Citibank: Lowered Qiutai Technology's target price to HK$12, lowered EPS forecast for this year and next.

Citigroup released a report stating that the monthly shipment of Qiu Tai Technology's mobile camera modules in December increased by 13.2%, totaling 435 million units for the whole year, a 6% yearly growth, surpassing the bank's previous estimate of a 3.2% decrease. The shipment volume of camera modules with 32 million pixels or more decreased by 0.9% monthly and 11% yearly in December. The annual shipment volume of camera modules in non-mobile areas increased significantly by 111% year-on-year, mainly due to the strong performance in the automotive sector and the robust demand in the Internet of Things, significantly higher than the company's guidance of a 60% annual increase. Citigroup has adjusted the shipment volume and gross profit margin assumptions for Qiu Tai Technology's mobile camera modules and fingerprint recognition modules for 2026 to reflect the impact of the weak smartphone market. The bank has lowered earnings per share forecasts for 2026 and 2027 by 17% and 15% respectively, but still believes that the company can achieve a net profit of over 1 billion yuan in 2026 with its non-mobile businesses. The target price has been lowered from HK$17.9 to HK$12 with a "buy" rating.