The Zhitong Finance App learned that CITIC Securities released a research report saying that currently, leading pharmacy chains have outstanding valuations and cost performance, maintaining the pharmacy chain industry's “better than the big market” rating. In the pharmacy chain industry, store clearance continues, the structure is divided, and the advantages of leading pharmacies are obvious. The overall operating indicators of the industry were fixed in 2025. Judging from the 2026 interim reports of listed companies, the leading chain's performance is improving, and companies have already restarted their expansion.
CITIC Securities's main views are as follows:
Stores in the industry continue to be cleared, the structure is divided, and the advantages of leading pharmacies are obvious.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the State Drug Administration, and “China Pharmacies” magazine, the number of domestic retail pharmacies fell rapidly to 656,000 in 2025 from 683,700 in 2024, and the number of chain companies dropped sharply by 251 to 6416 from 6,667 in 2024. Small and medium-sized chains are under obvious pressure, and industry leaders have benefited relatively. According to “China Pharmacies” magazine, the growth rate of the top ten, top 50, and top 100 pharmacy chains in China in 2025 is higher than the industry average. The concentration of the industry is still increasing, and there is plenty of room. Big data empowers medical insurance flight inspections, and flight inspections are stricter and more accurate. The bank believes that leading listed chain companies will actively and passively integrate the market through joining, mergers and acquisitions, and new openings, and the concentration of industry leaders is about to increase. The out-of-hospital market continues to expand, and the advantages of leading pharmacies are worth paying attention to.
The key operating indicators of the industry were fixed in 2025.
The industry's performance and human efficiency indicators have declined, and the per capita maintenance rate continues to rise. The customer unit price has been reduced, and the unit price of the product has remained stable. According to “China Pharmacy” magazine, the average gross margin of the industry in 2025 was 29.90%, which is basically stable, and the net profit margin has recovered. The average gross margin of the industry in 2025 was basically the same as in 2024, making it difficult to replicate the era of high gross profit. The bank believes that the net interest rate of the industry will be structurally divided, making it difficult for small enterprises to profit. At the same time, changes in the industry's commodity structure will continue, and the trend of prescription outflow will continue to materialize.
Summary of the 2026 interim reports of listed companies: Performance is improving and expansion is restarting.
Seven leading listed companies were selected as analysis subjects. The 2026H1 leading listed companies recovered strongly. Among them, the 2026Q2 sector showed significant year-on-year and month-on-month improvements in revenue and profit sides, indicating that leading listed chain companies have taken the lead in reaching an inflection point in operation. The gross margin of leading chains has remained stable, and net profit has increased markedly. Judging from the revenue structure of leading chains, the share of Chinese and Western proprietary medicines has steadily increased, and the general logic of drug outflow from hospitals has gradually been verified.
Risk factors: mergers and acquisitions fell short of expectations, gross margin declined due to excessive competition, prescription outflow fell short of expectations, impact of personal health insurance account reform, slow progress in outpatient care coordination, etc.