The sharp selloff on the first trading day after the holiday, especially the broad rout in optical chips, pushed more voices to declare the rally over.

On the day optical chip stocks hit the limit down, we counted the number of A-share stocks trading below their net assets — 485, which is 150 more than the same period last year.

The 42 banks stayed put, and the new faces below book value came from another place.

Before running the numbers, my instinct told me the rise in sub-book stocks would come from banks, real estate, and steelmakers seeing more share prices fall below net assets.

The reality is exactly the opposite — it's brokerages, the flag bearers of a bull market.

This is the biggest difference between this market cycle and past ones: retail investors, and even some institutions, have been waiting for the flag bearers to move, but instead of rising, they have fallen.

A year ago only 4 brokerages traded below book value; now there are 21.

So after a two-year run, the bull market's flag bearers have seen their banner fall.

Compared with the same period last year, banks went from 41 to 42, barely moving, real estate stayed flat at 42, and coal even dropped by 3.

The real increment came from the middle group of manufacturers and financials, especially non-bank financials.

The increase was not in banks or real estate — those two are "holdouts." Brokerages: 4 → 21. On October 8, 2024, all 48 A-share brokerage stocks hit the daily limit up.

Two years later, 21 brokerages have share prices below net asset value per share — including several leading firms.

Where are the 485 sub-book stocks distributed? Banks and real estate are tied for first with 42 each; building decoration, pharmaceuticals and biologics, and transportation follow closely behind.

The top ten sectors together account for 310 stocks, or 64%.

Optical chips hit the limit down, and the ChiNext fell 3.15%.

Data basis: the sample is drawn from 5,572 A-shares exported from Wind, counted by the "below book value" field across four trading days: 2024-10-08, 2025-10-08, 2026-06-08, and 2026-10-08 (the latest close).

Industry classification uses the Shenwan primary/secondary standard (2021 version).

Index data: the Shanghai Composite closed at 3,489.78 (2024-10-08, up 4.59% that day), 3,959.34 (2026-06-08), and 3,811.90 (2026-10-08).

The 2025-10-08 level was not included in this report.

This report is only a compilation and presentation of data and does not constitute any investment advice. Markets carry risk, and investment requires caution.