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Meiji Blue Multi’s overall performance has been quite volatile, with increasing dependence on cheese products

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Investment Time Network, Punctuation Finance Researcher Dong Lin

After the founder Chai Xiu was dismissed at the beginning of the year and a series of executive changes, how did the “cheese king”—Shanghai Meiji Blue Multi Food Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Meiji Blue Multi, 600882.SH)—perform in the first quarter of 2026?

The recently released 2026 first-quarter earnings report shows that Meiji Blue Multi is expected to achieve a total operating revenue of 1.63B yuan in the first quarter, an increase of 31.81% year-on-year. However, affected by amortization of incentive expenses, the company expects net profit attributable to the parent of 76 million yuan in the first quarter, down 8.30% year-on-year; non-recurring profit and loss attributable to the parent of 64 million yuan, down 1.48% year-on-year, indicating slight profit pressure.

Industrial Securities research report shows that in the first quarter, Meiji Blue Multi’s net profit margin attributable to the parent was 4.65%, a decrease of 2.03 percentage points year-on-year; non-recurring net profit margin attributable to the parent was 3.94%, down 1.33 percentage points year-on-year. The decline is mainly due to the impact of stock incentive expense amortization and a higher base in the same period, but profitability has significantly improved compared to Q2 to Q4 of last year, mainly due to optimized product category structure on the consumer end and continued promotion of raw material domestic substitution.

In the secondary market, contrasting with the fundamentals of revenue growth, Meiji Blue Multi’s stock price has been oscillating downward since 2026. As of the close on April 7, the stock price was 18.44 yuan per share (not adjusted for rights), a decline of 26.65% year-to-date, with a market value of 9.4 billion yuan.

Meiji Blue Multi’s stock price trend over the past year (yuan/share)

Data source: Wind

In January 2026, Meiji Blue Multi completed major management adjustments. With founder Chai Xiu stepping down as general manager and Mengniu executive Kua Yulong taking over, the company’s business synergy with Mengniu (2319.HK) continued to deepen.

Looking at the longer timeline, in July 2021, Mengniu became the company’s controlling shareholder, and since then, it has continued to increase its holdings through tender offers and other means. By the end of March 2026, Mengniu’s shareholding ratio had risen to 37.77%.

However, since Mengniu’s takeover, Meiji Blue Multi’s overall performance has been quite volatile. Financial reports show that from 2021 to 2024, the company’s revenue was 4.48B yuan, 4.92B yuan, 5.32B yuan, and 4.84B yuan respectively; net profit attributable to the parent was 154 million yuan, 135 million yuan, 63 million yuan, and 114 million yuan. In 2025, the company’s revenue reached 5.63B yuan, an increase of 16.29% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent was 118 million yuan, up 4.29%; non-recurring net profit attributable to the parent was 158 million yuan, an increase of 235.94%.

Regarding revenue growth, Meiji Blue Multi attributes it to the effectiveness of its dual-drive strategy of To B and To C, with both consumer and business segments growing by over 20% year-on-year. As for the large gap between net profit attributable to the parent and non-recurring net profit attributable to the parent, the company explains that in 2025, non-recurring gains and losses totaled a loss of 39.13M yuan, but fair value losses reached 171 million yuan, significantly dragging down net profit attributable to the parent.

From the revenue structure perspective, Meiji Blue Multi’s dependence on cheese products is increasing.

In 2025, revenue from cheese products was 4.62B yuan, up 22.84% year-on-year, accounting for 82.37% of main business revenue, up from 80.12% in 2024. Among them, children’s cheese sticks contributed over 60% of revenue, making them the absolute revenue pillar. However, due to changes in business structure and channel expansion, the gross profit margin of Meiji Blue Multi’s cheese business was 33.81%, a decrease of 1.23 percentage points compared to 2024.

Other segment businesses include trade revenue of 623 million yuan, up 17.44%, but with a gross profit margin of only 4.06%; liquid milk revenue of 365 million yuan, down 9.08%, further reducing its proportion of main business revenue.

Key accounting data for Meiji Blue Multi in the first quarter of 2026

Data source: Company financial report

Additionally, Meiji Blue Multi’s growth potential is still constrained by R&D investment and market competition.

Investment Time Network and Punctuation Finance researchers note that the company relies more on advertising and marketing to maintain market share rather than product innovation-driven growth. The financial report shows that in 2025, Meiji Blue Multi’s sales expenses were 1 billion yuan, an increase of 8.50% year-on-year, with advertising and promotion expenses reaching 518 million yuan, up 3.43%, accounting for 9.2% of operating income. In stark contrast, the company’s total R&D expenses for the year were only 51 million yuan, about 0.9% of operating income, with sales expenses nearly 20 times R&D expenses.

At the current R&D intensity level, Meiji Blue Multi ranks relatively low among leading domestic and international dairy companies. In 2025, the R&D expense rate of Bega Cheese ranged between 3% and 5%, and the industry average for cheese segment was between 2.5% and 3.8%, which may indicate the company’s limited long-term support for new product development and core technology enhancement.

Although Meiji Blue Multi currently holds the top market share, foreign brands like Bega Cheese, Lezhi Niu, and Anjia maintain a high-end positioning, leveraging brand and technological advantages to capture high-margin markets; domestic dairy giants like Yili (600887.SH), relying on channels and supply chain advantages, are rapidly expanding their market share through low-price penetration.

Industry analysts believe that the company’s revenue structure dominated by a single product faces significant operational risks. If competitors engage in price wars, consumer preferences shift, or raw material costs fluctuate, it will directly impact overall performance. On the other hand, as the cheese stick market reaches penetration saturation and industry homogenization intensifies, price competition becomes fiercer, channel costs and marketing investments continue to rise, and product gross profit margins are under pressure. Although the company has launched new products such as ambient cheese, cheese slices, cheese crumbles, and baking cheese, most of these have not yet achieved scale revenue, making it difficult to form a second growth curve to support performance.

Faced with a red ocean industry, giant encirclement, and product structure shortcomings, in March this year, Kua Yulong first disclosed the “13434” ecosystem strategy at the partner development conference. The “1” refers to a goal: “to be consumer-centered, with future revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan and net profit doubling.” So, can Meiji Blue Multi, fully entering the “Mengniu era,” completely shake off profit troubles and achieve the hundred-billion-yuan target?

Investment keywords: Meiji Blue Multi (600882.SH) | Mengniu (2319.HK)

Author statement: Personal opinions for reference only