In April, the consensus on recommended stocks by brokerage firms is now 315 stocks on the recommendation list.

Reporter Zhou Shangfei

Brokerage monthly “top stock” portfolios have long been one of the barometers for how institutional capital is positioning. With the April investment window opening, as of the publication of a Securities Daily report by this reporter on April 6, 42 brokerages have already released their monthly investment strategies, with a total of 315 individual stocks entering the April “top stock” recommendation list. Judging from industry distribution and stock concentration, globally competitive leading companies and sub-sectors aligned with long-term industry trends have become the configuration directions consistently endorsed by brokerages.

Focus on core, high-quality assets

Among the many recommended targets, in April, three stocks—CATL, JIC, and BYD—ranked highest in recommendation heat, receiving joint recommendations from 9, 8, and 7 brokerages respectively, highlighting the trend of institutional capital concentrating on leading, high-quality assets.

Specifically, CATL has already been strongly recommended by nine brokerages: Haitong Securities, Central China Securities, Soochow Securities, Guotou Securities, Bank of Beijing Securities, Guotai Junan Securities, Kaiyuan Securities, Huachuang Securities, and CICC. The reason given by Kaiyuan Securities is that CATL is the global leader in lithium batteries, combining extremely strong earnings resilience. Under the disruption of geopolitical factors, oil and gas prices have risen, and its strategic position in new energy has been elevated.

For JIC, China Galaxy Securities believes that, as global artificial intelligence buildout accelerates, the company—being a global leading enterprise—stands to benefit from growth in high-speed optical module demand represented by 800G, along with the rising penetration rate of silicon photonics optical modules. In addition, mass production and large-scale shipments of 1.6T optical modules, mainly based on silicon photonics solutions, provide a foundation for both volume and price to rise for its products.

For BYD, Central China Securities argues that the company’s flash-charging technology is landing, which will open up a new product cycle and drive growth in domestic sales. Meanwhile, benefiting from rising oil prices, its export business is expected to continue delivering strong growth.

From an industry perspective, according to statistics by Guoxin Securities, in April, brokerage “top stock” focuses will concentrate on sectors including basic chemicals, electronics, non-ferrous metals, machinery, and communications. Brokerages have added more weight to sectors such as communications, banking, and transportation.

Regarding the overall assessment of the A-share market in April, brokerage analysts generally believe that the market is in a “mid-term relatively low point.” After risk has been released sufficiently, the probability of a rebound upward with consolidation is relatively high.

“Right now may be the A-share mid-term relatively low point.” Li Jin, an analyst at CICC, said that although there is still uncertainty in the near-term price action, after the market has gone through adjustments, risks in the A-share market have been further released, and valuations are at a relatively reasonable level. From a mid-term perspective, the macro environment the market is in has not undergone fundamental changes. The logic supporting “steady advancement” for the A-share market still holds, and risk release and downward adjustment are expected to bring good opportunities for allocation.

Yang Chao, chief strategy analyst at China Galaxy Securities, further analyzed that the three major logics—policy support, funds entering the market, and a revaluation of Chinese assets—have not changed. The downside room for A-share declines is relatively limited. Meanwhile, external geopolitical conflicts have not shaken the underlying basis of China’s long-term “slow bull market.” It is recommended to adopt a strategy driven by performance, while seizing the timing to build positions.

“Chinese assets internally have stability; in the medium term, a range-bound upward trend is expected. The suggestion is to seize opportunities for positioning.” Zhang Yusheng, chief strategy analyst at Everbright Securities, said that China’s domestic market has a relatively high energy self-sufficiency rate, which provides a certain degree of resistance to sustained increases in external energy prices. In addition, judging from volatility in overseas markets over the past few rounds, domestic exports typically benefit as external uncertainties rise. In the medium term, Chinese assets internally have stability and are expected to attract continued capital inflows.

In terms of specific allocation directions, Yu Xiang, chief A-share strategy analyst at CITIC Securities, proposed three major allocation clues: first, stocks that saw relatively large pullbacks earlier, whose share prices have stabilized over the past week but whose fundamentals are relatively strong and with performance that is being realized—such as chromium, copper, and rare earths; second, stocks whose demand narrative is relatively insulated from the macro environment and that have independent industry trend drivers—such as wind power, silicon carbide, residential energy storage, and innovative drugs; third, stocks that face relatively rigid demand but have clearly constrained supply. Under an oil-price shock, profits are likely to flow to the tightest supply-and-demand link in each industry chain—for example, glyphosate and refrigerants.

March “top stocks” showed structural characteristics

Looking back at the performance of brokerages’ “top stocks” in March, data from Wind Information shows that, against the backdrop of increased market volatility, out of 342 “top stocks” that month, 62 recorded share price gains, accounting for about 18.13%, with clear structural characteristics.

In terms of individual stock performance, in March there were 4 “top stocks” whose gains exceeded 20%. Among them, Foshuo Technology, recommended by China Merchants Securities, topped the list with a rise of 35.16%. Yuanjie Technology, jointly recommended by Pacific Securities, Central China Securities, and Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, ranked second with a gain of 30.59%. After that came Yaxiang Integration recommended by Guoxin Securities and Baofeng Energy recommended by Soochow Securities, with gains of 24.74% and 21.44%, respectively.

In addition, the share gains for Wei Xing Chemical recommended by East China Securities, BYD jointly recommended by AVIC Securities, Yangtze Securities, and Haitong International, CATL jointly recommended by Huachuang Securities, Guolian Minsheng, and CICC, Noke Health recommended by Ping An Securities, and Huagong Technology recommended by Central China Securities all exceeded 15% that month. They covered multiple fields—from upstream materials to high-end manufacturing, information technology, and bio-pharmaceuticals—showing that in a choppy market, selecting the right industry track precisely is the key to generating excess returns.