HuaLong Securities: Industry fundamentals are improving, focus on leading forklift companies

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Hualong Securities released a research report stating that the sales data of the forklift industry is impressive, with both domestic and foreign sales achieving double-digit year-on-year growth from January to September. Benefiting from the low base effect in the second half of 2024, the growth rate in the fourth quarter is expected to be sustainable, which will have a positive impact on valuations. The logistics industry is an ideal landing scenario for embodied intelligent robots, with ample forklift application scenarios. With the development of artificial intelligence and automation technology, the forklift industry is ushering in an upgrade towards intelligence and automation. Although the unit price of unmanned forklifts is higher, they are more economical, and with the increase in penetration rates, they are expected to enhance industry profitability. The fundamentals of the industry are positive, with electrification and globalization providing a solid foundation for intelligent upgrades.

The report states that on October 18, 2025, the China Engineering Industry Association released a sales report for major products in the construction machinery industry for September. According to statistics from the China Construction Machinery Industry Association on major forklift manufacturers, a total of 130,380 forklifts of various types were sold in September 2025, a year-on-year increase of 23%. Among them, domestic sales were 81,119 units, a year-on-year increase of 29.3%; export volume was 49,261 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%. From January to September, the cumulative sales of forklifts reached 1,106,406 units, a year-on-year increase of 14%; among them, domestic sales were 697,375 units, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%; exports were 409,031 units, a year-on-year increase of 15.5%.

In addition, excluding the sales of electric walk-behind warehouse (Category III) vehicles: in September 2025, a total of 51,150 forklifts excluding electric walk-behind warehouse vehicles were sold, a year-on-year increase of 18.2%. Among them, domestic sales were 31,910 units, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%; export volume was 19,240 units, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%. From January to September 2025, a total of 451,048 forklifts excluding electric walk-behind warehouse vehicles were sold, a year-on-year increase of 5.99%. Among them, domestic sales were 298,148 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.32%; exports were 152,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%