A research report released by Huatai Securities reveals that the profit growth rate of industrial enterprises experienced a slight dip in May, declining to 21.1% from April's 24.7%. Nevertheless, this rate still surpassed the 15.5% recorded in the first quarter. Moreover, revenue growth exhibited a continued upward trajectory, signaling an overall enhancement in corporate profitability. Industries closely tied to the energy and AI sectors have emerged as the primary catalysts for profit growth.

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has persisted for over three months, has exacerbated the repercussions of supply shocks. This has resulted in a further downturn in capacity utilization rates for certain midstream and downstream enterprises, thereby intensifying the divergence in industry profits. Despite a marginal decrease in oil prices during May, the profit growth rate within the upstream petrochemical chain remained robust.

Driven by robust global investment demand in AI, the electronic computer industry continued to spearhead profit and revenue growth. Its contribution to the overall profits of industrial enterprises escalated from 6.7 percentage points to 9.6 percentage points. The non-ferrous metal smelting and chemical products industries made significant contributions as well, with 6.4 and 4.2 percentage points, respectively. Collectively, these three sectors accounted for approximately 20.2 percentage points of the total profit growth.

In stark contrast, profit growth in downstream manufacturing industries linked to domestic demand remained sluggish. This was particularly evident in the automotive and furniture manufacturing sectors, where profit declines deepened further.