Daqo Energy(688303) 华泰金融·2025-05-16 04:48Investment Rating - The report maintains a "BUY" rating for Daqo New Energy with a target price of RMB 20.64, reflecting a potential upside of 2% from the closing price of RMB 20.22 as of May 15, 2025 [7]. Core Insights - Daqo New Energy reported a significant decline in revenue and net profit for 2024, with revenue at RMB 741 million and a net loss of RMB 272 million, representing year-on-year changes of -54.6% and -147.2% respectively. The fourth quarter of 2024 saw a revenue of RMB 141 million, down 59.3% year-on-year [2]. - The first quarter of 2025 continued to show weak performance, with revenue dropping to RMB 91 million, a decrease of 69.6% year-on-year, while the net loss narrowed to RMB 56 million, a year-on-year decline of 268.8% [2]. - The report anticipates that industry policies will be more effective than market expectations, potentially alleviating supply-demand imbalances in the future [2]. - Daqo New Energy is positioned as a leading player in the domestic silicon material sector, demonstrating cyclical resilience due to its strong liquidity buffer [2]. Financial Performance - The company experienced a significant drop in production and sales volumes in early 2025, with production falling to 250,000 tons and sales to 280,000 tons in the first quarter, reflecting a 27.5% and 33.6% decline respectively [3]. - The average selling price (ASP) of polysilicon increased to RMB 35.9 per kilogram in the first quarter of 2025, up 8.2% from the previous quarter, driven by increased downstream installation demand [3]. - As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, Daqo held RMB 3.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, along with RMB 1.22 billion in trading financial assets, totaling RMB 4.32 billion, with no short-term or long-term debt [4]. Profit Forecast and Valuation - Due to ongoing supply-demand imbalances, the report has lowered its expectations for 2025 polysilicon ASP, shipment volumes, and gross margins. However, it anticipates a recovery in profitability by 2026 as industry conditions normalize [5]. - The projected net profits for 2025, 2026, and 2027 are RMB -489.67 million, RMB 2.76 billion, and RMB 3.11 billion respectively, with significant improvements expected in 2026 [5]. - The report assigns a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of 16 times for 2026, reflecting a premium over the industry average of 11.72 times, with a revised target price of RMB 20.64 [5].