Chinese electric vehicle company XPeng Inc. (NYSE 🙂 reported a decline in both earnings and revenue for the first quarter of 2024, sending its shares up 5.7% in early Tuesday trading.
The company’s first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) came in at -RMB0.75, surpassing analyst expectations of -RMB2.06. Revenue also exceeded expectations, reaching RMB6.55 billion, against a consensus estimate of RMB6.19 billion.
The company’s revenue for the quarter represented a significant increase of 62.3% over the same period last year, although there was a decline of 49.8% from the previous quarter.
The number of vehicles delivered saw a healthy increase of 19.7% year-on-year, with a total of 21,821 vehicles delivered. Gross margin improved to 12.9%, compared to 1.7% in the same quarter last year, indicating a stronger profitability trajectory for the company.
XPeng’s guidance for the second quarter of 2024 puts the revenue target at RMB7.5-8.3 billion, which is lower than the analyst consensus of RMB9.24 billion. The midpoint of this range, RMB7.9 billion, is below consensus, indicating a cautious outlook for the coming quarter.
Chairman and CEO Xiaopeng He expressed confidence in the company’s pioneering role in the mass production and application of AI-based models within the automotive industry. “We are confident that we can more efficiently launch competitive models globally and thus lead the widespread adoption of AI-powered smart cars,” said Mr. He.
The company’s cash position remains robust, with RMB 41.40 billion in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and term deposits as of March 31, 2024. This figure is slightly lower than the RMB 45.70 billion at the end of 2024 the previous quarter .
