Western: First gives CR BEVERAGE (02460) a "buy" rating, benefiting from the concentration of top products and the increase in the proportion of medium-sized products.

Western released a research report stating that it is expected that CR BEVERAGE (02460) will achieve revenues of 11.2/12.5/13.4 billion RMB in the years 2025-2027, with net profits attributable to shareholders of 1.3/1.6/1.8 billion RMB respectively. Currently, the corresponding PE ratios are 19/15/14X. Choosing a leading beverage company as a comparable company, considering that the company is currently in a stage of national expansion and channel optimization, the report initiates coverage and gives a "hold" rating. The research firm indicates that the short-term growth of the company's packaged drinking water revenue is driven by national expansion and channel optimization, while in the long term, it will benefit from the industry's trend towards concentration on leading companies and the increase in the proportion of mid-sized products. As the company moves towards becoming a platform enterprise, there is great potential for long-term revenue growth in the beverage business. With the gradual increase in the proportion of self-owned production capacity and the release of economies of scale, there is still significant room for profitability improvement.