CREALITY Technology Co., Ltd., a leading global provider of consumer-grade 3D printing products and services, officially launched its global offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company reported operating revenue of RMB 3.13 billion in 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 36.7%. It carries the unique label of being the "first consumer-grade 3D printing stock" in Hong Kong. However, behind its prominent industry position and high-growth figures, the company faces a profitability dilemma, with net profit turning from profit to loss and adjusted earnings continuing to narrow. This is compounded by multiple controversies, including its market share being overtaken by competitors, its industry standing slipping to the second tier, and a cornerstone investor lineup lacking endorsement from long-term foreign institutions. Its path to a Hong Kong listing is thus marked by both opportunity and skepticism.
As an early pioneer in the industry, CREALITY has established a comprehensive product matrix covering 3D printers, 3D printing materials, 3D scanners, laser engravers, and accessories. The company has built a diversified channel system of "online direct sales + offline distribution." As of the end of 2025, it operated 81 self-owned online stores and had 2,422 domestic and international distributors, with a sales network spanning the globe. In August 2025, the company also launched Nexbie, an overseas e-commerce platform focused on 3D creative finished products, aiming to create a "symbiotic and prosperous 3D innovation ecosystem."
Financial data reveals the company's typical characteristics of "high growth, low profitability, and high expenses." From 2023 to 2025, the company's operating revenue grew from RMB 1.88 billion to RMB 3.13 billion, with the 2025 year-on-year growth rate reaching 36.7%, continuing its rapid expansion momentum.
However, profitability presents a stark contrast to revenue growth. In 2023 and 2024, the company's net profit was RMB 130 million and RMB 90 million, respectively, showing a year-on-year decline. In 2025, the company recorded a net loss of RMB 180 million. Even after excluding non-recurring items such as shares issued to pre-IPO investors, dividends paid, share-based payments, and listing expenses, the company's adjusted net profit (a non-IFRS measure) narrowed from RMB 130 million in 2023 to RMB 97 million in 2024, and further decreased to RMB 92 million in 2025, indicating a continuous weakening of profitability.
The core reason for the struggle with profitability lies in the relatively low gross margin level coupled with persistently high expense ratios. From 2023 to 2025, the company's gross margin was 31.8%, 30.9%, and 31.2%, respectively, showing little fluctuation. Compared to industry peers, this level shows a significant gap. For example, Xianlin Sanwei, which primarily focuses on industrial-grade 3D printing, reported a gross margin as high as 71.8% in 2025, nearly double that of CREALITY. A more impactful comparison comes from a competitor in the same segment, Bambu Lab. According to market information, its net profit margin reached approximately 33% in 2024, already surpassing CREALITY's gross margin level in 2025. As a stock with an "overseas expansion" theme, CREALITY does not exhibit the typically higher gross margin characteristics often associated with such companies.
Simultaneously, the company's expense outlays have continued to expand. From 2023 to 2025, the combined expenses for sales and marketing, research and development, and general and administrative costs were RMB 570 million, RMB 220 million, and RMB 170 million, respectively, accounting for 18.2%, 7.1%, and 5.4% of the revenue in the corresponding periods. In 2025, the combined ratio of these three expenses to revenue (30.7%) was nearly equal to the gross margin for that year (31.2%). This implies that the core business contributed almost nothing to net profit, with the profit margin severely squeezed by expenses.
When the company first submitted its prospectus in August 2025, it claimed to be "the world's largest provider of consumer-grade 3D printing products and services by cumulative shipments of consumer-grade 3D printers from 2020 to 2024, with a market share of 27.9%." However, this historical halo is rapidly fading. According to the latest competitive landscape data for 2025, measured by GMV of consumer-grade 3D printers, Bambu Lab has taken a commanding lead with a 42.7% market share, firmly holding the top industry position. CREALITY has fallen to second place with an 11.2% share, with a small gap separating it from the third to fifth-ranked companies (each holding approximately 8-9%). This essentially places it in the intense competition of the second tier, with the gap to the leading enterprise continuing to widen.
Changes in the customer structure further confirm the decline in competitiveness. From 2022 to 2025, the revenue contribution from the top five customers decreased from 16.9% to 11.0%. While this superficially indicates a reduction in customer concentration, the underlying reason is the continuous shrinkage in contribution size from individual core customers: the combined revenue from the top five customers dropped from RMB 500 million in 2022 to RMB 350 million in 2025. Against the backdrop of sustained total revenue growth, the declining contribution from core customers reflects a weakening appeal to major clients. The customer structure is becoming more dispersed but lacks a solid foundation, indicating challenges to the company's market competitiveness.
From the IPO issuance perspective, the lineup of cornerstone investors appears robust in quantity. The company has introduced 13 cornerstone investors with a total investment of USD 130 million, accounting for 49.9% of the base offering size. Investor types include Chinese insurance companies (Taikang Life Insurance), state-owned industrial investment platforms (Boyue Fund, Greater Bay Area Fund), and several domestic and international private equity funds. However, in terms of composition quality, this cornerstone lineup lacks the presence of long-term foreign funds that hold greater influence in the Hong Kong stock market. In the current Hong Kong IPO market, which increasingly values the diversity and endorsement capability of cornerstone investors, this may have a certain impact on the overall assessment of institutional recognition.
From a valuation perspective, based on the offering market capitalization of HKD 8.8 billion and the company's 2025 operating revenue of RMB 3.13 billion, the corresponding price-to-sales ratio is 2.8 times. Compared to the A-share peer Xianlin Sanwei, CREALITY's valuation level shows a significant discount. Even when compared to the unlisted global industry leader Bambu Lab for reference, according to the "2025 Hurun China 500" disclosure, Bambu Lab's valuation is approximately RMB 40 billion. Based on market information, its 2025 revenue was at least RMB 10 billion, corresponding to a 2025 price-to-sales ratio of about 4 times. As the industry leader that is already profitable, its price-to-sales ratio is higher than that of CREALITY.
From a fundamental standpoint, CREALITY not only has far weaker profitability than the industry leader—reporting a net loss of RMB 180 million in 2025 compared to Bambu Lab's net profit margin of approximately 33% in 2024—but its competitive industry position has also slipped to the second tier. While this valuation discount may represent reasonable market pricing, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the company's profitability improvement, it does not provide a sufficient safety margin for the secondary market. However, considering the scarcity of CREALITY as the "first consumer-grade 3D printing stock" in Hong Kong and the market enthusiasm for the "overseas expansion" theme, it may still attract a certain level of market attention and trading activity post-listing.
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