2026 to See Delivery of Data Center Switches
发布时间:2026-04-23 来源:华泰证券
Ruijie Networks(Ruijie)has reported 1Q26 results with revenue of RMB2,999mn(+18.26%YoY),an attributable net profit of RMB123mn(+14.59%YoY),and arecurring attributable net profit of RMB112mn(+18.18%YoY).Stable growth was driven by the gradual ramp-up of core data center switch shipments after Chinese New Year(CNY),and we expect profits to return to rapid YoY growth in 2Q26.Looking ahead,as domestic GPUs gradually achieve breakthroughs,domestic super nodes begin scaling up,and internet companies launch new rounds of tenders,we are optimistic that Ruijie,a leading data center switch supplier to internet firms,stands to benefit both from clients’expanding capital budgets and internal operational efficiency improvements.Maintain BUY.
Firm market leadership on faster data center switch development
According to IDC 2025 statistics,the data center market size reached RMB31.0bn in 2025,increasing by 37.5%YoY,significantly higher than the 23.3%growth rate in 2024,indicating continued strong market expansion.According to IDC,the company ranked first in terms of China’s Ethernet optical network market share,third in China’s Ethernet switch market share,and third in China’s data center switch market share in 2025.With regard to specific industries,the company ranked second in market share for data center switches in China’s internet sector in 3Q25 and is likely to continue benefiting from the growth in internet capex,on our estimates.
1Q26 GPM constrained,with expense ratios optimized
The company’s gross margin was 35.70%in 1Q26,decreasing by 1.79pp YoY and 3.88pp QoQ,which we attribute to changes in revenue mix and upstream price fluctuations.The expense ratios continued to improve,with the sales/administrative/R&D expense ratios at 10.97/4.50/14.75%in 1Q26,falling by 2.51/1.63/0.52pp YoY.This was driven by both revenue growth effectively diluting expense ratios and the company’s direct sales model for its primary internet clients(with mature products requiring limited incremental costs).
Positive internet vendor capex to boost import substitution
With domestic GPUs achieving breakthroughs in performance and mass production capabilities,Chinese internet companies’capex should in our view maintain strong growth in 2026:According to Financial News and companies’4Q25 earnings calls,ByteDance plans to invest over RMB160bn in 2026,Alibaba indicated potential additional investments beyond its previous three-year RMB380bn plan,and Tencent expects to at least double its investments in AI systems such as Hunyuan and Yuanbao.We think that internet companies have already begun tendering for 2026 data center equipment,and as China’s leading data center switch provider,the company is well positioned to maintain its market share through innovative products and solutions.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We are positive on the company’s growth prospects from domestic AI computing capex expansion,expecting sustained high growth in data center switch revenue alongside continued expense optimization through economies of scale,which should enhance profitability.We maintain our 2026/2027/2028 attributable net profit forecasts at RMB1,606/2,260/2,841mn.Peer companies currently trade at an average 2026E PE of 50x on Wind consensus(previous:51x).Given the company’s higher data center exposure in its switch business and potentially superior profitability vs server manufacturers among its peers,we value the stock at 55x 2026E PE(previous:51x),for our target price of RMB111.06(previous:RMB102.99).Reiterate BUY.
Risks:intensified industry competition;slower AI Ethernet adoption than we expect;weaker downstream investments than we expect.