BEIJING: BYD 002594.SZ, 1211.HK, China’s largest electrical automaker by gross sales, on Friday (Mar 27) posted a bigger-than-expected revenue drop and disclosed a headcount fall for the first time, hurt by weak gross sales in its house market.
Internet revenue fell 19 per cent to 32.6 billion yuan (US$4.72 billion), BYD mentioned in a inventory alternate submitting, its first annual revenue drop in 4 years and steeper than a mean 12.1 per cent fall anticipated by analysts polled by LSEG.
BYD may face a harder earnings backdrop in 2026, as intense competitors and softer home demand are more likely to preserve stress on revenue, whilst abroad development continues, analysts mentioned.
The automaker was as soon as propelled by its inexpensive Dynasty and Ocean collection, however has been shedding floor as rivals resembling Leapmotor 9863.HK and Geely 0175.HK slender its technological lead.
It was China’s largest automaker in 2025 however fell to 4th place over the January to February interval a its general gross sales dropped by probably the most for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic.
Income grew 3.5 per cent, its weakest tempo in six years, and the automaker reduce its workforce by 10.2 per cent to 869,622 a of 2025 finish.
For the three months by means of December, revenue slumped 38.2 per cent to 9.3 billion yuan from a 12 months in the past, its third straight quarter of decline.
Gross revenue margin from autos and associated merchandise, which contributed 80.7 per cent to working income, slipped to twenty.5 per cent final 12 months, down 1.8 proportion factors from a 12 months ago.
POLICY SUPPORT STRONG, BUT MARGINS UNDER PRESSURE
BYD’s shares in Hong Kong rose 3.7 per cent forward of the outcomes and closed up 2.1 per cent in Shenzhen 002594.SZ.
The drop in revenue, after years of fast development, raises doubts about BYD’s earnings visibility, underscoring a extra cautious view on the EV sector on this planet’s largest auto market.
Though coverage help stays robust, margins are beneath stress a returns more and more depend upon scale, value management and world enlargement.
“We additionally recognise that competitors within the (new power car) business has reached a fever pitch, and is present process a brutal ‘knockout stage’,” BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu mentioned, whereas reaffirming its abroad push.
“Specializing in tech upgrades would assist drive competitiveness over worth, whereas abroad gross sales and localisation stays a key focus for development this 12 months,” mentioned Eugene Hsiao, an analyst at Macquarie.
BYD makes solely all-electric and plug-in petrol-electric hybrid autos, so has suffered probably the most from the expiration of buy tax exemption on new power autos.
