CITIC Securities International gives BLACK SESAME a "Buy" rating, with performance meeting expectations and high visibility for growth

CITIC Securities International's research report indicates that BLACK SESAME (02533.HK) had a revenue of RMB 8.22 billion last year, in line with the firm's previous expectations, representing a year-on-year increase of 73.4%, benefiting from the growth of intelligent driving products and embodied intelligence.

The firm stated that the industry is still in the early stages of penetration rate improvement and technological iteration. Although competition has intensified, it does not change the high gross margin characteristics of the blue ocean market. The company is upgrading from a hardware supplier to an edge AI computing power platform, with its flagship A2000 chip's core indicators in the first tier. Its high cost-performance ratio precisely meets the cost reduction demands of leading OEMs such as BYD (01211.HK) and Geely (00175.HK), and its penetration rate is expected to increase. Additionally, the company's transformation speed in the embodied intelligence field significantly outpaces its peers, establishing a medium to long-term growth pole.

CITIC Securities International pointed out that with the ramp-up of high-end chips, robotics, and commercial vehicle businesses, revenue and gross margin are expected to rise simultaneously in the next 2 to 3 years. The group has raised its revenue forecasts for this year and next by 4% and 4%, respectively, maintaining an "Overweight" rating; the target price is HKD 26.5, corresponding to a price-to-sales ratio of 9.8 times this year. It also believes that the market has not yet fully reflected the revaluation potential brought about by the strengthening of its AI attributes