Citi: Contemporary Amperex Technology (03750) meets first-quarter net profit expectations and is committed to transferring costs.

Citibank released a research report stating that Contemporary Amperex Technology (03750) achieved a net profit of 20.7 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 48.5%, but a quarterly decrease of 10.5%, which is equivalent to 22% of the bank's annual forecast and 23% of the market's annual forecast. This is in line with the bank's expectations but slightly higher than market expectations. The bank maintains Contemporary Amperex Technology (300750.SZ) A shares as its preferred stock, with a target price of 576 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to a forecasted P/E ratio of 27.9 times and a P/B ratio of 6.6 times for this year, and a "buy" rating. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's core profit was 18.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 53% but a quarterly decrease of 13%. The gross profit margin for the period was 24.3%, a quarterly decrease of 3.2 percentage points but a year-on-year increase of 0.6 percentage points. Management indicated that the battery delivery volume exceeded 200GW during the period, a year-on-year increase of over 60%, with energy storage system (ESS) batteries accounting for approximately 25% of total battery sales volume. Management also mentioned that the company has been striving to pass on costs to customers to maintain stable unit net profit.