CITIC Securities: Maintaining the leading position in the medical and aesthetic industry's “better than the market” rating, and the company's potential continues

The Zhitong Finance App learned that CITIC Securities released a research report stating that it maintains the medical and aesthetic industry's “better than the market” rating. Looking ahead to the whole year, some dominant companies raised their annual revenue guidelines, but investment in channel construction and new product promotion also divided revenue growth and profit from the current situation. We are optimistic about leading medical and aesthetic companies with mature brand accumulation, differentiated products and commercialization capabilities, and gain incremental growth through regional and category expansion.

CITIC Securities's main views are as follows:

Leading companies are growing steadily, regional differentiation is intensifying, and going overseas to seek growth by developing new products.

Leading global medical and aesthetic companies maintained steady growth in 2026H1. The overall growth rate in 2026Q2 was weaker than in Q1. Demand in mature markets was relatively stable, and global channel expansion companies had stronger growth momentum. According to the branch, among injection companies, Aierjian's growth rate was corrected; the steady increase in Gaodemei medicine and the increase in skin medicine drove revenue growth; Hugel botulinum toxin export volume supported steady growth; Medytox benefited from a low local base and steady superposition of botulinum exports; Evolus benefited from improved demand for botulism in the US; the increase in PRP cosmetics; and Rejuran's overseas expansion. Among equipment companies, Classys distributors in Brazil also showed increased contributions, and South Korea's high base was under pressure; Sota Medical's transfer to direct sales in China drove high growth and profit optimization; and InMode's US revenue rebounded, but exports and profits were still under pressure.

Leading companies continue to gain momentum, global expansion companies upgrade guidelines, and competitive pressure still exists in mature markets.

According to each company's performance exchange meeting, Gao Demei raised its annual revenue growth guide to +19% to +21% (previously +17% to +20%); Evolus raised its annual revenue guide to US$3.30 to US$337 million (previously US$327 to US$337 million), and raised its gross margin guide to 67.0% to 67.5%; and InMode maintained its annual revenue guidance.

Demand in mature markets stabilized marginally, regional differentiation continued, and overseas sales and channel transfers to direct management helped growth.

1) China: China is still an important increase for overseas medical and aesthetic companies. Hugel's botulinum toxin exports to China is a double-digit year-on-year increase; Sota Medical merged after acquiring the original Chinese dealer to drive a year-on-year revenue contribution of +136% and profit improvement; Gao Demei Sculptra's growth rate declined due to the high base of new products, and is still optimistic about regenerative medicine and skinbooster tracks.

2) US: Demand for medical and aesthetic medicine stabilized marginally, and botulism high-frequency projects took the lead in improving. Hugel Letybo climbed the hill rapidly, Gaudemei's share of Dysport increased, and Evolus Jeuveau's growth rate rebounded; while Al Jianbo properly adjusted, US revenue turned negative in Q2. Device-side InMode's revenue in the US has resumed growth, and Sota Healthcare North America still needs to be adjusted.

3) South Korea: High base superposition intensifies competition and differentiates performance. Classys Korea's revenue was -25.3% year over year, and Sota Healthcare Korea was +8% year over year but continued to slow down; Hugel's local injections stabilized +5.0% year over year, and Medytox's low base and new products led Q2 to resume growth.

4) Europe: New products continue to be launched, Gaodemei's liquid botulism Relfydess continues to expand the market, Hugel, PRP, and Evolus promote the registration of botulinum, hyaluronic acid and PDRN products, and Classys is also speeding up the installation of European equipment.

Demand for botulism continues to be resilient, filling category structure differentiation, and the potential for strong RF/ultrasound brand equipment continues.

1) Botox: High frequency and low customer orders make demand resilience continue to be superior to traditional fillers, and leading companies rely on brands and global registrations to maintain growth. In 2026Q2, Gaodemei's botulism revenue was +14.1%, Hugel +37.2%, Evolus Jeuveau +26.0%, and Medytox +8.5% year-on-year. Al Jianbao Appropriate continued to grow overall, but the US turned negative. At the same time, the exploration of new dosage forms has been accelerated. Gaodemei's liquid botulinum Relfydess has been approved in 33 markets around the world, and Eljian E short-acting botulinum toxin Boey has been approved by the European Union and Canada.

2) Fillers: Demand for traditional hyaluronic acid continues to be under pressure. Earl & Joyden Q2 is still declining, and Gao Demei also reported that the global hyaluronic acid market is weak; Medytox fillers were revised due to low base and export recovery. Emerging materials performed better. Sculptra maintained double-digit growth in the US and international markets, PRP's overseas approval accelerated, Q2 medical device revenue was +14% year over year, and Evolus expanded its filler matrix.

3) Equipment category: Strong RF/ultrasound brand equipment continued to perform better. In 2026Q2, Sota Medical and Classys's revenue were +38% and +26.7%, respectively. Among them, Sota Medical's organic growth rate was about +12%, and China combined to expand the reported growth rate; Classys overseas equipment and consumables grew, and South Korea was under pressure. InMode Q2 revenue remained flat year over year, and although the US turned positive, exports and profits were still under pressure.

Investment Strategy:

Judging from the selected sample of leading global medical and aesthetic listed companies, the business performance of 2026Q2 companies continued to be differentiated, and companies with mature brand accumulation and active promotion of globalization and commercialization of new products grew better. Regionally, China's contribution continues to increase, Europe is growing driven by new product launches and channel expansion, US demand has improved marginally, and South Korea is affected by a high base and increased competition. In terms of products, demand for botulinum toxin is resilient, supported by channel expansion and dosage iteration; filler categories are differentiated, hyaluronic acid is under pressure, and regenerated materials/PDRN maintain high growth; RF/ultrasound head brands in the equipment category rely on overseas installation expansion and consumables sales to continue to grow.

Risk factors: macroeconomic pressure; increased market competition; risk of medical malpractice; category expansion falling short of expectations; regional development falling short of expectations; increased regulation exceeding expectations; risk of changes in geographical conflicts exceeding expectations.