AI Demand Drives 2Q Recovery
发布时间:2026-08-18 来源:华泰证券
Wangsu Science&Technology has reported 1H26 revenue of RMB2,318mn(-1.38%YoY),attributable net profit of RMB348mn(-6.61%YoY),and recurring net profit of RMB241mn(-7.85%YoY).For 2Q26,revenue came in at RMB1,202mn(+7.79%YoY,+7.78%QoQ),attributable net profit at RMB227mn(+25.73%YoY,+88.12%QoQ),and recurring net profit at RMB160mn(+44.09%YoY,+99.32%QoQ).The sequential improvement in 2Q26 was driven primarily by steady AI demand ramp-up.Excluding the impact of asubsidiary disposal in 2025,1H26 revenue grew 13.11%YoY on alike-for-like consolidation basis.We expect downstream AI demand to accelerate development of the company's security and edge computing businesses.Maintain BUY.
Like-for-like 1H26 revenue+13%YoY
In 1H26,CDN and edge computing revenue was RMB1,368mn(-9.52%YoY),security and value-added services revenue was RMB790mn(+22.10%YoY),IDC and liquid cooling revenue was RMB128mn(+1.53%YoY),and merchandise sales and other revenue was RMB32mn(-50.87%YoY).The strong growth in security was driven primarily by growing downstream AI demand.The reported YoY decline in 1H26 revenue reflects the consolidation scope change following asubsidiary disposal in 2Q25.Excluding this impact,1H26 revenue grew 13.11%YoY on alike-for-like basis.We expect the security and edge computing businesses to continue scaling as AI demand ramps up.
Gross margin up YoY;net margin decline driven by FX losses
For 1H26,the blended gross margin reached 35.92%,up 2.48pp YoY,driven by ahigher revenue mix from the high-margin security business(1H26 gross margin:74.03%).Security revenue accounted for 34.06%of total revenue in 1H26.The selling/admin/R&D expense ratios were 6.38/7.08/6.88%(-0.87+0.02/-1.18pp YoY).The slight increase in the administrative expense ratio was due to higher share-based compensation expenses.For 1H26,attributable net margin was 15.01%,down 0.85pp YoY,mainly due to aRMB135mn YoY rise in FX losses.We expect operating quality to improve steadily as the business mix continues to optimize,and we are positive on the company's future profitability trajectory.
Security and edge computing continue to strengthen
Similar to the transformation path of overseas CDN peers,Wangsu is accelerating its deployment in security and edge computing use cases driven by AI demand.1)Security:leveraging large-model capabilities,Wangsu upgraded its WAAP full-site protection suite.In July 2026,it rolled out an enhanced AI Bot governance solution that helps enterprises refine trust management based on visitor identity,behavior,and risk profiles.2)Edge computing:Wangsu’s AI gateway continues to build out capabilities in multi-model access,intelligent scheduling,fine-grained operations,and production-grade assurance,supporting AI application deployment across office productivity,software programming,streaming media creation,ads design,and game development.We believe Wangsu has built afairly comprehensive product portfolio around AI use cases,and we expect meaningful scaling ahead.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We lower our 2026/2027/2028 attributable net profit estimates to RMB865/1,213/1,636mn(-4.42/-1.59/-0.02%vs previous),implying EPS of RMB0.35/0.49/0.66.The revision reflects higher FX losses and share-based compensation expenses.Our target price is RMB21.00(previous:RMB22.20,based on 60x 2026E PE),derived from a60x 2026E PE multiple,a premium to the peer average of 45.2x(Wind consensus),reflecting accelerating business expansion and AI monetization.Maintain BUY.
Risks:slower AI traffic growth than we expect,and intensifying competition in the CDN industry.