Citibank released a research report stating that it maintained its “buy” rating for China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom; among them, China Mobile's target price increased by 5.1% to HK$102 from HK$97, China Unicom's target price increased by 18.6% from HK$7 to HK$8.3, and China Telecom's target price remained unchanged at HK$5.7. The report indicates that in the third quarter of 2026, the turnover of China's telecom industry may continue to be under pressure; in the first eight months of this year, the industry's turnover decreased by 2.2% year-on-year. This is mainly due to the resetting of the base due to VAT adjustments, rather than the same deterioration in basic demand. The bank believes that this slowing trend has been largely digested by the market, and investors' focus is shifting to the commercialization of artificial intelligence infrastructure and dividend returns. Despite a decline in total capital expenditure, more than one-third of the three telecom operators' 2026 investments are shifting to computing infrastructure. According to estimates, the total data center capacity of the three telecom carriers is expected to double to 17.5 gigawatts by 2028 from 8.7 gigawatts in 2024. From a valuation perspective, H shares are more attractive, with an average dividend rate of around 7%.

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