Lin Qingxuan (02657) had an outstanding debut performance, and long-term value can be expected under the barriers of hard core technology
At the end of 2025, Hong Kong stocks are still booming to tap into new markets. Meanwhile, Lin Qingxuan (02657), the “first domestic high-end skincare stock,” which has had an enthusiastic response since the IPO, also ended with a sharp rise in market capitalization, taking the critical point of “listing debut.”
On December 30, Lin Qingxuan was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As soon as it opened, the company's stock price rose strongly. At one point, it rose more than 16% during the intraday period. By the time of closing, Lin Qingxuan's stock price was HK$85.
As can be seen, as the company's stock price soared on the first day of listing, Lin Qingxuan also further used his strength to confirm the growth undertone of “the first domestic high-end skincare stock” to the outside world. Based on a deep understanding of the company's core competitiveness and excellent fundamentals, its long-term investment value is also very promising.
Deepen the “cell-level anti-wrinkle” technology label and build the hardest technical barrier
Judging from its core competitiveness, Lin Qingxuan's ability to become the “No. 1 domestic high-end skincare stock” is inseparable from its strong technical barriers built on core technology.
Lin Qingxuan was founded in 2003 and started with affordable skincare products that cost around 100 yuan, such as handmade soaps and body oils. In 2012, the company began targeting the Camellia skincare circuit. In 2014, the company successfully launched the core product “Camellia Essence Oil” and pioneered the “nourish skin with oil” concept, becoming the first domestic brand to enter the “facial essence oil” circuit. By 2016, Lin Qingxuan had cut off all other plant-based product lines, focused on camellia ingredients, and successfully transformed the high-end skincare market.
According to Insight Consulting data, in 2024, Lin Qingxuan ranked first among all high-end domestic skincare brands in China in terms of retail sales. In terms of total retail sales through omnichannel sales, Lin Qingxuan's camellia oil has topped the national list of all facial essential oil products for 11 consecutive years since 2014.
The reason why Lin Qingxuan was able to quickly become the No. 1 high-end domestic skincare brand is because it has built a unique core competitiveness through in-depth research and development of ingredients related to camellia's anti-wrinkle, firming, and skin repair.
According to reports, the company has produced patented ingredients such as Qingxuan extract, camellia superpeptides, camellia superpeptides, camellia supercollagen, camellia superA alcohol, camellia callus extract filtrate, and polypeptide compositions based on the unique properties of alpine red camellia tea. These patented ingredients can provide repair effects including repairing skin barriers, improving elasticity, and reducing fine lines. Take the star camellia anti-wrinkle repair essence oil as an example. This product is formulated with fermented camellia seed oil and uses molecular recombinant biofermentation technology. This advanced formulation can promote deep cellular rejuvenation, provide targeted anti-wrinkle, firming and skin repair effects, and can be described as further promoting the company's “cell-level anti-wrinkle” brand.
In addition to using “cell-level anti-wrinkle” as the core technology label, Lin Qingxuan also co-published the “Cell-level Anti-Wrinkle White Paper” with academic institutions to establish a leading position, and also established a “Cell-level Anti-Wrinkle Joint Research Laboratory” with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to directly connect cutting-edge basic research with industrial applications to provide continuous endorsement for the theory.
In addition to this, the company will also deeply penetrate R&D into every link in the industrial chain. On the one hand, it has a 10,000 mu camellia planting base to lock in and optimize the content and stability of active substances from the source; on the other hand, it independently controls core processes such as low-temperature extraction and biological fermentation, and produces batch, high-quality products in its own GMP clean workshop.
This full-link layout of “scarcity of raw materials+technical uniqueness, determinism of efficacy, and industrial integration” built around camellias also formed a hard barrier for Lin Qingxuan that was difficult to replicate. As of the last practical date, Lin Qingxuan has accumulated more than 600 formulations and 87 patents. Of these, 46 are invention patents with the highest gold content, covering core aspects such as camellia extract, formulation, and anti-wrinkle repair technology.
Both revenue and net profit increased, and long-term value can be expected
Performance is the best litmus test. Strong technical barriers built with “cell-level anti-wrinkle” as the core also clearly prompted Lin Qingxuan to show strong growth momentum.
In terms of revenue, from 2022 to 2024, the company continued to achieve rapid revenue growth of 691 million yuan, 805 million yuan, and 1.2 billion yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.3%. By the first half of 2025, the company achieved revenue of 1,052 billion yuan, an increase of 98.3% over the previous year. The half-year revenue was close to the annual revenue scale.
In terms of profit, the increase was also impressive. From a loss of 5.93 million yuan in 2022 to a profit of 8.45 million yuan in 2023, to a year-on-year increase of 121.1% to 187 million yuan in net profit in 2024, to a net profit of 182 million yuan in the first half of 2025 close to the full year level, Lin Qingxuan's net profit achieved a shift in “quality” and “quantity” in just a few years.
Among these, Lin Qingxuan's star product “Camellia Essence Oil” can be described as having a strong pillar effect. According to the prospectus, the company's camellia essential oil has been iterated to the fifth generation since its launch in 2014. As of June 30, 2025, the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 45 million bottles. In the first half of 2025, this essential oil category contributed 45.5% of revenue, with a growth rate of 176%. Moreover, the gross margin of this category also highlighted a very high level. The gross margin reached 86.2% in the first half of the year, further confirming Lin Qingxuan's strong brand premium ability.
Furthermore, the company's ability to launch new products and market acceptance have also performed well. The Camellia Anti-Wrinkle Peptide Micropearl Essence (“Little Golden Pearl”), which was launched this year, sold out when it first launched, with sales exceeding 20,000 orders on the first day of launch. The total GMV in the first round of live streaming exceeded 7 million, top1 on the Tmall Tmall New Toner Product List, and TOP1 in Douyin Double's 11 cosmetics promotions. Three months after launch, GMV has surpassed 260 million yuan; Camellia Black Gold Time Anti-Wrinkle and Brightening Essence (Black Cream) It generated revenue of 61.5 million yuan in the same year, and recorded another 50 million yuan in revenue in the first half of 2025; high quarantine Sunscreen (400 Little Gold Umbrella) achieved sales of 36.3 million yuan in the first year of its launch, and revenue increased sharply to 42.1 million yuan year-on-year in the first half of 2025.
With the help of high brand premium capabilities+hard core technology barriers, Lin Qingxuan's profitability was also greatly realized — from 2022 to the first half of 2025, the company's gross margins were 78.0%, 81.2%, 82.5%, and 82.4%, respectively. While growing year by year, it also showed high profitability.
All in all, whether judging from excellent profit levels, strong technical barriers, and outstanding performance on the first day of listing, Lin Qingxuan has completely evolved from “a successful high-end brand story” to “a commercial entity with strong self-hematopoietic capabilities and long-term investment value.” This is also where the company's long-term value lies. As the flywheel of the company's growth continues to rotate, the company's future performance and value are expected to usher in a large upward space.