Platform strength drives solid growth; Maintain BUY

（以下内容从招银国际《Platform strength drives solid growth; Maintain BUY》研报附件原文摘录）
北方华创(002371)
NAURA reported 1H26 revenue of RMB20.16bn (+24.9% YoY) and net profit ofRMB3.37bn (+5.1%). In 2Q26, revenue reached RMB9.84bn (+24.0% YoY, -4.7% QoQ) and net profit was RMB1.74bn (+6.6% YoY, +6.2% QoQ), both belowBloomberg consensus. Earnings growth lagged revenue due to higher R&D andselling expenses and GPM pressure. In 2Q26, GPM fell 1.4ppts QoQ to 39.3%,and mgmt. attributed the pressure to higher component iteration and upgradecosts during new-product validation and discounts to selected customers.Positively, OCF reached RMB3.77bn in 1H26, supported by stronger collections.As China’s largest platform-based semiconductor equipment provider, NAURAremains well positioned for domestic substitution, while China’s WFE sectorremains our top thematic pick. Correspondingly, we revise down our FY26/27Esales forecasts by -2.5%/-2.3% and GPM by -0.4/-1.1ppts. Maintain BUY withTP adjusted to RMB814, based on 52x 2027E P/E, 1-SD above its historicalaverage.
Equipment growth remained broad-based, but segment marginsdeclined in 1H26. Electronic process equipment revenue, includingsemiconductor and vacuum/new-energy equipment, rose 25.9% YoY toRMB19.20bn, accounting for 95.3% of total revenue; GPM fell 2.0ppts to39.8%. The growth was driven by market share gains in etching, thin-filmdeposition, thermal processing and wet cleaning, volume shipments of ionimplantation and track systems, and batch deliveries of bonding equipment.Kingsemi’s consolidation further broadened product coverage. Componentrevenue rose 5.5% YoY to RMB915mn, while GPM declined 4.2ppts to46.2% amid stronger competition and downstream pricing pressure. NAURAis targeting higher-value applications, including AI computing, data centersand high-end industrial markets, to support its product-mix upgrade.
Higher spending supports product penetration but delays operatingleverage. In 1H26, R&D expenses increased 28.9% YoY to RMB2.68bn, andselling expenses rose 63.5% YoY to RMB761mn due to larger sales andservice teams and Kingsemi’s consolidation. These investments supportqualification across additional process steps. New ICP etching, ion-beametching, hybrid-bonding and high-end TSV electroplating systems expandNAURA’s exposure to advanced logic, memory and advanced packaging.Meanwhile, the improvement in OCF in 1H26 strengthened cash conversion.
Order indicators support revenue visibility while margin recoveryremains the key earnings variable. In 1H26, inventory and contractliabilities reached RMB30.5bn and RMB5.3bn, up 6.7% and 26.6% QoQ,respectively, indicating a solid production pipeline and stronger customerprepayments. Key risks include slower product validation, intensifying pricecompetition, persistent GPM pressure, weaker semiconductor capex, etc.