COSMOS(300856) 长城证券·2024-04-24 07:32Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company, expecting a price increase of over 15% relative to the industry index in the next six months [12][27]. Core Insights - The company experienced significant growth in 2023, with revenue increasing by 35.99% year-on-year to 2.4 billion yuan and net profit rising by 89.02% to 734 million yuan. The first quarter of 2024 also showed strong growth, with revenue up 21.10% year-on-year [2][12]. - The company's active ingredients and raw materials for cosmetics business are rapidly expanding, driven by increasing market demand and the release of new products, particularly in the sunscreen segment [3][12]. - The company has a robust R&D strategy focused on innovative technologies, with a total of 172 authorized patents as of the end of 2023, including 46 invention patents [3][10]. Financial Performance - In 2023, the company achieved a gross margin of 48.83%, an increase of 12.18 percentage points year-on-year. The net profit margin for the same year was 30.57%, up 8.58 percentage points [7][12]. - The company forecasts continued revenue growth, with projected revenues of 3.22 billion yuan in 2024 and 4.05 billion yuan in 2025, reflecting growth rates of 34.2% and 25.7%, respectively [6][15]. - The earnings per share (EPS) are expected to rise from 4.33 yuan in 2023 to 5.61 yuan in 2024, with corresponding price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios decreasing from 18.4 to 14.2 [6][12]. Product Segmentation - The revenue breakdown for 2023 shows that the active ingredients and raw materials for cosmetics generated 2.07 billion yuan, a 43.68% increase year-on-year, while synthetic fragrances contributed 308 million yuan, growing by 6.83% [3][12]. - The company has established a strong market position in the sunscreen ingredient sector, benefiting from high demand and technological advancements in product formulation [12][10]. R&D and Innovation - The company has made significant investments in R&D, focusing on advanced technologies and continuous product optimization, which has led to the development of new products and processes in the fields of synthetic fragrances and sunscreen ingredients [10][12]. - The company has recently initiated a project in Anhui with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons for personal care raw materials, expected to generate annual sales of 700 million yuan upon completion [11][12].