After 26 years of venturing into the business world and strategically positioning in the AI computing power and CPO track, he has built a leading optical communications enterprise worth 53 billion yuan

As the prosperity of the AI industry chain rises, optical devices have become a key area in technological competition. The A-share optical communication industry chain has created a number of star companies, and TaiChenguang is one of them.

Public information shows that TaiChenguang's products cover various optical communication devices and their integrated functional modules (referred to as "optical device products") as well as optical sensing products and solutions. Among them, the company's most important product is the MPO connector. The MPO connector is the interface between the optical module and the optical fiber. Without it, the optical signal sent by the GPU cannot reach the switch.

In the MPO niche market, TaiChenguang ranks second globally and first in China. Riding on the wave of the AI industry, TaiChenguang's valuation in the capital market has been re - evaluated. Its stock price once exceeded 285 yuan, and its total market value exceeded 60 billion yuan. Subsequently, it declined. As of the close on June 26, the latest total market value was 53.1 billion yuan, and the company's stock price has doubled compared with the beginning of 2026.

Zhang Zhimin, the chairman of TaiChenguang, has played an important role in the company's current achievements. Zhang Zhimin has led the company for 26 years. After three years of crucial strategic decisions, the company has achieved a domestic breakthrough in the precision optical connection track monopolized by overseas giants, evolving from an unknown small factory to a leading enterprise in the global optical dense connection industry.

Catalyzed by the dividends of the AI era, TaiChenguang has achieved a re - evaluation of its valuation. Currently, both the company's dynamic price - earnings ratio and rolling price - earnings ratio exceed 200 times. Against the backdrop of the soaring valuation, concerns such as the company's high dependence on major customers and the weakening of operating cash flow have also attracted external attention.

26 Years of Entrepreneurship in the Market, Building a 50 - Billion - Yuan Optical Communication Leader

On December 6, 2016, after arduous entrepreneurship, Zhang Zhimin led TaiChenguang to ring the listing gong on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Different from other entrepreneurs to some extent, Zhang Zhimin's "original intention" was not to pursue fame and fortune, but to prove his ideas while he still had the time and energy.

In the late 1980s, Zhang Zhimin went to Japan, where he studied and worked at the same time. There, he came into contact with the optical communication industry and gradually became familiar with it.

In the 1990s, Zhang Zhimin returned to China and founded Zhonghe Optics, one of the earliest optical passive device enterprises in China, and served as its general manager. While running the company, due to the lack of management knowledge and theory, Zhang Zhimin applied for the Fudan MBA program.

Zhang Zhimin loved reading when he was young, which made him good at thinking. During the MBA program, Zhang Zhimin, who was eager to learn and good at thinking, tried to verify what he had learned in class in practice.

At that time, Zhang Zhimin believed that human resources should also participate in the distribution of the enterprise's residual value. He once wanted to implement his ideas in state - owned enterprises and also told his confusion to his MBA tutor. The tutor's advice was to pursue a doctorate for in - depth research.

Zhang Zhimin's final choice was to leave the comfortable environment within the system and start his own business to verify his thoughts through practice.

In 2000, nearly 50 - year - old Zhang Zhimin registered and established TaiChenguang in Pingshan District, Shenzhen, and began his entrepreneurship in the optical communication industry. At that time, the core ceramic ferrules of domestic fiber optic connectors were completely monopolized by Fujikura of Japan, and the import price was high.

Zhang Zhimin and the founding team were determined to break the foreign monopoly and focus on precision ceramic processing. In 2002, the company introduced special sintering equipment to develop ferrules independently; in 2010, it overcame the problem of self - producing zirconium powder raw materials, getting rid of the restriction of overseas powder supply. It became a leading global ceramic ferrule manufacturer overnight, and its products were mass - produced and entered Corning's supply chain, laying the foundation for overseas customers.

In 2016, Zhang Zhimin led TaiChenguang to list on the Growth Enterprise Market, and the company raised funds to invest in high - density connector and PLC chip production lines. At that time, the industry was in a downward cycle, but Zhang Zhimin chose to acquire upstream enterprises against the trend. The company successively acquired Hechuan Powder and Ruixinyuan, opening up the entire chain of "powder raw materials - ceramic ferrules - MT ferrules - PLC wavelength division chips", achieving self - control of upstream core materials and widening the gap in gross profit margin with the industry.

In 2022, while some enterprises in the industry were still waiting to see the prospects of CPO, Zhang Zhimin had already started leading the company to increase the R & D of high - core - count MPO and MMC next - generation connectors. At the same time, the company built a factory in Vietnam to expand into the overseas market and focus on computing power orders in the North American market.

In 2026, CPO entered the first year of mass production. The early - stage layout and production capacity of TaiChenguang paid off, enabling the company to switch from telecommunications passive devices to core supporting for AI computing power. The capital market exploded. The company's market value exceeded 50 billion yuan, and it grew from a small factory to a leader in the optical communication industry.

Benefiting from the "Light", Highly Dependent on Major Customers, High Accounts Receivable Cannot Be Ignored

TaiChenguang's development direction is to focus on the optical communication industry. In the future, it will focus on cutting - edge businesses such as high - density optical interconnection, CPO (Co - Packaged Optics), and optical fiber sensing, and plans to build a high - density, high - speed, and intelligent "optical communication + optical sensing" product system. As of the end of 2025, optical device products accounted for 97.96% of TaiChenguang's revenue.

In terms of product and technology R & D, TaiChenguang plans to continuously plan and promote the R & D and improvement of new products, new technologies, and new equipment. The key areas include the R & D and improvement of production automation equipment, the R & D of CPO - related products, and the optimization of process technologies for active supporting products.

In terms of production and delivery, TaiChenguang plans to gradually increase production sites and expand production scale, mainly including active supporting products such as ceramic ferrules, MPO and conventional jumpers, MMC and MDC high - density connector module jumpers; optimize the supply chain, with a focus on ensuring the supply of optical fibers and promoting local supply in Vietnam.

In terms of market and business expansion, TaiChenguang plans to explore the markets for higher - core - count MPO connectors, MMC/MDC high - density connectors, high - core - count MT ferrules, active and supporting products, the application of fiber routing flexible boards in CPO, and AWG products.

A research report from Guosheng Securities states that the rapid growth of high - speed optical modules has directly driven a sharp increase in MPO demand. The MPO connector is a standard supporting device for high - speed optical modules, and the two are highly bound in terms of physical connection and technical specifications. As the construction of AI computing power accelerates, the demand for high - speed optical modules continues to rise, directly driving the synchronous explosion of demand for MPO connectors, which are their core connecting components.

As the leader in the MPO industry, TaiChenguang has benefited from the development of the optical field. In 2025, the company's revenue increased by 12.26% year - on - year, and its net profit attributable to the parent company increased by 14.43% year - on - year. In the first quarter of 2026, the company's net profit decreased by 17.12% year - on - year but increased by 70.28% quarter - on - quarter.

Some brokerage research reports point out that the company's high quarter - on - quarter growth is because the MPO connector, as a post - cycle product, has started to enter the release channel with the high - growth demand for 800G/1.6T optical modules.

However, while TaiChenguang is developing its business and benefiting from the optical communication industry, the challenges it faces cannot be ignored.

On the one hand, TaiChenguang has a high degree of dependence on major customers. Annual report data shows that from 2024 to 2025, the sales revenue brought by the company's largest customer accounted for 70.1% and 68.48% respectively.

TaiChenguang's largest customer is Corning Incorporated from the United States. The company's excessive dependence on Corning is evident, as the proportion of export sales revenue in 2025 exceeded 77%. Corning's order situation will affect the company's performance.

It is worth mentioning that in the first quarter of this year, TaiChenguang's revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company decreased by 8.04% and 17.12% respectively year - on - year. Brokerage analysts pointed out in the research report that the main reason for the pressure on revenue in the first quarter was that downstream major customers were actively expanding their production capacity, resulting in a decrease in spill - over demand.

On the other hand, TaiChenguang's accounts receivable have increased significantly. At the end of 2025, the company's accounts receivable were 637 million yuan, a 32.9% increase compared with the end of 2024. In the first quarter of 2026, the company's accounts receivable rose to 789 million yuan, a 23.86% increase compared with the end of 2025. The growth rate of accounts receivable far exceeded the revenue growth rate. Moreover, the operating cash flow has weakened. In 2025, the net cash flow from operating activities of TaiChenguang was 152 million yuan, a 17.23% decrease year - on - year; in the first quarter of 2026, the net cash flow from operating activities of TaiChenguang was - 92.73 million yuan, and the company's operating cash flow turned from positive to negative, highlighting the pressure on capital turnover.

Overall, as some funds chase optical communication concept stocks, TaiChenguang's valuation has increased significantly. In terms of valuation, the secondary market at this stage seems to be "betting" on a story that has not yet been realized, and higher performance growth data will be needed for verification in the future. We will continue to pay attention to TaiChenguang's future business situation.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Delin Society" (ID: delinshe), written by Yang Wanli and edited by Liu Zhentao. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.