Data Communications Momentum Intact Despite Soft QoQ Growth
发布时间:2026-10-22 来源:华泰证券
Ruijie Networks has reported its 3Q26 results:9M26 revenue rose by 36.66%YoY to RMB14,596mn,and the attributable net profit grew by 58.87%YoY to RMB1,081mn.For 3Q26,revenue rose by 42.98%YoY to RMB5,764mn,and the attributable net profit grew by 69.43%YoY to RMB387mn;however,they fell by 1.18%and 32.28%QoQ.The YoY growth was driven by accelerated delivery of switch orders and scale effects.We attribute the QoQ decline to:1)seasonal delivery phasing on the client side;and 2)higher selling,administrative,and R&D expenses QoQ from accrued employee performance bonuses.We favor the company as aleading domestic data center switch supplier for internet clients,benefiting externally from customer capex growth and the supernode trend,and internally from better operating efficiency.We expect further earnings delivery and maintain BUY.
Switch orders accelerated delivery
The company has long held aleading position in switches.According to IDC,it ranked third in China’s data center switch market share in 1H26,and first in 800G data center switches.The company’s 3Q26 report shows that 9M26 revenue growth was driven mainly by data center switch products,with faster delivery of internet client orders.The company has launched a128-port 800G box switch and AI-Fabric solutions,and is developing 1.6T and supernode products to capture high-speed interconnect demand.Inventory reached RMB9,097mn at end-3Q26,up by 62.04%QoQ,mainly on higher strategic raw-material stocking(switch chips,etc.)and expanded production scale.Contract liabilities were RMB708mn,up by 6.81%QoQ.
3Q expense ratios rose QoQ,R&D spending kept rising
For 9M26,the gross margin was 32.11%,down by 1.98pp YoY.The selling/administrative/R&D expense ratios were 8.67/3.84/11.94%,down by 2.33/0.58/0.49pp YoY.We expect the expense ratios to keep improving on scale effects in data-center switches.For 3Q26,the gross margin was 32.86%,down by 2.70pp YoY but up by 3.35pp QoQ,with the QoQ improvement driven by abetter product mix than in 2Q.Combined selling,administrative,and R&D expenses reached RMB1,502mn in 3Q26,up by RMB342mn QoQ,mainly on accrued employee performance bonuses.R&D spending on high-speed networking kept rising,with 3Q R&D expenses up by 28.58%YoY to RMB722mn.
Proposed fundraising;equity incentives to support LT growth
The 3Q26 report shows the board approved aconvertible bond proposal in September to raise up to RMB2.6bn for high-speed interconnect network systems for large-scale AI computing clusters,high-density compute cluster switch units and integrated solutions,next-generation computing-network convergence technologies,and working-capital replenishment.The company also unveiled adraft restricted stock incentive plan for 11.13mn shares,about 1%of total share capital.Both items remain subject to approval procedures.We think that upgrades in high-speed switches,supernodes,and optical-electrical interconnect technologies could expand the company’s growth runway,while R&D industrialization investment and long-term incentives could strengthen its competitiveness.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We maintain our 2026/2027/2028 attributable net profit forecasts at RMB1,780/3,128/4,085mn.Its peers’average 2027E PE is 42x on Wind consensus(previous:46x).Given that the company’s switch business has higher internet data center exposure and more flexible expense management than its peers,and its potential profitability exceeds that of server vendors among its peers,we apply a2027E PE of 45x(previous:60x;we lower the premium multiple versus our prior valuation as some cybersecurity peers have recently performed well on strengthening industry trends,while the company’s cybersecurity exposure is small),deriving our target price of RMB126.40(previous:RMB168.53).BUY.
Risks:intensifying competition,slower AI Ethernet adoption than we expect,and weaker downstream investment than we expect.