The Zhitong Finance App learned that J.P. Morgan Chase released a research report saying that it covered the Jiantao Laminate Board (01888) for the first time and gave it an “increase” rating. The target price is HK$65, which is equivalent to 21 times and 13 times the predicted price-earnings ratio in 2026 and 2027, compared to an average of 12.5 times over the past 10 years. The bank pointed out that the company is the world's largest producer of conventional copper-clad panels (CCL), and is also one of only two companies with a fully integrated printed circuit board (PCB) material supply chain. The other is Taiwan South Asia Plastics.
The bank pointed out that demand for artificial intelligence and general servers has caused a sharp shortage of glass cloth. The price of electronic grade glass cloth has risen by more than 100% since this year, which is expected to increase the company's consolidated profit margin and market share. The bank predicts an eight-fold increase in earnings per share between 2025 and 2028. The main drivers include industry shortages and migration to high-end CCL driving a cumulative 150% increase in the average price of CCL blends, capacity expansion projects in Jiangxi and Guangdong, a 75% increase in the size of the weaving fleet over the next two years, and HVLP1-3 copper foil climbing and HVLP4 potential customer certification.
According to Komo, Jiantao Laminate has secured about 35% to 40% of Toyota's loom quota in the next two years, and the fleet can be expanded from about 3,300 units in 2026 to about 5,800 units in 2028, driving a 55% increase in glass cloth production (including special types) from 2025 to 2028, and contributing more than HK$5 billion in net profit growth. The bank expects the shortage of glass cloth to continue until at least 2027, and the price increase will continue. In terms of copper foil, the company currently has a production capacity of about 63,000 tons/year. The new Fogang plant will launch HVLP1-3 (21,000 tons/year) in the third quarter of 2027. The bank expects processing costs to increase by 20% to 60% in 2026.
The bank believes that the current CCL growth cycle may be longer than that of 2015 to 2017 and 2019 to 2021. Due to the accelerated migration of AI specifications and loss of production capacity conversion, general server shipments are expected to increase by 22% and 25% year-on-year in 2026 and 2027, and is expected to stimulate demand for M4-M7 CCL products. In addition, Jiantao Laminate is moving towards the AI-grade material supply chain. The company is expanding “T-cloth” production capacity by 5 times, and has begun supplying core CCL customers such as Shengyi Technology (600183.SH).
According to the bank, the valuation of Jiantao laminated boards is attractive, and the placement risk is reflected in J.P. Morgan Chase's target price discount. Although the company lags behind most of its peers in terms of specification upgrades, it currently only predicts price-earnings ratios of 15 and 10 times this year and next, while J.P. Morgan expects its net profit to increase 8 times in 2028. Investors have been concerned that the founding family reduced their holdings of Jiantao shares between June and July 2026. This happened at the same time as the stock price of Jiantao Laminated Board fell by 72%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 12% during the same period.
The bank believes that the relevant situation is now over, because if it establishes family tools to seek to regain control, further reducing holdings to less than 30% (currently 31.8%) may trigger mandatory comprehensive offer requirements under the Hong Kong Stock Exchange rules. Exchange documents show that the founding family/management has resumed buying shares in Jiantao (00148) and Jiantao Laminate after strong performance in the first half of 2026. The bank's target price of HK$65 per share for Jiantao Laminate is based on forecasting a price-earnings ratio of 20 times in 2027, which is consistent with the average level of the Asian PCB industry chain, and has included a 30% discount to reflect investors' continued concerns about changes in the founding family's shareholding.