Against the backdrop of accelerating domestic substitution and increased industrial capital investment, Haiguang Xinzheng Technology Co., Ltd., a new force in China's silicon photonics sector, formally submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on May 7, aiming for a main board listing.
As one of the earlier domestic companies to achieve mass production of high-end silicon photonics modules, the firm has leveraged sector tailwinds to achieve leapfrog revenue growth. Revenue surged from RMB 175 million in 2023 to RMB 1.221 billion in 2025, a nearly sixfold increase in three years. However, it simultaneously grapples with the growing pains of expanding revenue without corresponding profit growth, remaining in a state of persistent losses.
In the race for AI data center optical modules, Haiguang Xinzheng is undoubtedly one of the fastest runners. Yet, speed does not equate to a winning probability. How far its continuously loss-making 'fuel tank' can sustain its run remains a crucial factor determining its investment value.
Revenue Soars in Three Years vs. Profitability Still in a Climb Phase Haiguang Xinzheng is a provider of photoelectric interconnect products, primarily offering optical modules, Active Optical Cables (AOCs)—which integrate optical modules and fiber cables into a single component for high-speed interconnection—and other products. Its photoelectric interconnect products are widely used in AI data centers to support high-speed, high-density, and energy-efficient data transmission.
The company differentiates itself by establishing end-to-end technological capabilities from chip design to optical module manufacturing, with a focus on the silicon photonics field. Its optical module portfolio covers transmission rates of 100G, 200G, 400G, and 800G, compatible with various industry-standard form factors. All single-mode optical modules with specifications of 400G and above utilize silicon photonics technology. Its AOC and other product lines cater to diverse customer needs, creating synergies within the product portfolio and cross-selling opportunities.
According to Frost & Sullivan data, based on 2025 revenue, Haiguang Xinzheng ranked 12th among global specialized optical module providers. Its revenue growth from 2023 to 2025 ranked second among the top twelve suppliers, and it held a 0.8% share of the global market revenue in 2025. Additionally, the company ranked 8th globally and 7th in China among specialized AI optical module providers, with a global market share of 1.6% based on 2025 revenue.
Positioned in the golden AI silicon photonics sector with strong industry certainty, Haiguang Xinzheng's revenue has shown explosive growth in recent years. The prospectus reveals revenues of RMB 175 million, RMB 862 million, and RMB 1.221 billion for 2023, 2024, and 2025 respectively—a nearly sixfold increase in three years, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 164%.
The core driver of this high revenue growth primarily stems from the release of rigid demand for 400G and 800G high-speed silicon photonics modules from AI data centers. During the reporting period, sales volumes for the company's high-speed optical modules and AOC products saw multiple-fold increases. These two core businesses together contributed over 90% of total revenue, forming the performance foundation.
Leveraging the expansion红利 from downstream computing infrastructure, the company has precisely positioned itself in the high-speed optical module赛道, achieving simultaneous growth in orders and revenue.
In stark contrast to the impressive revenue growth, Haiguang Xinzheng's profitability has remained under pressure, with a significant characteristic of revenue growth without profit growth. From 2023 to 2025, the company reported annual losses of approximately RMB 109 million, RMB 17.895 million, and RMB 100 million respectively. A notable trend towards profitability emerged in 2024, but this trend sharply reversed in 2025, with the net loss increasing by 459% year-on-year.
Delving into the根源 of the losses, on one hand, Haiguang Xinzheng is in a phase of continuous capacity ramp-up, where economies of scale have not yet been fully realized, leading to relatively high unit production costs. On the other hand, the rapid pace of technological iteration in the silicon photonics赛道 necessitates maintaining high-intensity R&D investment, continuously eroding profit margins.
According to the prospectus, R&D investment remained high from 2023 to 2025, with R&D expenses of RMB 42.3 million, RMB 63.8 million, and RMB 104 million respectively, accounting for 24.1%, 7.4%, and 8.5% of total revenue during the same periods.
Furthermore, industry price competition, inventory impairment provisions, and weak bargaining power due to concentrated customer structure have further suppressed the pace of profit recovery.
Thus, Haiguang Xinzheng's fundamental picture is woven from rapidly soaring revenue growth and a profitability climb phase where net losses expanded to RMB 100 million.
Silicon Photonics Sector Enters Golden Cycle, Yet Three Major Risks Constrain Growth As global AI large model training and deployment continue to advance, driving upgrades in data center computing infrastructure, high-speed optical modules, as the core hardware for computing power interconnection, are seeing their market space continuously expand.
According to Frost & Sullivan data, global AI infrastructure investment surged from RMB 218 billion in 2021 to RMB 2.39 trillion in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 82.0%, and is projected to increase to RMB 6.53 trillion by 2030.
Among these, optical modules are widely regarded as the "photoelectric咽喉" in the AI supply chain. The global AI optical module market grew from RMB 7 billion in 2021 to RMB 71.8 billion in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 79.0%. With the continuous iteration of next-generation high-speed products (such as 1.6T and 3.2T) and the gradual commercial penetration of new low-power architectures, the global AI optical module market is expected to reach RMB 347.5 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 37.1% from 2025 to 2030.
Technologically, similar to global trends, driven by explosive growth in AI computing demand, accelerated data center upgrades, and significant progress in domestic silicon photonics technology, China's AI silicon photonics optical module market experienced rapid growth, rising from RMB 300 million in 2021 to RMB 6.6 billion in 2025.
In the future, with the commercialization of next-generation products like 1.6T optical modules and continued policy support for the domestic semiconductor and photonics industries, this market is expected to sustain explosive growth, reaching RMB 55.9 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 53.3% from 2025 to 2030.
From the above industry development trends, it is evident that, under the dual resonance of silicon photonics technology iteration and domestic substitution, the industry Haiguang Xinzheng operates in is in a golden development window, with a sound medium to long-term growth logic. This undoubtedly provides fertile ground for the company's sustained development post-listing.
However, it is important to note that, considering operational performance and industry conditions, multiple variables still cause disturbances, constraining Haiguang Xinzheng's valuation and growth potential.
One risk is profitability falling short of expectations. If industry price wars intensify further and capacity utilization improves slowly, the company's gross margin will struggle to recover, prolonging the loss cycle. This would directly hinder valuation recovery and weaken investment value.
Another risk is lagging behind in technological iteration. With rapid upgrades in industry product specifications, if the company falls behind peers in the R&D of new products like 1.6T and 3.2T, it will miss out on industry upgrade红利 and gradually become marginalized in the market.
Furthermore, intensifying market competition will exacerbate risks. High-growth sectors often attract a crowd of entrants. Currently, leading companies like Zhongji Innolight and Eoptolink Technology continue to ramp up investments in high-speed optical modules, while overseas giants also深耕 the high-end market. Homogenized competition within the industry is intensifying, and常态化 price wars continue to squeeze industry gross margin levels.
Summary In summary, the value highlights of Haiguang Xinzheng lie in its position within the golden AI silicon photonics赛道, which has strong and certain industry景气度. Simultaneously, the company's revenue growth outpaces peers. With its full-chain silicon photonics technology储备, it possesses稀缺性 valuation溢价 within the wave of domestic substitution, offering ample long-term growth imagination.
The value concerns, however, lie in the company's insufficient ability to deliver profits. Persistent long-term losses mean the growth story lacks业绩支撑. Concurrently,叠加 risks from intense industry competition, customer concentration, and technological iteration create high investment uncertainty. Subsequent sustained delivery of业绩 is required to support valuation upside.
Therefore, while Haiguang Xinzheng's growth story for its Hong Kong IPO may sound compelling, its investment value ultimately hinges on the delivery of its业绩.
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