INDONESIA Update Mitra Adiperkasa (MAPI IJ/...
GREATER CHINA Results Anta (2020 HK/BUY/HK$83.55/Target: HK$109.60): 2023: Results beat on margin; on track to fulfil three-year targets. CR Land (1109 HK/BUY/HK$24.85/Target: HK$42.39): 2023: Results in line; clearer growth path ahead. CR Mixc (1209 HK/BUY/HK$23.60/Target: HK$33.20): 2023: Results beat with higher payout ratio; pursue high-quality growth. Nexteer Automotive Group (1316 HK/SELL/HK$3.24/Target: HK$2.20): 2023: Earnings miss estimate again on margin squeeze. Maintain SELL. Cut tar...
CPCA estimates China’s retail sales of PVs and passenger EVs at 1.73m units (+28% yoy/+6.6% mom) and 580,000 units (+61% yoy/+10.5% mom) respectively, in line with forecasts. EVs’ share of China’s PV retail sales rebounded by 1.2ppt mom to 33.5% in May 23. The sales recovery in May 23 came in as expected and this was due to the stabilisation of car prices. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT on China’s auto sector with preference for the EV segment. Top picks: BYD, CATL and Li Auto.
China took over Japan’s position as the world’s largest car exporter in 1Q23 with vehicle export volume spiking 75% yoy to 1.49m units in 4M23, driven by EVs. Exports are emerging as the new growth driver of China’s EV industry. As for the China market, passenger EV retail sales in the first two weeks of May doubled yoy and grew 17% mom, in line with expectations. China is mulling stimulus for promoting EV sales in rural areas. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT with preference for the EV segment. Top BUYs: B...
CPCA expects China’s retail sales of PV and passenger EV to drop 1.3%/8.4% mom in Apr 23, given the sharp mom drop in the last week of Apr 23. China’s auto sales were still curbed by the wait-and-see attitude amid a price war, but this is abating with car prices stabilising and more new models being launched. During the Golden Week of the Labour Day holiday, auto retail sales value grew 25.1% yoy, beating expectations. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top BUYs: BYD and CATL. Top SELL: Ganfeng Lithium.
The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show seems to be a prelude to the endgame of fossil fuel cars, as the spotlight shifts to EVs with two-thirds of the 150 newly-unveiled models being EVs, and ICE cars being sidelined. Many of the advanced features of the new EV models are enabled by key parts and components from tier-1 suppliers like CATL, Desay SV and FYG. BYD offers the most proprietary technologies with its new products. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top BUYs: BYD and CATL. Top SELL: Ganfeng Lithium.
China’s PV retail sales rebounded by 14% mom in Mar 23 and 8% in 1-9 Apr 23, in line with estimates, driven by price cuts and local stimulus. Wholesale shipments grew at a faster pace of 23% mom in Mar 23, leading to a pile-up of inventories in the channel. As such, wholesale shipment plummeted by 23% mom in 1-9 Apr 23 due to destocking. Compared with ICE cars, EV sales are growing faster with more resilient supply-demand balance. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top BUYs: BYD and CATL. Top SELL: Ganfeng L...
Weichai’s 4Q22 net profit came in above estimates at Rmb1,593m (+18% yoy/+72% qoq) due to recovery in both revenue and margins. Looking ahead, Weichai’s earnings will be driven by the recovery of China’s HDT market and decline in raw materials. We raise 2023-24 net profit forecasts by 32%/23% to Rmb7,194m/Rmb7,708 and introduce 2025 net profit forecast of Rmb8,571m. Upgrade to HOLD and raise target price from HK$8.50 to HK$12.00.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS Economics PMI Points to further recovery, but employment still soft. Results China Longyuan Power (916 HK/BUY/HK$8.97/Target: HK$11.50) 2022: Below expectations; recognition of RMB2,045m in impairment provision. China Merchants Port (144 HK/BUY/HK$12.04/Target: HK$13.48) 2022: Core earnings a slight beat; expecting earnings decline in 2023. Maintain BUY. China Overseas Land & Investment (688 HK/BUY/HK$18.96/Target: HK$27.14) 2022: Results below expectations; targeting 20% sale...
Eight Chinese EV OEMs jointly registered 111% yoy and 38% mom sales growth in Feb 23. BYD remained the largest EV maker in China with wholesale shipments of >190,000 units. We expect BYD’s monthly sales to grow to above the record high of 235,000 units from 2Q23 with the debuts of the 2023 facelifted Dynastic Series. Li Auto’s deliveries grew 10% mom to 16,620 units, and will likely grow to 20,000-23,000 units in Mar 23 with the debut of L7. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: BYD, CATL and Zhongsh...
BYD is rolling out new PHEV models with better fuel economy and specifications at lower prices, such as the Qin Plus DM-i 2023, Song Plus DM-i 2023, Frigate 07, Tang DM-p; we believe these will disrupt China’s ICE-car market by taking a chunk of market share from JV brands, especially the Japanese brands. We propose a pair trade of long BYD and short GAC and Zhongsheng. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: BYD, CATL, NXS and Minth. Downgrade GAC and Zhongsheng to SELL.
According to CPCA, China’s retail sales volume of passenger EVs spiked 106% yoy but dropped 18% mom during 1-12 Feb 23, lower than we expected. However, insurance registrations of passenger EVs recovered by 23% wow in the week ending 12 Feb 23, the second week of growth in a row. We estimate Feb 22 China’s passenger EV sales at 400,000 units (+47% yoy/+20% mom). Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL, Ningbo Xusheng and Ningbo Xusheng.
China’s PV retail sales slumped 38% yoy and 41% mom to 1.3 units in Jan 23, in line with estimate, due to the Chinese New Year holiday and front-loading effect from the expiry of stimulus. We expect China’s PV sales to recover from Feb 23, driven by: a) seasonality; b) local stimulus kicking in; and c) more Chinese EV OEMs cutting prices in response to Tesla’s price cuts. We keep our estimate on 2023 China’s EV sales growth at 30%. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL and Ningbo Xusheng.
CPCA expects China sales of passenger EVs and PVs to drop by c. 40% mom in Jan 23, due to: a) a wave of COVID-19 infections, b) seasonality, and c) the front-loading effect from the expiry of stimulus at end-22. The government is reportedly mulling supportive policies for auto industry. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL and Ningbo Xusheng. We remove Fuyao Glass and Desay SV from our top-pick list. Downgrade Li Auto and Meidong to SELL on valuations.
Tesla’s 6-13% price cut on 6 Jan 23 has triggered a price war in China’s EV market. Since then, two Chinese OEMs − Aito and XPeng − have cut prices by around 10%, and we expect more OEMs to follow suit due to weak demand after the expiry of EV purchase subsidies. We keep our expectation of an EV sales recovery by Mar 23 on the abating front-loading effect. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL, Fuyao Glass and Desay SV. We add Ningbo Xusheng to our top-pick list.
Looking ahead, we expect exports’ share in China’s EV sales volume to soar from 16- 17% in 2021-22 to over 20% in 2023, as Chinese branded EVs are gaining popularity fast in developed countries. However, auto sales in China dropped as expected in the first week of Jan 23, due to the expiry of stimulus. We expect China’s auto sales to recover strongly from Mar 23 when the front-loading effect and epidemic fade. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL, Fuyao Glass and Desay SV.
Retail sales of passenger EVs grew 30% mom, beating estimates, driven by the lastminute purchases right before the expiry of subsidies. However, wholesale shipment only grew at low single digits mom in Dec 22, as the widespread epidemic impacted production. Looking ahead, we keep our estimate on China’s EV sales growth at 30% on the scrapping of the zero-COVID policy. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL, Fuyao Glass and Desay SV. Downgrade Li Auto from BUY to HOLD on valuations.
In the second week of Dec 22, daily average PV retail sales rebounded 6% yoy and 40% mom, while insurance registrations of passenger EVs grew 16.7% mom and 8.5% wow. Looking into 2023, we expect ICV sales to drop 13% and EV sales to grow 30%, implying a hike in EVs’ market share from 25% in 2022 to 33% in 2023. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. CATL, Fuyao Glass and Xusheng remain our top picks, and we add Desay into our list of top picks. Upgrade Li Auto from HOLD to BUY on valuation.
Daily average PV retail sales rose 21% yoy and 61% mom during 28-30 Nov 22, beating estimates. Chinese EV OEMs generally saw mom sales growth in Nov 22 and the first week of Dec 22. Tesla offers an additional discount of Rmb6,000, which will pressure OEMs like XPeng and Li Auto. Maintain UNDERWEIGHT. Top picks: CATL, Fuyao Glass and Xusheng. Downgrade Geely and Li Auto from BUY to HOLD; downgrade XPeng and Weichai Power from HOLD to SELL.
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