Last year's Q4 profits surged by 1100%! Storage is entering a "super cycle," and the 50 billion-dollar major stock Demingli is strategically stockpiling over 7 billion yuan.

Source: Times Finance Author: Gao Qiurong

Image source: TuChong Creative

Storage giant with a market value over 50 billion discloses 2025 performance report!

After market close on February 27, Demingli (001309.SZ) announced its 2025 annual report. Last year, the company achieved operating revenue of 10.789 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 126.07%; net profit attributable to shareholders of 688 million yuan, up 96.35%; and non-recurring net profit of 668 million yuan, up 120.77%.

Notably, in the first three quarters of 2025, Demingli was still in a loss situation, with net profit attributable to shareholders and non-recurring net profit respectively losing 27.077 million yuan and 50.481 million yuan.

This indicates that the company’s profitability for the entire year last year nearly came from a surge in the fourth quarter. In Q4 2025, Demingli’s net profit attributable to shareholders and non-recurring net profit were 715 million yuan and 718 million yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth exceeding 1100% and 820%.

Regarding the performance growth, Demingli stated that starting from the third quarter of 2025, benefiting from AI demand-driven, the storage industry’s prosperity gradually recovered, storage prices entered an upward channel, and the gross profit margin of product sales significantly increased, leading to a notable improvement in operating performance.

The annual report shows that Demingli’s gross profit margin last year was 14.81%, a significant improvement from 7.16% in the first three quarters of the previous year. In a prior announcement, the company indicated that since 2025, it has continued to make breakthroughs in expanding large industry clients, introducing strategic customers for solid-state drives (SSD). Due to the critical phase of introduction in the first three quarters, the company adopted relatively flexible pricing strategies, which affected gross profit margins.

Demingli’s performance rebound is a microcosm of the entire storage industry cycle. Times Finance notes that driven by strong demand from downstream AI servers and data centers, major storage giants such as SanDisk, Micron, Samsung, and Western Digital have been raising product prices since September 2025, with price increases generally exceeding market expectations.

Data from the storage market information platform CFM Flash Memory Market shows that in Q4 last year, the prices of DRAM and NAND in the spot market surged rapidly, with single-quarter increases exceeding 150%, and annual increases of 386% and 207%, respectively.

Specifically, the price of DDR5 RDIMM 96Gb increased by over 90% from early September to early December last year, with the recent half-year increase exceeding 280%; during the same period, the price of LPDDR4X 96Gb increased by over 110% and 180%, respectively.

Regarding whether the company plans to adjust product prices, on February 27, Times Finance contacted Demingli’s secretarial office as an investor. A staff member stated that product prices are negotiable and currently there is no information that can be disclosed.

The sustained growth in storage demand continues to boost industry prosperity. Demingli also stated in its investor relations activity record in October last year that to strengthen the company’s high-quality, stable delivery capabilities in enterprise storage and other fields, and to meet the needs of key business development, the company is planning to increase its own capacity through new capacity construction.

In addition, Demingli announced a 3.2 billion yuan private placement plan last November. According to the announcement, it plans to raise 984 million yuan and 664 million yuan respectively for SSD expansion projects and DRAM memory product expansion projects.

Along with business expansion and optimistic outlook for the future, Demingli’s inventory levels have also continued to rise. As of the end of June, September, and December 2025, inventory amounts were 4.643 billion yuan, 5.94 billion yuan, and 7.058 billion yuan, accounting for 64.11%, 64.75%, and 65.05% of total assets, respectively.

Demingli mentioned that since 2023, inventory amounts have increased rapidly, with significant increases in raw materials and semi-finished products, mainly due to the company’s strategic inventory buildup based on business development needs, customer demand, and storage market trends. If future market prices fluctuate significantly, the company may face risks of inventory impairments if the net realizable value falls below cost.

Also worth noting is the tightening cash flow situation. In 2025, Demingli’s net cash flow from operating activities was negative; additionally, since 2023, its net cash flow from operating activities has declined rapidly and differs significantly from net profit. The company explained that this is due to continuous expansion of business scale, adjustments to credit policies for some customers in 2022, leading to increased accounts receivable, and increased inventory reserves resulting in higher raw material procurement costs.

This also poses certain operational risks. As the company’s business scale continues to grow, if performance falls short of expectations, if strategic inventory cannot be sold in time, if credit policy adjustments prevent timely capital recovery, or if debt repayment capacity diminishes, the company may face liquidity risks, adversely affecting operations and capital turnover.

However, the past year’s “storage super cycle” has propelled Demingli into the capital market spotlight. Its stock price has risen approximately 312% since early 2025, and the wealth of its actual controllers, Li Hu and Tian Huafu, has also increased significantly. Yet, amid the soaring stock price, Tian Hua’s holding company, Tai’an Jinchengyuan Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), reduced its holdings of Demingli by 6.1662 million shares last year.