CITIC Securities: Liquid Cooling Sector Shifts From Hype to Orders and Earnings Delivery

CITIC Securities said in a research note that the liquid-cooling industry is moving from theme-driven expectations to a phase where orders and earnings are being realized, and it recommends focusing on supply-chain companies with flexible capacity, customer certifications, and core component capabilities, according to 36Kr. The note said near-term earnings leverage is higher in the contract manufacturing chain as mass production of Nvidia’s GB200/GB300 has tightened capacity at Taiwanese and international leaders, creating spillover orders that mainland Chinese companies can take on via precision machining and assembly. It added that supply chains serving self-owned brands have the strongest long-term growth potential, leveraging certification assets and customer interfaces to position for CSPs, ODMs and China’s domestic GPU ecosystem, though they are currently in prototype and small-batch validation. CITIC Securities also flagged adjacent new categories such as power distribution systems and liquid cooling for optical modules as differentiated opportunities, noting their lower value per unit but broader customer bases and easier entry.