Recently, HANS CNC (03200) released its performance express report for the first three quarters of 2026. The data shows that the company achieved operating revenue of 7.841 billion yuan (RMB, same below), a year-on-year increase of 100.90%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.544 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 214.03%. On a quarterly basis, net profit attributable to shareholders in the third quarter was approximately 587 million yuan. Although this represented a slight sequential decline from 634 million yuan in the second quarter, the year-on-year growth rate remained considerable.
The value of this report card lies in the fact that it validates an industry judgment: the beneficiary chain of the AI compute race is now transmitting substantially from chips and complete server units upstream to precision processing equipment. HANS CNC explicitly stated in its announcement that the performance growth was mainly driven by significant growth in demand for high-end AI PCBs, including high-layer HDI boards for next-generation rack server compute and switching units, N+N structure high-layer boards, and mSAP-type substrate-like PCBs for 800G and 1.6T high-speed optical modules.
However, the market's short-term reaction has been rather subtle 鈥?before and after the earnings release, the company's H-share stock price experienced a pullback. This short-term disconnect between earnings and share price provides precisely a window for observing the current pricing logic of the AI investment cycle.
The "Shovel Seller" in the AI Compute Wave
The core logic of HANS CNC can be summarized as a "shovel seller." In the AI compute infrastructure industry chain, PCB is the key carrier for chips and signal transmission, and HANS CNC provides the specialized equipment needed to manufacture these high-end PCBs. The company's main product, mechanical drilling machines 鈥?especially ultra-high aspect ratio through-hole drilling machines and high-precision 3D drilling and measurement integrated mechanical drilling machines for AI compute scenarios 鈥?has established a significant advantage in the global market. Based on Prismark market forecasts and the company's delivery data, the global market share of such products in 2025 is estimated at approximately 50%.
At the same time, the company has also deployed CCD six-axis independent mechanical drilling machines, ultrafast laser drilling equipment, LDI laser direct imaging equipment, and high-precision testing equipment, enabling it to provide complete solutions for high-layer HDI boards, advanced packaging substrates, and more. On the customer side, the company's products already cover more than 80% of the global top 100 PCB enterprises and have formed deep partnerships with multiple leading domestic PCB companies. When AI compute construction enters a high-prosperity phase, downstream PCB manufacturers' willingness to expand capacity strengthens, and the equipment segment naturally benefits first. HANS CNC's doubled revenue and more than tripled net profit in the first three quarters are precisely the result of this chain materializing.
Product Mix Upgrade Drives Strong Performance Growth
From a financial perspective, HANS CNC's current growth is not solely dependent on order volume expansion but more clearly reflects the improvement in profit quality brought about by product mix upgrading. In the first half of 2026, the company's net profit attributable to shareholders grew 263.45% year-on-year, with a significant increase in net margin; in the first three quarters, net profit attributable to shareholders reached 1.544 billion yuan, and the growth rate of non-GAAP net profit attributable to shareholders was even higher at 222.52%. The sustained excess of profit growth over revenue growth indicates that the rising share of high-value-added equipment is driving an overall enhancement in profitability.
The market has noted that AI PCBs are imposing structural upgrading requirements on processing techniques, and this change falls precisely in the area where HANS CNC excels. PCBs used in AI servers have more layers and higher wiring density, leading to a substantial increase in the number of drill holes. At the same time, signal integrity requirements make back-drilling an indispensable process. As PCB materials iterate from M8 to M9 and higher grades, traditional processing solutions face bottlenecks in precision and yield, releasing demand for new process equipment such as ultrafast laser drilling. High-layer boards, high-order HDI boards, and advanced packaging substrates are placing increasingly higher demands on drilling precision, stub control, back-drilling quality, and inspection capabilities. Traditional equipment struggles to meet these requirements, and high-end equipment commands correspondingly higher unit prices and gross margins. With technologies such as CCD back-drilling, 3D drilling and measurement integration, and ultrafast laser drilling, HANS CNC has enhanced the added value per unit of equipment and strengthened its bargaining power on orders.
From the perspective of its position in the industry chain, the company is in a segment characterized by "high technical barriers, long customer certification cycles, and difficult substitution," which gives it strong performance elasticity during the AI compute capacity expansion cycle. However, the market is also paying attention to quarterly rhythms. According to the performance express report breakdown, the company's third-quarter net profit was approximately 587 million yuan, down about 7% sequentially from 634 million yuan in the second quarter. This change does not signify a trend reversal; order confirmation, delivery rhythms, and revenue recognition in the equipment industry are inherently volatile, and sequential quarterly changes need to be further observed in conjunction with subsequent orders and contracts in hand. But from the overall first three quarters, both revenue and profit maintained high growth, and profit quality remains in an improving range.
Behind the Stock Price Pullback
Strong earnings alongside a stock price pullback may appear contradictory on the surface, but from the logic of capital market operations, it is not surprising. HANS CNC's A-shares experienced a significant rally in the first half of 2026, reaching a high of 395.36 yuan during the year before fluctuating downward, and its H-shares also saw a considerable retreat from highs. Against the backdrop of the stock price having already fully reflected AI compute expectations, elevated valuations, and substantial profit-taking positions, some funds chose to cash in after the earnings express report was disclosed 鈥?a typical "good news realization" fluctuation.
The deeper reason actually lies at the level of pricing logic. In a recent research report, Huatai Securities pointed out that since mid-September, performance divergence among global AI assets has intensified, with market focus shifting from "demand certainty" to "return elasticity," and capital expenditure no longer being viewed as the sole pricing anchor for AI assets. In other words, the capital market is no longer granting a high premium simply because a company is in the AI industry chain; instead, it has begun to more carefully examine order sustainability, downstream capex rhythms, whether gross margins can be maintained, and whether valuations have already prematurely priced in future growth.
HANS CNC operates in the PCB specialty equipment industry, which has strong cyclical characteristics. Equipment orders often lead downstream capacity release, making the market more sensitive to its subsequent quarterly performance. However, Citi took a more optimistic view in an early October research report, noting that the monthly revenue year-on-year growth of Taiwan peer Ta Liang Technology was still accelerating, reflecting that the PCB manufacturer capacity expansion boom continues with no signs of slowing. It is evident that the market has not yet formed a consensus on the duration of the AI capex cycle.
For HANS CNC, what is more worth watching at present is still whether its fundamental trend remains upward. From an industry logic perspective, AI compute construction is not over, and data centers, servers, switches, and high-speed optical modules continue to upgrade. As the core carrier of compute hardware, PCB's high-endization trend is clear. As long as downstream high-end PCB capacity continues to expand, equipment demand will be supported. As the global leader in PCB equipment, the company has technological and customer advantages in key processes such as drilling, while also accelerating overseas layout in Southeast Asia and other regions, which is expected to further open up growth space.
From the perspective of the company's financial structure, as of the end of the third quarter of 2026, total assets grew 81.23% from the beginning of the period, owners' equity attributable to shareholders of the listed company increased 104.21%, and net assets per share rose to 25.35 yuan. The expansion in asset scale partly comes from fundraising brought by the H-share issuance, and also reflects the increase in operating assets such as accounts receivable and inventory after the expansion of production and sales scale. For equipment companies, rising operating assets during a period of rapid order growth is a common phenomenon, and as delivery and collection progress, the balance sheet is expected to further improve.
Of course, the capital market never prices linearly. An upward fundamental trend does not mean the stock price will rise in tandem; a short-term stock price pullback does not equate to damage to the long-term thesis. HANS CNC is currently at a stage where high earnings growth and valuation rebalancing intersect: on one hand, demand for high-end PCB equipment driven by AI compute is materializing; on the other hand, the market is reassessing its growth sustainability and valuation position with stricter standards. This kind of "time gap" often brings volatility, but for core equipment enterprises with technical barriers, customer stickiness, and order support, as long as the industry trend remains unchanged, earnings realization capability will still be the key to ultimately anchoring value.
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