As the A-share market continues to warm up recently, with hot sectors like semiconductors and industrial gases taking turns to rise, major shareholders of several listed companies have begun to intensively announce share reduction plans.
On the evening of May 15, Guangdong Huate Gas Co.,Ltd. (688268.SH), a leading industrial gas company, issued two consecutive announcements. They disclosed that the concerted parties of the controlling shareholder had reduced their holdings through block trades from May 14 to 15, with the total reduction ratio reaching 1%. Simultaneously, a company shareholder and two senior executives also announced a new round of reduction plans. Notably, since April, Huate Gas's stock price has surged by 110.1% cumulatively, with a year-to-date increase exceeding 233%, recently hitting a new all-time high. This stands in stark contrast to the company's financial performance, with net profit for 2025 declining 26.75% year-over-year and first-quarter 2026 net profit further dropping 23.7% year-over-year.
The phenomenon of shareholders reducing holdings in popular stocks is not an isolated case. Statistics show that during the evenings of May 14 and 15 alone, over ten listed companies disclosed shareholder reduction plans, including several hot stocks whose prices have doubled this year. The first phase of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund initiated a new round of reduction plans for Suzhou Centec Communications Co.,Ltd. (688702.SH), aiming to cash out nearly 3 billion yuan. This shareholder had just completed a previous round of reductions in April, cashing out approximately 2.1 billion yuan. Other popular stocks like Hithink Royalflush Information Network Co.,Ltd. (300033.SZ) and Orbbec Inc. (688322.SH) also announced major reduction plans by controlling shareholders or senior executives.
**Huate Gas Shareholders and Executives Collectively Reduce Holdings Amid Ongoing Performance Pressure** The evening announcement on May 15 revealed that three investment partnerships, acting in concert with the controlling shareholder, reduced their holdings by 369,000 shares via block trades from May 14 to 15, representing 0.30% of the total shares. Combined with passive dilution from convertible bond conversions, the total shareholding ratio of these concerted parties dropped from 47.59% to 46.40%, a change of 1.19%.
Trading data indicated that on May 15, the buyers in the block trades were J.P. Morgan Shanghai Yinchengzhonglu, CITIC Securities Shanghai Branch, Guotai Haitong Headquarters, and institutional dedicated seats, with a transaction price of 161.5 yuan. Based on this, the concerted parties cashed out approximately 59.5935 million yuan from this reduction.
That same evening, Huate Gas also disclosed new reduction plans from shareholder Zhang Suiping, as well as senior executives Board Secretary Wan Lingzhi and Financial Officer Guo Zhanquan. Zhang Suiping directly holds 1.9497 million shares (1.625% of total shares) and plans to reduce up to 1.197 million shares (not exceeding 1% of total shares) through centralized bidding between June 10 and September 9.
Wan Lingzhi plans to reduce up to 4,375 shares (25% of her personal holdings), and Guo Zhanquan plans to reduce up to 900 shares (also 25% of his personal holdings). Based on the closing price of 191.19 yuan on May 15, Zhang Suiping's plan could cash out up to approximately 230 million yuan, while Wan Lingzhi and Guo Zhanquan could cash out about 836,500 yuan and 172,100 yuan, respectively.
This collective reduction occurs against the backdrop of recent market frenzy over the industrial gas theme. The trigger for this rally has been a significant rise in industrial helium prices. As a rare gas, helium plays an indispensable role in semiconductor manufacturing, essential for key processes from wafer etching and cleaning to EUV lithography. Although helium accounts for less than 1% of wafer manufacturing costs, it is considered an absolute necessity; any supply disruption could halt chip production lines and significantly reduce yield rates.
Against this backdrop, industrial gas companies like Peric Special Gases Co.,Ltd. (688146.SH), Huate Gas, and Shanghai Gentech Co.,Ltd. (688596.SH) have seen their stock prices surge significantly. Among them, Huate Gas has been particularly eye-catching. Since April 1, its stock price has climbed from 89 yuan to 213.07 yuan, setting a new historical high. The latest closing price is 191.19 yuan, representing a cumulative increase of 110.1% during this period. From the start of the year, with the stock beginning around 59 yuan, the year-to-date increase has reached 233%.
In contrast to the soaring stock price, Huate Gas's financial performance has been disappointing. The 2025 annual report showed annual operating revenue of 1.468 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 12.34%, but net profit attributable to shareholders was only 121 million yuan, a year-over-year decline of 26.75%. In the first quarter of 2026, the downward trend in performance persisted. Quarterly operating revenue was 384 million yuan, up 13.70% year-over-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders further declined 23.7% year-over-year to 33.8766 million yuan.
Huate Gas attributed the profit decline to several factors: increased demand for some low-margin special gas products pressured overall gross margin, not fully offset by increased product demand; newly operational industrial gas projects, still in their initial production and capacity ramp-up phases, saw cost growth outpace revenue growth, dragging down overall profitability and margins. Additionally, depreciation from newly operational production lines in 2025, increased expenses during the reporting period, and negative non-operating impacts from exchange gains/losses further compressed profit margins.
**Wave of Reductions Hits Popular Stocks, Centec Communications, Orbbec, and Hithink Royalflush Announce Plans** Shareholder reductions in popular stocks are not isolated incidents. As the A-share market has continued to rise recently, the pace of reductions by major shareholders of listed companies has noticeably accelerated.
Just during the evenings of May 14 and 15, nearly ten companies, including Weiye Construction Group Co.,Ltd. (300621.SZ), Sieyuan Electric Co.,Ltd. (002028.SZ), Orbbec, Centec Communications, and Hithink Royalflush, disclosed shareholder reduction plans, with several showing significant stock price gains this year.
Centec Communications, a leader in Ethernet switch chips, has seen its stock price double this year, benefiting from surging demand for switch chips driven by AI computing needs. According to the announcement, shareholder National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (Phase I), holding over 5% of shares, plans to reduce up to 10.25 million shares (not exceeding 2.50% of total shares) through centralized bidding or block trades between June 8 and September 7.
As of the announcement date, the Fund is the second-largest shareholder of Centec Communications, holding 47.5602 million shares (11.60% of total shares). Based on the latest closing price of 285 yuan, this reduction could cash out approximately 2.921 billion yuan.
The Fund had just completed a previous round of reductions in Centec Communications. Between January 29 and April 7, it reduced 12.30 million shares (3% of total shares) at prices ranging from 132.36 yuan to 217.53 yuan, cashing out a total of about 2.174 billion yuan.
Orbbec also announced reduction plans from its controlling shareholder and several senior executives on the evening of May 16. The announcement stated that Huang Yuanhao, the controlling shareholder, actual controller, Chairman, and General Manager, along with six employee持股 platforms acting in concert, plan to reduce up to 5.1782 million shares (1.29% of total shares) through centralized bidding and/or block trades. Director and Chief Technology Officer Xiao Zhenzhong plans to reduce up to 1 million shares (0.2493% of total shares). Employee Representative Director Zhang Dingjun also plans to reduce up to 7,800 shares.
Since the "September 24" market trend, Orbbec's stock price has performed well, with a cumulative increase of 253.6%, reaching a historical high of 108.88 yuan in January this year. The latest closing price is 89 yuan. Huang Yuanhao's personal plan to reduce up to 3.8167 million shares could cash out approximately 340 million yuan based on the latest price, while Xiao Zhenzhong's plan could cash out about 89 million yuan.
Brokerage favorite Hithink Royalflush also announced a reduction plan on May 15. Directors Wang Jin and Yu Haomiao, along with shareholder Hangzhou Kaishishun Technology Co., Ltd., plan to collectively reduce up to 4.065 million shares (0.54% of total shares) through centralized bidding or block trades between June 8 and September 7.
Specifically, Wang Jin plans to reduce up to 1.2195 million shares, Yu Haomiao up to 1.2195 million shares, and Kaishishun up to 1.626 million shares. Based on Hithink Royalflush's closing price of 231.45 yuan on May 15, this reduction plan could cash out approximately 941 million yuan.
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