Juchen Co., Ltd. has seen an 82% surge in stock price across 9 components. What is the reason behind this? Is there still room for further price increases? Today, we will analyze this.
1. Core Products and Application Analysis
Juchen Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise focused on integrated circuit design, with core products covering three major categories: storage chips, voice coil motor driver chips, and smart card chips. The products are characterized by high reliability and low power consumption, widely penetrating many high-value-added fields.
1. Storage Chips (Core Growth Engine)
• EEPROM Chips: As non-volatile storage chips, they are mainly used for storing small-scale, frequently modified data, with over 1 million erase cycles and a maximum data retention period of 200 years, operating in a temperature range of -40°C to 125°C. They are categorized into industrial-grade and automotive-grade:
◦ Industrial-grade EEPROM: Used in industrial automation (servo control, robotics), digital energy (solar storage and charging equipment), communication base stations (high-speed optical modules), etc., serving as a key component for storing and reading device operating parameters.
◦ Automotive-grade EEPROM: Compliant with A3-A1 grade standards, suitable for smart cockpits, visual perception, and the three-electric system of new energy vehicles, meeting the stringent requirements of automotive environments with strong anti-interference capabilities, and accelerating adoption by top global suppliers.
• NOR Flash Chips: Focusing on high-capacity storage needs, covering 512Kb-64Mb based on NORD technology, and achieving 32Mb-512Mb reserves with ETOX technology, already integrated into automotive visual perception systems and smart cockpits, while also meeting AI terminal storage requirements.
• DDR5 SPD Chips: Developed in collaboration with Lanqi Technology, featuring an 8Kb EEPROM, bus hub, and temperature sensor, used for storing DDR5 memory module parameters, serving as a core component for memory management in AI servers, AIPC, and other devices. A mainstream AI server requires over 20 DDR5 memory modules, and with technological upgrades, both volume and price are expected to rise, driving a surge in product demand.
2. Voice Coil Motor Driver Chips
As a global leader in open-loop voice coil motor driver chips, the products are mainly used in smartphone camera modules. In the first half of 2025, breakthroughs were achieved, with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) driver chips being commercialized in mid-to-high-end models from mainstream manufacturers, significantly optimizing product structure and profitability.
3. Smart Card Chips
Mainly used in identity recognition and payment scenarios, relying on mature chip design capabilities to provide standardized products, serving as a supplementary segment of the company’s business.
2. Industry Position and Competitive Landscape
1. Industry Positioning
The company is an “invisible champion” in the global EEPROM field, possessing significant first-mover advantages in niche markets:
• Industrial-grade EEPROM: Maintains a leading position globally, with rapidly increasing market share in industrial automation and digital energy, establishing long-term partnerships with top global equipment manufacturers.
• DDR5 SPD Chips: Achieving a 40% domestic market share, breaking foreign monopolies, and becoming a core supplier for leading server manufacturers like Inspur and Zhongke Shuguang.
• Automotive-grade EEPROM: Ranked first in the domestic market and third globally, with revenue below 100 million yuan in 2024, far below the global market scale of 400-600 million USD, indicating significant room for growth.
2. Core Competitors and Differentiation
Core Advantage Areas
Differences with Juchen Co., Ltd.
GigaDevice
Consumer-grade NOR Flash, MCU
Juchen focuses on industrial/automotive high-reliability storage, while GigaDevice emphasizes consumer electronics; Juchen’s SPD chips have exclusive collaboration advantages, which GigaDevice lacks.
Lanqi Technology
DDR5 memory interface chips
Both are in a cooperative relationship (jointly developing SPD), with Lanqi focusing on interface control and Juchen on storage and sensor integration.
Winbond Electronics (Taiwan)
Industrial-grade storage
Juchen has a faster R&D response speed and leads in the domestic introduction of automotive electronics; Winbond has a more mature global channel but significant cost control disadvantages.
Macronix (Taiwan)
NOR Flash
Juchen’s products have lower power consumption and stronger customization capabilities for AI terminals and automotive scenarios.
3. Upstream and Downstream Relationships and Industry Chain Layout
1. Upstream Links
• Core Suppliers: Wafer manufacturing relies on SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor, etc.; packaging and testing mainly cooperate with Changdian Technology, Tongfu Microelectronics, etc.
• Cooperation Characteristics: Adopting a Fabless model (no own wafer factory), locking in wafer production capacity through long-term agreements, with R&D investment in Q2 2025 increasing by over 50% compared to the previous quarter, jointly developing advanced storage technologies with upstream process manufacturers. Currently, leading companies like Samsung and Micron are reducing traditional storage capacity, which may lead to a price increase cycle in the industry, and the company’s long-term capacity locking strategy is expected to benefit from this.
2. Downstream Links
• Application Field Distribution: Automotive electronics (global Tier 1 suppliers), AI servers (Inspur, Zhongke Shuguang), consumer electronics (mainstream smartphone brands, AI glasses manufacturers), industrial equipment (leading global automation companies).
• Customer Characteristics: Mainly large B-end customers, with an average cooperation cycle of over 3 years per customer. In the first half of 2025, revenue from automotive electronics and industrial sectors exceeded that from consumer electronics.
4. Operating Conditions and Profitability
1. Core Operating Data
• In the first half of 2025: Revenue of 575 million yuan (YoY +11.69%), net profit attributable to the parent company of 205 million yuan (YoY +43.50%); among them, Q1 revenue was 261 million yuan, net profit attributable to the parent company was 99 million yuan, and Q2 revenue was 314 million yuan, net profit attributable to the parent company was 106 million yuan, showing a trend of improvement quarter by quarter.
• In 2024: Revenue of 1.028 billion yuan, net profit attributable to the parent company of 276 million yuan, cash dividends and buybacks totaling 129 million yuan, accounting for 44.49% of net profit; revenue remained stable across all quarters, with Q3 and Q4 revenues reaching 254 million yuan and 259 million yuan, respectively.
2. Profitability Analysis
• Gross Margin: Reached 60.25% in the first half of 2025, an increase of 5.55 percentage points YoY; Q1 2025 gross margin was 60.29%, maintaining above 60% for two consecutive quarters, mainly benefiting from the increased proportion of high-gross-margin automotive and industrial-grade products (with gross margins exceeding 65%).
• Net Margin: 34.45% in the first half of 2025 (YoY +7.69 percentage points), with Q1 net margin reaching 37.32%, significantly outperforming the 26.84% level for the entire year of 2024.
• R&D and Profitability Drivers: R&D expenses in the first half of 2025 were 103 million yuan, with an R&D expense ratio of 17.86%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points YoY and a 24.97% increase compared to the previous year, with R&D intensity higher than the industry average (about 12%). DDR5 SPD chips (YoY revenue +60%+) and automotive-grade storage chips (YoY revenue +80%+) have become core growth drivers, offsetting the impact of fluctuations in traditional consumer electronics business.
5. Development Space and Growth Logic
1. Core Growth Opportunities
• DDR5 Penetration Rate Increase: The global DDR5 memory penetration rate is expected to exceed 50% in 2025, with AI server memory configurations being twice that of traditional servers, coupled with the trend of LPCAMM2 module replacement, leading to sustained demand for SPD chips. At the same time, SSD interface upgrades drive demand for VPD chips and technological iterations, forming a new growth curve.
• Localization of Automotive Electronics: The global market size for automotive-grade EEPROM is 400-600 million USD, with the company’s current market share below 5%. It has been introduced to overseas Tier 1 suppliers, and it is expected that this business will grow at an annual rate of over 50% from 2025 to 2027.
• Explosion of AI Terminals and Industry Cycle Resonance: The global shipment of AI glasses in the first half of 2025 increased by 110% YoY, and the company’s WLCSP EEPROM, with its low power consumption advantage, has achieved large-scale applications, with NOR Flash products being introduced simultaneously. Coupled with production cuts by companies like Samsung and Micron triggering a price increase cycle for storage chips, TrendForce predicts that storage chip prices may rise by 20-35% in Q3 2025, further enhancing the company’s profitability.
2. Technical and R&D Support
As of the first half of 2025, the company has accumulated 58 invention patents and 90 integrated circuit layout designs, with another 35 patents pending; the scale of R&D personnel has increased by 32% YoY, and R&D investment in Q2 reached a record high for the same period, supporting new products like automotive-grade NOR Flash and high-capacity EEPROM. Continuous high R&D investment ensures the company’s leading position in the iteration of storage chip technology.
6. Valuation Rationality Analysis (as of September 30, 2025)
1. Core Valuation Indicators
• Market Capitalization: 25.714 billion yuan, with a stock price of 162.47 yuan, up 10.47% from the previous trading day, with a trading volume of 140,800 hands and a transaction amount of 2.258 billion yuan.
• Core Valuation Multiples: Price-to-Earnings Ratio (TTM) of 72.96 times, Price-to-Book Ratio of 10.81 times.
2. Valuation Comparison and Rationality Judgment
• Industry Comparison: In 2025, the storage chip industry will benefit from AI computing power demand and a production reduction cycle, with continued recovery in prosperity. The average PE of the domestic storage chip industry is about 45 times, GigaDevice’s dynamic PE is 58 times, and Juchen Co., Ltd.’s 72.96 times valuation is significantly higher than the industry average and direct competitors.
• Growth Matching: The company’s net profit growth rate in the first half of 2025 was 43.5%, lower than the current 72.96 times PE level, with PEG greater than 1, indicating a certain deviation between short-term valuation and performance growth. This valuation difference mainly reflects the market’s forward-looking expectations for the volume increase of its DDR5 SPD chips, the localization of automotive electronics, and the realization of the storage industry’s price increase cycle.
• Institutional Views and Conclusions: Zhongyou Securities maintained a “buy” rating for the company on September 26, 2025, believing that SSD interface upgrades will drive VPD chips to form new growth poles. Overall, the current valuation has partially reflected the industry’s prosperity and the company’s growth potential, with short-term valuation pressure being high. However, if automotive-grade products continue to ramp up, AI storage demand exceeds expectations, and the industry price increase cycle is realized, performance growth is expected to catch up with the valuation level, supporting the rationality of the valuation.