Li Auto expects to deliver between 76,000 and 81,000 vehicles in the second quarter, meaning a total of 50,319 to 55,319 vehicles for May and June.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) saw revenue beat expectations in the first quarter and net income rose sharply from the previous quarter.
The company reported revenue of RMB 18.79 billion yuan ($2.74 billion) in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates of 18.68 billion yuan in a Bloomberg survey, according to unaudited financial results released today.
That's up 96.55 percent from a year ago and up 6.46 percent from the fourth quarter, and also above the upper end of the previous guidance range of 17.45 billion yuan to RMB 18.45 billion.
Previous data show that Li Auto delivered a record 52,584 vehicles in the first quarter, which is near the lower end of the 52,000 to 55,000 vehicle guidance range it previously provided.
Li Auto reported a net income of RMB 933.8 million in the first quarter, compared to a net loss of RMB 10.9 million in the same period last year, an increase of 252.0 percent from a net income of RMB 265.3 million in the fourth quarter.
It reported non-GAAP net income of RMB 1.41 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 196.4 percent year-on-year and up 46.1 percent over the fourth quarter.
Li Auto had net cash from operating activities of RMB 7.78 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 324.3 percent from the same period last year and up 58.0 percent from the fourth quarter.
The company's vehicle sales for the first quarter were RMB 18.33 billion, up 96.9 percent from the same quarter last year and 6.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022.
Li Auto's gross margin was 20.4 percent in the first quarter, compared to 22.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022 and 20.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The decrease in gross margin compared to the same period of last year was primarily caused by a decrease in vehicle margin.
It had a vehicle margin of 19.8 percent in the first quarter compared to 22.4 percent in the same quarter last year and 20.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The decrease in vehicle margin from the first quarter of 2022 was primarily due to a different product mix between the two quarters, Li Auto said.
It reported a gross profit of RMB 3.83 billion for the quarter, up 77.0 percent year-on-year and up 7.4 percent from the fourth quarter.
Li Auto expects second-quarter vehicle deliveries to be in the range of 76,000 to 81,000 units, implying a year-on-year increase of 164.9 percent to 182.4 percent.
It expects total revenue for the second quarter to be between RMB 24.22 billion and RMB 25.86 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 177.4 percent to 196.1 percent.
Considering that Li Auto delivered a record 25,681 vehicles in April, the guidance implies that it expects to deliver a total of 50,319 to 55,319 vehicles in May and June.
As of March 31, Li Auto's balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, time deposits and short-term investments was RMB 65 billion.
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