Since the beginning of the year, within just over two months, share prices of 42 A-share companies have doubled. Following the Lunar New Year holiday, 117 companies have seen their stock prices reach new historical highs, with firms in the nonferrous metals and technology sectors comprising a significant portion.
Market veteran Peng Zu believes that the nonferrous metals cycle remains a key investment theme, the upward trend for CPO (co-packaged optics) concepts continues, and the chemicals sector also presents clear catch-up opportunities. These three sectors, driven by factors such as price increases, strategic resources, and AI computing power demand, have attracted investment from state-backed institutional investors, including the National Social Security Fund. They still possess potential for further gains and for producing new high-flying and doubling stocks.
Amid influences from the international situation, major Asia-Pacific stock markets opened lower on March 2. China's Shanghai Composite Index initially fell 11.08 points at the open but ultimately closed in positive territory. Sectors like coal & petroleum, energy processing, and nonferrous metals posted strong gains. Notably, China's three major state-owned oil companies—PetroChina, Sinopec, and CNOOC—saw their shares collectively close at the daily limit for the first time in history.
Over a longer period, since the start of the Year of the Horse following the Spring Festival, 117 companies across the market have achieved new historical stock price highs. Furthermore, since the beginning of 2026, 42 companies have seen their share prices double in just over two months.
Examining the sectors and concepts involved, companies recently hitting new highs or posting substantial gains are predominantly from the nonferrous metals and technology industries. For instance, Jiangwu Equipment, a company associated with the minor metals concept and a well-known domestic and international supplier of solutions based on vertical ring pulsating high-gradient magnetic separation technology, has seen its stock price double rapidly. This surge is attributed to a confluence of factors including a super bull market for tungsten, a private placement acquisition, state-owned enterprise reform, rising tantalum and niobium prices, and strong investor demand. Since the start of the year, its stock has accumulated gains of 182.89%. Even after pulling back from intraday highs on March 2, it still reached a new historical peak, touching a high of 22.6 yuan per share.
A similar case is China Tungsten and High-tech, whose stock price has also doubled since the beginning of the year and set a new record high recently. As a platform company within the Minmetals Group's tungsten industry chain, controlling high-quality upstream tungsten resources and having a comprehensive presence in downstream processing, China Tungsten and High-tech is fully benefiting from the sector's prosperity.
Within technology concepts, Hengtong Optic-Electric, a CPO concept stock, has also demonstrated a trend of consistently reaching new highs. The core drivers for its rise include the explosive growth of the AI computing power industry chain, rising optical fiber prices, a major submarine cable order, and catalysts from Nvidia's financial reports.
Peng Zu, host of "Decoding Industry Leaders," maintains that the nonferrous metals cycle remains a primary future investment theme and a market leader. He suggests paying particular attention to plays related to price increases and strategic resources—such as tungsten, rare earths, indium phosphide, and molybdenum—as well as AI-related targets.
The upward trend for the CPO concept also remains intact. Significant volatility during the evolution of new technologies is normal, and leading fiber optic companies continue to hit new highs, demonstrating a comparative advantage.
Additionally, Peng Zu stated that the chemicals sector also offers profitable opportunities. Although its upward cycle and magnitude of gains might be weaker than the nonferrous metals sector, the investment theme centered on price increases and strategic resources should not be underestimated. Companies like Wanhua Chemical, Hualu-Hengsheng, and Baofeng Energy, which he highlighted in a video on January 21, have all achieved considerable gains since then.
Valuations for the nonferrous metals, chemicals, and CPO sectors are expected to continue rising.
The nonferrous metals sector, as the current dominant market leader, has a solid leading position, with strategic minor metals performing especially strongly. Although the broader market saw more decliners than gainers recently, several companies within the minor metals sub-sector, such as Jinrui Mining, Western Gold, and Xianglu Tungsten, saw their shares hit the daily limit. According to the latest report from China Tungsten Online, the domestic tungsten market remained robust in February 2026, with prices for mainstream tungsten products rising four to five times compared to the same period last year. Tungsten concentrate prices exceeded 800,000 yuan per metric ton, ammonium paratungstate prices rose to 1.2 million yuan per metric ton, and tungsten powder prices reached 2 million yuan per metric ton. Year-to-date cumulative increases are nearly 80%, driven by a persistently widening supply-demand gap, which continues to push sector valuations higher.
The chemicals sector is positioned for a cyclical rebound from bottom levels and a re-rating of its strategic resource value. Following deep inventory drawdowns and the elimination of outdated capacity, the industry's supply structure has continuously optimized, significantly enhancing pricing power for leading enterprises. Concurrently, the accelerated exit of high-cost overseas capacity has further tightened supply. On the demand side, the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period is driving marginal recovery in traditional areas like real estate and automobiles, while emerging fields like AI and new energy are fueling high growth in segments such as electronic chemicals and lithium battery materials. The price of lithium hexafluorophosphate, for example, has surged 158% within three months, with spot supply being tight. Furthermore, chemicals like phosphorus and fluorite are being upgraded from traditional industrial raw materials to strategic resources for new energy and agriculture, with this value reassessment driving sector valuation repair. Currently, the sector's valuation percentile stands at only about 20% of its historical range, indicating ample room for catch-up growth.
The rise of the CPO concept benefits from its close ties to the explosive growth in AI computing power, making it a core beneficiary of AI computing infrastructure development. Significant increases in capital expenditure by global cloud providers, with AI data centers using 8 to 10 times more optical fiber than traditional data centers, are driving explosive growth in fiber demand. Mainstream optical fiber prices have doubled year-to-date, and production bottlenecks for fiber preforms further support the continuation of the price increase trend. Technologically, CPO iteration is accelerating, with 800G optical modules in volume supply and 1.6T modules entering their first year of volume growth—projected shipments are 5 million units in 2026, doubling in 2027. Breakthroughs in new technologies like liquid-cooled CPO and near-packaged optics (NPO) are further expanding the sector's growth potential. Leading companies like Zhongji Innolight and TFC Optical Communication have full order books; Zhongji Innolight's orders are scheduled out to 2027, holding over 10 billion yuan in CPO contracts. Morgan Stanley has raised its 2026 profit forecast for the company by 16% and increased its target price by 30% to 650 yuan, underscoring institutional confidence in the sector's prospects.
State fund investments are showing significant paper profits.
As stock prices have climbed, institutions that positioned themselves early have reaped substantial rewards, including state-backed "national team" funds.
For example, by the end of the third quarter of 2025, the National Social Security Fund 602 Portfolio had newly entered the top ten shareholders of China Rare Metals, holding 2.7978 million shares, ranking sixth. The company's stock price hit a阶段性 bottom on December 17, 2025, and began rebounding, recently repeatedly setting new historical highs, with a gain of approximately 128.74% since then. If the社保基金602组合 has held its position since the third quarter, the market value of its holding would have increased from approximately 162 million yuan to about 314 million yuan, representing an unrealized gain of nearly 152 million yuan.
Similarly, for Oriental Tantalum, another minor metals stock, both the National Social Security Fund 102 Portfolio and the National Social Security Fund 108 Portfolio were among its top ten shareholders at the end of Q3 2025. One increased its stake, while the other was a new, significant holder. The company's stock price has trended upwards with volatility, reaching a new historical high intraday on March 1. If both funds have held their positions since the end of Q3, the market value of their respective holdings would have increased by approximately 193 million yuan and 152 million yuan.
For Yuanjie Technology, a CPO concept stock, its share price has risen 99.3% since the fourth quarter of last year. Reviewing its top ten流通 shareholders at the end of Q3 2025, the National Social Security Fund 602 Portfolio was also present and had increased its holding by 215,300 shares compared to the previous reporting period. Benefiting from the significant stock price increase, if the fund still holds the position, it would have an unrealized gain of approximately 418 million yuan.
(Mention of individual stocks is for analysis purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell.)