CITIC Securities: Based on the inflection point of the intelligent driving industry, sub-sectors in the industrial chain such as robotaxi, intelligent driving chips, and LiDAR are all expected to benefit significantly.
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The positive earnings forecast in the interim report signals a profit inflection point, and the humanoid robot sector is ushering in a new era of industry synergy.
On July 7th, the A-share humanoid robot sector experienced a correction after a rapid rise, with the Wind Humanoid Robot Concept Index falling 2.93% that day. Currently, the industry fundamentals are undergoing profound changes: multiple companies in the industrial chain have released preliminary earnings announcements for the first half of the year, showing improved profitability trends from core components to complete machine integration; simultaneously, leading global companies are accelerating mass production, with capacity construction and order verification entering a critical window period. Analysts believe that the humanoid robot industry is gradually shifting from the initial concept-driven phase to a new stage of capacity implementation and performance realization. Coupled with multiple factors such as the IPOs of leading companies and the accelerated commercialization of leading domestic and international manufacturers, the medium- to long-term investment logic of the sector is receiving strong support from fundamentals. The short-term correction may be a normal digestion of the previous gains by the market. With the profit inflection point approaching in each link of the industrial chain, the humanoid robot sector is expected to usher in a new development stage of resonance both domestically and internationally. (China Securities Journal)
CITIC Securities: Significant fluctuations will not alter the AI supercycle; emphasize the importance of domestic computing power as a "Plan B".
According to Mars Finance, CITIC Securities points out that news of Meta's plan to lease out some of its computing power has once again triggered market concerns about computing power oversupply. This, coupled with concerns about cloud vendors' cash flow pressures, the continued rise in upstream prices, the slowdown in Capex growth, and overcrowding in AI transactions in recent months, is the main reason for the significant volatility in tech stocks. In the short term, Meta's move is primarily aimed at revitalizing its existing, outdated computing power assets. Considering its continued development of advanced models and investment in next-generation computing hardware, leasing out computing power is not contradictory to further increasing its investment in computing power. Furthermore, since computing power rental fees have continued to rise recently, concerns about computing power oversupply are unfounded. This round of tech stock adjustments is more of a deleveraging and rebalancing process in the recent global liquidity tightening environment, rather than a reversal of the AI industry trend. For the medium to long term, it is crucial to pay close attention to whether the next few months will see a similar breakthrough in AI capabilities as seen with OpenClaw and Coding Agent at the beginning of the year. In addition, it has been observed that after overseas AI assets entered a phase of high crowding, high correlation, and high volatility, international funds are beginning to seek differentiated sources of return. Domestic computing power with differentiated value, dubbed "Plan B," remains resilient and is expected to attract foreign investment. With the earnings season approaching, we recommend focusing on sub-sectors with high earnings certainty and reasonable valuations: In terms of growth prospects, we recommend domestic FAB (Featured Adhesives and Materials) and equipment sectors with positive narratives, as well as the optical communication sector with relatively low valuations; in the price increase chain, segments with high AI exposure and those that have already experienced price increases have a higher probability of realizing their earnings gains, such as memory and upstream PCB industries. (Cailian Press)
CITIC Securities: South Korea is expected to become a key player in the era of physical AI.
According to a research report by CITIC Securities, as reported by Mars Finance, physical AI continues to be a hot topic. Essentially, it's a different expression of the concepts of embodied intelligence and robotics. South Korea recently proposed a super project for physical AI, and our recent research on the South Korean robotics industry chain suggests that South Korea has the potential to become a significant player in the physical AI era. South Korea has a strong robotics industry chain, primarily focused on hardware, mainly driven by conglomerates like Hyundai Group. It has initially established a complete industry chain from upstream components to downstream manufacturing of various complete machines. However, it still lags behind China and the US in terms of embodied models and cost reduction capabilities in the supply chain.
Nomura Securities: The core contradiction in the global storage industry remains a severe supply shortage, while AI-driven structural demand growth has not yet peaked.
According to Mars Finance, Nomura Securities, in its latest report, believes that the core contradiction in the global storage industry remains a severe supply shortage, and the structural demand growth driven by AI has not yet peaked. While recent investor concerns about oversupply are understandable, they are clearly excessive, and the market's overreaction may provide a window for reassessing the storage sector's valuation. Nomura Securities states bluntly in its report that market concerns are severely exaggerated. The cycle of semiconductor investment translating into actual production capacity is extremely long. South Korea's massive 4800 trillion won investment plan will take at least 5 to 10 years to convert into actual production capacity, and the squeeze on general-purpose storage capacity by high-profit HBM (high-bandwidth memory) is leading to a severe supply shortage in the market. Nomura Securities emphasizes that Meta's decision is by no means a turning point for reduced demand for AI-related hardware. On the contrary, due to the current shortage of computing power leading to an upward trend in single-token prices, the entry of Meta's computing power into the market is expected to stabilize token prices. (Cailian Press)
CITIC Securities: The main theme of domestic computing power is clear; leading companies' performance is expected to accelerate.
According to a research report by CITIC Securities, as reported by Mars Finance, the capabilities of domestic computing power systems have evolved from inference to training. With the official release of DeepSeek V4 in mid-July, a "peak-valley pricing" mechanism will be introduced, doubling the price of API calls during peak periods, further intensifying the supply constraints of domestic computing power. We believe that the clarity of domestic computing power orders has significantly improved at this stage, and design companies with priority in customer order and capacity allocation are expected to benefit first. We remain optimistic about the domestic computing power industry chain, anticipating significant growth opportunities for everything from scarce advanced process capabilities to a thriving design sector and supernodes. Meanwhile, advanced processes, advanced packaging, advanced storage, and related supply chains are expected to experience strong growth momentum. (Cailian Press)
CITIC Securities: Supply and Demand, Coupled with Technological Advancement, Make Now the Time for Rare Earth Value Reassessment
According to a research report by CITIC Securities, citing Mars Finance, the average price of praseodymium oxide (PBO) in the first half of 2026 was 731,000 yuan/ton, a year-on-year increase of 73.6%. On the supply side, imports and recycling have decreased significantly, and the enforcement of domestic rare earth management policies has become stricter, leading to a continued tight supply in the rare earth industry. On the demand side, the production of new energy vehicles and robots has increased month-on-month, export orders have grown strongly, and Tesla's robots are about to enter mass production, suggesting that rare earth demand is likely to continue its growth trend. Considering the overall supply and demand situation, the global rare earth supply-demand gap is expected to continue to widen from 2026 onwards, providing long-term support for rare earth prices. We recommend a strategic allocation value strategy for the rare earth industry chain. (Cailian Press)