TMTPOST -- The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Xpeng Inc. Plunged about 10.3% on Monday after the electric vehicle (EV) maker posted highest ever revenue and gross margin, but sales guidance disappointed investors.
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Credit：Xpeng
Xpeng maintained three-digit growth of revenue for the quarter ended September 30. Its total revenue surged 101.8% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB20.38 billion, or around $2.9 billion, shy of analysts estimated RMB20.45 billion. The sales slowed down after a 125.3% YoY increase in revenue for the previous quarter.
The bottom line appeared one of the highlights for the third quarter. Xpeng recorded a net loss of RMB380.9 million, or $53.7 million, almost 79% narrower from RMB1.81 billion a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for a loss of RMB569.9 million.
Xpeng delivered 116,007 vehicles for the third quarter, representing an YoY increase of 149.3%. Vehicle revenue soared 105.3% YoY to RMB18.05 billion. The gross margin for the September quarter rose 4.8 percentage points YoY to 20.1% as its vehicle margin improved from 8.6% a year earlier to 13.1%. The EV manufacturer attributed the YoY increase to the ongoing cost reduction.
"With effective cost control and technology-related revenue streams unlocking greater potential, our gross margin exceeded 20% for the first time in the third quarter," Xpeng Vice Chairman and Co-President Hongdi Brian Gu commented in a statement. “Continuous operational improvement deepens our commitment to Physical AI R&D. Meanwhile, we look forward to collaborating with more global business and technology partners to expand the ecosystem for physical AI applications, fostering a virtuous cycle between technological innovation and commercialization.”
Xpeng’s outlook for the current quarter was not as impressive as the margin. Xpeng saw revenue for the last quarter of this year to gain between 33.5% to 42.8% YoY to RMB21.5 billion and RMB23.0 million, equivalent to $3.02 billion and $3.24 billion,whereas analysts anticipated closer to $3.6 billion, according to FactSet.
Xpeng projected to deliver 125,000 to 132,000 vehicles for the fourth quarter, with a YoY increase range between approximately 36.6% and 44.3%. That marked a significant slowdown compared with the more than double YoY growth rate for the September quarter.
The outlook implied Xpeng is expected to deliver an average sales of 41,000 to 45,000 EVs per month in November and December, which is on the softer end when compared with the selling rate of around 42,000 units in October and year-end seasonality, according to Bernstein analysts. The analysts commented in a note that Xpeng’s guidance for the fourth quarter was quite soft.
Xpeng management expressed upbeat about the future. "We are in the early stages of rapid expansion in terms of sales volume and market share, with Robotaxi and humanoid robots advancing rapidly toward mass production. I firmly believe Xpeng will evolve into a global embodied AI company,” said CEO He Xiaopeng. “Centered around physical AI applications, we are developing a comprehensive portfolio of technologies and products, alongside a thriving business ecosystem, thereby creating greater value for customers and shareholders worldwide."
He on an earnings call revealed Xpeng will three Robotaxi models in 2026. Xpeng’s Robotaxi technology does not take advantage of LiDAR, which effectively address the industry's restrictions such as high costs, particularly deployment costs, numerous travel limits and weak versatility. He believes this will accelerate the large-scale deployment of Robotaxi globally. In addition, Xpeng will kick off domestic trial operations of its Robotaxi in Chin next year, and further refine its hardware, software, and operational ecosystem.
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