Li Auto Inc. American Depositary Shares 2026 Q2 Earnings Call
Review the key takeaways and the transcript of this earnings call.
- Li Auto reported second quarter 2020 total revenues of RMB 25.7 billion, down 15.1% year over year and up 11.7% quarter over quarter.
- Vehicle sales were RMB 24.1 billion, down 16.7% year over year and up 11.8% quarter over quarter, due to reduced deliveries and product mix changes.
- Gross profit was RMB 2.8 billion, down 53.3% year over year and up 56.9% quarter over quarter, with vehicle margin at 9.4%.
- Operating expenses were RMB 5.1 billion, down 2% year over year and up 6.9% quarter over quarter.
- Net loss was RMB 1.7 billion, compared to net income of RMB 1.1 billion in the same period last year and net loss of RMB 2.3 billion in the prior quarter.
- Operating cash flow was positive RMB 15 million versus RMB 3 billion used in the same period last year.
- Li Auto repurchased 91.7 million Class A ordinary shares for approximately USD 631.5 million.
- The company completed a full refresh of the L series product line, including L9, L8, and L6 models, incorporating in-house M100 chips, 5G range extenders, and drive-by-wire chassis.
- The L9 Live version accounts for over 85% of L9 sales, and the new generation L6 has retained its user base with improved features.
- Li Auto launched a rear-wheel-drive long-range version of the i8 BEV in July, adding features like power frunk and zero gravity seats.
- The new generation Li Mega MPV is scheduled for launch on September 2nd with significant chassis, intelligent platform, and cabin upgrades.
- The flagship SUV Li Auto i9 will launch in mid-September, targeting large families with advanced technology including an 800-volt charging platform and in-house electric motors.
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Transcript
Preview the first fifteen paragraphs, organized by speaker.
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for Li Auto's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Ms. Jenna Zheng, Investor Relations Director of Li Auto. Please go ahead, Jenna.
Thank you operator, good evening and good morning everyone. Welcome to Li Auto second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. The company's financial and operating results were published in a press release earlier today and were posted on the company's IR website. On today's call, we will have our Chairman and CEO, Mr. Li Xiang, and our CFO, Mr. Johnny Tian Li to begin with prepared remarks. Our President, Mr. Ma Donghui and CTO, Mr.
Yan Xie will join for the Q&A discussion. Before we continue, please be reminded that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's actual results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties is included in certain company filings with the SEC and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable laws. Please also note that Li Auto's earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial information, as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to Li Auto's disclosure documents on the IR section of our website, which contain a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures. Our CEO will start his remarks in Chinese. There will be English translation after he finishes all his remarks. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr.
Li Xiang. Please go ahead.
大家好,我是李想,欢迎各位参加今天的业绩电话会议。面对激烈的市场竞争和车型迭代期,今年上半年,理想汽车在20万元以上的新能源汽车市场,依然位居中国品牌销量第一。随着我们双轮战略的持续推进,理想汽车增程与纯电车型目前订单结构均衡,已经接近对半。二季度以来,理想L系列已经完成了全面换新,我们的一系列核心技术成果顺利上车,从自研玛赫M100芯片、玛赫VLA模型,到800伏主动悬架、全线控底盘,再到第三代智能助控器,以与5C超充电池,全方位软硬件的升级,重新定义了技术和体验的新标准。纯电方面,理想A6已经连续六个月位居20万元以上所有车型销量前三,它将与理想L6分别成为所在细分市场的头部产品,进一步巩固我们在20到30万元SUV市场的领导地位。纯电产品的迭代升级也在顺利推进。7月末,理想L8新增后驱长续航版本,并围绕用户反馈的问题和需求,增加了电动前备箱、前排双零重力座椅等配置,增强了产品力,也带来了销量的提升。9月2日,新一代理想MEGA即将上市。我们对其先锋造型做了进一步打磨,并带来了新一代的内饰设计、空间体验、智能平台和驾驶质感。全新纯电旗舰SUV理想A9也将于9月中旬上市,进一步完善理想汽车的纯电产品矩阵。预计后续纯电车型的订单占比会持续提升。随着下半年几款车的上市及爬坡,我们有信心在20万元以上中国乘用车市场进入所有品牌销量前三。通过核心技术的自研,我们持续巩固更深的护城河,并逐渐将其转化为用户价值和商业效率。目前,5C超充已经成为了用户选择的必要因素,理想自建超充站是重要竞争力之一。电池方面,我们已经实现了包括电芯、BMS和pack在内的全栈自研。继自研电机和电控之后,补齐了三电领域的最后一个版图。通过和整车系统的一体化设计,以及对于5C超充的技术的经验积累,理想汽车自研电池可以在质量、安全、寿命等方面有行业领先的表现。目前,理想汽车自研电池已经在全新理想L8、新一代理想L6和理想A8正式上车。未来几个月,我们在所有的车型上都将会搭载自研电池。我们坚定地认为,长期来看,电池和芯片会是汽车智能行业最重要的技术壁垒和护城河。5月,我们开始交付基于理想汽车自研玛赫M100芯片的整套智驾体系。目前,玛赫M100芯片交付已经超过了5万颗,并保持了良好的质量表现。芯片之外,我们在模型、控制器、软件系统等研发层面也在不断突破,并逐渐将整合为产品体验。7月底,通过OTA 9.1,玛赫VLA的性能整体较之前提升了20%,用户里程渗透率相较上一代算力平台也接近三倍的提升。9月,玛赫VLA也将推动至Thor和Orin平台的用户。后续,我们会基于理想汽车的数据积累,针对玛赫M100芯片加速模型训练与能力的提升,进一步发挥自研芯片的算力优势。七月的OTA 9.1版本,在反应速度上看齐和超越人驾驶员。十月的OTA 9.2版本,VLA将全面采用3D视觉transformer的感知,看得更远,更精准。年底的OTA 9.3版本,VLA的模型参数会成倍提升,在复杂场景的任务理解和推理能力上显著提升。反应更快,看得更准,推理更强,是今年玛赫M100和玛赫VLA最重要的三个提升。未来,我们将继续以打造最智能的汽车为核心战略,通过软硬一体的全栈自研与持续迭代,让汽车真正成为保护人类安全、独立完成任务、比人类更高效的智能级机器。下面有请我们的CFO李姐,为大家介绍我们的财务表现。 Hi everyone, this is Lisa.
Thank you for joining our earnings conference call today. In the first half of this year, in the midst of intense market competition and a complete product refresh, Li Auto has remained the top selling Chinese automotive brand in the RMB200,000 and above NEV market. The continued rollout of our dual energy strategy has resulted in a healthy product mix, with EREVs and BEVs each accounting for 50% of total sales. Since Q2, we have updated the entire Li L series, showcasing our latest technologies. Key updates include our in-house Mach M100 chip running Mach VLA model, 800 volt active suspension and drive-by-wire chassis, and our third generation range extender with 5C supercharging battery. The hardware and software upgrades set new standards for the technology and user experience once again.
Turning over to our BEV lineup, the Li L6 has been one of our top three selling models priced over RMB200,000 for six consecutive months. Li L6 and the L6 are the top sellers in their respective segments, further solidifying our leadership in the RMB200,000 to RMB300,000 SUV market. Upgrades to our BEV lineup is also underway. In late July, we launched the rear-wheel drive long range version of Li L8. Based on user feedback, we added features such as power trunk and zero gravity driver and passenger seats. These updates bolstered our product competitiveness and translated to a notable sales uplift. The new generation Li MEGA is scheduled for launch on September 2nd. We further polished its pioneering design and completely revamped the interior, the cabin experience, intelligent platform and ride quality.
Additionally, the all new flagship BEV SUV, Li L9, will also be launched in mid-September, further enriching Li Auto's BEV product lineup. We anticipate BEV models to account for an even larger share of total sales over time. With new models launching and ramping up in the second half of this year, we're confident in maintaining a top three position among all brands in China's passenger vehicle market, priced above RMB200,000. By developing core technologies in-house, we're continuously deepening our competitive moat, steadily translating these technological advancements into tangible user value and commercial efficiency. 5C supercharging has become a prerequisite in user purchase decisions, and a proprietary supercharging network stands as one of our key competitive advantages. On batteries, we're able to develop cell BMS and pack fully in-house, completing the final piece of the electric powertrain puzzle, following electric motors and control units.
Through integrated design with the overall vehicle system, combined with the technology and experience we have accumulated in 5C supercharging, we're confident that Li Auto's in-house battery will deliver industry leading performance in- Pardon me, this is the operator.
Please hold and the conference will recommence shortly. The conference is reconnected. Please go ahead.
Apologies for the breakup. To continue with the CEO's remarks. Through integrated design with the overall vehicle system, combined with the technology and experience we have accumulated in 5C supercharging, we are confident that Li Auto's in-house battery will deliver industry leading performance in quality, safety, and service life. Our in-house batteries are already deployed on our all-new Li L8, the new Li L6, and the Li L8. Within the next few months, all of our models will be equipped with our proprietary batteries. We firmly believe that batteries and chips are going to be the most critical technological barriers in the embodied AI industry. In May, we started shipping our full stack AD solution based on the M100 chip. To date, shipments of the M100 chips have exceeded 50,000 units, maintaining excellent quality track record. Beyond chips, we are also making R&D breakthroughs across models, controllers, and software.
These achievements have steadily translated into product experience. In late July, with OTA 9.1, overall Mach VLA performance improved by 20%, and user mileage penetration nearly doubled compared to the previous generation computing platform. In September, we will also roll out Mach VLA to cars with NVIDIA Thor and Orin X chips. Building on the data we have accumulated, we will accelerate model training and iterations to fully leverage the compute advantage on our chips. The July OTA 9.1 update allows VLA to match and surpass human drivers in reaction speed. The October OTA 9.2 update will enable VLA to fully adopt 3D vision transformer, providing long range and better precision. The year-end OTA 9.3 update will see VLA model parameters scale exponentially, significantly enhancing task comprehension and reasoning capabilities in complex scenarios.
Faster reactions, sharper vision, and stronger reasoning are the three most crucial upgrades for the M100 and Mach VLA this year. Going forward, building embodied AI vehicles will remain at the core of our strategy. Through full stack in-house development across hardware and software with continuous iteration, our vision is that vehicles will become true intelligent agents that can not only look after human beings, but also complete tasks independently more efficiently than human beings. With that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Johnny, to walk you through our financial performance.
Thank you, Li. Hello, everyone. Given time constraints, my remarks today will be limited to our second quarter financial highlights. All figures will be quoted in RMB, unless otherwise stated. For further details, including the corresponding U.S. dollar amounts, we encourage you to refer to our earnings press release. Total revenues in the second quarter were RMB25.7 billion, down 15.1% year-over-year and up 11.7% quarter-over-quarter. This included RMB24.1 billion from vehicle sales, down 15.7% year-over-year and up 11.8% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year decrease was mainly driven by reduced vehicle deliveries and a lower average selling price due to different product mix. The sequential increase was mainly attributable to a higher average selling price due to different product mix and increased vehicle delivery. Cost of sales in the second quarter was RMB22.8 billion, down 5.6% year-over-year and up 7.8% quarter-over-quarter.
Gross profit in the second quarter was RMB2.8 billion, down 53.3% year-over-year and up 56.9% quarter-over-quarter. Vehicle margin in the second quarter was 9.4%, versus 19.4% in the same period last year and 6.1% in the prior quarter. The year-over-year and sequential changes were mainly due to different product mix. Gross margin in the second quarter was 11%, versus 20.1% in the same period last year and 7.9% in the prior quarter. Operating expenses in the second quarter was RMB5.1 billion, down 2% year-over-year and up 6.9% quarter-over-quarter. R&D expenses in the second quarter were RMB2.8 billion, down 1.2% year-over-year and up 2% quarter-over-quarter. SG&A expenses in the second quarter were RMB2.3 billion, down 16.2% year-over-year, mainly on lower employee compensation, and up 11.2% quarter-over-quarter, mainly on higher marketing and promotion spending.
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