After a failed attempt to list on the ChiNext board, Suzhou Vega Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Vega Technology") has now submitted a prospectus to the Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market, aiming for a comeback. The company plans to raise 2.662 billion yuan through this IPO to fund projects such as an AI PCB drilling and milling equipment production base and the R&D and production of AI PCB intelligent inspection and integrated circuit packaging and testing equipment, with the goal of enhancing its production capacity and R&D capabilities.

Founded in 2007, Vega Technology specializes in the R&D, production, and sales of core PCB equipment—specifically drilling and forming machines. It provides specialized equipment for key processes in downstream PCB manufacturing and IC packaging/testing, including drilling/precision back drilling, forming/precision forming, intelligent inspection, and sorting. The company has established itself as a leading domestic player in the PCB core equipment sector, ranking second among domestic drilling equipment suppliers in the "Special Equipment and Instruments" sales ranking for the PCB industry, as released by the China Printed Circuit Association for 2025.

Financial data reveals robust growth, with operating revenues reaching 424 million yuan, 822 million yuan, and 1.028 billion yuan in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively. The company turned a net loss attributable to shareholders of -9.0645 million yuan in 2023 into a profit of 38 million yuan in 2024, which further increased to 108 million yuan in 2025.

This move to the STAR Market follows a previous unsuccessful application to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's ChiNext board in September 2021. After responding to three rounds of inquiries, Vega Technology's application was rejected by the ChiNext Listing Committee on September 22, 2022, for failing to meet issuance, listing, or disclosure requirements. The key reasons for rejection centered on: insufficient justification for the reasonableness and authenticity of two low-price equity transfers by shareholders, doubts over the clarity of ownership of shares held by the actual controller, historical instances of fund misappropriation by the actual controller, and over-reliance on a single product line, making performance highly sensitive to market fluctuations. While the company claims to have addressed these past issues, several potential hurdles remain for a successful listing.

Primary Concerns for the Current Listing Attempt

A significant concern is the company's weak internal cash generation capability, which diverges from its reported profits. From 2023 to 2025, net cash flow from operating activities was -28.2616 million yuan, 36.6838 million yuan, and -9.8111 million yuan, respectively, indicating poor operational "blood-making" ability.

Inadequate Research and Development Investment

The situation regarding R&D investment is also concerning. In earlier reporting periods, the company's R&D expense ratio was only around 5%, significantly lower than the peer average of over 10%. Although R&D expenses increased to 44.2058 million yuan, 49.4505 million yuan, and 61.4686 million yuan from 2023 to 2025, the intensity of this investment relative to rapidly expanding revenues raises doubts about its sufficiency to build and maintain technological barriers.

The R&D expense as a percentage of operating revenue was 10.44%, 6.02%, and 5.98% for 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively, showing a consistent declining trend. Compared to peers in the PCB industry chain, Vega Technology's R&D expense ratio of approximately 6% in 2024 and 2025 is only about 60% of the industry average (roughly 10%–11%). This figure is notably lower than that of major competitors such as Han's Laser Technology Industry Group Co., Ltd. (7.93%), Dongwei Technology Co., Ltd. (9.11%), and Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment (Group) Co., Ltd. (9.32%).

This insufficient R&D investment directly constrains the company's ability to achieve breakthroughs in core component localization. A critical vulnerability is its complete reliance on a single foreign supplier, Sieb & Meyer AG, for control system raw materials. The company has neither introduced alternative suppliers nor initiated in-house R&D for this component, leaving a long-standing supply chain security issue unresolved. In the context of accelerating technological iteration within the PCB专用设备 industry, this dependency could cause the company to fall further behind leading competitors in the next generation of technology. Furthermore, as the company now seeks a listing on the innovation-focused STAR Market, its declining R&D expense ratio, which is far below the PCB industry average, may prompt regulatory scrutiny regarding its compliance with the market's innovation attribute requirements.

High Supplier Concentration and Import Dependence Risks

Another area of focus is the rising concentration of suppliers. The procurement amount from the top five suppliers accounted for 34.82%, 38.39%, and 42.55% of total raw material purchases in the respective reporting periods. At the supply chain level, the company is almost entirely dependent on the single foreign supplier Sieb & Meyer AG for control system raw materials. This not only weakens its bargaining power—evidenced by逐年上涨的采购价格 while competitors' prices are falling—but also poses a high risk of supply disruption and cost失控, as no替代供应商 or self-developed solutions are in place. Key components like spindles and grating scales also rely on a few suppliers with high market shares.

During the reporting period, purchases of control system raw materials from Sieb & Meyer AG accounted for 18.73%, 15.78%, 15.36%, and 15.38% of total procurement, consistently making it the largest supplier.