BEIJING, May 10 (TMTPOST)— The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Li Auto Inc. soared by around 14% to US$28.22, the highest close since August 31, 2022, on Wednesday after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company posted surprisingly strong growth in profit despite the intense price ignited by Tesla.

Source: Visual China

Li Auto set the quarterly record both in top and bottom line in the first quarter of the year, according to a filling on Wednesday. The total revenue grew 96.5% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB18.79 billion (US$2.74 billion) that quarter, slightly missing the analysts’ estimated US$2.75 billion, while adjusted earnings per American depositary share (ADS) of RMB1.35 (US$0.20) beat the expectation of US$0.01. Net income jumped 252% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to RMB933.8 million (US$136 million), compared with RMB10.9 million net loss the same period a year ago. That suggested the automaker maintained profitability for two quarters in a row.

Li Auto’s strong performance resulted from the record high sales and increase in unit price. In the quarter ended March 31, the EV maker set a new delivery record of 52,584 vehicles, representing a yearly increase of 65.8%. Vehicle sales surged 96.9% YoY to RMB18.33 billion, increasing 6.1% from the previous quarter. The chairman and CEO Li Xiang noted his company claimed the third place by sales among new energy vehicle (NEV) brands priced over RMB200,000 in China in the quarter even the competition was intensified. “This was made possible by the continued user endorsement of our Li L9 and Li L8, and the strong order intake and quick ramp-up of our Li L7, demonstrating once again our ability to design and build blockbuster models, as well as the strength and collaborative efficacy of our supply chain, manufacturing, and sales and servicing network,” Li said.

Li Auto has experienced transition of its flagship model to Li L9, an SUV starts at RMB450,000, and Li L8, another SUV priced at RMB360,000 to RMB400,000, since the fourth quarter as the company discontinued production of Li One, a model sold at RMB350,000, in October.

At the beginning of the month, Li Auto disclosed a monthly delivery of 25,681 EVs in April, shattering a new record following its delivery first exceeded 20,000 vehicles in March. The latest delivery represents a 516.3% yearly growth, much robust than the 89% growth in March. The company reported a consequential growth of 23.3%, another double-digit month-over-month (MoM) increase following that of 25% in March.

Li Xiang said his company delivered over 10,000 Li L7s, a new model went on sale in the first quarter, in its first full month of deliveries in April, the first time for a Chinese branded five-seat SUV priced above RMB300,000 to achieve such monthly delivery milestone.

Looking forward, Li Auto expected delivery for the current quarter to be at a range of 76,000 units and 81,000 units, suggesting another record-breaking result with yearly increase between 164.9% and 182.4%, and quarterly revenue to be between RMB24.22 billion and RMB25.76 billion, an increase of 177.4% to 196.1% from the same quarter last year. The delivery guidance suggests the automaker is expected to refresh the monthly record made in April for deliveries from May and June have to reach an average of 30,000 units to meet the quarterly target.