Hong Kong-listed home appliance company Midea has two options, J.P. Morgan analysts said last week. Either become an industrial giant like Siemens — and double in market cap by 2030 — or plod along “the Panasonic path” with gains of just 25%, the analysts said. Midea shares are already up more than 7% so far this year, bucking a more than 3% decline in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. The home appliance maker is one of the 20 largest stocks in the index by market capitalization, ahead of chip company SMIC and consumer electronics maker Xiaomi . “The market is still paying for the old Midea — a high-quality appliance champion — but we think the new Midea is becoming a more interesting hybrid of [business-to-consumer] cash flow and [business-to-business] industrial tech,” the JPMorgan analysts said. The Wall Street bank initiated research coverage on Midea’s Shenzhen-traded shares with an overweight rating and a price target of 105 yuan ($15.50). That implies upside of more than 20% from Friday’s close. Powerhouse For Midea to become an industrial powerhouse, the JPMorgan analysts said the appliance company must do three things simultaneously: Become a global leader in commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Turn its German industrial robot subsidiary Kuka into an earnings driver by growing share in China’s fa …
