Great Wall Motor's Profitability Poised to Improve — Market Talk

Q3 2025 saw strong revenue growth but a sharp decline in net profit due to higher investments in sales channels, marketing, and technology. Operating cash flow improved significantly, while net profit and EPS fell year-over-year.

Original document: Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. Class A [601633] Earnings Release — Oct. 24 2025

By Jason Chau

Shares of Chinese electric-vehicle makers rose in Hong Kong as the market reopened after a holiday, buoyed by solid sales figures.

Nio led the charge, surging about 7% to its highest level since January last year after the carmaker set new monthly and quarterly sales records.

The Shanghai-based company delivered 34,749 vehicles in September, up 64% on the year, while sales for the quarter climbed 41%.

Both Nio and XPeng delivered strong results on the back of model launches and competitive lineups, DBS analysts said in a note. They expect the companies' sales momentum to continue.

Guangzhou-based XPeng's deliveries surged 95% from a year earlier in September, more than doubling third-quarter sales.

XPeng H-shares were last trading 2.4% higher.

China's EV sales have been rebounding from a summer slowdown as the peak season begins. However, industry leader BYD underperformed relative to its peers, posting its first drop in shipments in 18 months. It delivered 396,270 units in September, down from 419,426 in August.

China's crackdown on pricing competition is pushing the Shenzhen-based carmaker to adjust its strategy, said Deutsche Bank's Bin Wang, noting that BYD had previously cut its full-year sales forecast.

That doesn't seem to have soured appetite for BYD's H-Shares, however, with the stock last up 3.6%.

Markets will be closely watching third-quarter sales due from BYD rival Tesla. According to FactSet, analysts expect a much smaller on-year decline.

Other results from Chinese EV players signaled solid demand.

Geely delivered 273,125 units in September, up 35% on the year. Great Wall Motor sold 133,639 vehicles, up 23%. Shares were last up 1.4% and 1.5% respectively.

EV newcomer Xiaomi did well too, topping 40,000 monthly deliveries for the first time. Shares were last up 4.3%.

Looking ahead, analysts expect sales to keep rising, though the industry faces persistent headwinds.

Car sales in China usually peak in September and October, in what automakers call "golden September and silver October". China's Golden Week holiday, which falls during the period, usually boosts consumer demand.

Beijing's consumer trade-in programs are also expected to keep supporting auto sales, Nomura analysts said in a note.

However, automakers still face intense competition, and can't cut prices the way they used to due to policymakers' efforts to rein in price wars.

"We maintain our view that competition will likely further intensify in the China auto industry," Nomura analysts Joel Ying and Ethan Zhang said.

Write to Jason Chau at jason.chau@wsj.com

Great Wall Motor's long-term growth outlook remains uncertain given the company's heavy reliance on exports to Russia and intense competition within China's auto industry, Morningstar analyst Vincent Sun writes in a note. The company's 2Q revenue was in line with expectations but core profit disappointed, he says. The miss was attributable to a gross margin contraction and a surge in sales expenses as competition, which led to retail discounts, Sun adds. Meanwhile, weak export sales failed to mitigate margin pressure in China's market, Sun says. Morningstar maintains its cautious view on the company's profitability and expects elevated costs to be sustained given prolonged price competition in China, he adds. Morningstar raises its fair value estimate to HK$11.50 from HK$10.50. Shares were recently at HK$19.27.(jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)

Operating revenue for H1 2025 rose 0.99% year-over-year to RMB 92.33 billion, with net profit down 10.21% to RMB 6.34 billion. Gross margin declined, but sales of new energy vehicles and overseas units grew, while the company continued to invest in R&D and global expansion.

Original document: Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. Class A [601633] Earnings Release — Aug. 29 2025