The AI Pivot Of The 'Bottle Cap King' | Jinfu Technology's Cross-Industry Anxiety And Growth Dilemma

In the narrative of the capital market, leading companies that sell more than 20 billion bottle caps a year seem to be unable to boost stock prices by saying "layout of artificial intelligence". On the evening of November 23, Jinfu Technology (003018. SZ) announced that it intends to acquire no less than 51% of the equity of Guangdong Lanyuan Technology in cash, officially taking a step into the field of AI high-speed communication cables.
This sudden transformation has aroused great concern in the market and exposed the general anxiety of traditional manufacturing during the period of stagnant growth.
Performance decline: from the king of bottle caps to profit pressure
Jinfu Technology's cross-border attempt is not accidental, but an active change under performance pressure. According to the financial report, in the first three quarters of 2025, the company achieved operating income of 662 million yuan, down 9.12% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 93 million yuan, down 19.45% year-on-year, the first "double decline" since listing. revenue in the first half of the year was 405 million yuan, down 12.79% year-on-year; net profit was 50 million yuan, down 21.58% year-on-year. The company explained that the successive commissioning of new production bases has led to an increase in equipment relocation and commissioning costs, and an increase in depreciation and amortization, resulting in short-term profit pressure.
Jinfu Technology is a leading enterprise in the domestic plastic anti-theft bottle cap industry, and its main customers include China Resources Yibao, Coca-Cola, Jingtian, Danone, Haitian Flavor Industry, etc. The company's annual sales volume exceeds 20 billion bottle caps, and it has long monopolized an important link in the beverage and condiment packaging market. However, this segment has gradually entered a mature stage. Industry data shows that the annual growth rate of China's bottled water market has fallen below 4%, and the intensification of industry competition and the increase in customer concentration have continuously compressed the profit margins of bottle cap manufacturing.
It is worth noting that the top five customers of Jinfu Technology contribute more than 60% of revenue. Under the dual pressure of upstream raw material price fluctuations and downstream brand concentration, the company's bargaining power is limited, and the risk of profits being squeezed by major customers is significant. The revenue of the top two Zijiang enterprises in the industry and Yongxin shares reached 7.822 billion yuan and 2.706 billion yuan respectively, while Jinfu Technology was only 662 million yuan, and the volume gap was highlighted.
Diversified layout: The transformation of metal bottle caps has not become a climate
In the face of growth bottlenecks, Jinfu Technology has begun to promote the transformation of product structure in recent years. In 2024, the company will shift part of the investment raised from the "Plastic Cap Production Base Expansion Project" to the "Metal Cap Project (Phase I)", and acquire 100% of the equity of Xiangzhao Technology for 157 million yuan, enter the field of pull ring caps, and obtain new customer orders such as Yanjing Beer. However, these attempts are still limited in the scope of the main packaging business, with technical barriers and limited profit margins.
What is more noteworthy is that the proportion of investment funds raised by the company has decreased significantly. The plastic cap expansion project, which was originally planned to invest 293 million yuan, was only retained at 70.59 million yuan, and the investment in the R&D center was reduced from 45.16 million yuan to 3.46 million yuan. Behind the contraction of funds is management's cautious judgment of the growth potential of traditional businesses.
Cross-border acquisition: from bottle cap to cable "hard turn"
The proposed acquisition of Lanyuan Technology was established in 2022 with a registered capital of 32.48 million yuan, mainly engaged in the research and development of high-speed communication cables and new materials. Although it has only been established for three years, with 224G high-speed copper cable technology, it has entered the supply chain of global technology giants such as Nvidia, Huawei, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and H3C, and its products are mainly used in AI servers and data centers.
According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the market size of China's high-speed communication cables is expected to reach 1.9 billion yuan in 2025, with a growth rate of 30.4%, much higher than the average of 7.1% in the traditional cable industry. The subdivision track in which Blue Origin Technology is located is regarded as a key link in AI computing power infrastructure, and the market prospects are broad.
But for Jinfu Technology, the span from bottle caps to high-speed cables is extremely large. The former belongs to the supply chain of plastic packaging and consumer goods, while the latter involves complex technical systems such as signal transmission, conductor materials, electromagnetic compatibility and high-speed testing. There is almost no overlap between the two in terms of customer structure, R&D capabilities and supply chain management. How to achieve collaborative integration will be the key to whether Jinfu Technology can truly implement this cross-border strategy.
Financial test: The financial pressure of cash acquisition
As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Jinfu Technology's monetary funds were only 201 million yuan, down 11.18% from the beginning of the year; the balance of cash equivalents was 184 million yuan. Although operating cash flow increased by 96.52% year-on-year to 151 million yuan, it was not enough to support large-scale cash mergers and acquisitions. The company's asset-liability ratio is 18.38%, the current ratio is 3.82, and the quick ratio is 2.85, although the short-term solvency is acceptable, but if the purchase price is too high, it will put pressure on cash flow.
According to the announcement, Jinfu Technology and Lanyuan Technology signed a letter of intent to acquire on November 21, and the transaction is still in the planning stage. The agreement sets strict preconditions - after due diligence and audit evaluation, it must be adjusted to the satisfaction of Jinfu Technology before a formal agreement can be signed. The exclusivity period ends on December 20, leaving less than a month for both parties to complete the audit, evaluation and negotiation, and the process is tense and uncertain.
Policy and reality: the price of "turning around" in manufacturing
From a policy orientation point of view, Jinfu Technology's cross-border choice is not an isolated case. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "14th Five-Year Plan for High-quality Development of Manufacturing Industry" proposes to promote the traditional manufacturing industry to achieve high-quality growth through mergers and acquisitions, digital transformation and new material extension. Industries such as packaging, papermaking, and plastics are listed as "key areas for transformation", encouraging leading enterprises to enter the track of intelligent manufacturing and new materials.
But from the perspective of industrial logic, this transformation is destined to be difficult. According to the "China Wire and Cable White Paper (2024)", there are nearly 30,000 domestic wire and cable companies, with an industry concentration of less than 20%, fierce competition, and serious homogenization. Although Blue Origin Technology has technical potential, it is still in the early stage of expansion, and its profitability, cash flow and order stability still need to be verified. If Jinfu Technology rushes to take control, it may face multiple challenges such as technology running-in, cultural integration and rising management costs in the short term.
Conclusion: The distance between the bottle cap king's anxiety and the AI dream
The cross-border acquisition of Jinfu Technology is a typical strategic leap from consumption to computing power of traditional manufacturing enterprises. It symbolizes the active change of the manufacturing industry after the dividends fade away, and also reflects the collective pursuit of the "AI concept" by the capital market.
However, from plastic bottle caps to high-speed cables, it is not only a leap in the industrial path, but also a reconstruction of the enterprise capability system. Technology accumulation, customer certification, capital matching, team experience - each link will determine the success or failure of this transformation.
Up to now, the transaction is still in the planning stage, less than a month before the official signing. For this packaging company with annual revenue of 660 million yuan and a profit of less than 100 million yuan, cross-border AI is not only an opportunity, but also a high-risk gamble. Whether the "bottle cap king" can find a new growth curve in the era of computing power is still left to time to answer.