The deadline for Shanghai Main Board earnings forecasts has passed as of July 15, 2026. A total of 756 main board companies have released their preliminary results for the first half of 2026, with 306 delivering positive reports indicating growth or a return to profitability. Several foundational industries, including basic chemicals, non-ferrous metals, and coal, have shown an upward trend, demonstrating endogenous growth momentum. Meanwhile, sectors such as electronics and power equipment have achieved stable performance growth by capitalizing on emerging demand. Additionally, traditional industries are accelerating their transformation and development through methods like mergers and acquisitions. These two main trends are "running in parallel," providing an early preview of the performance landscape for the Shanghai Main Board in the first half of the year.
High Growth in Foundational Industries Driven by Improved Conditions
Among the 306 positive forecasts, 223 companies anticipate growth in earnings, while 83 forecast a turnaround from loss to profit. By sector, the basic chemicals, non-ferrous metals, and electronics industries lead the main board in the number of companies forecasting growth, collectively accounting for over 30% of all pre-profit companies and forming the core of the positive news. Specifically, basic chemicals leads with 35 positive-forecast companies, followed by non-ferrous metals with 33 and electronics with 25. These three sectors together account for 93 positive forecasts, representing 30% of the total. Calculated based on the upper limit of net profit growth, the average net profit increase across these three sectors has exceeded 200%.
A review of the performance change explanations released by various companies reveals a common growth trajectory. In explaining their forecasted changes, foundational industries like basic chemicals, non-ferrous metals, and coal frequently cite an improvement in the prosperity of their core businesses. "Rising prices of core products" contributed to the generally strong performance in the non-ferrous metals sector. For instance, China National Gold Group Gold Jewellery Co., Ltd. and Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co., Ltd. reported maximum year-on-year profit increases of 70.7% and 87.7%, reaching 4.6 billion yuan and 1.75 billion yuan, respectively. In the first half, supply and demand dynamics drove up coal prices year-on-year, leading to forecasted growth for both Shaanxi Coal Industry Company Limited and Shanxi Coal International Energy Group Co., Ltd., with expected maximum net profits reaching 4.049 billion yuan and 1.03 billion yuan, respectively. During the same period, geopolitical conflicts caused a significant rise in global chemical raw material prices, pushing up chemical product prices. Industry leaders such as Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. and Ningxia Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd. forecasted upper limits for profit growth of 70% and 78%, corresponding to upper-limit net profits of 10.4 billion yuan and 10.2 billion yuan, respectively.
The positive forecasts from leaders in these foundational industries reveal a positive aspect of the macroeconomic fundamentals in the first half. In some sectors, the ongoing elimination of outdated capacity, industry self-regulation, and steady recovery in downstream demand have reversed previous difficulties such as product overstock and pressure on gross margins. The profit margin per product for enterprises has continued to widen, further confirming the certainty of growth brought about by the continuous optimization of the supply-demand structure. Against this backdrop, leading companies on the Shanghai Main Board, with their comprehensive industrial chain layouts and economies of scale, have fully benefited from the industry-wide trend of rising volumes and prices, providing solid support for their earnings growth.
Transformation into a New Growth Engine
In this round of earnings forecasts, emerging market demand has been a key driver for many industries to achieve an upward performance trajectory. Whether in power equipment or the electronics sector, stable new demand has provided a solid foundation for performance. Simultaneously, a clear trend is emerging in traditional fields like textiles and apparel, where transformation, upgrading, and a shift towards "new" areas are reshaping profitability.
The 25 companies in the electronics sector reported an average forecasted profit growth of 177%, showcasing outstanding performance. Companies with substantial operational scale, such as Foxconn Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., GigaDevice Semiconductor (Beijing) Inc., and Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., still achieved significant earnings growth. For example, in the supply-constrained copper clad laminate sector, Shengyi Technology Co., Ltd. forecasts a maximum profit increase of 131%, corresponding to an upper-limit net profit of nearly 3.3 billion yuan, with robust demand being the most prominent factor.
The power equipment sector's performance is notably driven by new demand. Deye Technology Co., Ltd. forecasts a 79% increase in first-half earnings, with a maximum net profit of 1.2 billion yuan, primarily benefiting from strong demand in overseas energy storage markets. Many countries continue to strengthen their energy security strategies and introduce energy storage subsidies, leading to significant release of demand for residential and commercial & industrial energy storage in regions like Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The company capitalized on this window of opportunity to achieve substantial sales growth.
Notably, in some traditional sectors, transformation initiatives have become crucial for boosting profits. Over ten Shanghai-listed companies mentioned acquisition or asset divestment factors in their reasons for earnings growth, with a distinct emphasis on moving towards "new" areas. On one hand, companies are accelerating the construction of a "second growth curve" through mergers and acquisitions, shifting towards equipment manufacturing, green energy, new materials, and other fields, which has become a source of performance momentum. For instance, Puyuan Materials Co., Ltd. (formerly Broadcast Fashion Co., Ltd.), which operates a women's apparel brand, forecasts a maximum first-half earnings increase of nearly 70%. This is mainly due to the acquisition of a 71% stake in Sichuan Yindile at the end of last year, which expanded the company's main business from its original apparel operations to lithium battery binder production and prompted its name change. The company stated that since Yindile was consolidated from January 1, 2026, and performed well in the first half, it enhanced the overall profitability of the listed company.
Another approach involves simultaneous "shedding the old and embracing the new," completely breaking free from historical burdens. For example, Jiangxi Tungsten Equipment Co., Ltd. (formerly Anyuan Coal Industry Co., Ltd.) executed a major asset swap in 2025, divesting loss-making coal-related assets and liabilities and acquiring a 57% stake in Jin Huan Magnetic Separation. The related asset disposals and acquisitions were completed in August 2025. Since the divested coal assets no longer impacted the consolidated performance after last August, and the performance of the acquired assets remained stable, the company forecasts a return to profitability for the first half of 2026, compared to a loss of nearly 290 million yuan in the same period last year.
Viewed through the lens of the Shanghai Main Board's first-half earnings forecasts, the performance growth of listed companies forms a multifaceted and positive pattern supported by industrial logic, underpinned by emerging demand, and empowered by transformation towards new areas. This lays a solid foundation for the sustained and stable operation of enterprises and the release of their performance potential in the second half of the year.