Intelligent Driving Business to Turn Around in 2026
发布时间:2026-04-22 来源:华泰证券
Arcsoft has released 2025 annual results and 1Q26 results: 2025A revenue was RMB923mn (+13.22% YoY), with the attributable net profit at RMB258mn (+46.25% YoY) and a recurring net profit of RMB214mn (+37.51% YoY), broadly in line with preliminary figures. The strong earnings growth was driven by rapid revenue expansion and continued loss reduction in the smart driving segment. For 1Q26, revenue stood at RMB227mn (+8.54% YoY), with an attributable net profit of RMB54.08mn (+8.90% YoY) and a recurring net profit at RMB48.38mn (+20.02% YoY), maintaining growth momentum. As Arcsoft is a leading player in edge-side visual AI algorithms in China, we expect stable smartphone business growth, volume ramp-up with potential breakeven in smart driving, and gradual market penetration for AI glasses. Maintain BUY, anticipating high earnings growth in 2026.
AI glasses commercialization on track
Mobile smart device revenue reached RMB715mn (+5.90% YoY) in 2025, with the gross margin at 91.46%, a high level. Growth was primarily driven by TurboFusion technology’s expansion from flagship to full-range smartphone models, alongside video solutions achieving commercial deployment with leading clients, enriching the product portfolio. Arcfost continues advancing on-device AI model application, showing superior real-time responsiveness and data security versus cloud-based alternatives, which we believe should strengthen its competitive advantages. For AI glasses, core algorithms have achieved mass production with industry leaders including Lenovo's TCL RayNeo, Rokid, and Quark. As industry shipments scale, we expect AI glass business to contribute incremental revenue. For 2026, we expect smartphone business to maintain steady growth while AI glasses gradually unlock new revenue potential.
Automotive AI fared strongly
Auto AI revenue was RMB192mn (+50.94% YoY) in 2025, with the gross margin at 81.13% (-3.36pp YoY). The company is executing its "in-cabin + out-of-cabin" and overseas market strategy. In-cabin driver and occupant monitoring products are accelerating mass production. Meanwhile, Arcsoft’s newly established European subsidiary enhances collaboration with local automakers. For out-of-cabin ADAS solutions, low-computing platforms have gained recognition from multiple Tier-1 suppliers with technical collaborations initiated, while mid-to-high computing platforms target market validation by 2026. We expect sustained high growth in automotive AI revenue as in-cabin products scale up, which could reduce unit costs, and out-of-cabin solutions enter production cycles, driving up profitability.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
Due to the impact of global memory shortages on the company’s core smartphone business, we revise down our 2026/2027 EPS estimates to RMB0.83/1.10 (previous: RMB0.87/1.13, representing reductions of 4.6/2.7%), and introduce 2028 EPS estimate of RMB1.47. Based on the comparable companies' average 2026E PE of 78x (iFind), we assign the company a target 2026E PE of 78x, for a target price of RMB64.74 (previous: RMB71.27 based on 82x 2026E PE). Maintain BUY.
Risks: weaker sales volume of smart devices and slower mass production of smart vehicles than we expect; slower progress in AIGC development than we expect.