Amid global macroeconomic uncertainties and a structurally divergent consumer market, capital is increasingly inclined to seek scarce assets that combine a "high-certainty foundation" with "high-growth prospects." The global fishing tackle industry, with its solid existing market base and clear incremental space from consumption upgrades, fits this criterion perfectly. RIDGE OUTDOOR, as the absolute leader in the equipment manufacturing segment of this industry chain, benefits not only from the sector's beta growth but also demonstrates significant alpha growth capabilities through its unique strategic positioning. Notably, the company's listing process has entered a critical phase. According to the latest disclosure, RIDGE OUTDOOR has set its IPO price range at HK$11.25 to HK$12.25 and plans to officially list on February 10. This move signifies the company's imminent entry into the capital markets, embarking on a new chapter in its value growth journey.

The core investment thesis for RIDGE OUTDOOR lies in its advantageous market position, which offers both offensive and defensive qualities: on one hand, it holds an unshakable leading position in the existing market, building a moat for stable operations; on the other hand, the company is precisely positioned in structurally high-growth niche segments and has established a strong capability to capture incremental value. This dual-threat posture provides a double guarantee for sustainable growth in an uncertain environment.

RIDGE OUTDOOR's solid foundation stems from the unique attributes of its market and the dominant market position it has established, which together constitute its defensive advantages against cyclical fluctuations and a deterministic basis for sustained profitability. Firstly, from the demand perspective, fishing activities possess deep cultural embeddedness and stable social popularity, giving their consumption demand notable "low-cyclical" characteristics, enabling the company to generate highly visible, stable operating cash flow that can transcend economic cycles. Secondly, from a competitive landscape viewpoint, the company holds a structural leadership position in the fishing equipment manufacturing industry with a 23.1% global market share. This leading status grants RIDGE OUTDOOR strong pricing power and profit stability in the existing market, making its core business exceptionally resilient.

RIDGE OUTDOOR's robust growth momentum originates from its precise strategic positioning in incremental markets and exceptional value-capture capabilities. On one hand, the industry is entering a new phase of accelerated growth. Data from Frost & Sullivan indicates that the growth rate of the global fishing tackle market is expected to significantly increase from 3.2% over the past five years to 7.1% over the next five years, indicating a steepening industry growth curve. Leveraging its established global channel network, endorsements from renowned brand partnerships, and scaled production capacity, RIDGE OUTDOOR is poised to primarily and fully capture the industry beta benefits from this overall market expansion, achieving scale growth synchronized with industry trends. On the other hand, the true value appreciation for the company lies in the structurally high-growth segments it focuses on. The core fishing equipment sub-markets where RIDGE OUTDOOR concentrates its efforts have recently achieved a compound annual growth rate of 9.5%, significantly outpacing the overall industry average. This is not homogeneous expansion but value-driven structural growth, supported by two key factors: firstly, the demand anchor is shifting towards "experience value," with market growth deeply aligned with the "experience economy" wave. This shift directly drives shorter product life cycles, higher average selling prices, and increased consumption frequency, pushing open the ceiling for market space in both volume and value. Secondly, its product profit model possesses inherent advantages. The competitive dimensions for fishing equipment are more diverse, significantly enhancing product added value and building potential for higher gross profit margins. This area has thus become a strategic value anchor for the company to optimize its revenue structure and achieve a leap in profitability. Based on this, RIDGE OUTDOOR not only rides the tailwind of overall industry acceleration but also deeply cultivates a more profitable, faster-growing value segment, systematically converting market opportunities into tangible financial growth through its leading position and strategic focus.

The core of RIDGE OUTDOOR's investment value lies in its successful execution of a profound strategic evolution: a systematic value migration from a "global manufacturing leader" reliant on scale and cost, towards a "global recreational fishing lifestyle solutions provider" that controls brands and channels. This process is driven by two mutually reinforcing core pillars—endogenous business model upgrade and exogenous global ecosystem building—which together form a complete logical loop for its sustainable growth and valuation re-rating. The first pillar involves the dimensional upgrade of RIDGE OUTDOOR's business model—achieving the critical leap from "efficiency premium" to "brand premium." The company's growth engine has shifted from merely benefiting from manufacturing scale advantages to creating structural value through brand operations. A landmark move was the strategic acquisition and successful integration of the UK specialist carp fishing heritage brand, Solar, in 2017. RIDGE OUTDOOR infused Solar with its globally leading supply chain efficiency, modular R&D system, and multi-channel management capabilities, achieving a tripling of the brand's sales by 2024 compared to 2018. This successfully validated the company's core competency in "manufacturing-empowered branding." RIDGE OUTDOOR's pivot towards OBM (Own Brand Manufacturing) is more conducive to prompting the capital markets to switch its valuation logic from the traditional manufacturing P/E ratio to a more growth-oriented brand consumer goods valuation system (such as PEG or EV/EBITDA). By replicating this "empowerment-reinvention" paradigm and expanding its owned brand portfolio, the company is expected to systematically enhance its return on equity and overall valuation benchmark.

The second pillar lies in its ecosystem construction—building a globalized, high-stickiness strategic value network. Supporting and accelerating this business model transformation is the global strategic client network the company has built over decades. On one hand, the company has deep penetration in markets like the US, UK, France, and Japan. Relying on their profound fishing culture, stable high-end demand, and regulated business environments, it secures high-quality profit and cash flow, providing stable resource support for strategic transformation. On the other hand, it strategically expands into China and Southeast Asian markets, capturing the exponential growth opportunities brought by the popularization of outdoor sports and consumption upgrades, contributing significant earnings volatility and future valuation potential to the company. Furthermore, the company's clientele aggregates leading enterprises from various segments of the global outdoor industry chain: for instance, top-tier channel partner Decathlon, vertical giants like Rapala VMC and Pure Fishing, and authoritative niche brands like Ardisam. Partnerships with over 85 brands, including Decathlon, lasting more than five years, create extremely high switching costs and a trust moat. The reputation and data accumulated from serving top-tier clients become "credit currency" for exploring new markets; meanwhile, the network's synergistic effects provide invaluable channel insights, consumer validation, and trust transfer foundations for the owned brand business. In summary, RIDGE OUTDOOR's dual transition does not occur in isolation but forms a self-reinforcing strategic cycle:卓越的全球制造能力 (the foundation) supports the success of the brand empowerment model (the leap); while the global top-tier client network (the ecosystem) provides both a stable base for the manufacturing business and a testing ground and credit endorsement for the brand business; the success of the brand business further consolidates and enhances its core position and bargaining power within the manufacturing ecosystem. This closed-loop system enables the company to capture both the scale efficiency of manufacturing and the value premium of branded consumer goods, exhibiting rare strategic resilience and growth acuity in an uncertain environment.

According to observations, RIDGE OUTDOOR's financial performance has become a key empirical validation of its strategic transformation's internal logic and provides a solid, time-series-verified coordinate system for the reconstruction of its valuation framework. From a financial performance perspective, the company's profitability has continuously optimized, with a significant enhancement in growth quality. The company's revenue in 2023 decreased compared to 2022, primarily due to clients digesting prior demand following a period of high optimism in the post-pandemic consumer market, a trend consistent with the broader outdoor industry rather than an isolated company phenomenon. This impact had largely dissipated by the start of 2024. Full-year revenue for 2024 reached 573 million yuan, representing a 23.8% increase over 2023. Revenue for the first eight months of 2025 already reached 460 million yuan, approaching 80% of the full-year 2024 figure, indicating a steady growth rhythm. Driven by improved gross margins, the company achieved an operating profit of 77.695 million yuan in the first eight months of 2025, with an operating profit margin recovering to 16.9%, nearing the historically strong level of 2022, demonstrating excellent expense control capabilities and operating leverage. Net profit for the first eight months of 2025 reached 56.241 million yuan, with the net profit margin maintained at a healthy 12.2%, providing a solid capital foundation for strategic expansion.

The most crucial financial highlight is the systematic and sustained elevation of RIDGE OUTDOOR's gross margin—rising from 23.2% in fiscal 2022 to 26.6% in fiscal 2024, and further reaching 27.7% in the first eight months of fiscal 2025, a cumulative increase of over 4.5 percentage points. The improvement in financial metrics is not without source; its root lies in the successful execution of the company's product strategy. Analysis of data from the three core product categories (Bed Chair & Accessories, Bags, Tents) reveals a clear path of premiumization. Bed Chair & Accessories, as the cornerstone business consistently contributing around 50% of revenue, saw the average selling price of its high-end product series (priced over $50) continuously increase from 531.7 yuan in 2023 to 672.5 yuan in the first eight months of 2025. Simultaneously, the average price of mid-range products ($20-50) also showed stable growth. This indicates the company has successfully elevated the value anchor of this category through product innovation and upgrades, serving as a core driver for pushing the overall gross margin higher. Bags, acting as a growth engine, saw their revenue share increase from 24.2% in 2022 to 28.6% in the first eight months of 2025, achieving simultaneous growth in both sales volume and average price across high, mid, and entry-level price bands. Furthermore, data across all categories point clearly towards premiumization and higher added value, highly consistent with the company's OBM transformation strategy. In summary, RIDGE OUTDOOR's financial trajectory is deeply intertwined with its strategic narrative. The deterministic upward trend in gross margin and the clear strategic roadmap together form the financial dual pillars supporting its value migration from a "high-barrier manufacturer" to a "high-growth brand operator."

In conclusion, RIDGE OUTDOOR demonstrates a clear growth path: building upon a solid foundation as a global manufacturing leader, it achieves value migration through product structure optimization and branding strategy. The company benefits not only from the structural growth红利 of the industry but also exhibits alpha capabilities surpassing the industry through its own strategic execution. The ongoing gross margin improvement and product premiumization trend mutually corroborate, indicating its transformation has entered a harvest period. Against the backdrop of consumption upgrades and the booming outdoor economy, RIDGE OUTDOOR is poised to potentially enjoy a Davis Double Click on both valuation and earnings.