©Reuters. Li Auto (LI) shares rise as fourth-quarter revenue and deliveries beat estimates
Li Auto (NASDAQ:) saw its shares jump about 8% in premarket trading Monday after the electric vehicle (EV) maker reported better-than-expected earnings, revenue and vehicle deliveries for the fourth quarter fiscal 2023.
Earnings per share (EPS) were reported at RMB4.23, beating consensus estimates of 93 cents. The company’s quarterly revenue reached RMB41.73 billion, also higher than the estimated RMB39.8 billion.
The automaker reported a significant year-over-year increase in vehicle deliveries, recording 131,805 units compared to 46,319 last year and exceeding the expected 127,821 units.
Li Auto also reported gross margin improvement to 23.5% from 20.2% year-on-year, beating the 21.6% expected by analysts.
Looking ahead, Li Auto expects revenue for the first quarter of 2024 to be between RMB31.25 billion and RMB32.2 billion, lower than the consensus projection of RMB36.37 billion.
The company expects vehicle deliveries to range between 100,000 and 103,000 units, below the estimated 116,604 units.
“Undeterred by the highly competitive internal combustion vehicle market in 2023, Li Auto has achieved outstanding performance with its three Li L series models,” said Xiang Li, president and chief executive officer of Li Auto.
“With our significantly increasing scale, continued progress in research and development, and consistent improvement in operational efficiency throughout the year, 2023 marks our best financial performance yet, laying a solid foundation for Li Auto’s growth for diversify its product matrix and meet a wider range of user needs in 2024,” he added.