# JA Solar Technology (002459.SHE)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/002459.SHE

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z. Financial observations: FY2008–FY2025.

Listing currency: CNY. Reporting currency: CNY.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: CNY 6.41 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 2 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 2

- Years with a net loss: 2

- Operating margin variation: 2.64×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -0.02×

- FY2017: -0.02×

- FY2018: 0.05×

- FY2019: 0.08×

- FY2020: 0.07×

- FY2021: 0.06×

- FY2022: 0.09×

- FY2023: 0.10×

- FY2024: -0.07×

- FY2025: -0.09×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 18.4pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 12.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -9.7%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 18.4 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 16.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): -2.1%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 10.4%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 13.0%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -0.5%

- FY2017: -0.8%

- FY2018: 10.3%

- FY2019: 13.9%

- FY2020: 15.4%

- FY2021: 18.9%

- FY2022: 28.9%

- FY2023: 25.4%

- FY2024: -11.8%

- FY2025: -9.7%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: -2.11×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: CNY -11B

- Net income, five-year total: CNY 5.3B

- Return on incremental invested capital: -10.9%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -10.5 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -73.4 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: -1.7%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 0.93×

- FY2022: 0.97×

- FY2023: -0.48×

- FY2024: 2.37×

- FY2025: 0.90×

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2016 to 2025 (9 years)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: -0.5% vs -9.7%

- Per-share earnings: 0.01 to -1.41 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 11.0%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 1.5%

- Market cap gain: CNY 17B

- Cumulative retained earnings: CNY 6.8B

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 11.0%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 1.5%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2016

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2025

- Per-share value change: CNY -1.42

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: CNY 0.01

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: CNY -1.41

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.50

- Average buyback yield: 0.5%

- Buyback history: 3 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: CNY 2.2B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: CNY 8.9B

- ROIC, first three-year median: -0.5%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -9.7%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: CNY 0.02

- FY2017: CNY 0.01

- FY2018: CNY 0.28

- FY2019: CNY 0.59

- FY2020: CNY 0.50

- FY2021: CNY 0.64

- FY2022: CNY 1.70

- FY2023: CNY 2.10

- FY2024: CNY -1.42

- FY2025: CNY -1.41

### accounting: pass

- Sloan accruals: -8.5%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.19×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 0

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.09×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: 1.9%

- FY2017: 3.7%

- FY2018: -6.9%

- FY2019: -8.5%

- FY2020: -2.0%

- FY2021: -3.0%

- FY2022: -3.7%

- FY2023: -5.0%

- FY2024: -7.1%

- FY2025: -8.5%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 93% since Feb 2022 · sales -29.9%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:10.401Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales -29.9%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: CNY 323M 

- FY2017: CNY 354M 

- FY2018: CNY 20B 

- FY2019: CNY 21B 

- FY2020: CNY 26B 

- FY2021: CNY 41B 

- FY2022: CNY 73B 

- FY2023: CNY 82B 

- FY2024: CNY 70B 

- FY2025: CNY 49B 

### Gross margin · FY2024

gross margin 4.3%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: 22.4% 

- FY2018: 17.7% 

- FY2019: 21.6% 

- FY2020: 16.2% 

- FY2021: 14.6% 

- FY2022: 14.4% 

- FY2023: 16.4% 

- FY2024: 4.3% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in solar; annual sales are CNY 49.1 billion.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2025: revenue 49128712950.94; grossProfit -1032401164.45; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 002459.SHE: JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. engages in the production and sales of monocrystalline silicon rods and wafers in Europe, Africa, China, the United States, Asia, Oceania, and internationally. The company offers PV modules; energy storage products; and PV materials, including single crystal furnace, graphites, stencil, PV paste, EVA film, aluminium frame, junction box, and carbon/carbon composite materials. It also provides large-scale power plant solutions, including conventional centralized PV power plants, agri voltaics, floating solar PV power plants, and other forms; multi-energy power plants with wind and solar storage, source-grid-load-storage integrated power plants, and other energy solutions. In addition, the company offers distributed commercial solutions; household PV system solutions; carbon-free power plants; and BESS solutions. It serves photovoltaic power plant investors, engineering contractors, and distributors of distributed photovoltaic systems. JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd. was founded in 2000 and is based in Beijing, China.

### Why customers stay

It earns 12.1% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 16.4%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 4.3%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = -2.1%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,-0.005298575285120661],[2017,-0.007657345643113381],[2018,0.10318651819892342],[2019,0.13901877465374624],[2020,0.1536252229563445],[2021,0.18851516660250042],[2022,0.2887780108428506],[2023,0.2537348676201107],[2024,-0.11759073982352942],[2025,-0.09718937407488046]]; median 0.12110264642633484. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Can it raise prices

Kept about a 14% gross margin through 2022 cost inflation.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); Gross margin observations: [[2021,0.14634317202572084],[2022,0.14417554532909213],[2023,0.16402951305576768]]; range within 2 percentage points.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years; bought back CNY 123.1 million of shares.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2016: growth capex 0; upkeep 9506000; owner earnings 952479171. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 18846642; owner earnings 1144436856. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2018: growth capex 102355328; upkeep 1168170099; owner earnings 719138793. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.1423304221609416.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2019: growth capex 469405200; upkeep 1422250800; owner earnings 1251958042. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.37493684632603685.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2020: growth capex 1491451530; upkeep 1706589470; owner earnings 1506583634. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.9899560146157808.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2021: growth capex 3528856785; upkeep 1892394215; owner earnings 1887821191.672. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.869274908326764.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2022: growth capex 5472435435; upkeep 2280420565; owner earnings 5388297652.764. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.0156149098765619.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); Dividend observations: [[2016,435854466],[2017,10654],[2018,583524000],[2019,2012307000],[2020,497742000],[2021,652857000],[2022,251567000],[2023,565629000],[2024,1849564000],[2025,686267399.36]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); FY2025: cash repurchases 123115490.72916667 CNY.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 50.4% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); 002459.SHE SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 50.39 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 0.4 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:39:03.361Z); Closing price 6.41 CNY; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 15.032025814527687; price multiple 0.4264228972920644. FY2025 cash earnings/share -1.2744119800622435. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (CNY per share)

- 2016-10: CNY 16.56 per share

- 2016-11: CNY 17.26 per share

- 2016-12: CNY 17.69 per share

- 2017-01: CNY 17.49 per share

- 2017-02: CNY 17.59 per share

- 2017-03: CNY 16.31 per share

- 2017-04: CNY 15.46 per share

- 2017-05: CNY 17.24 per share

- 2017-06: CNY 15.80 per share

- 2017-07: CNY 13.84 per share

- 2017-08: CNY 13.78 per share

- 2017-09: CNY 13.23 per share

- 2017-10: CNY 13.40 per share

- 2017-11: CNY 12.28 per share

- 2017-12: CNY 11.88 per share

- 2018-01: CNY 11.62 per share

- 2018-02: CNY 12.23 per share

- 2018-03: CNY 12.47 per share

- 2018-04: CNY 12.37 per share

- 2018-05: CNY 12.68 per share

- 2018-06: CNY 12.30 per share

- 2018-07: CNY 12.04 per share

- 2018-08: CNY 12.04 per share

- 2018-09: CNY 12.04 per share

- 2018-10: CNY 12.04 per share

- 2018-11: CNY 9.31 per share

- 2018-12: CNY 8.37 per share

- 2019-01: CNY 10.52 per share

- 2019-02: CNY 12.22 per share

- 2019-03: CNY 11.82 per share

- 2019-04: CNY 13.02 per share

- 2019-05: CNY 12.00 per share

- 2019-06: CNY 12.64 per share

- 2019-07: CNY 11.27 per share

- 2019-08: CNY 11.64 per share

- 2019-09: CNY 12.09 per share

- 2019-10: CNY 11.10 per share

- 2019-11: CNY 11.11 per share

- 2019-12: CNY 11.18 per share

- 2020-01: CNY 14.04 per share

- 2020-02: CNY 17.10 per share

- 2020-03: CNY 12.65 per share

- 2020-04: CNY 15.44 per share

- 2020-05: CNY 14.14 per share

- 2020-06: CNY 18.75 per share

- 2020-07: CNY 23.35 per share

- 2020-08: CNY 22.32 per share

- 2020-09: CNY 35.41 per share

- 2020-10: CNY 38.31 per share

- 2020-11: CNY 32.96 per share

- 2020-12: CNY 40.72 per share

- 2021-01: CNY 35.71 per share

- 2021-02: CNY 33.29 per share

- 2021-03: CNY 28.88 per share

- 2021-04: CNY 26.05 per share

- 2021-05: CNY 34.21 per share

- 2021-06: CNY 49.00 per share

- 2021-07: CNY 61.00 per share

- 2021-08: CNY 77.80 per share

- 2021-09: CNY 65.95 per share

- 2021-10: CNY 91.25 per share

- 2021-11: CNY 86.96 per share

- 2021-12: CNY 92.70 per share

- 2022-01: CNY 88.67 per share

- 2022-02: CNY 94.96 per share

- 2022-03: CNY 78.68 per share

- 2022-04: CNY 81.43 per share

- 2022-05: CNY 93.60 per share

- 2022-06: CNY 78.90 per share

- 2022-07: CNY 77.68 per share

- 2022-08: CNY 65.57 per share

- 2022-09: CNY 64.04 per share

- 2022-10: CNY 62.50 per share

- 2022-11: CNY 58.20 per share

- 2022-12: CNY 60.09 per share

- 2023-01: CNY 65.94 per share

- 2023-02: CNY 61.12 per share

- 2023-03: CNY 57.34 per share

- 2023-04: CNY 40.39 per share

- 2023-05: CNY 36.00 per share

- 2023-06: CNY 41.70 per share

- 2023-07: CNY 33.25 per share

- 2023-08: CNY 27.83 per share

- 2023-09: CNY 25.58 per share

- 2023-10: CNY 22.44 per share

- 2023-11: CNY 19.90 per share

- 2023-12: CNY 20.72 per share

- 2024-01: CNY 17.03 per share

- 2024-02: CNY 18.75 per share

- 2024-03: CNY 17.47 per share

- 2024-04: CNY 14.22 per share

- 2024-05: CNY 15.10 per share

- 2024-06: CNY 11.20 per share

- 2024-07: CNY 10.79 per share

- 2024-08: CNY 9.89 per share

- 2024-09: CNY 13.55 per share

- 2024-10: CNY 19.32 per share

- 2024-11: CNY 17.40 per share

- 2024-12: CNY 13.75 per share

- 2025-01: CNY 12.46 per share

- 2025-02: CNY 12.73 per share

- 2025-03: CNY 11.53 per share

- 2025-04: CNY 9.55 per share

- 2025-05: CNY 9.14 per share

- 2025-06: CNY 9.98 per share

- 2025-07: CNY 11.06 per share

- 2025-08: CNY 12.66 per share

- 2025-09: CNY 13.14 per share

- 2025-10: CNY 14.08 per share

- 2025-11: CNY 12.07 per share

- 2025-12: CNY 11.45 per share

- 2026-01: CNY 11.31 per share

- 2026-02: CNY 12.10 per share

- 2026-03: CNY 10.90 per share

- 2026-04: CNY 10.87 per share

- 2026-05: CNY 9.11 per share

- 2026-06: CNY 8.10 per share

- 2026-07: CNY 7.51 per share

- 2026-08: CNY 6.97 per share

- 2026-09: CNY 6.74 per share

- 2026-10: CNY 6.73 per share

## Annual estimated value (CNY per share)

- FY2017: low CNY 0.21 per share, central CNY 0.22 per share, high CNY 0.24 per share

- FY2018: low CNY 9.44 per share, central CNY 12.84 per share, high CNY 14.84 per share

- FY2019: low CNY 10.52 per share, central CNY 13.95 per share, high CNY 15.95 per share

- FY2020: low CNY 10.08 per share, central CNY 13.02 per share, high CNY 14.73 per share

- FY2021: low CNY 14.41 per share, central CNY 18.79 per share, high CNY 21.34 per share

- FY2022: low CNY 21.06 per share, central CNY 28.68 per share, high CNY 33.11 per share

- FY2023: low CNY 24.31 per share, central CNY 32.57 per share, high CNY 37.38 per share

- FY2024: low CNY 18.70 per share, central CNY 20.17 per share, high CNY 22.14 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations