Li Auto Guides for Stronger Sales After Quarterly Profit Halves

By Jiahui Huang

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Li Auto guided for higher deliveries in the third quarter after a challenging quarter marked by a profit slump, slower sales growth and narrower margins.

The hybrid-vehicle specialist said Wednesday that its second-quarter net profit halved to 1.10 billion yuan, equivalent to $154.4 million. That topped the 854.5 million yuan consensus estimate of analysts in a FactSet poll.

Its revenue rose 11% to 31.68 billion yuan, beating analysts' estimate of 30.27 billion yuan. The automaker delivered 108,581 units during the period, up 25% from a year earlier. That slowed from the 53% vehicle sales growth in the first quarter.

For the third quarter, the company said it expects to deliver between 145,000 and 155,000 vehicles and post revenue of 39.4 billion yuan to 42.2 billion yuan.

Gross margin fell to 19.5% from 21.8% a year ago and 20.6% in the first quarter, the company said, citing a different product mix and pricing-strategy changes.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2024 05:06 ET (09:06 GMT)

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