1Q26全面超预期，AI芯片国产化驱动，供给改善带来更多上行空间

Cambricon Technologies Corp Ltd RatingOutperform Price Target 2,000.00 CNY 688256.CH Cambricon 1Q26: Robust beat across the board driven by AI chiplocalization, more upside to come with improving supply Cambricon reported its 1Q26 earnings on Apr 29th, 2026.Cambricon delivered a robustearnings beat in 1Q26, with revenue and profitability both accelerating far beyondexpectations and marking a historic inflection in earnings quality and cash flow. RevenuereachedRMB 2.89bn (+159.6% YoY), while net profit attributable to shareholders came inatRMB 1.01bn (+185.0% YoY)and non-GAAP net profit atRMB 0.93bn (+238.6% YoY).The results confirm that Cambricon has entered a phase of scalable profitability, driven bysurging AI compute demand and strong operating leverage.Reiterate Outperform. Earnings quality improved meaningfully, supported by a sharp turnaround in cashflow.Operating cash flow swung from RMB -1.40bn in 1Q25 to RMB +0.83bn in 1Q26,with cash collected from customers (RMB 3.16bn) exceeding revenue. This indicates smoothexecution of backlog orders and strong bargaining power to collect payment, generatinghealthy cash flow. At the same time, scale drove a sharp decline in R&D ratio to 11.2% (vs.24.5% in 1Q25), reinforcing the outlook for continued NPM improvement. Forward-looking indicators point to sustained high growth with improving supply.Contract Liabilities surged from near zero at the start of the year to RMB 396mn, signalingstrong order inflow. Prepayments rose sharply to RMB 1.90bn, highlighting proactiveefforts to secure wafer capacity and key materials amid tight domestic AI chip supply, whichalso indicate that supply is improving very quickly. Together with elevated inventory, theseindicators suggest Cambricon is well-positioned to support continued revenue accelerationover the coming quarters. Strategic progress on both hardware and software further strengthens the long-termthesis.Next-generation Siyuan 690 targets future AI workloads with chiplet architectureand FP4/FP8 support, while on the ecosystem side, Cambricon achieved a key milestonewith “Day 0” adaptation for DeepSeek-V4. This demonstrates rising maturity of the NeuWaresoftware stack and reinforces Cambricon’s transition from a pure chip supplier to a full-stackdomestic AI compute platform. While valuation remains elevated, strong fundamentals andsector sentiment suggest near-term momentum is likely to remain supportive. INVESTMENT IMPLICATIONS Cambricon is the leading AI accelerator ASIC chip provider in China, which is the best alternative to the leading domestic AI chipplayer Huawei in China, benefiting from the domestic substitution in AI chip. We like the tech foundation of the company with PTCNY 2,000, based on 2027E EPS of CNY 21.80 and 90x P/E. BERNSTEIN TICKER TABLE