VNET Group: In-line 2Q, stronger 2027/28 outlook on continued order wins

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

Asia Pacific Equity Research

18 August 2026

VNET Group

Overweight

VNET, VNET US

Price (17 Aug 26):$7.92

In-line 2Q, stronger 2027/28 outlook on continued order

wins

Price Target (Jun-27):$15.00

VNET reported in-line 2Q26 core earnings and hosted an earnings call on 18 Aug.

Key takeaways were: (1) 2Q26 adj-EBITDA came in largely in line with Street

estimates as stringent opex control offset higher utility costs; (2) management

reiterated 2026 revenue/adj-EBITDA guidance of Rmb11.5–11.8bn / Rmb3.55–

3.75bn, with a faster customer move-in rate in 2H26 implying 13%/2% HoH

growth in revenue/adj-EBITDA at the midpoint; (3) announced new orders of

345MW/2MW from a cloud service wholesale customer and multiple retail

customers, respectively; (4) ~862MW order backlogs with 33%/40% targeted

delivery in 2026/27, and 355MW of reserved capacity from wholesale customers

likely to convert to firm orders over time; (5) a target to deliver 585MW of new

capacity over the next 12 months (2H26–1H27), with ~94% pre-commitment rate;

and (6) secured ~1.4GW of land bank (~65%/35% domestic/overseas mix) for

future customer demand, signaling strong longer-term demand visibility.

Technology - Hardware

Albert Hung AC

(886-2) 2725-9875

J.P. Morgan Securities (Taiwan) Limited/ J.P.

Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P.

Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited

Gokul Hariharan AC

(852) 2800-8564

J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P.

Morgan Broking (Hong Kong) Limited

Anthony Leng

(886-2) 2725-9240

J.P. Morgan Securities (Taiwan) Limited

J.P. Morgan's views

While the reiterated full-year guidance implies only mild sequential growth in

3Q/4Q26, we see potential upside from a faster customer move-in rate in 2H26,

driven by the ramp-up of domestic chip supply. We also expect robust earnings

momentum over the next two years, supported by multi-year large wholesale

order wins in recent quarters and fast-growing AI inference demand. We

remain OW on VNET on secular earnings growth, a strong wholesale order

pipeline, and an undemanding valuation. Stay OW. Key downside risk is

slower-than-expected domestic AI ASIC chip adoption.

Table 1: VNET Group 2Q26 earnings review

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