Xiaopeng released first quarter report, financial data impressive, US stocks surged.
On May 21, Xiaopeng Motors released its first quarter financial report, showing growth in revenue and gross profit, as well as sufficient cash. In response, pre-market trading of US stocks surged over 20%. Xiaopeng is on the rise. Post-earnings stock prices skyrocket! Has Xiaopeng emerged from the slump? Let’s take a closer look at the newly released first quarter financial report of Xiaopeng. Firstly, the gross profit margin achieved a “triple jump,” exceeding market expectations. In the third quarter of 2023, the gross profit was -2.7%, in the fourth quarter of 2023, it was 6.2%, and in the first quarter of 2024, it was 12.9%. This has improved the quality of Xiaopeng’s revenue performance.
Next, Xiaopeng’s first quarter total revenue was 65.5 billion yuan, a 62.3% increase from the same period in 2023, with revenue exceeding expectations mainly from the market performance of the Xiaopeng X9’s unit price. Good expense control also contributed to Xiaopeng’s strong revenue. By the end of this year, Xiaopeng is expected to achieve a 25% reduction in technology costs.
In addition, as of March 31, Xiaopeng’s cash reserves were 41.4 billion yuan. Despite facing challenges from intensified market competition and cost control, Xiaopeng Automobile still has a net loss of 1.37 billion yuan, but its funding reserves remain relatively abundant. “Strategic social networking” boosts sales growth Xiaopeng’s financial performance sees significant jumps each time, mainly driven by the high unit price of Xiaopeng X9. Additionally, through strategic cooperation with Volkswagen Group, Xiaopeng Automobile has pioneered the output empowerment of self-developed intelligent technology, thus gaining greater market influence and financial returns. Looking at first-quarter sales, Xiaopeng Automobile delivered 21,821 units, a 20% increase year-on-year in an extremely competitive market environment. Technology changes the world. From the financial report trends, all of Xiaopeng Automobile’s efforts have translated into good financial returns. Looking ahead to the second quarter, Xiaopeng Automobile aims to deliver between 29,000 and 32,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 25% to 37.9%. More directly, there is a revenue target of over 7.5 billion yuan. Leading in AI deployment, technology leads comprehensively In the past decade, Xiaopeng has persisted in investing heavily in research and development in high-intensity areas such as intelligent electric vehicle platforms, EEA electronic and electrical architecture, and intelligent assisted driving technology. Even in the most difficult times, Xiaopeng has not reduced its investment. As a result, Xiaopeng Automobile has consistently become the industry’s leading brand in urban intelligent driving. On January 1, 2024, Xiaopeng’s XNGP intelligent assisted driving system’s urban intelligent driving capabilities, already fully released in 52 cities, expanded to cover 191 cities, with a total of 243 cities covered, making it the industry’s leading car brand in terms of fully open urban intelligent driving capabilities at the time.
The 2024 Beijing Auto Show was bustling with excitement, as Xiaopeng Motors showcased their new models X9, G6, G9, and P7i. They also held a theme release event for “Xiaopeng X9 Nine Crown King AI Evolution”, announcing the global debut of the AI Tianji system, the industry’s first operating system to fully integrate AI technology into intelligent cockpits and smart driving.
Xiaopeng Motors held an event in Beijing with the theme “Entering the AI Era of Smart Driving” on the recent “520” day, officially launching the AI Tianji system and releasing the first domestically produced “end-to-end” large model that is on the market, as well as the global debut of the AI driver function.
Xiaopeng Motors in the Chinese automotive industry has achieved mass production of AI large models, and is now launching globally leading products with comprehensive product capabilities, promoting AI intelligent driving. In terms of intelligent driving, Xiaopeng Motors has released the first domestically produced end-to-end large model on-board: the neural network XNet + rule control large model XPlanner + large language model XBrain. The three-network integrated deep visual perception neural network XNet aggregates dynamic XNet, static XNet, and the industry’s first mass-produced pure visual 2K occupancy network, allowing the autonomous driving system to operate like naked-eye 3D. The industry’s first mass-produced 2K pure visual occupancy network increases the perception range by 2 times, with an area of up to 1.8 football fields in size, able to accurately identify 50+ target objects, giving users an eagle-eye vision, making driving clearer and further.
Beyond perception, Xiaopeng Motors has also introduced a neural network-based planning model – XPlanner, which is like the human cerebellum, constantly evolving driving strategies towards human-like through massive data training. With the support of XBrain, the autonomous driving system can recognize waiting areas, tidal lanes, special lanes, road signs, and quickly understand various prohibitions, fast and slow behaviors, and make human-like driving decisions that balance safety and performance.
Starting from the third quarter of this year, Xiaopeng will launch more than ten new models within three years, covering the main market segments with prices ranging from 100,000 to 400,000. The first model of the second brand MONA series will debut in June. In addition, a new B-class sedan will be released this year.
In addition to focusing on technology, Xiaopeng Motors has also initiated a comprehensive organizational and marketing transformation internally in 2024, establishing a strong new marketing team. Transitioning from the previous “automobile + internet” strategy to “automobile + mobile internet” strategy, the company is now targeting decentralized top social media platforms, leveraging a large number of UGC users with great success. In terms of sales channel reform, after eliminating 130 stores, the company introduced more than 160 dealers through the “Jupiter Plan,” covering 40 lower-tier cities. By the third quarter of this year, the number of sales stores will increase to 600, and expansion will continue after the launch of new products.
In the second half of the development of smart electric vehicles, Xiaopeng, as one of the leading companies in the high-end intelligent driving track in China, has improved profitability through the output of intelligent technology and has also run a unique growth model with international potential. Ending Note: After the performance, the stock price soared! With a significant improvement in gross profit margin, Xiaopeng is beginning to turn the tide and may enter a new stage of rapid development. After ten years of car-making, Xiaopeng has finally gained an advantage in the second half of the new energy vehicle market in 2024. Compared to the currently popular Xiaomi cars, they target the same group of people – young, tech-savvy, middle-class individuals. They are also transitioning from the internet to car manufacturing and are a new force investing heavily in self-developed intelligent driving technology. In terms of playing with traffic, Xiaopeng may seem to have a gap with Lei Jun, but the Xiaopeng AI DAY event held on May 20 once again put Xiaopeng back in the center of social discussions. AI changing cars may start with Xiaopeng.