“Importantly, the company appeared to be confident of securing about US$4.5 billion in new orders for 2026, supported by continued demand for containerships and opportunistic drybulk orders amid trough valuations,” says Loh in his report dated Nov 19.
Citing the management, Loh says 2026 shipbuilding margins to remain comparable to 2025, supported by a stable USD/RMB exchange rate, Chinese steel prices in the RMB4,000–5,000/tonne range, and earlier-secured low-cost equipment.
“With its new Hongyuan yard starting by the end of 2026, margins may soften as the company integrates this new asset into its operations; however, management appeared confident that it will be able to generate robust margins after the integration,” adds Loh.
With the latest developments, Loh has upgraded his FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Yangzijiang Shipbuilding by 7% as he raised the shipbuilding margin assumptions by two percentage points and one percentage point to 31% and 30% for FY2026 and FY2027 respectively.
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His new PE-based target price of $4.10 remains based on the same valuation multiple of 9.3 times, which is 1.5 standard deviation above the company’s 10-year average of 6.3 times.
“In our view, the company’s FY2026 P/E ratio and EV/EBITDA multiples appear inexpensive at 7.5 times and 3.8 times respectively, especially given that it delivers a robust FY2026 ROE of nearly 26% and well above that of its Korean peers,” Loh concludes.
Meanwhile, Lim Siew Khee and Meghana Kande of CGS International have reiterated their “add” call on Yangzijiang Shipbuilding with a higher target price of $4.51, from the previous target price of $3.90.
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In their report dated Nov 18, they pointed out that the company’s management cited stiffer competition from second-tier Chinese yards that had recently expanded capacity for new orders.
“We noted from Clarksons that about 40% of the newbuild orders secured by Chinese yards in 2H2025 are for 2026 and 2027 delivery. Relatively, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s yards are filled for 2028 with limited slots for small-size vessels. Its delivery slots for 2029 are also largely filled with 25% capacity left,” says the team at CGS International.
Given the year-to-date order momentum, CGS International lowers their order expectations for FY2025 and FY2026 to US$3 billion and US$3.5 billion (previously US$3.7bn) respectively. “The company is still in negotiations for small-size vessel contracts for FY2028 delivery to be signed over the next few months. Management also pointed out that the order outlook for FY2026 is uncertain, mainly due to availability of yards,” the team adds.
They figure that the company deserves a higher target price due to the combination of its strong order book, track record and margin expansion. “Valuations are undemanding at a P/E ratio of 8 times for FY2026 versus peers’ of 17 times and MSCI Singapore’s 16 times for FY2026. Our target price of $4.51, is based on 10 times FY2027 P/E ratio, which is a 30% discount to their Chinese and Korean peers for market cap size.
In her report dated Nov 18, Ho Pei Hwa of DBS Group Research pointed out that the company scored a solid 3QFY2025 operational performance, underscored resilient shipbuilding demand, with year-to-date order wins climbing to US$2.17 billion, a sharp rebound versus 1HFY2025’s US$0.54 billion, signalling improved customer sentiment amid clearer global macro conditions.
Meanwhile, deliveries reached 46 vessels year-to-date, representing 82% of full-year targets. In Ho’s view, the US$22.8 billion outstanding orderbook, dipping slightly from US$23.2 billion a quarter ago, but still historically elevated, provides multi-year visibility through FY2030 for the company.
“Orderbook mix continued skewing toward green vessels (71% of value), driven by containership and gas carrier demand, while YAMIC’s repositioning into higher-end LPG/VLAC units should continue to lift profitability,” says Ho.
With that, Ho is reiterating her “buy” call for Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and target price of $3.80, which carries an attractive dividend yield between 4% to 5%. “We expect margins to benefit from the rising share of dual-fuel and gas-carrier units, alongside YAMIC’s shift toward higher-value tonnage,” she adds.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding shares, as at 10:25 am, were up 5.21% to change hands at $3.43
