Goldman Sachs keeps NAURA at Buy as advanced equipment orders and product expansion support growth

Overview

This report is a Goldman Sachs company research update on NAURA, centered on discussions with management during the Goldman Sachs China Technology Tour in Shanghai on May 22, 2026. The report focuses on three themes: semiconductor process equipment product expansion, the outlook for growth in China semiconductor capex, and the company’s profitability. Goldman Sachs maintains a Buy rating on NAURA with a 12-month target price of Rmb818.

Core views

Goldman Sachs believes NAURA, as a leading domestic SPE supplier, has a relatively complete product portfolio and is upgrading its capabilities in high-end equipment through R&D expansion. Management is optimistic about order growth, especially demand from memory, advanced logic, and advanced packaging customers; on the product side, the company is expanding into ion implantation, hybrid bonding, and SiGe EPI. On profitability, gross margin may be pressured in the near term by new-product validation deliveries and discounts on large orders, but product mix upgrades toward higher-end offerings and cost control should help keep overall gross margin stable.

Analysis framework

The report mainly uses management interviews and a fundamental framework to assess order momentum, product expansion, semiconductor capex, and gross margin drivers; on valuation, it references the relationship between global SPE companies’ P/E ratios and forward earnings growth, resulting in a 44.5x 2027E P/E and a 12-month target price of Rmb818.

Methodology notes

• Valuation methodsTarget P/E method

  44.5x 2027E P/E

  Goldman Sachs says NAURA’s Rmb818 12-month target price is based on 44.5x 2027E P/E, with the target multiple derived from the regression of P/E ratios against forward earnings growth for global SPE companies.

• Factor analysisGS Factor Profile

  Growth, financial return, valuation multiples, and composite factors

  Goldman Sachs’ factor framework compares stocks against the market and sector peers on growth, financial return, valuation multiples, and composite factors to provide investment context for individual names.

• M&A assessmentM&A Rank

  Acquisition target probability score

  Goldman Sachs discloses that it uses an M&A framework across its global coverage to assess the probability of a company becoming an acquisition target, with scores from 1 to 3; this is a general methodology disclosure rather than the core investment thesis of the report.

Asset mapping & comparison

Structured mapping from thesis to named assets (strengths, weaknesses, peers, risks).

• NAURA (002371.SZ)

  The report-covered company and Buy-rated name

  Strengths

  Leading domestic SPE supplier with a fairly comprehensive product portfolio; strong order momentum from memory, advanced logic, and advanced packaging customers; expanding R&D team and pushing new tools such as ion implantation, hybrid bonding, and SiGe EPI.

  Weaknesses

  Validation and delivery of new products may create short-term gross margin pressure, and pricing discounts on large orders may also weigh on gross margin.

  Comparison

  The valuation method references the P/E and forward earnings growth regression of global SPE companies; the company’s rating is set relative to other technology and semiconductor names in Goldman Sachs’ coverage universe.

  Risks

  Further U.S. restrictions on Chinese semiconductor firms’ exports; slower-than-expected expansion among mature-node customers; revenue and earnings below Goldman Sachs’ current forecasts.

Key data

• Report date2026-05-22The body shows the publication time as Equity Research 22May2026 11:45PM HKT.
• RatingBuyThe report explicitly states Maintain Buy.
• 12-month target priceRmb818Based on 44.5x 2027E P/E.
• Reference current priceRmb669.00NAURA (Rmb669.00) appears in the disclosure section and can be used as an upside reference.
• Implied upsideapproximately 22.3%Estimated from the Rmb818 target price versus Rmb669.00.
• New productsIon implantation, hybrid bonding, SiGe EPI toolsManagement emphasized the direction of product-line expansion.
• Hybrid bonding equipment12-inch die-to-wafer equipment Qomola HPD300The report says this equipment was launched in March 2026 to meet customer demand.
• Target valuation multiple44.5x 2027E P/EThe target P/E comes from regression analysis of global SPE companies.

Impact & implications

If the order momentum described by management continues, NAURA is likely to keep benefiting from domestic substitution in China’s semiconductor equipment market, memory capacity expansion, the growth of the local AI chip ecosystem in advanced logic, and rising demand for advanced packaging. The extension of the product line into ion implantation, hybrid bonding, and SiGe EPI may deepen the company’s coverage in high-end equipment and expand its long-term growth potential; however, near-term earnings leverage still depends on the pace of new-product validation deliveries, pricing discounts on large orders, and the effectiveness of cost control.

Risks

• Further U.S. export restrictions on Chinese semiconductor companies could delay customer capacity expansion, thereby weakening demand for NAURA’s equipment.
• Slower-than-expected expansion among NAURA’s mature-node customers could lead to revenue growth below Goldman Sachs’ expectations and earnings below current estimates.
• New-product validation and delivery, as well as price discounts on large orders, may compress gross margin in the short term.

What to watch

• Whether order growth from memory customers continues.
• Whether advanced logic orders continue to benefit from the expansion of the domestic AI chip ecosystem.
• Demand from advanced packaging customers and the pace of hybrid bonding equipment ramp-up.
• Validation and delivery progress for ion implantation tools as they expand from low- and medium-current products into more offerings.
• Whether higher-end product mix upgrades and cost control can offset pressure from large-order discounts and new-product ramp-up.
• Changes in U.S. export restrictions on China’s semiconductor industry.