A-Share Annual Reports Reveal AI Computing Power and Materials Sectors in Explosive Growth

Introduction: Annual Report Season Reveals the Real Value of the AI Industry

As the 2024 A-share annual report disclosure period draws to a close, a clear industrial landscape is emerging — surging AI computing demand is driving explosive earnings growth across upstream segments including chips, servers, and optical modules. Meanwhile, non-ferrous metals and lithium battery materials have staged a powerful comeback after earlier corrections, as green energy transition and AI infrastructure development create unprecedented demand synergies.

This wave of performance driven by technological transformation is redefining the value coordinates of A-shares.

AI Computing Power Industry Chain: From Concept Hype to Earnings Delivery

Chips and Server Segments Lead the Way

In 2024, global demand for AI large model training and inference grew exponentially, directly fueling massive construction of computing infrastructure. A-share annual report data shows that the AI computing power industry chain has completed a critical leap from "telling stories" to "delivering results."

The industrial chain centered on AI servers has been particularly outstanding. Multiple leading server manufacturers reported revenue growth exceeding 40%, with net profits doubling year-over-year. Sub-sectors such as GPU modules, liquid cooling systems, and high-speed interconnects also entered a high-prosperity cycle, with listed companies generally achieving double growth in both revenue and profits.

In the chip design space, benefiting from accelerated domestic substitution and surging AI chip demand, several IC design companies delivered annual results that exceeded expectations. Some enterprises achieved breakthroughs in AI inference chips and edge computing chips, with order visibility extending into the second half of 2025.

Optical Modules and Network Equipment Become the "Golden Track"

The demand for high-speed interconnection within data centers has spawned a super-cycle for the optical module industry. 800G optical modules have entered the mass shipment phase, while 1.6T products are being rapidly introduced. Leading optical module companies generally posted net profit growth of 80% to 150% in 2024.

Notably, the driving force behind this optical module boom has shifted from traditional cloud computing to the networking demands of AI training clusters. A single large-scale AI data center consumes several times more optical modules than a traditional data center, opening up significantly larger incremental market space.

Supporting segments such as network switching equipment and smart NICs have also benefited significantly. Annual reports from multiple companies show a marked increase in orders from overseas AI clients, with international expansion becoming a key growth engine.

Electronic Information Sector: Full Industry Chain Earnings Acceleration

From a broader perspective, the entire electronic information sector reached an earnings inflection point in 2024. The semiconductor industry achieved a strong recovery in 2024 after hitting its cyclical bottom in 2023.

The memory chip segment benefited from robust demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) in AI servers, with prices continuing to rise and related companies seeing substantial improvements in profitability. Analog chips and power semiconductors also gradually recovered, driven by demand from new energy vehicles and industrial automation.

The PCB (Printed Circuit Board) industry represents another noteworthy highlight. The surging demand for high-layer-count, high-density PCBs in AI servers has driven up both unit prices and gross margins for high-end PCB products. Annual report data shows that companies focused on AI server PCB business generally reported revenue growth exceeding 60% in their related product lines.

While the consumer electronics sector saw a relatively slow overall recovery, the launch of new categories such as AI smartphones and AI PCs injected fresh growth momentum into the supply chain. Rising demand for on-device AI chips and high-capacity storage components has created structural opportunities for related suppliers.

Non-Ferrous Metals Sector: Resource Value Reassessment Underway

Industrial Metals See Rising Volumes and Prices

The comeback of the non-ferrous metals sector in 2024 was another major highlight of the annual report season. Driven by dual demand from AI computing and green energy, industrial metals such as copper and aluminum entered a new round of value reassessment.

AI data center construction consumes far more copper than traditional data centers — from power transmission cables to cooling systems, copper usage has multiplied. Meanwhile, global power grid upgrades and continued growth in renewable energy installations have further intensified the copper supply-demand squeeze. Multiple listed copper companies reported net profit growth of 30% to 70% in 2024, with resource-advantaged enterprises performing particularly well.

The aluminum industry similarly benefited from demand growth in photovoltaic mounting structures, lightweight new energy vehicles, and energy-efficient buildings. Combined with domestic electrolytic aluminum capacity ceiling constraints, the aluminum price center continued to shift upward, with related companies seeing significant profitability improvements.

Strategic Value of Rare Earths and Minor Metals Emerges

Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and technological competition, the value of strategic minor metals such as rare earths, tungsten, germanium, and gallium is being reassessed. The dependence of AI chip manufacturing, defense equipment, and new energy sectors on these critical materials continues to grow, while export control policies have strengthened domestic pricing power.

Annual report data shows that multiple rare earth and minor metal companies achieved double-digit growth in both revenue and net profit in 2024, with some companies posting gross margins at three-year highs.

Lithium Battery Materials: Clear Bottom-Rebound Signals

Industry Shakeout Nearing Completion

After enduring the "darkest hour" in 2023, the lithium battery materials sector sent clear bottom-rebound signals in its 2024 annual reports. Lithium carbonate prices gradually stabilized during the year. Although still far from historical highs, irrational capacity expansion within the industry has been largely cleared out, with leading companies leveraging cost advantages and technological barriers to restore profitability first.

On the cathode materials front, the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) route continues to benefit from the explosive growth of the energy storage market, with leading companies reporting shipment growth exceeding 50% year-over-year. While competition in ternary cathode materials remains fierce, the penetration rate of high-nickel products in the premium power battery segment continues to rise.

Anode materials, electrolytes, separators, and other segments also exhibited differentiation — companies with integrated layouts and overseas production capacity demonstrated stronger counter-cyclical resilience in their annual reports.

Energy Storage and AI Data Centers Open New Growth Avenues

A particularly noteworthy trend is that AI data centers' demand for energy storage systems is becoming a brand-new growth driver for lithium battery materials. Large-scale AI computing centers consume enormous amounts of electricity, making supporting energy storage facilities a standard requirement. This creates a substantial incremental market for the lithium battery industry chain.

Additionally, global energy storage installations continued to grow rapidly in 2024, with Chinese companies further expanding their share of the global energy storage battery market. This "AI + Energy Storage" dual-wheel drive model is providing a solid demand foundation for the medium-term recovery of the lithium battery materials sector.

The Deeper Logic Behind Industrial Synergies

Looking across the earnings performance of this annual report season, the explosion of the AI computing power industry chain and the comeback of non-ferrous metals and lithium battery materials are not isolated events but rather different facets of the same industrial logic.

First, AI infrastructure construction is creating enormous upstream material demand. From specialty gases and sputtering targets needed for chip manufacturing, to copper, aluminum, and optical fiber consumed in data center construction, to lithium batteries used in supporting energy storage systems — the prosperity of the AI industry is transmitting upstream along the entire value chain.

Second, green transition and intelligent upgrading are creating demand synergies. Renewable energy generation, electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and AI computing centers — these four major sectors have highly overlapping demand for non-ferrous metals and advanced materials, creating a compounding effect on the demand side.

Third, accelerating domestic substitution is driving value reconstruction across domestic supply chains. In areas such as semiconductor equipment, critical materials, and core components, domestic substitution is not only bringing incremental orders but also driving technological progress and product upgrades, creating a virtuous cycle.

Outlook: Three Key Themes for 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, A-share technology and materials sectors are expected to sustain their structural prosperity. Three key investment themes deserve close attention:

Theme One: Deepening expansion of the AI computing power industry chain. As large model parameter scales continue to grow and inference demand surges, computing infrastructure will extend from the training side to the inference side. New scenarios such as edge computing and on-device AI are expected to generate fresh industry opportunities.

Theme Two: Supply-demand rebalancing of upstream resources. Against the backdrop of limited new supply and sustained demand growth for industrial metals like copper and aluminum, price centers are expected to continue rising. The scarcity premium of strategic minor metals will also become more pronounced.

Theme Three: Cyclical reversal and structural upgrading in lithium battery materials. After the industry shakeout is complete, leading companies with technological advantages and global footprints will be the first to benefit from demand recovery. The industrialization of new technology pathways such as solid-state batteries is also worth close monitoring.

Overall, the 2024 A-share annual reports reveal an important signal: AI is not merely a software and algorithm revolution — it is a profound hardware and materials revolution. From data centers to mines, from chips to batteries, AI is reshaping the value chain of the entire industrial system. For investors, understanding the deeper logic of this industrial synergy may be more important than chasing individual hotspots.