Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | Hesai's performance greatly exceeded expectations, with a single-day stock price surge of 50%. The growth of LiDAR in the robotics sector is rapid (including concept stocks)

On March 11, Hesai surged over 50% in the U.S. stock market, with reports indicating that the company supplies laser radar sensors to Mercedes-Benz.

Hesai Technology released its unaudited financial report for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2024. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company achieved revenue of 720 million yuan, showing improvements both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter; net profit was 147 million yuan, turning a profit compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the company generated positive operating cash flow of 600 million yuan in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a total positive operating cash flow of 63 million yuan for the year and a net cash flow of 1.3 billion yuan.

In terms of gross margin, the company's gross margin for the full year of 2024 reached 42.6%, but the gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2024 was 39.0%, lower than the 41.2% in the same period of 2023. Hesai Technology stated that the slight year-on-year decline was due to a reduction in high-margin non-recurring engineering services executed in this quarter.

Regarding shipment volume, the total delivery of laser radars in Q4 was 222,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 153.1%, surpassing the total for the entire year of 2023. The total delivery of laser radars for the full year of 2024 was 501,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 126.0%; the total delivery of ADAS laser radars for the full year of 2024 was 456,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 134.2%.

In terms of production capacity, Hesai revealed that its new production line will officially start production in the third quarter of 2025. By the end of 2025, the annual production capacity is expected to reach 2 million units.

At the same time, in the fourth quarter of 2024, Hesai delivered approximately 7,000 laser radars for L4 autonomous driving, which were installed in thousands of autonomous vehicles. Hesai has reached exclusive long-distance laser radar supply cooperation with the top five Robotaxi companies in China, including Baidu Apollo.

"Hesai expects laser radar shipments in 2025 to reach between 1.2 million and 1.5 million units, with laser radars for the robotics sector expected to reach 200,000 units," said Hesai Technology.

According to Zhitong Finance APP, in January of this year, Hesai officially launched the JT series of mini ultra-hemispherical 3D laser radars aimed at the robotics sector at CES 2025.

"It is expected that in 2025, the JT series will deliver six-figure orders for the MOVA smart lawnmower. Additionally, the JT series has also received orders from Agtonomy, a partner for unmanned agricultural vehicle solutions for the world's largest light construction equipment manufacturer."

It is worth mentioning that Hesai's XT series is providing 3D perception technology for Yushu Technology's robots and is applied in scenarios such as BMW's Automated Factory Driving System (AFW).

Regarding profit expectations for this year, the company anticipates that net revenue in 2025 will reach between 3 billion and 3.5 billion yuan, with GAAP profits expected to be between 200 million and 350 million yuan, and Non-GAAP profits expected to be between 350 million and 500 million yuan—this will be 25-35 times the Non-GAAP profits of 2024.

Guojin Securities released a research report stating that laser radar has enormous development potential in both the automotive and robotics markets. The penetration rate of automotive laser radar is expected to "cross the chasm" in 2024, and in 2025, it is likely to benefit from the sinking of intelligent driving to achieve "volume increase and price stability"; in the robotics market, the prospects for color 3D point cloud solutions are promising, with "hardware standardization + software ecosystem openness" becoming competitive advantages for leading manufacturers Hong Kong stocks related to LiDAR:

Suteng Juchuang (02498): Suteng Juchuang focuses on developing chip-driven LiDAR platforms based on self-developed chip technology to achieve rapid and efficient hardware product iteration. In addition, Suteng's artificial intelligence perception software HyperVision converts raw sensor data collected from LiDAR and cameras into high-quality perception information that can be directly used by autonomous vehicles and robots. After BYD announced the start of the "Era of Intelligent Driving for All," Suteng Juchuang may also become the "biggest winner in LiDAR." In the LiDAR equipped in BYD's mid-to-high-end solutions, Suteng Juchuang's supply share will reach 80%. As of November 29, 2024, Suteng Juchuang has successfully obtained mass production orders for 92 models from 28 automotive manufacturers and first-tier suppliers. Suteng Juchuang stated that the H1 robot from Yushu Technology, which appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, is equipped with its self-developed LiDAR Helios