Fund-intensive research on "hard technology" Price increase logic becomes the main line for profit-taking

As the Q1 2026 earnings season comes to a close, the A-share market presents a clear logical main theme—rising prices. Recently, multiple well-known fund managers have conducted intensive research on listed companies with a logic of price increases, spanning from precious metals and industrial metals to basic chemicals, then to semiconductor materials and AI hardware. Behind seemingly scattered hotspots, there is actually an underlying certainty in the main trend.

From the perspective of individual stock research, over the past month, the most关注ed companies by public funds are Lankai Technology, XinYiSheng, and Lixun Precision, most of which belong to industries with clear price increase logic such as semiconductors, optical communications, and storage.

Taking power semiconductors as an example, since February, domestic leaders like China Resources Micro and Sillan Micro have taken the lead in raising prices, with mainstream products from international giants Infineon and Texas Instruments generally seeing price increases of 10% to 25%. This major industry change has attracted high attention from fund managers. Recently, listed companies in power semiconductors such as China Resources Micro, Yangjie Technology, and Xinlian Integration-U have been intensively researched by multiple public funds, delving into investment opportunities behind the price increase logic.

Looking at individual stocks, Lankai Technology attracted 426 institutional research visits, including 60 fund companies, indicating strong market enthusiasm for core semiconductor design companies, especially those related to data centers and memory interface chips (closely linked to AI server storage). Following closely are Dingtai High-Tech, Lixun Precision, Juguang Technology, and Zhongkuang Resources, each receiving research from over 200 institutions, with more than 50 fund companies involved in each.

In addition to leading popular companies, research data also reveal institutional “gold digging” behaviors in more segmented tracks. For example, in the photovoltaic equipment sector, companies like Maiwei Co., Juhua Materials, and Jingsheng Electromechanical have received intensive research; in the industrial gases sector, Huate Gas, Guanggang Gas, and Jinhong Gas have attracted attention. This indicates that fund managers are delving into various links of the industrial chain, seeking “hidden champions” with core competitiveness and growth potential.

Regarding the “diligence” of research, in the past month, 28 fund companies have researched over 100 companies. Among them, Chuangjin Hexin Fund leads with 383 research visits, followed by GuoQing Fund, Jiashi Fund, HuaAn Fund, JingShun ChangCheng Fund, TianZhi Fund, Bosera Fund, and PingAn Fund, each with over 150 research visits.

The research list also features some foreign and specialized investment institutions. For example, Fidelity, Morgan, BlackRock, and Schroders. Additionally, investment platforms with industry or regional backgrounds, such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Joint Home Development Fund, also appear on the research list, reflecting the diversification of current A-share market investor structures.

It is worth noting that some companies receiving frequent research have seen their stock prices continue to rise. For example, Weiteou has increased by over 100% in the past month, Qiaofeng Intelligent by over 80%, and Shijia Photonics, Haitai New Light, and Huate Gas have all risen by more than 70%.

However, some companies with high research frequency have had relatively average short-term stock performance. For instance, Stone Technology’s stock price increased by only 1.72% in the past month, while Dongpeng Beverage’s stock fell by over 3%. Companies like Perfect World, Huali Group, and Babi Food, despite receiving research, experienced declines of over 10%. This suggests that intensive research may reflect increased divergence among institutions’ views or value re-evaluation after in-depth analysis. Short-term stock prices are influenced by multiple factors, and fund managers’ research trends should only be considered as one reference for value judgment.

A researcher from South China commented that, against the backdrop of overall market valuation restructuring and rapid technological iteration in industries, fund managers are increasingly focusing on mid- and small-cap companies that are leading in segmented tracks, possess core technological advantages, and have strong earnings growth certainty but are not yet fully priced by the market. These companies are widely distributed across fields such as semiconductor materials, industrial gases, specialty chemicals, precision manufacturing, and innovative medical devices, aligning with the major trend of economic transformation and industrial upgrading.

Regarding the rapid development of the AI industry boosting industry prosperity, Morgan Stanley Fund stated that U.S. AI capital expenditure continues to expand, maintaining high prosperity in global computing power-related industries; China’s AI investment closely follows, with continued expansion expected, and domestic computing power prosperity gradually increasing. In the short term, compared to overseas computing power, most domestic companies have a gentle slope and relatively high valuations. As domestic models are optimized and cloud infrastructure capital expenditure increases, the balance will gradually tilt toward domestic computing power.

(Edited by: Xu Nannan)

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