ECARX Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
April 30, 2025

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day, thank you for joining us. Welcome to the EcarX First Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After management give their prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded.

Operator

I would now like to turn the call over to your host for today's call, Renee Du, Head of Investor Relations at ECAR X. Please proceed, Renee.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to ECAR X first quarter twenty twenty five earnings conference call. With me today from eCAR X are our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen Chief Operating Officer, Peter Serino and Chief Financial Officer, Phil Zhou. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also applies to this call.

Speaker 1

Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, this call will include discussions of certain non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can also be found at the bottom of our earnings release. With that, I'd like to hand the call over to Ziyu. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Renee. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining our earnings call today. The momentum we picked up in 2024 continued to build in the first quarter as the global automotive industry continues to evolve at a rapid path. We remain firmly at the forefront of this transformation as we continue to stress and expand our portfolio of cutting edge, cost effective solutions and execute on our strategic vision. We hit a number of significant milestones during the quarter, which clearly reflect our position as a leading provider of intelligent solutions for our makers on a global scale.

Speaker 2

Global vehicle sales during the quarter fell 5.6 year over year indicating growing market headwinds and supply chain challenges. Notably, however, the China market continued to demonstrate resilience growing 12.9% year over year. AMD's dynamic backdrop, we continue to capitalize on growing demand from global automakers seeking to stand out from competition and attract consumers with unique driving experience. Our innovative product portfolio and a strategic global partnerships offer them a unique value proposition, which continues to translate into an improving financial performance. Our operating loss narrowed further, foreign 30% year over year to US24.6 million while total revenue growth 30% to US168.5 million dollars despite further competition, gross margins remain firm at around 20%, reflecting the continued progress we are making to optimizing product costs, executing our supply chain and the manufacturing strategy, improving operational efficiency and delivering value even in a highly challenging market environment.

Speaker 2

Shipments surged to 684,000 units, bringing the total number of vehicles on the road with E car X knowledge to over 8,700,000 by the March, an increase of 35.8% year over year and up 8.4% increase sequentially. Shipment growth was fueled by the remarkable success of GD's Glax brand, which sold over 90,000 units in March alone, an increase of more than 290% year over year with acute eight new projects wins under GE's new foundation EE architecture and supported the successful launch of the E Class E eight and Xinyao eight during the quarter. Notably, both of these vehicles are the first to launch with GE's G pilot unified intelligent driving system integrated with our Skyline Pro AIDA solution. Innovation remains the cornerstone of our strategy. In the first quarter, we achieved a significant milestone with the successful integration of the intelligent driving and parking capabilities into the Antora Southern Superbring.

Speaker 2

The latest and the most cutting edge interaction of the Antora series. This solution, which has already passed the testing, reference breakthrough in our R and D roadmap and enables us to deliver cost effective, streamlined and reliable solutions for entry level vehicles. In March, we hosted our twenty five Investor Day in Hong Kong, where we highlight our first quarter of EBITDA breakeven at the end of twenty twenty four. Our positive outlook for 2025 and our ongoing global expansion and the technological innovation. The event was attended by over 80 investors and analysts, underscoring the growing interest in our story and our commitment to transparency.

Speaker 2

These were quickly followed by our first public offering since our listing in 2022, further diversifying our shareholder base. The US45 million in proceeds are in marked to exert our global expansion by deploying global R and D and supply chain networks. With a strong start to 2025, a robust pipeline of new projects, a growing suite of innovative solutions and a clear path to profitability, we are confident in our ability to capture opportunities ahead as automotive industry continues its transformation. I will now pass the call over to Peter, who will go through the operating results of the quarter in more detail.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Ziyu, and good day to everyone. I am pleased to report that we delivered another strong quarter of operational execution and continued global expansion, building on the momentum established in 2024. Our strategic initiatives continue to translate into robust growth, deeper customer relationships and a rapidly expanding footprint both in China and international markets. In the first quarter, we shipped 684,000 units. We now serve 18 OEMs across 28 brands globally, a testament to our growing scale and the trust global automakers place in us.

Speaker 3

A key highlight this quarter was the successful delivery of our first digital cockpit sample to the Volkswagen Group. We achieved this milestone within weeks, demonstrating our ability to deliver high quality customized solutions with speed and precision. This project is a significant step in our global expansion as it marks the first time our Antoro 1,000 computing platform and Cloud Peak software architecture will power vehicles in the Brazilian and Indian markets, highlighting our ability to customize solutions for both Chinese and international markets. We also secured eight new project wins from Geely for their next generation models under their new foundational EE architecture. Six of these will utilize our Venato computing platform, while the two remaining will be built on the Entouro series.

Speaker 3

These wins further deepen our partnership with Geely and reinforce our position as a core technology provider for their future roadmap. Our technology continues to power some of the most exciting new launches in the market. During the quarter, the Galaxy E8 launched with our Skyland Pro ADAS solution integrated into the core of Geely's unified intelligent driving system, G Pilot. The Galaxy Xiangyang 8PF Sedan was also recently launched and is the first Galaxy to integrate our full stack solution, including the Antora 1,000, Skyland Pro and Cloud Peak, delivering a seamless intelligent cockpit and driving experience that sets a new benchmark for luxury safety and user centric design. Our solutions are powering premium FAW models, such as the Hongqi Tiangong five and six, both equipped with tailor made solutions that feature our Antora 1,000 Pro platform, customized Hongqi FAW OS built on Cloud Peak framework and E CarX Auto GPT to be launched soon through OTA.

Speaker 3

An ADAS solution is also currently in development for five additional Hongqi vehicles with start up production anticipated for the third quarter. We expect similar solutions to be replicated and scaled across future Homchi models, providing a cost effective streamlined solution that aligns seamlessly with the evolving EE architecture. These launches highlight the flexibility and scalability of our product portfolio, which offers global automakers solutions that can be deployed across the entire vehicle spectrum from entry level to premium models for both cockpit and ADAS applications. Our product portfolio has evolved to align with these flexible needs with our intelligent cockpit solutions now focusing on our flagship Antora family, ranging from the single chip Antora 1,000 to the latest and most cutting edge Antora FPB iteration. We also maintain a significant volume of Qualcomm based solutions spanning from the basic eight one five five to the eight two nine five platform with the eight three series planned for future deployment, designed for a centralized EE architecture.

Speaker 3

For intelligent driving product lines, we successfully mass produced our Skyland Pro solutions while maintaining flexibility to shift to more advanced solutions by leveraging NVIDIA platforms when customer requirements demand higher performance. This flexible approach ensures we can serve diverse market needs efficiently and effectively. The Volkswagen Group project was monumental for us in this regard, generating significant interest internationally for our flexible and scalable solutions regardless of market. We are currently in discussions with multiple global automakers and have built a robust pipeline of RFQs as new business opportunities continue to come in from both China and the global market. This momentum is a direct result of our ability to deliver high quality, cost effective solutions at speed and our proven track record of successful global deployments.

Speaker 3

Innovation remains at the core of our strategy. During the quarter, we achieved a major milestone with the integration of intelligent cockpit, driving and parking capabilities into the Antora one thousand SPV. This solution has already passed road testing on the Galaxy E5, combines L2 ADAS cockpit and parking functionalities into a single cost effective platform. Powered by the seven nanometer SE1000 SoC, the platform delivers high performance computing and AI capabilities, enabling automakers to accelerate the deployment of next generation vehicles with enhanced safety and an improved user experience. We also recently introduced the eCarX Experience, our advanced generative in vehicle HMI system powered by our proprietary AutoGPT AI large model application.

Speaker 3

ECar experience transforms the driving experience with a dynamic real time interface that adapts to user needs, delivering smarter, safer and more personalized interactions. To build up this momentum, we just showcased a demo of our cloud integrated Auto GPT on the sidelines of the Shanghai Auto Show, further underscoring our leadership in AI driven vehicle intelligence. A week ago, we announced a partnership with HEAR Technologies to co develop a next generation AI powered in vehicle navigation system for global automakers. By integrating the HEAR SDK and compliant global location data, this solution enables global automakers to significantly shorten development cycles and time to market for their vehicles, while ensuring seamless compliance with international data regulations. Continued innovation strengthens our growing intellectual property portfolio, which has expanded to seven zero five registered patents and seven seventy eight patent pending applications globally as of 03/31/2025.

Speaker 3

As I have mentioned before, to support our global ambitions, we are building two closed loop systems, one for China and the other for the overseas market, each spanning intellectual property, R and D, procurement, manufacturing and delivery. We're developing plans to set up a global supply chain center and international engineering center in Singapore, which will help us navigate the geopolitical landscape and better serve our international customers. We plan on having more than 100 employees there by the end of twenty twenty six. This will be directly supported by our Malaysian presence, which serves as our Southeast Asia Product Compliance And Adaptation Center, further strengthening our ability to localize and scale solutions for global markets. In summary, the first quarter of twenty twenty five was marked by strong shipment growth, major project wins, successful product launches and significant innovation milestones.

Speaker 3

Our expanding global footprint, robust pipeline and relentless focus on operational excellence position us well to capture the opportunities ahead. We remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable growth and value for our global customer base as we continue to execute on our strategy to drive the industry's transition to software defined intelligent vehicles. With that, I will now turn the call over to Phil, who will review our financial results.

Speaker 4

Thank you, Peter, and hello, everyone. We started the year strongly. The momentum we built during 2024 has continued to accelerate as we progress into the first quarter of twenty twenty five. Total revenue for the quarter landed at RMB1.2 billion, an increase of 30% year over year. Sales of goods revenue was RMB879 million, up 16% year over year as customer demand continued to grow for both computing platform products and SoC core modules.

Speaker 4

In Q1, our in house developed platforms Entola Sirius, Makalu and Veneto contributed approximately 39% to the total sales of goods revenue compared to $0.20 for the same period last year. This reinforces our in house development strategy. Software license revenue came in at million, surging 148% year over year, supported by an increase in operating software license demand and a one time software license authorization contract. Service revenue was RMB157 million, up 49% year over year, primarily impacted by the design and the development of contracts delivery and the booking schedule, as well as overseas cloud and the connectivity services business growth. Gross profit for the quarter was $243,000,000, up 19% year over year, translating into a gross margin of 19.8%.

Speaker 4

Total cost of revenue increased 34% year over year, mainly driven by an increase in sales volume of automotive or computing platform products as well as SOC core modules and the software license revenue growth. Operating expenses during the quarter decreased 9% year over year, supported by continued improvement in global operating efficiencies and the synergies achieved through R and D, resources, reallocation and integration. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the quarter was million, a significant improvement compared to a loss of RMB224 million during the same period last year, which primarily driven by the increase in gross profit supported by an increase in software license revenue and the subs revenue growth. The reduction in total operating expenses as well as a decrease in equity investment loss during the quarter compared to the same period last year. Loss last year was RMB0.57 for the quarter compared to RMB0.85 for the same period last year.

Speaker 4

Moving on to our balance sheet. As of the end of the quarter, we had RMB933 million of cash and restricted cash together with the capital raise completed recently. We will have the required resources to accelerate global expansion and the key initiatives roadmap, while we continue to improve our working capital and profitability enhancement. In summary, our first quarter financial performance reflects the effectiveness of our portfolio management, disciplined cost and expense controls and the exclusion of our operational strategy. Looking forward, we will remain focused on expanding the customer base, improving our cost structure and driving operational efficiency to improve our financial performance and the sustainability of our business in the long run.

Speaker 4

That concludes our remarks today. I would now like to hand the call back to the operator to begin the Q and A session.

Operator

Thank you. Our first question comes from Denlon Wren with CICC. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hi. Can you hear me?

Speaker 2

Yes, we can hear you.

Speaker 5

Okay. Good evening, everyone. This is Nannie Ren from SICC auto team. Thanks for sharing all the insights. I have three more questions for you.

Speaker 5

The first one, could you please give us a quick update on Skylen's recent orders and its profitability? And my second question is, has there been any additional pressure for annual cost down starting this year? My third question is, have we been involved in the Cheney Hong Han H3 program? And will H3 become Judy's mainstream alternative solution. That's all my questions.

Speaker 2

Okay, good. So, this is speaking. Okay, thanks for questions. So the first one. Yes.

Speaker 2

So Skyline got on the orders quite good in quarter one because of, you know, the China market all in ADAS, you know, era. So, also the gross margin perspective, I think we are, we are getting very fair market gross margin is okay. And also we have confidence to continue to keep the goals of Skyline product line in GD family and all in industry as well. Also, you said also, you already seen we announced the partnership with NVIDIA SOAR platform with Zika, and we believe that will be add on volume very soon. In terms of the pressure of the pricing, I believe we are still very competitive in China market because of Antora platform and we are very robust power line.

Speaker 2

So we already achieved the yearly cost down from OEM customer and we are keeping working very closely this year to try to do the better for each other. Yep. And the last one, so I I cannot remember what what is h three wire, but I want to say we are very close partner with GD, ADAS roadmap. Also, understand my the TCOREX invest company, thought engine, just announced their 81,000 SOC. Actually, that will be very important platform as well as Antora.

Speaker 2

We will go investment, and also we will very close with GDA as well in the in the in near future. Yeah, that's question. The answer from your questions here.

Speaker 5

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you.

Operator

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Bin Wang with Deutsche Bank. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

Hello. Can you hear me?

Speaker 2

Hello.

Speaker 6

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. Have two questions. So my first question is regarding our SPV, we're a centralized computing platform. Do you have any new business business you can announce within automakers?

Speaker 2

Yes. Of course. So as you know, we we announced the partnership with Volkswagen Group. Also, actually, used to enter all our platform, and some brands actually SPV platform, to be honest. So that's very cost competitive and very strong competition in global market.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Also in in in China, you're already seeing the good performance from GDGax E5 and ongoing Gax series GALEX product line from GD. I think that's already being very important hero product and the hero, you know, of the the competition for GDGX already. Yeah.

Speaker 6

So, does that mean that the GXC pro line will also at some point, use some STD products.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so I forgot the file already already STD plan for already, including the gateway parking and the digital copies together already. That's GA three point zero architecture.

Speaker 6

Understood. And my second question is, can you maybe comment a bit on the impact of US tariffs, whether it's to our supply to Volvo vehicles or to our chip supply?

Speaker 2

Okay. So so US tariff free challenge is very significant for the industry. But from e commerce point of view, you know, we don't have in house, you know, manufacturing. So we always contract manufacturing with the partner for global deliver. So that's why, like, Volvo Corp.

Speaker 2

So also we are very closely working together to find the right partner. We can very easily landing Mexico, US or Canada, you know, that area, that region for my contract manufacturing.

Speaker 6

Understood. That's very clear. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I think that's very few impact for us.

Operator

One moment.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Operator

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Catherine Sun with BLCI. Your line is

Speaker 2

open. Hello,

Speaker 5

management. Can you hear me?

Speaker 2

Yeah. We can hear you. Yeah. Please.

Speaker 5

Yeah. Thank you for taking my questions. And I have two questions about our global operation. And the first one is given the changing macro environment and the sluggish growth in the pure sales. How do we view the outlook for partnerships with international OEMs?

Speaker 5

And could you share our updates on your collaboration with Volkswagen And are there any potential impacts from the sales? My second question is that you just mentioned to plan to establish a supply chain and engineering center in the Singapore. Could you share more on this, and how will it synergize with your existing supply chain network? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Okay, Catherine, thank you for

Speaker 3

the question. I first of

Speaker 2

all, as we look at

Speaker 3

the market, we see a lot of interest from the global automakers. We had a a number of very strong meetings around the Shanghai Auto Show as they visited China and saw many of the latest trends. And we continue to see that the China market is, in terms of feature set, really leading the industry in the intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving areas where we, you know, we were where we were also engaged in that leading market and that the global automakers are definitely looking for strong partners that can bring great technology to them on a global scale. Specifically, you asked about the Volkswagen program. As we mentioned in our press release where we announced that program, that program will first launch in the Brazil market and eventually translate into the India market.

Speaker 3

We hope to expand to additional markets as well into the future, but those are the two launch markets, and we don't see large impact from tariffs on those two supply chain structures. As you mentioned, we use contract manufacturing, and we've effectively set up great supply chains that are able to deliver to those two regions. Could you repeat your second question again? You broke up as you were going through that question. We want to make sure to answer all elements of it.

Speaker 5

Okay. Sure. My second question is that you just mentioned to establish a supply chain and engineering center in Singapore. So could you elaborate more on it and how will it synergize with more existing supply chain? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yeah. Certainly. So as part of our strategy in, throughout this year to serve the global market, we're establishing our global supply chain center, out of Singapore. And as I mentioned in my remarks, between Singapore and Malaysia, we're building a deep engineering team that will help drive our global technology and fundamentally hold all of our IP for the international market. So that center will add to our existing footprint.

Speaker 3

It'll give us a one global place to drive all of our supply chain activities from that can service the entire world from that location. And then it's very important to our long term, ability to serve the global markets with our technology stack as we'll move and and maintain our software IP from that location, which allows us, to effectively service both Europe and North America from that site with a capable engineering staff. So we're quite excited to set that site up this year and continue to grow our capabilities there.

Speaker 5

Thank you. That's very clear. Thank you very much.

Speaker 3

Sure, Catherine. Thank you for the question.

Operator

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Dai Shen with s d SPDBI. Your line is open.

Speaker 7

Okay. Thank you. Dear EPIX management, this is Tony Shen Dai from SPDBI International. I've got two questions here. The first question is related to the industry of integration of driving and cabbing into one box.

Speaker 7

Since e kayaks has both the cockpit and ADAS ability. How can we enjoy the trend in the in the near future? Maybe do we see any first first product in this year or next year? This is my first question. And my second question is that we are glad to see that the Geely Galaxy demand is quite good, which helps to improve our earnings momentum.

Speaker 7

How do we see the sustainable demand into the following quarters? These are my two questions.

Speaker 2

Okay, the first question, thank you. This is Zhu speaking. So the first question I would like to share with you, so our Antora platform, that's a very classic platform for integration of the Cabin Smart and ADAS feature together platform. So because our SU 1,000 SoC from Silicon engine, including eight TOFs, eight AI processing site. So that's why we are already offer this platform to the market.

Speaker 2

And many customers are very interested in or also already select this pamphlet for the measure they are part competition. So for example, like GACS E5 for your question, So we already deployed the digital copy features and also parking feature and gateway feature to be web box already. So also we are trying to promote the font view ADAS feature in Antora and the four gags very, very soon. That's the kind can share to you. Also, just say at this beginning, so although we offer Antora 1,010 bone to Volkswagen Group already, we announced this at February already.

Speaker 2

So that's why I believe that's also very important plan for to go the global market as well. Yeah. That's the first question the first answer to you. Yeah.

Speaker 3

And then, Tony, maybe I'd add to to Ziyu's comments. I mean, we, as you know, the Shanghai Auto Show is in progress, and we had a large number of meetings with many leading local automakers in China that are both looking to serve the China market and expand internationally, as well as many of our global partners. And probably every one of those meetings, we talked about this single box solution and our capabilities in that space. And in many of them, we showed off our prototype Gauzy e five where we have the level two functions deployed on that vehicle and operating so we can take automakers on test drives and show how well that system runs and can navigate the streets of of of Shanghai. So it's a bright future for us in that space, and we feel very good about our technology and our capabilities.

Speaker 7

Okay. Perfect. Thank you.

Operator

One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Derek Soderberg with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is open.

Speaker 8

Yes. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Just taking a step back, I might have missed it. Curious how many different car models you plan on equipping this year?

Speaker 8

And can you break down how many unique Geely car models you're going to ship into this year? And then how many non Geely? Can you update us on that? And then as my follow-up question, just another one on tariffs, wondering if that's impacted the customer conversations, specifically with U. S.

Speaker 8

Customers. And then from a timing perspective, when might we see eCAR X as an option for the large U. S. Automakers when you guys see that sort of expansion into The U. S?

Speaker 8

Thanks.

Speaker 3

Yeah. Hey, Derek. Hope you're doing well today. Glad to have your question. Yeah, I think maybe we didn't completely announce kind of our view for the whole year, but I would definitely say our launch pipeline is very robust.

Speaker 3

You know, we we certainly announced I think it was about eight wins, in our earnings announcement and went through, you know, wins with the Geely family groups with, additional vehicles on Hongqi. Of course, we talked about the win with VW, though that will be a launch a few years from now as it's in the international development pipeline that won't come out this year. But if we look across our pipeline of vehicles this year, our engineering team is very busy across a broad set of portfolio projects that will drive a robust launch capability this year for sure. As we look at the and your second question was around tariffs. So as you look at the tariffs, with the portfolio of our business today, we certainly don't see a significant impact in many of the tariff regimes, especially those coming out of The US.

Speaker 3

We have a flexible model in that we engage with contract manufacturers. So as we continue to have a deep dialogue with some of the North American OEMs, I think we'll make sure we adapt the final supply chains that support how these tariff structures will evolve over time here. And then lastly, looking at our launch at our business development pipelines, we're engaged already with a few opportunities in The US market. I think you'll you'll probably see us ramp that up as we get to the back end of this year and and into next year in terms of engaging with those automakers. So, you know, that'll we expect that would translate into revenue a few years later.

Speaker 3

But we're quite engaged with the European automakers right now. We've got a a very strong pipeline there. And then, you know, once we have, I think, to digest those opportunities, we'll pivot to The US market, and and we see a lot of opportunity in that space as well.

Speaker 8

That's helpful. Thanks, guys.

Operator

And I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to ECARX management for any closing remarks.

Speaker 3

Yeah. Thank you. First of all, just wanted to say thank you, everyone, for joining the call and the great questions. You know, as, again, as we said in our prepared remarks, because we look at our first quarter results, you know, we had, very strong shipments, with, you know, over 650,000 units shipped in the quarter, And we continue to see that number of units grow quarter by quarter. We had major product wins with the Geely family, with additional automakers in China that continue to diversify our revenue stream there as well as big milestones in the global marketplace.

Speaker 3

And we continue to expect that our progress there will accelerate. And then we had very solid financial performance, as you see in our first quarter results, with strong revenue growth as well as margin growth. And all of these are really supporting our long term strategy and the ability to, continue to develop eCarX into a significant global, technology provider to the automotive space. So thank you, everyone.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's presentation. You may now disconnect, and have a wonderful day.

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