No significant progress has been observed in the half-year progress, and the growth of Sanhua Intelligent Control's robotics business has attracted attention.

Ask AI · Why has Sanhua Intelligent Control’s robotics business disclosed no updates for half a year?

Blue Whale News, March 24 (Reporter Xu Gangan) On the evening of March 23, Sanhua Intelligent Control (002050.SZ), a leader in thermal management, released a report showing a net profit growth rate exceeding that of revenue. However, the bionic robotics business, regarded by the market as the company’s third growth curve, had statements in the annual report that were identical to those from six months ago, raising suspicions of “copy-paste.”

The financial report shows that the company achieved operating revenue of 31.012 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 10.97%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 4.063 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.10%. However, the description of the bionic robotics electromechanical actuator business in this annual report has drawn market attention. Six months have passed, and there are no obvious advancements visible in the financial report.

Meanwhile, the company’s performance in the secondary market is also concerning. From the performance this year, Sanhua Intelligent Control’s A-share price has shrunk over 20% from the January high, and its H-share has retreated nearly 38% from the 52-week high of 46.348 Hong Kong dollars.

Sanhua Intelligent Control is an “invisible champion” in the global thermal management field, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on June 7, 2005, and completed its “A+H” dual platform layout by listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 23, 2025. The company’s main business spans two major sectors: refrigeration and air conditioning electrical components and automotive components, and it has expanded into emerging fields such as bionic robotics electromechanical actuators based on long-term technological accumulation. As of March 24, 2026, the company’s total market capitalization for A-shares is approximately 179.1 billion yuan.

Two reports, nearly identical statements

In its 2025 annual report, Sanhua Intelligent Control stated that the company “focuses on multiple key model products for technological improvements, collaborating with customers on key product R&D, trial production, iteration, and sample delivery, receiving high praise from customers and achieving a series of innovative results around existing products, resulting in an overall enhancement of product capability.”

This is not an unfamiliar description. In the half-year report published on August 29, 2025, the company made nearly identical statements about its robotics business: “Focusing on multiple key model products for technological improvements and collaborating with customers on the iteration of the entire series of product R&D, enhancing customer stickiness and continuously improving overall product capability.”

Six months have passed, and from the half-year report to the annual report, there has been no substantial update in related statements. Industry insiders pointed out that there are two possible interpretations of this disclosure method: First, it may reflect that the robotics business did not achieve any breakthrough progress during the reporting period. Second, the company may still be relatively cautious about its willingness to disclose information regarding this business.

Market interest in Sanhua Intelligent Control’s humanoid robots arises from the potential it represents as a third growth curve. As a Tier 1 supplier to Tesla, Sanhua Intelligent Control has also attracted significant market attention due to Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. From the recently published financial report, it appears that Sanhua Intelligent Control’s bionic robotics electromechanical business did not list revenue items separately, indicating that it has not yet generated quantifiable revenue contributions within the 2025 fiscal year.

From the current revenue composition, Sanhua Intelligent Control remains a typical “dual main business” company—refrigeration and air conditioning electrical components contribute nearly 60% of revenue, while automotive components contribute 40%. Last year, the company’s revenue from refrigeration and air conditioning electrical components was 18.585 billion yuan, while revenue from automotive components was 12.427 billion yuan.

Notably, in the 2025 annual report, Sanhua Intelligent Control was the first to mention its bionic robotics electromechanical actuator business alongside its two main businesses of refrigeration and air conditioning electrical components and automotive components, positioning it as a “strategic emerging business.” The company also disclosed that by the end of 2025, it had obtained 4,680 domestic and foreign patent authorizations, including 2,560 invention patents.

Unlike Sanhua Intelligent Control, which did not disclose robotics-related business as a separate revenue segment, Top Group, also a core supplier in the “T chain,” disclosed “robotic actuators” as a separate business segment for the first time in its 2025 annual report. However, revenue from this product was only 13.5911 million yuan last year, accounting for 0.05% of the company’s operating revenue, with a gross margin of only 28.25%. Such performance appears somewhat lackluster compared to the “robotic future” that the market is fervently trading.

From thermal management to robotics: A wait for early layout

Leveraging nearly a decade of technological accumulation in automotive thermal management and precision control, Sanhua Intelligent Control became a Tier 1 supplier to Tesla in 2017, providing core components for thermal management systems for models such as Model 3, Model X, and Model S. With the debut of Tesla’s third-generation Optimus at AWE2026, coupled with Musk calling it “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot” and promising mass production of millions of units, domestic enthusiasm for the “O chain” has surged. Yet, who will create the “joints” for Musk’s Optimus? Speculation is rampant.

In October 2025, a rumor that “Tesla issued a 5 billion yuan order for linear actuators to Sanhua” led to a trading halt for Sanhua Intelligent Control’s A-shares and a more than 13% increase in its Hong Kong shares, with a total market value increase of nearly 40 billion yuan. That evening, Sanhua Intelligent Control urgently clarified: “The rumor is not true, and there are no major matters that should have been disclosed but were not.”

However, market speculation persists. In 2026, Thai media reported that the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) approved five Chinese companies to build the first humanoid robot component manufacturing base in Thailand, with an initial total investment exceeding 10 billion Thai baht. The approved companies include Sanhua Intelligent Control, Top Group, Xusheng Group, Xinjian Transmission, and Better Technology, which have also been pointed out to have the initial appearance of the “O” chain model.

While the public became familiar with humanoid robots starting from the Spring Festival Gala in 2025, Sanhua Intelligent Control’s robotics business began to show signs as early as 2023. In its 2023 annual report, the company first mentioned the initiation of its layout in the humanoid robot industry chain. In January 2024, Sanhua Intelligent Control announced plans to invest in the construction of production base projects for robotic actuators and other components, with a total investment of no less than 3.8 billion yuan.

The so-called actuators mainly complete necessary actions by coordinating the various joints of the robot after receiving specified signals.

In August 2025, Sanhua Intelligent Control clarified to investors that it firmly believes in the development prospects of robotics as the largest application scenario for AI and has established a dedicated robotics division to actively cooperate with customers in product R&D, trial production, iteration, and ultimately achieving mass production.

However, the well-known international investment bank Goldman Sachs poured cold water on the domestic fervor. Goldman Sachs’ research report pointed out that Chinese suppliers are adopting an aggressive strategy of “building capacity before obtaining orders.” Interviewed companies are generally laying out production bases in China and in countries such as Thailand and Mexico, planning annual production capacities ranging from 100,000 to 1 million equivalent units of robots, far exceeding Goldman Sachs’ forecast of 1.38 million units shipped globally by 2035.

Reviewing the financial report, there are no mentions of client names, order information, cooperation progress, or product delivery related to Tesla’s robot projects (such as Optimus) that have drawn market attention in Sanhua Intelligent Control’s reports.

An industry insider revealed to Blue Whale News: “The supply chain for Tesla’s Optimus is particularly sensitive, with strict confidentiality agreements in place, and no company dares to leak any information privately, so it remains in a state of ‘mass production’ and ‘ramping up.’ Of course, there are also many ‘copycat’ companies trying to ride the wave, and investors need to discern carefully.”