CLSA: Raises PETROCHINA (00857) H-share target price to HK$12.4, maintains "Outperform" rating

CLSA issued a research report stating that it has raised the H-share target price of PETROCHINA (00857) from HK$12 to HK$12.4, and the A-share target price from RMB15.9 to RMB16, maintaining an "Outperform" rating. The bank believes that PetroChina's H-shares are mispriced; the share price has been roughly flat over the past two months, but during the same period oil prices and the company's A-shares rose about 25% and 19% respectively, with the A-share premium over H-shares widening from 27% to 57% since September. PetroChina's third-quarter net profit was RMB51.8 billion, up 22% year-on-year and down 7% quarter-on-quarter; during the same period, the Brent benchmark oil price fell 5% quarter-on-quarter to US$90 per barrel. The company's net profit for the first nine months reached RMB158 billion, equivalent to about 89% of the bank's and the market's full-year forecasts. With oil prices remaining elevated, CLSA believes there is still upside room for the company's full-year earnings and dividend distribution. The bank noted that PetroChina's four major business segments delivered solid earnings performance, with the downstream refining, chemicals and marketing businesses all recording positive EBIT in the third quarter, in sharp contrast to the severe drag faced by Sinopec's (00386) downstream business. CLSA raised PetroChina's 2026 to 2028 earnings per share forecasts by 2% to 8%.