The domestic GPU sector has delivered another positive report, with the latest performance forecast from Metax Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. indicating a trend of "rapid revenue growth coupled with narrowing losses."
On March 4, Metax disclosed its performance forecast for the first quarter of 2026. The data shows the company expects quarterly revenue to be in the range of 400 million to 600 million yuan, representing a maximum year-on-year increase of 87.26% compared to the 320 million yuan revenue in the same period last year, marking a significant leap. Concurrently, the company's profitability has improved, with the maximum reduction in non-GAAP net loss reaching 77%.
Key highlights are as follows:
* The company anticipates Q1 revenue between 400 million and 600 million yuan, an increase of approximately 80 million to 280 million yuan compared to 320 million yuan in Q1 2025, representing year-on-year growth of 24.84% to 87.26%. * Net profit attributable to shareholders is expected to show a loss of 90.76 million to 182 million yuan. Compared to the loss of 233 million yuan in the same period last year, this represents a reduction in loss of 51 million to 142 million yuan, narrowing the loss by 21.93% to 60.97%. * Net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is expected to show a loss of 50 million to 210 million yuan. Compared to the loss of 219 million yuan last year, this is a reduction of 8.75 million to 169 million yuan, narrowing the loss by 4.00% to 77.14%.
The core driver points to the high-growth cycle of the artificial intelligence industry. The announcement explicitly stated that, benefiting from the rapid development of the AI industry, combined with improvements in product performance and the enhancement of its software ecosystem, downstream customer recognition has continuously expanded, leading to a "significant growth" in business scale compared to the same period last year.
It is noteworthy that the forecast range is quite wide. The difference between the lower and upper bounds for revenue is 200 million yuan, and the range for net loss also spans nearly 90 million yuan. This reflects some uncertainty in the timing of order confirmations, and the final figures should be based on the official quarterly report.
**Revenue: Volume and Price Increases Underpin High Growth** In absolute terms, Metax's projected Q1 revenue of 400 to 600 million yuan, with a midpoint of 500 million yuan, represents approximately 56% growth compared to the 320 million yuan in Q1 2025. Notably, the first quarter is typically a traditional off-season for the GPU industry, with relatively slower customer purchasing cycles. Achieving such significant year-on-year growth against this backdrop suggests the company has a sufficient order backlog.
Behind this growth is Metax's continuous dedication to the high-performance GPU field. The announcement indicates the company is "steadily enhancing its market position and industry influence in the high-performance GPU sector" and accelerating the deep integration of AI technology across various industries. This strategic direction aligns with the current trend of domestic cloud providers, major internet companies, and government computing power procurement increasingly favoring domestic chips.
**Narrowing Losses: Signs of Improving Operational Efficiency** Regarding net profit, the company reported a net loss of 233 million yuan in Q1 2025. This period's loss is projected to narrow to between 90.75 million and 182 million yuan. Even taking the upper limit of the loss forecast (182 million yuan), the year-on-year reduction is 21.93%. If the lower limit (90.75 million yuan) is achieved, the reduction would be a substantial 60.97%, indicating significant improvement.
For non-GAAP net profit, the projected loss is between 50 million and 210 million yuan, compared to a loss of 219 million yuan last year, representing a reduction range of 4% to 77.14%. The wide range in the non-GAAP figure suggests that non-recurring items have some impact on the final number, and investors should pay attention to the specific composition of these items in the official quarterly report.
Trend analysis suggests that, while R&D investment remains high—a characteristic of this stage—the narrowing of losses primarily relies on the benefits of scale from increased revenue. As chip shipments increase, fixed costs are spread more thinly, which is expected to gradually improve the gross margin structure.
**R&D Investment: A Double-Edged Sword** The announcement clearly mentions that the company "adheres to technology innovation as the driver and continues to increase R&D investment." For a GPU company still in a critical phase of product iteration, high R&D expenses are a major reason for ongoing losses, but they are also a necessary cost for building technological barriers and maintaining a competitive advantage.
The core competitiveness of domestic GPUs lies not only in the chip architecture itself but also crucially in the maturity of the software ecosystem. The announcement specifically highlighted the "improved software ecosystem" as an important factor in gaining customer recognition.
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