Boqian New Materials has submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The company stated its purpose for the Hong Kong listing is to advance its global strategy, broaden financing channels in international capital markets, build a diversified capital operation platform, continuously enhance capital strength and comprehensive competitiveness, accelerate overseas business expansion, improve coordinated development between domestic and international operations, and further solidify its leading position in the industry.
Financial Performance Shows Volatility
Boqian New Materials' nickel and copper powders are primarily used in the production of MLCCs, while its alloy powder products are mainly used in inductor manufacturing. Passive electronic components like MLCCs and inductors are widely used in consumer electronics, automotive electronics, communication equipment, AI servers, aerospace, and other fields. Its silver-coated powder products are mainly used in the photovoltaic field as a substitute for base metals.
Looking at financial data from the past five years, the company's performance has been volatile. From 2021 to 2025, its revenues were 964 million yuan, 741 million yuan, 689 million yuan, 945 million yuan, and 1.152 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 63.29%, -23.13%, -7.05%, 38.9%, and 23.24%. This indicates significant fluctuations in its performance. In fact, the company's performance is highly correlated with downstream market conditions. During 2022-2023, affected by a decline in consumer electronics demand, demand for its metal powders for MLCCs decreased, coupled with falling nickel powder prices, leading to temporary pressure on its performance and an overall decline in operating revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company. With the promotion of AI technology and deepening trends in automotive electrification and intelligence, demand for high-end MLCCs has grown rapidly, driving up demand for the company's small-particle-size, high-end nickel-based products.
Heavy Reliance on Major Customers and Divergence Between Revenue and Cash Flow
Nickel powder, one of the company's core products, forms its fundamental base, accounting for 74.8% of its product mix in 2025.
According to a Frost & Sullivan report, based on 2025 revenue, the company held approximately an 11.0% market share among global MLCC nickel powder suppliers in 2025, ranking second globally. It has established strong technological and industrial capabilities in the high-end electronic metal powder field and has broken the long-term monopoly of overseas companies in the high-end MLCC nickel powder segment.
In recent years, MLCC demand is undergoing a structural upgrade from traditional consumer electronics dominance to high-end areas like AI servers and new energy vehicles. The industry may be entering a phase of simultaneous volume and price growth.
In terms of volume, AI servers have massive demand for MLCCs. For instance, NVIDIA's GB300 platform requires about 30,000 MLCCs, roughly thirty times that of a mobile phone and three times that of a car, with a single cabinet consuming up to 440,000 units. From the GB200 single board carrying about 6,500 MLCCs to the next-generation Rubin platform, the single-board usage is expected to nearly double to around 12,000 units.
In terms of value, AI chips operate at low voltage with high and fluctuating current, requiring MLCCs for nearby decoupling and instantaneous power replenishment, driving demand for high-capacitance, miniaturized, and high-temperature-resistant MLCCs. The value of such products increases significantly compared to traditional ones. The unit price of key AI-related MLCCs reaches 3-10 times that of conventional products. Murata estimates global server capacitor demand will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 30% from 2025 to 2030. Industrial Securities calculates that the volume of MLCCs used in AI servers will exceed 200 billion units by 2028, driving industry demand growth to over 15% in 2027-2028.
Furthermore, automotive electrification and intelligence further increase MLCC usage per vehicle. The electrification and intelligence process has significantly boosted MLCC usage per vehicle. Traditional internal combustion engine vehicles use about 3,000-5,000 units, while plug-in hybrid vehicles increase to about 12,000 units, and pure electric vehicles can require up to 18,000 units.
According to relevant industry reports, the market size for nickel powder used in MLCCs reached 7.8 billion yuan in 2025, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 12.5% from 2025 to 2035. Additionally, the company's current stage overall belongs to an upward industry cycle. According to Frost & Sullivan, the global electronic metal powder market grew from 139.2 billion yuan in 2021 to 285.3 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.6%. It is projected to reach 1,332.9 billion yuan by 2035, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 16% from 2025 to 2035.
However, Jiangsu Boqian New Materials Stock Co.,Ltd. has a relatively concentrated downstream customer base. The Hong Kong IPO prospectus shows that from 2023 to 2025, revenue from the company's top five customers was 526 million yuan, 725 million yuan, and 875 million yuan, accounting for 76.3%, 76.7%, and 76.0% of total revenue for the respective periods. Public information indicates that Samsung Electro-Mechanics has consistently been its core and largest single customer, accounting for a significant 45% of sales revenue in 2025.
This demonstrates a pronounced reliance on major customers. Yet, under this customer structure, the company has experienced a divergence between revenue and cash flow. During the 2025 reporting period, operating revenue increased by 21.84% year-on-year, while net cash flow from operating activities decreased by 54.35% year-on-year, showing a contradictory movement between the two metrics.
Potential Tightness in Capital Chain and Scrutiny of Fundraising Rationale
It should be added that, looking at the company's downstream customers, in Q1 2026, the average capacity utilization rate in the MLCC industry had already reached 87%-88%, while leading players like Murata and Samsung Electro-Mechanics had capacity utilization rates above 90%. In other words, with increasing capacity demand from downstream customers, and against the backdrop of heavy reliance on major clients, Boqian New Materials may also feel compelled to expand production. However, the company's cash position does not appear particularly ample.
At the end of the first quarter, the company's book cash was less than 50 million yuan, while short-term debt exceeded 449 million yuan, indicating some pressure on debt repayment. In this context, if the company proceeds with further production expansion, it could face significant funding pressure.
Regarding the funds to be raised from the Hong Kong listing, the company stated they will be primarily used for advanced technology research and development, capacity expansion, global market acquisitions, repayment of bank borrowings, and supplementing working capital, specifically as follows:
First, R&D investment to maintain the company's technological leadership in high-end nano-metal powder material production processes and explore future product applications in advanced areas such as big data, large models, green energy, AI servers, and high-end robotics. Second, capacity expansion, including the relocation and expansion of the Ningbo production base, purchasing industrial land, constructing a new modern factory complex, adding 640 tons of annual copper-based powder material capacity; and expansion at the Suqian production base, involving new standardized factory buildings, adding 320 tons of annual nickel-based powder material capacity and 640 tons of annual copper-based powder material capacity. Third, global market mergers and acquisitions, seeking strategic partnerships, investments, or acquisition projects that complement the business and align with development strategy. The focus is on global mid-to-high-end metal powder enterprises and downstream companies in the nickel powder, copper powder, and alloy powder industry chains, requiring target companies to have annual revenue exceeding 10 million yuan, possess independent R&D capabilities, and proprietary production processes or technologies.
Looking at the company's R&D investment, it has shown a declining trend recently. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, Boqian New Materials' R&D costs were 68.5 million yuan, 50.2 million yuan, and 48.0 million yuan, accounting for 10.0%, 5.3%, and 4.2% of total revenue for the respective periods.
Regarding capacity utilization, the company has four main factories: Boyun, Guangyu, Guangxin, and Guangyun. Among these, only the Guangyun factory achieved a capacity utilization rate of 98%, while the utilization rates at the other factories were below 80%.
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