Still-not-optimistic-Overview

Lighting finished product sector

The overall performance of lighting finished product companies in the first quarter of 2026

Among the 29 lighting finished product related companies:

In terms of revenue,

59% of companies declined year-on-year, down 3 percentage points from the same period last year;

In terms of gross profit margin,

69% of companies saw a decrease in gross profit margin, and the average gross profit margin The interest rate was 22.3%, down 2.4 percentage points from the same period last year;

In terms of net profit,

65% of companies saw a year-on-year decrease, down 2 percentage points from the same period last year;

In terms of loss-making companies,

the number accounted for 52% of the total, a significant increase of 18 percentage points from the same period last year, and more than half of them turned from profits to losses.

The overall situation is quite bleak, colder than the same period in 2025, indicating that the operating performance pressure faced by relevant listed companies in 2026 will still be considerable. The further intensification of stock competition has led to a large number of companies, especially those in the general lighting field with low thresholds, to trade price for volume, resulting in an increase in sales volume, a slight decline in revenue, and a sharp contraction in profits, which has become a common phenomenon in the current lighting industry.

Packaging sector

The overall performance of packaging companies in the first quarter of 2026 Among the 8 LED packaging-related companies:
In terms of revenue, 38% of companies declined year-on-year, which was better than the same period last year; in terms of gross profit margin, 63% of companies saw a decline in gross profit margin, with an average gross profit margin of 18.0%, 1.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year; in terms of net profit, 50% of companies declined year-on-year, which was significantly improved compared to the same period last year; in terms of loss-making companies, the number accounted for 25% of the total.
The overall situation of the LED packaging sector was slightly better than the same period last year.

Epitaxial chip sector

The overall performance of epitaxial chip companies in the first quarter of 2026

Among the six LED epitaxial chip-related companies:

In terms of revenue,

half of the companies increased year-on-year, and half of the companies declined year-on-year;

In terms of gross profit margin,

2/3 companies' gross profit margin increased, with the average gross profit margin of 16.4%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points over the same period last year;

In terms of net profit,

2/3 companies declined year-on-year, and the decline was larger;

In terms of loss-making companies,

1/3 companies suffered losses, and all turned from profits to losses compared with the same period last year.

The overall performance of the upstream sector is satisfactory, but it can no longer continue the good trend in 2023 and 2024. Shrinking downstream demand is gradually transmitted to the upstream. The huge losses of some companies and the weak actual profitability of the sector need to be paid attention to.

Lighting engineering sector

The overall performance of lighting engineering companies in the first quarter of 2026

Among the 5 lighting engineering-related companies:

In terms of revenue,

60% of the companies experienced a year-on-year decrease, which was significantly larger than the same period last year;

In terms of gross profit margin,

The gross profit margin of >60% of companies has declined, with the average gross profit margin of 18.2%, a drop of more than 10 percentage points from the same period last year;

In terms of net profit,

20% of companies have experienced a year-on-year decrease, and their performance is acceptable;

In terms of loss-making companies,

the number accounts for 60% of the total.

The overall lighting engineering-related business in the lighting engineering sector is still at a low ebb, and companies with acceptable performance mainly reflect revenue growth in business expansion and cross-border investment.

Various supporting sectors

The overall performance of supporting companies in the first quarter of 2026

Among the 31 supporting-related companies:
In terms of revenue, 68% of companies increased year-on-year, the same as the same period last year; in terms of gross profit margin, 55% of companies saw an increase in gross profit margin, with an average gross profit margin of 30.6%, slightly higher than the same period last year; in terms of net profit, 52% of companies declined year-on-year, an increase of 8 percentage points compared with the same period last year; in terms of loss-making companies, the number accounted for 32% of the total.
The lighting supporting supply chain is also under two-way pressure from upstream cost inflation and downstream price deflation. The rigid cost inflation caused by the sharp increase in upstream raw materials is difficult to effectively transmit through the increase in terminal prices. Most of it is absorbed by the mid-stream and downstream manufacturing links, thus causing an unprecedented squeeze on profit margins. Therefore, the revenue performance of the ancillary segment is acceptable, and profits continue to be under pressure.

In the first quarter of 2026, among the 77 listed companies in the lighting industry chain, 45% of the companies experienced a decline in revenue, but 55% of the companies saw a decline in gross profit margin, 57% of the companies saw a decline in net profit, and 42% of the companies suffered losses. In terms of sectors, the performance of LED epitaxial chips, LED packaging and other supporting supply chain sectors is quite satisfactory, but the downstream finished product sector is even more bleak than in the first quarter of 2025. Since the beginning of 2026, geopolitical conflicts have intensified, upstream bulk materials have continued to suffer from rigid inflation, and the RMB exchange rate has continued to move at a high level. It is believed that "struggling revenue and pressure on profits" will still be the main performance of listed companies in the industry in 2026. The lighting industry will continue to undergo a fierce reshuffle under the existing game pattern. The situation is stronger than the situation. It is more important for lighting companies to work hard to improve their internal skills and improve their competitiveness in order to survive than to expect the market to recover.

The above article comes from Guangya Lighting Research Institute, author Wen Qidong