(Yicai) May 22 -- Lenovo Group’s shares surged to a 26-year high after the Chinese tech giant said annual revenue topped USD80 billion for the first time, with artificial intelligence-related income more than doubling, and set its sights on USD100 billion of annual sales within two years.

After touching HKD15.82 (USD2.02) per share in Hong Kong this afternoon, the highest since March 2000, Lenovo [HKG: 0992] closed 19.8 percent higher at HKD15.75. The stock has climbed 70 percent since the end of last year amid optimism surrounding its growing AI business.

Revenue jumped 20 percent to USD83.1 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, with income from AI-related businesses soared 105 percent to account for a third of Lenovo’s revenue, according to the Beijing-based company’s financial report released today. Adjusted net profit climbed 42 percent to USD2 billion.

“Lenovo concluded its best year ever with an exceptional fourth quarter, where we delivered on our promises,” Lenovo Chairman and Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said in a statement to accompany the earnings release. “With strong momentum across all our businesses, we are confident in our ambition to become a USD100 billion company within the next two years, while continuing to deliver strong returns for our shareholders.”

In the company’s fourth quarter, adjusted net profit doubled to USD559 million from a year earlier, while revenue climbed 27 percent to a record USD21.6 billion, marking Lenovo’s fastest quarterly growth in the past five years, the report showed.

Annual spending on research and development rose 9 percent to the equivalent of 3 percent of revenue. Fourth-quarter R&D outlays jumped 16 percent from a year ago, reaching 3.5 percent of revenue.

All three of Lenovo’s main business groups posted double-digit yearly growth. Revenue from the Intelligent Devices Group climbed 17 percent to USD58.9 billion, while that from the Infrastructure Solutions Group surged 32 percent to USD19.2 billion. Income from the Solutions and Services Group jumped 19 percent to USD10 billion.

Infrastructure solutions, Lenovo’s fastest-growing business, generated USD73 million in operating profit, reversing an operating loss of USD68.5 million a year earlier, mainly due to strong demand for AI servers. Lenovo’s AI server order pipeline had reached USD21 billion at the end of the reporting period.

In the intelligent devices segment, Lenovo retained its position as the world’s largest personal computer maker with a 24.4 percent market share in its fourth quarter, with the gap to the No. 2 vendor the widest in 15 years, the company said.

Looking ahead, Yang said AI personal computers are expected to account for more than 50 percent of Lenovo’s total PC sales in this fiscal year, while AI servers are also expected to maintain strong growth momentum.

“Through firm execution of our Hybrid AI strategy, we are uniquely positioned to lead in the new wave of AI inferencing and democratization,” Yang said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine