Naura Technology Group reported first-quarter revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan for 2026, though its strategic decision to significantly increase research and development investment resulted in net profit growth lagging substantially behind revenue growth. This reflects the balancing act faced by China's leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer between market share expansion and ongoing technological investment.
The quarterly report disclosed on April 30 shows that from January to March 2026, the company achieved operating revenue of 103.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.80%. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 1.635 billion yuan, up 3.42% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, net cash flow from operating activities reached 748 million yuan, a significant improvement from the negative 1.729 billion yuan in the prior-year period, representing growth of 143.27%.
The key reason for net profit growth being substantially lower than revenue growth was a surge in R&D expenditure. R&D expenses recognized in the first quarter reached 1.402 billion yuan, an increase of 36.64% year-on-year, representing an additional 376 million yuan compared to the same period last year. The company explicitly stated in its quarterly report that it will continue to intensify R&D布局 for high-end semiconductor equipment, a strategic direction that directly constrained profit flexibility.
For the market, revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan confirms sustained strong demand for domestic semiconductor equipment. However, the approximately 22-percentage-point gap between profit growth and revenue growth, along with the significant increase in the proportion of R&D expenses to revenue, will be key focal points for investors assessing the company's profitability quality and growth trajectory.
**Increased Market Share for Multiple Equipment Drives Revenue Past 100 Billion Yuan Threshold**
The 25.80% year-on-year revenue growth stemmed from multiple breakthroughs in the integrated circuit equipment sector. The quarterly report disclosed that market share for several equipment types, including etching, thin-film deposition, heat treatment, wet cleaning, ion implantation, coating and developing, and bonding, steadily increased during the reporting period. Expansion in process coverage drove sales scale growth.
From a cost structure perspective, first-quarter operating costs were 6.114 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 30.7% compared to 4.676 billion yuan in the same period last year. The cost growth rate slightly outpaced revenue growth, putting some pressure on gross margin. Concurrently, selling expenses increased significantly by approximately 42.7% year-on-year to 421 million yuan, while administrative expenses grew over 63% to 773 million yuan, reflecting the company's comprehensive acceleration of operational investments during its business expansion phase.
**Increased R&D Investment Compresses Profit Margin**
The leap in R&D expenses is the key variable for understanding this quarter's profit structure. The first-quarter R&D investment of 1.402 billion yuan accounted for approximately 13.6% of同期 revenue, further increasing from about 12.5% in the same period last year, indicating the company is channeling more resources generated from revenue growth into technological research and development.
As a result, despite operating revenue growing over 25% year-on-year, operating profit slightly decreased to 1.795 billion yuan, a marginal contraction compared to 1.805 billion yuan in the prior-year period. Total profit was 1.815 billion yuan, essentially flat compared to 1.813 billion yuan last year. A significant scissors差 formed between the 3.42% growth in net profit attributable to shareholders and the revenue growth rate.
It is noteworthy that net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 1.627 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.60%, close to the growth rate of net profit attributable to shareholders. This indicates relatively robust profit quality, and the slowdown in profit growth primarily stems from proactive operational investments rather than abnormal performance fluctuations.
**Substantial Improvement in Operating Cash Flow**
Improvement on the cash flow front was another highlight of the quarterly report. Net cash inflow from operating activities was 748 million yuan, reversing the net outflow of 1.729 billion yuan in the same period last year. The company attributed this to improved sales collection driven by increased revenue—cash received from selling goods amounted to 10.853 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 46% from 7.415 billion yuan in the prior-year period.
The balance sheet shows that as of the end of March, the monetary funds balance was 18.007 billion yuan, a slight increase from the beginning of the year. The balance of cash and cash equivalents at the period-end was 17.943 billion yuan. Total assets reached 91.057 billion yuan, an increase of 1.40% from the start of the year. Equity attributable to owners of the parent company was 39.294 billion yuan, an increase of 4.16% since the beginning of the year.
Regarding asset structure, the closing balance for development支出 reached 7.448 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 732 million yuan from 6.716 billion yuan at the start of the year. The continuously accumulating technology assets provide support for the company's mid-to-long-term competitiveness.
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