On the evening of May 21st, Xiaopeng Motors (09868. HK/XPEV. US) disclosed its financial report for the first quarter of 2024. Xiaopeng achieved a revenue of 6.55 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.3%; The net loss was 1.37 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 41.5%; The gross profit margin has been increased to 12.9%.
Affected by this news, Xiaopeng Motors saw a rapid increase in prices at the beginning, rising by over 26% at one point.
Collaborating with the public to increase revenue by 1 billion yuan
Specifically, in the first quarter of 2024, Xiaopeng Automobile's revenue was 6.55 billion yuan, exceeding the previous estimate of 6.11 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.3%, and a month on month decrease of 49.8%.
Regarding this, Xiaopeng Motors stated that the year-on-year growth in revenue was mainly due to the increase in delivery volume in the first quarter of 2024, especially the X9 model. The financial report showed that the total delivery volume of Xiaopeng Motors in that quarter was 21821 units, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%; The decrease in revenue on a month on month basis is due to a decrease in the current delivery volume of G6 and 2024 G9 models, partially offset by the delivery volume of X9 due to seasonal effects. It is reported that the total delivery volume of Xiaopeng Motors decreased by 63.7% compared to the previous quarter.
In the first quarter, a net loss of 1.37 billion yuan was recorded, which was 41.5% lower than the loss of 2.34 billion yuan in the same period last year. However, the month on month loss slightly increased by 20 million yuan; Adjusted loss per share is 0.75 yuan.
The gross profit margin continued to recover, with the company's gross profit margin increasing to 12.9% in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percentage points and a month on month increase of 6.7 percentage points. Among them, the more critical automobile gross profit margin (i.e. the percentage of automobile sales gross profit or loss to automobile sales revenue) is 5.5%, which has rebounded year-on-year and month on month.
Xiaopeng Automobile Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng stated on the financial report conference call that the high transaction price of X9 has driven the growth of gross profit margin, and will continue to enrich the high-end product line in the future.
"In the extremely competitive market, the company's gross profit margin significantly increased to 12.9% in the first quarter." Gu Hongdi, Co President of Xiaopeng Motors, said that this marks Xiaopeng Motors' unique model of improving profitability and internationalization potential through intelligent technology output on the basis of its intelligent electric vehicle business.
As of March 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, and term deposits amounted to RMB 41.4 billion, an increase of RMB 7.28 billion year-on-year and a decrease of RMB 4.3 billion month on month.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to revenue from car sales, Xiaopeng Motors also recorded 1 billion yuan in service and other revenue this quarter, an increase of 480 million yuan year-on-year and 180 million yuan month on month.
Xiaopeng Motors stated that the month on month growth in this revenue mainly comes from the technology research and development service revenue related to platform and software strategic technology cooperation with Volkswagen Group in the first quarter of 2024.
On April 17th this year, Xiaopeng Automobile and Volkswagen Group officially signed the EEA Electronic and Electrical Architecture Technology Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement. According to the agreement, both parties will jointly develop a new electronic and electrical architecture based on the latest generation electronic and electrical architecture of Xiaopeng Motors. This architecture will be applied to the CMP platform developed by Volkswagen for the Chinese market, and mass production and installation will begin in 2026. Previously, the two companies had signed a joint development agreement for platform and software strategic technology cooperation, and established a joint procurement plan.
He Xiaopeng also emphasized at the financial report meeting that cooperation between large and small companies has shown initial results. Starting from the first quarter of this year, revenue from platform and software technology services has become an important source of Xiaopeng's profits. In its view, technological advantages will help Xiaopeng gain greater market influence and better financial returns.
Increase in quantity and profit by betting on sub brands and overseas markets
According to He Xiaopeng, the first A-level pure electric sedan in the sub brand MONA product series will be unveiled in June this year, and will be officially launched and delivered on a large scale in the third quarter, with a significant cost advantage. The Xiaopeng XNGP will also enter this price range; In the fourth quarter of this year, Xiaopeng will also deliver a B-class pure electric sedan as the first model to achieve a 25% technological cost reduction.
He Xiaopeng expects that the B-class new car, along with the incremental contribution of MONA models, will result in a significant year-on-year increase in monthly delivery volume for Xiaopeng Motors in the fourth quarter of this year.
Starting from the third quarter of this year, Xiaopeng Motors will embark on a strong product cycle of launching multiple new designs within three years, covering the main sub markets of the price range of 100000 to 400000 yuan.
In addition to expanding the product matrix to seek new growth points, overseas markets are also seen by He Xiaopeng as an important driving force for sales and profit growth. This year, the pace of overseas expansion will be accelerated.
According to its introduction, this year Xiaopeng Motors plans to expand its overseas sales network from the original Nordic countries to more than 20 countries. In the first half of the year, it has established cooperative relationships with dealer groups in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and other regions.
For the second quarter of 2024, Xiaopeng Motors expects a total delivery quantity of approximately 29000 to 32000 vehicles, an increase of 25.0% -37.9% year-on-year and 32.9% -46.6% month on month; The expected revenue is approximately 7.5 billion to 8.3 billion yuan, an increase of 48.1% to 63.9% year-on-year.
He Xiaopeng admitted that although the car market still faces many challenges in the second quarter, with the implementation of internal organizational changes and other achievements, it is expected that starting from October, Xiaopeng Motors will enter the fast lane of high-speed development, making breakthroughs in sales, profit margins, cash flow, AI intelligent driving, and other aspects.
In the first quarter of 2024 financial report, He Xiaopeng emphasized more than once that he will not only focus on sales growth as before, but also pursue long-term scale and profits in such a "competitive" market.
However, it should be noted that the current market performance of "long-term oriented" Xiaopeng is not satisfactory. From January to April this year, Xiaopeng Automobile's monthly delivery volume was below 10000 units, and the market performance continued to be weak, with cumulative delivery volume lagging behind Nezha Automobile.
To improve his hematopoietic ability, turn losses into profits, and secure a spot in the finals, Xiaopeng still needs to make efforts in terms of scale. Whether Xiaopeng, who is seeking new growth points in sub brands and overseas markets, can break free from the sluggish sales situation and achieve the goal of doubling annual performance as scheduled is still unknown.