Shenzhen Creality 3D Technology Co., Ltd. has once again submitted an application to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. On March 9, the company filed its prospectus with the Hong Kong Exchange, planning a main board listing with China International Capital Corporation (CICC) acting as the sole sponsor. This filing comes just three weeks after the company completed its "full circulation" filing. According to the filing notice, Creality 3D intends to issue no more than approximately 151 million ordinary shares for overseas listing, while 21 company shareholders plan to convert their collective holdings of about 393 million domestic unlisted shares into overseas listed shares. Under Hong Kong listing rules, this filing indicates the company has met a key prerequisite for its listing hearing.
The company's path to listing has been circuitous. Creality 3D initiated an A-share listing process in December 2023 and completed its IPO tutoring filing with the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau in January the following year. However, in July 2025, the company abruptly announced a switch from an A-share to a Hong Kong listing and submitted its first application in August. Now, despite being on the cusp of a public listing, the company's reported performance raises questions. According to the prospectus, from 2023 to 2025, the company's total revenue grew steadily from 1.883 billion yuan to 3.127 billion yuan, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 18.4%. In contrast, net profit declined year-over-year, turning negative in 2025 with a loss of 182 million yuan. Even after adjusting for non-operating factors, adjusted net profit still fell from 130 million yuan to 92 million yuan during the reporting period, marking two consecutive years of revenue growth without corresponding profit growth.
Is the 3D printer market softening? A closer look at the business reveals that Creality 3D's operations still heavily rely on hardware sales. Revenue from its Creality Cloud membership subscriptions, 3D model transaction fees and commissions, and sales of finished 3D printed goods on its own platform, Nexbie, collectively account for only 0.1% to 0.2% of total revenue. Among its products, 3D printers are the undisputed mainstay, contributing 74.6%, 61.9%, and 57.1% of total revenue in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. However, while the revenue share remains high, unit sales growth for 3D printers has nearly stalled. From 2023 to 2024, the average selling price increased by 21.9%, but unit sales plummeted from 870,700 units to 720,600 units, a decrease of approximately 17.2%, and their share of total unit sales shrank from 32.4% to 17.8%. In 2025, the average selling price rose another 22.4% year-over-year, but unit sales saw only a marginal 3.0% increase compared to 2024, and their share of total unit sales further declined to 11.7%.
With its core product showing signs of weakness, Creality 3D's high revenue growth has been sustained by 3D printing consumables and 3D scanners. During the reporting period, the average selling price for consumables fluctuated, but unit sales accumulated a 209.0% increase, driving a 3.07-fold increase in segment revenue. For 3D scanners, both volume and price rose significantly, with the average selling price accumulating a 146.8% increase and unit sales surging 256.7%. In 2025, revenue from scanners reached 366 million yuan, approximately 8.81 times the 2023 figure.
Notably, 3D printing consumables are highly standardized with many low-cost alternatives available, meaning users can easily purchase them through other channels. Furthermore, the consumer-grade 3D scanner market itself is limited in size; optimistic industry forecasts suggest global shipments will not reach one million units by 2029. From 2023 to 2025, revenue from these two business segments remained stable at around 10% of total revenue each, leaving their potential as a true second growth engine uncertain.
Similar to other industry players, Creality 3D has increasingly focused on markets in Europe and America. Due to factors like underdeveloped supply chains for small industrial parts, high labor costs, a prevalent DIY culture, and less efficient logistics in these regions, consumers face challenges like high costs, long lead times, and poor experiences when replacing small parts or consuming small industrial goods. This creates stronger demand for consumer-grade 3D printers. Accordingly, Creality 3D's overseas revenue accounted for 69.2%, 70.9%, and 74.1% of total revenue during the reporting period, showing a clear upward trend. Specifically, North America contributed 29.8%, 26.9%, and 32.2%, while Europe contributed 23.4%, 24.2%, and 25.1%. In essence, these two markets support at least half of the company's performance.
The key to penetrating these markets is the e-commerce giant Amazon. In 2025, nearly 60% of Creality 3D's online revenue came from its stores on e-commerce platforms. Revenue generated solely from Amazon amounted to 584 million yuan, exceeding the combined revenue from seven other platforms, including eBay, Tmall, and JD.com. This Amazon revenue represented approximately 38.5% of total online revenue, 65.8% of revenue from platform-operated online stores, and 25.2% of total overseas revenue.
This heavy reliance on Amazon carries significant drawbacks. On one hand, Amazon's high commission and promotion fees continually squeeze profit margins. The prospectus shows that Amazon's commission per item is 12%-15%, compared to a mere 0.2% commission rate for the company's Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) website. From 2023 to 2025, commissions paid to Amazon accounted for nearly 90% of total commissions paid to e-commerce platforms, and promotion fees accounted for over a quarter of marketing and advertising expenses. Consequently, the company's sales expense ratio increased from 16.0% to 18.2%.
On the other hand, Amazon's dominant position presents potential "black swan" risks. In 2021, Amazon suspended a large number of Chinese seller accounts, leading to frozen funds. During the 2025 Sino-US trade friction, Amazon pressured Chinese merchants to either lower prices or directly pay tariffs. In March 2026, Amazon experienced two major system outages within ten days, causing numerous product listings to fail, preventing consumers from placing orders, and rendering sellers' advertising expenditures ineffective. Furthermore, starting in 2026, Amazon cancelled its product prep and labeling service for物流 goods and significantly increased inventory surcharges, all of which are expected to negatively impact Creality 3D's profitability.
Regarding the 2025 loss, Creality 3D attributed it to dividend distributions to investors and a share issuance. According to the prospectus, the company has conducted only one round of equity financing. After restructuring in June 2021, it brought in investors including Qianhai Mother Fund, Buhuo Venture Capital, Tencent Venture Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group, AVIC Nanshan Equity Investment, and Guoxin Southern Intellectual Property, raising a total of 508 million yuan in its Series A round, resulting in a post-money valuation of approximately 4 billion yuan. Prior to listing, the top three external shareholders are Qianhai Mother Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Tencent Venture Capital, holding 5.81%, 4.32%, and 2.16% respectively.
Creality 3D entered into three shareholder agreements with its Series A investors. The second agreement required the company to complete an IPO by December 31, 2025, failing which investors could demand redemption from the controlling shareholders. A third agreement signed in July 2025 extended this deadline by six months to June 30, 2026. To appease and compensate these Series A investors, Creality 3D declared a cash dividend of 81.357 million yuan, accounting for approximately 88.1% of its adjusted net profit for the period. Additionally, the company conducted a private placement of 29.5466 million new shares, with a fair value of approximately 159 million yuan, representing 7.51% of the total enlarged share capital.
In fact, Creality 3D has been generous with dividends. In 2021, it declared a cash dividend of 195 million yuan to shareholders, followed by payments of 88 million yuan, 36 million yuan, and 71 million yuan during 2021-2023. Including the 2025 cash dividend, the company's cumulative pre-IPO dividends reached 276 million yuan. Qianhai Mother Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Tencent Venture Capital received 16.0563 million yuan, 11.9386 million yuan, and 5.9669 million yuan respectively, with other investors collectively receiving 6.7707 million yuan.
Behind this aggressive dividend policy, Creality 3D's cash flow situation is concerning. As of December 31, 2025, the company's trade receivables stood at 351 million yuan, a 48.5% year-over-year increase, significantly outpacing revenue growth. Inventory totaled 686 million yuan, a 45.0% increase compared to 2024, with approximately 75.2% being finished goods. With both receivables and inventory rising, the company reported a net cash outflow from operating activities of 63.977 million yuan for the reporting period, compared to a net inflow of 173 million yuan in 2024. Cash and cash equivalents at period-end were only 277 million yuan, a decrease of 40.2% year-over-year.
Beneath the glossy business blueprint, issues such as stagnating core product growth, over-reliance on Amazon for online sales, and a cash flow crunch are becoming apparent. More urgently, the deadline agreed with investors for listing is imminent. While substantial dividends and the share placement may have temporarily stabilized shareholder confidence, the company faces the critical challenge of presenting a compelling growth narrative to secondary market investors and cultivating a genuine second growth pillar post-listing.