Stock Price Falls to Three-Year Low as Kaili Medical Launches Buyback Plan; Achievement of Equity Incentive Targets Questionable Amid High Expenses

Everyday Economic News Reporter | Yan Fengfeng Everyday Economic News Editor | Wu Yongjiu

Against the backdrop of the stock price falling to nearly a three-year low and continuous significant declines in performance, Chuangye Medical Device Company KaiLi Medical announced a buyback plan of up to 200 million yuan, with all repurchased shares to be canceled.

However, in the first three quarters of 2025, the company’s net profit was only 33.51 million yuan, yet the equity incentive plan launched in mid-October 2025 requires the full-year net profit after deducting share-based payments to be no less than 177 million yuan. This means the company must achieve over 140 million yuan in net profit in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, with a year-over-year increase of more than 300%. Under the pressure of high sales and R&D expenses, can the company’s future performance reverse the previous downturn? Will it be able to meet the profit target set by the 2025 equity incentive plan?

Chuangye Medical, listed on the Growth Enterprise Market, announced on March 17, 2026, a buyback plan of 100 million to 200 million yuan, intending to repurchase A-shares through centralized bidding using self-raised or self-owned funds, at a price not exceeding 40.32 yuan per share. The expected buyback ratio is 0.57% to 1.15%, with all repurchased shares to be canceled and reduce registered capital. The implementation period is within 12 months from the date of shareholder approval. After the buyback announcement, on March 18, the company’s stock price opened sharply higher but then fluctuated and fell back, ultimately rising 1.79% to close at 26.2 yuan.

The company’s buyback plan was announced when its stock price was weak: over the past six months, the stock has generally declined from a high of 37.73 yuan in September 2025 to a low of 25.14 yuan on March 5, 2026. This price is very close to the company’s low of 24.94 yuan (pre-rights adjustment) in September 2024, which is also the lowest point in nearly three years.

Notably, before the buyback was announced, some senior executives had already increased their holdings. In November 2025, Huang Yibo, the company’s director and deputy general manager, and Li Hao, the secretary of the board and deputy general manager, both used their own funds to buy additional shares through centralized bidding.

Huang Yibo bought 160,000 shares on November 4, 2025, at an average price of about 28.70 yuan per share, totaling approximately 4.59 million yuan. Li Hao bought 300,000 shares on November 5, 2025, at an average price of about 28.53 yuan per share, totaling about 8.56 million yuan. The total amount of their increased holdings was approximately 13.15 million yuan. After the purchases, Huang Yibo’s shareholding ratio was 4.65%, and Li Hao’s was 1.84%. Both executives received pre-tax compensation of 800,000 yuan from the company in 2024.

The company’s weak stock performance and poor performance are key factors. Over the past two years, net profits have continued to decline sharply.

In 2024, the company achieved operating revenue of 2.014 billion yuan, down 5.02% year-over-year; net profit attributable to the parent was 142 million yuan, a significant decrease of 68.67%. The reasons disclosed in the 2024 annual report for the sharp decline include reduced procurement activities for medical devices at domestic healthcare institutions, intensified competition in the domestic medical device industry, and pressure on product gross margins; the company also maintained high strategic investment, increasing support for new product lines, with sales and R&D expenses both rising year-over-year.

However, entering 2025, the company’s performance continued to decline significantly. In the first three quarters of 2025, revenue was 1.459 billion yuan, up 4.37% year-over-year; but net profit attributable to the parent was only 33.51 million yuan, down 69.25%. The company explained in its mid-year report that this was mainly due to large fixed expenses related to new product line investments, R&D, and marketing.

The “Daily Economic News” reporter noted that in 2024, the company’s combined sales and R&D expenses were 1.046 billion yuan, a 19.95% increase from 872 million yuan in 2023; in the first three quarters of 2025, these expenses totaled 846 million yuan, up 10.87% year-over-year.

Although the company’s performance has been under pressure, it stated in its mid-year report that with the continued improvement in domestic medical device market demand, its performance is expected to gradually emerge from the trough. During investor exchanges in January this year, the company also indicated that as domestic terminal bidding recovers, revenue in 2025 is expected to improve quarter by quarter.

It is worth noting that the company has not issued a performance forecast for 2025. According to regulations, if a listed company’s net profit increases or decreases by more than 50% compared to the same period last year, it must disclose a performance forecast within one month after the end of the fiscal year, i.e., by January 31 of the following year.

This means that the company’s net profit in 2025 is expected to fluctuate within a range of -50% to +50% compared to 2024. The net profit in the first three quarters of 2025 was 33.51 million yuan, a 69.25% decline from the same period in 2024. If we estimate based on the lower limit of a 50% decline, the company would need to achieve at least 71.19 million yuan in net profit in 2025, meaning in the fourth quarter it must reach at least 37.68 million yuan, which is at least 12.8% higher than the 33.41 million yuan in the same period of 2024.

According to the company’s equity incentive plan, the company needs to achieve a significantly higher profit in the fourth quarter of 2025. In mid-September 2025, KaiLi Medical announced a draft of the equity incentive plan, proposing to grant restricted stocks and stock options to 405 incentive objects. The final grant was completed in mid-October 2025.

The plan set a company-level performance target: based on a net profit of 136.49 million yuan after deducting share-based payments in 2024, the growth rate of net profit after deducting share-based payments in 2025 must be no less than 30%, i.e., at least about 177.43 million yuan. The company estimated the amortization expense of the equity incentive in 2025 to be 6.57 million yuan, relatively small.

However, the third-quarter report released at the end of October 2025 fell short of market expectations, with net profit attributable to the parent in the first three quarters only 33.51 million yuan. Two days after the report, the company’s stock price fell over 16%. This also means that to meet the profit target set by the 2025 equity incentive plan, the company must achieve over 140 million yuan in net profit in the fourth quarter, with a single-quarter profit more than tripling that of the same period in 2024.

Will the company’s previous high R&D and sales expenses be reflected in future performance? Will the company control related expenses to boost profits? What is the likelihood of the company meeting the 2025 performance targets for the equity incentive plan? The “Daily Economic News” reporter called the contact number disclosed in the company’s financial reports but was unable to reach anyone after multiple attempts. An interview email was also sent to the company, but as of press time, no reply has been received.

Public information shows that KaiLi Medical’s main business is the independent R&D, production, and sales of medical diagnostic and treatment equipment. Its products include medical ultrasound diagnostic devices, digestive and respiratory endoscopes, minimally invasive surgical products, and cardiovascular interventional devices.

Cover image source: Every Daily Media Asset Library