Cambricon Technologies maintained rapid growth in both revenue and net profit in the third quarter, with the rollout of artificial intelligence applications driving further expansion of its business scale.
On October 23, Cambricon Technologies Corporation Limited (688256) released its third-quarter report for 2026, posting operating revenue of 3.531 billion yuan for the quarter, up 104.47% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached 1.404 billion yuan, up 147.74% year on year.
For the first three quarters, the company accumulated operating revenue of 9.526 billion yuan, up 106.76% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 3.715 billion yuan, up 131.49% year on year. Both revenue and profit growth rates exceeded 100%, with net profit growing faster than revenue, further expanding the scale of profitability.
Cambricon said in its financial report that revenue growth was mainly driven by continuous market expansion and active support for the implementation of artificial intelligence applications. As demand for AI computing power grows and related applications gradually advance, the company's business scale continues to expand.
At the same time, the company's balance sheet has also shown notable changes. By the end of the third quarter, total assets reached 22.364 billion yuan, up 66.43% from the beginning of the year; inventories, prepayments and notes payable all increased substantially, reflecting rising procurement stockpiling and supply chain settlement scale alongside business expansion.
Revenue and profit maintain high growth, core business profitability improves
In the first three quarters of 2026, Cambricon generated operating revenue of 9.526 billion yuan, up 106.76% from 4.607 billion yuan a year earlier. The company attributed the revenue growth to continuous market expansion and active support for the implementation of artificial intelligence applications.
On the profitability side, net profit attributable to shareholders in the first three quarters was 3.715 billion yuan, up 131.49% year on year; net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 3.523 billion yuan, up 148.30% year on year, a faster pace than attributable net profit. In the third quarter, attributable net profit and deducted non-recurring net profit rose 147.74% and 168.13% year on year, respectively.
In the first three quarters, the company's total non-recurring gains and losses amounted to about 191 million yuan, including about 123 million yuan in government subsidies and about 55.52 million yuan in fair value changes and disposal gains on financial assets. The faster growth of deducted non-recurring net profit compared with attributable net profit indicates that profit growth was even quicker after excluding non-recurring items.
In addition, net profit in the first three quarters after excluding the impact of share-based payment was 3.905 billion yuan, up 120.32% year on year. This metric reflects the effect of share-based payment expenses on current-period profit and differs from attributable net profit under accounting standards.
R&D investment keeps rising, operating cash flow still fluctuates
In terms of research and development, Cambricon invested 523 million yuan in R&D in the third quarter, up 73.66% year on year; cumulative investment in the first three quarters was 1.225 billion yuan, up 45.35% year on year. Because revenue growth outpaced R&D investment growth, R&D spending as a proportion of revenue fell to 12.86% in the first three quarters, down 5.43 percentage points year on year. Total R&D investment is still growing, and the company continues to step up technological research and development.
On cash flow, net cash flow from operating activities in the first three quarters was 228 million yuan, compared with a net outflow of 29.3 million yuan a year earlier, turning positive overall. However, net cash flow from operating activities in the third quarter alone was -83.68 million yuan, indicating volatility in cash flow between quarters.
By the end of the third quarter, the company's prepayments stood at 3.044 billion yuan, up sharply from 745 million yuan at the beginning of the year; inventories were 11.665 billion yuan, also significantly higher than about 4.943 billion yuan at the start of the year. The simultaneous increase in prepayments and inventories may be related to procurement stockpiling and supply chain arrangements.
Inventories and notes payable surge, supply chain funding scale rises
By the end of the third quarter, Cambricon's total assets were 22.364 billion yuan, up 66.43% from the beginning of the year; net assets attributable to shareholders of the listed company were 15.124 billion yuan. Alongside the expansion of asset scale, the company's working capital-related items also changed markedly.
On the asset side, inventories increased from about 4.943 billion yuan at the beginning of the year to 11.665 billion yuan, while prepayments rose from 745 million yuan to 3.044 billion yuan. On the liability side, notes payable increased from 351 million yuan to 4.966 billion yuan, accounts payable rose from 765 million yuan to 1.827 billion yuan, and contract liabilities grew from about 610,000 yuan to 141 million yuan.
These changes indicate a clear expansion in the scale of the company's procurement stockpiling and supply chain settlement. Higher inventories help provide resource support for subsequent production and delivery, but they also mean more funds are tied up in stock. Whether inventories can be smoothly converted into revenue and cash flow in the future will become an important indicator for observing the company's operating quality.
At the same time, the company's asset-liability ratio rose from 11.87% at the beginning of the year to 32.36%. Although net assets attributable to shareholders of the listed company still reached 15.124 billion yuan, with increases in inventories, prepayments and notes payable, further attention will still need to be paid to inventory digestion, supplier settlements and changes in operating cash flow.
Comments