In the first half of 2026, the daily average trading volume of the A-share market in Shanghai and Shenzhen was nearly 2.74 trillion yuan, almost doubling year-on-year, with a total trading volume of 315 trillion yuan in the first half of the year. What kind of performance did the securities industry, known as the "bull market flag bearer," deliver under the "bull market" situation?

According to Wind data, as of August 28th, 40 out of 42 listed securities firms have disclosed their 2026 interim results. The industry as a whole continues its high growth trend, with a total operating revenue of 356.348 billion yuan from 40 securities firms, a year-on-year increase of 46.53%; The total net profit attributable to the shareholders of the parent company (hereinafter referred to as "net profit") was 152.235 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49.78%. Among them, the revenue and net profit of 38 securities firms both increased, with only Great Wall Securities (002939. SZ) experiencing a slight year-on-year decline in revenue, and Hualin Securities (002945. SZ) experiencing a significant 23.32% year-on-year decline in net profit.

The expansion of the 'billion dollar club' net profit is the most intuitive footnote to this round of market trend. In the first half of this year, the net profits of five securities firms, CITIC Securities (600030. SH), Guotai Haitong (601211. SH), China Merchants Securities (600999. SH), Guangfa Securities (000776. SZ), and Huatai Securities (601688. SH), all exceeded 10 billion yuan. Only two securities firms had a net profit of over 10 billion yuan in the same period last year.

In the context of a generally rising market, subtle changes in the number of top securities firms, deep adjustments in business structure, and the previously overlooked "invisible increment" - Sci Tech Innovation Investment - have become key "springs" in self operated businesses and are reshaping the profit logic of the securities industry.

CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong 'arm wrestling'

In the first half of 2026, CITIC Securities will continue to maintain its position as the industry leader, achieving a revenue of 49.692 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 50%; The net profit was 23.343 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69.6%, reaching the best level in the mid-term of history. Following closely behind is Guotai Haitong, with a revenue of 47.163 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 97.56%; The net profit was 20.26 billion yuan, an increase of 28.74% year-on-year, and the net profit scale also reached a historical high.

The combined operating revenue and net profit of the two "giant" securities firms were 96.855 billion yuan and 43.603 billion yuan, accounting for 27.04% and 28.64% of the total operating revenue and net profit of the 40 securities firms, respectively. Based on this calculation, the two companies earned a daily net profit of 241 million yuan in the first half of the year, leading the industry gap.

There are two types of financial indicators between CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong: the "top brother" who has consistently held the top spot in the securities industry, and the "securities carrier" born from mergers and reorganizations.

As of the end of June 2026, the total assets of Guotai Haitong were 2.50 trillion yuan, surpassing CITIC Securities' 2.47 trillion yuan. Meanwhile, the gap in operating income is constantly narrowing. From the perspective of performance in 2025, if Guotai Haitong wants to surpass CITIC Securities, there is still a pressure of billions of revenue. However, in the first half of this year, this gap has been narrowed to 2.529 billion yuan.

Specifically in terms of business lines, there is still a gap between Guotai Haitong and CITIC Securities in investment banking, asset management, self operation and other business lines. However, thanks to the huge customer base after the merger, its net brokerage fee income in the first half of the year was 9.942 billion yuan, slightly exceeding CITIC Securities' 9.856 billion yuan. According to financial report data, as of the end of June, the number of domestic customers of Guotai Haitong was 40.89 million, ranking first in the industry. During the same period, the cumulative number of customers of CITIC Securities exceeded 18 million.

In addition to the two aforementioned securities firms, the reshuffle of positions in the securities industry starting from third place is particularly intense. As of August 28th, all top securities firms have disclosed their performance, and there has been another reshuffle in industry rankings. Compared with the same period last year, Huatai Securities' revenue ranking in mid-2026 shows that although its performance still maintains high-speed growth, its position as the "third best" in the industry has been challenged and surpassed by Guangfa Securities. China Merchants Securities and China International Capital Corporation (601995. SH) have both surpassed China Galaxy (601881. SH), and China CITIC Securities (601066. SH) has also increased its ranking by one place year-on-year. However, the rankings of Shenwan Hongyuan (000166. SZ) and Guoxin Securities (002736. SZ) both decreased year-on-year, ranking ninth and tenth respectively.

China Merchants Securities ranked first among top securities firms in terms of explosive performance, with a revenue of 21.902 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 108.19%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 10.624 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 104.87%, achieving a net profit of over 10 billion yuan for the first time in the first half of the year. In the second quarter alone, the net profit reached 7.354 billion yuan, mainly due to the blooming results of its science and technology innovation direct investment projects in the second quarter, resulting in increased income from investment floating profits.

Kong Xiang, an analyst at Guoxin Securities, pointed out that in the first half of the year, China Merchants Securities achieved investment income of 12.914 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 213.19%. The main reason was the fair value changes brought about by the listing of multiple equity investment projects, and the listing of alternative direct investment projects, with large floating profits included in the current period's profit and loss. According to Xu Yishan, an analyst at Fangzheng Securities, the combined net profit contribution of China Merchants Securities' direct investment and private equity subsidiaries is 55%, mainly due to its invested project, Dapuwei (301666. SZ), which went public on the ChiNext board in April; In addition, the project Changxin Technology (688825) has been invested inSH) will go public in July and is expected to provide support for the annual profit growth.

Behind the overall high performance growth, a clear trend is emerging: top securities firms are relying on diversified income structures to enhance their ability to cross cycles, and a "multi wheel drive" pattern is taking shape. In contrast, many small and medium-sized securities firms still have a relatively single business structure, and their performance is highly dependent on market conditions, with weak resilience to cycles. Under the continuous strengthening of the Matthew effect, the gap in profit quality between top tier and small and medium-sized securities firms may be larger than the net profit figures presented.

The differentiated management level among small and medium-sized securities firms has led to performance differentiation. In the first half of this year, small and medium-sized securities firms with doubled net profits, such as Zhongtai Securities (600918. SH), Caida Securities (600906. SH), and Hua'an Securities (600909. SH), saw net profit growth rates of 146.38%, 104.59%, and 102.55%, respectively. During the same period, Great Wall Securities' revenue declined year-on-year, Hualin Securities' net profit declined year-on-year, and the net profit levels of Xinda Securities (601059. SH) and Guosheng Securities (002670. SZ) only maintained single digit growth year-on-year.

At a time when the concentration effect of industry leaders is evident, it is increasingly important for small and medium-sized securities firms to differentiate and break through. Sun Ting, Chief Analyst of Non Banking at Dongwu Securities, pointed out that there is a certain inevitability for small and medium-sized securities firms to take the path of specialization. The performance differentiation of small and medium-sized securities firms is obvious, and refinement helps to enhance competitiveness. In addition, regulators have clearly identified the transformation positioning of "boutique investment banks, characteristic investment banks, and characteristic service providers" for small and medium-sized securities firms, guiding them to focus on their main business and develop in a differentiated manner based on shareholder resources, regional advantages, and talent reserves. At the same time, mergers and acquisitions have further accelerated the refinement process of small and medium-sized securities firms, expanding and optimizing their balance sheets through internal profit accumulation, external mergers and acquisitions integration, and moving from "scale expansion" to "quality and efficiency improvement".

Sci Tech Innovation Investment Becomes a Performance Spring

With the active trading in the market, the brokerage business revenue, which serves as the "ballast stone" for securities firms, has skyrocketed. The net commission income from brokerage business of 40 securities firms totaled about 96.072 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 55.18%, and the revenue contribution accounted for 26.96% of the total revenue.

In the first half of this year, the structural market of the technology sector provided a rich soil for securities firms' self operated business, and self operated business also became an amplifier for performance elasticity. According to the calculation of self operated income based on "net investment income+net fair value change income - investment income from joint ventures and associates", the total self operated business income of 40 securities firms was approximately 164.927 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51.69%, and the revenue contribution accounted for 46.28% of the total revenue.

Behind the high performance of the securities industry in this round, there is a thickening effect of self operated business income from scientific and technological innovation investment. Since the beginning of this year, many large technology stocks have gone public, coupled with the booming market situation, leading securities firms participating in follow-up investments have achieved significant floating profits.

According to the research report of Dongwu Securities, as of the end of the first half of 2026, the cumulative follow-up investment of the Securities Business Innovation Board is nearly 35 billion yuan, and the holding market value is nearly 100 billion yuan (assuming it has not been sold after the lifting of the ban).

The A-share listed projects with a market value of billions in the first half of 2026 include Dapuwei, Shenghejingwei (688820. SH), Dianke Lantian (688818. SH), Lianxun Instrument (688088. SH), etc., which have brought a large amount of floating profits to the direct investment business of securities firms. Top securities firms have made significant profits in such projects, such as CITIC Securities participating in the follow-up investment of projects such as Lianxun Instrument, and Guotai Haitong and China Merchants Securities participating in the follow-up investment of star technology projects such as Dapuwei.

In addition to top institutions, small and medium-sized securities firms also accurately grasp the dividends of scientific and technological innovation and achieve differentiated growth. For example, Hua'an Securities, which has shown significant performance growth, according to a research report by Guojin Securities, its net investment income in the first half of the year was 2.093 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 93%. The net profits of two investment subsidiaries, Hua'an Jiaye Investment Management Co., Ltd. and Huafu Ruixing Investment Management Co., Ltd., increased by 612% and 830% respectively year-on-year, to RMB 570 million and RMB 530 million, respectively, contributing a total of 53% to the current net profit of the parent company.

As a regional securities firm in Anhui Province, Hua'an Securities not only invested in the local star company Xin Technology, but also invested in a group of well-known hard technology enterprises such as Suiyuan Technology, Changjiang Storage, and Yushu Technology in the early stages. It is expected to bring subsequent investment returns to the company along with the capitalization and valuation increase of technology enterprises.

The innovation investment capability of securities firms is becoming a key variable determining their profit elasticity. The securities industry has a natural cyclical nature, and science and technology innovation investment has shifted the growth anchor of securities firms from relying on market trading volume to the trend of industrial upgrading, seizing the growth opportunities of hard technology becoming a long-term and smooth cycle.

Chen Cong, Vice President of the Western Financial Research Institute, told the Economic Observer that securities firms' increased investment in science and technology innovation is not a short-term trend, but a reflection of the industry's business model upgrading from "channel intermediaries" to "industrial capital allocators". For securities firms themselves, they are building a diversified income model of "long-term appreciation in the primary market, new income in the secondary market, and underwriting and sponsorship fees in investment banks", opening up long-term growth space for performance.

Chen Cong stated that looking ahead, as more high-quality science and technology innovation enterprises enter the capital market, securities firms are expected to fully share the growth dividends of science and technology innovation enterprises through the "investment bank+investment+investment research" three investment linkage model. At the same time, science and technology innovation investment is not exclusive to top institutions. Small and medium-sized securities firms can leverage science and technology innovation resources far beyond their own capital by providing in-depth services to local industries and undertaking science and technology innovation funds established by regional governments, achieving differentiated breakthroughs.