Wey could be key to FY25 earnings growth

　　长城汽车(601633)

　　Maintain BUY.Great Wall’s4Q24earnings were a mixed bag,in our view,asrevenue missed but GPM and SG&A expenses beat our prior estimates.Webelieve a stronger model cycle in FY25E than FY24could be a positive catalystfor its share price.In particular,new Wey-brand models could be key to GreatWall’s sales volume and profit growth in FY25E.We still see room for GreatWall’s overseas sales growth,as it expands its footprint in Latin America.

　　4Q24revenue miss,GPM and SG&A beat.Although Great Wall’s4Q24net profit was in line with the company’s preliminary results announced inJan2025,its4Q24revenue missed our prior forecast by9%,as theaverage selling price(ASP)declined QoQ.4Q24GPM without the warrantyprovision adjustment was19.1%,or0.4ppts higher than our projection.4Q24SG&A expenses(incl.warranty provision)were about RMB900mnlower than our forecast.Forex loss from ruble depreciation was also lowerthan most of its peers.

　　FY25E outlook.We project FY25E sales volume to rise9%YoY to1.35mnunits(10,000units lower than our prior forecast),driven by the Haval andWey brands.A plethora of new models(likely3for Haval and3for Wey)in FY25E and overseas growth(+28%YoY to0.58mn units in FY25E)arekey to FY25E sales volume,in our view.We also expect vehicle ASP tocontinue rising1%YoY in FY25E to about RMB143,000,aided by highersales contribution from Wey.

　　We project Great Wall’s FY25E gross profit to rise RMB3.0bn YoY toRMB42.5bn,with36%of the growth being from Wey,as sales volumegrowth from Tank slows down.We also expect its net cash position to befurther strengthened in FY25E,which could lift net finance income.Apossible forex gain in FY25E could also aid Great Wall’s net profit.Takentogether,we cut our FY25E net profit estimates by5%to RMB13.1bn,aswe revise down its overseas ASP and GPM slightly.

　　Valuation/Key risks.We maintain our BUY rating for both A and H shares.Our H-share target price of HK$17.00is based on10x(unchanged)ourrevised FY25E EPS and our A-share target price of RMB32.00is based onGreat Wall’s current A/H premium of about100%(vs.the average A/Hpremium of about120%in the past12months).Key risks to our rating andtarget prices include lower sales volume and margins,slower techtransformation than we expect,as well as a sector de-rating.