BYD’s Contradiction: Record Exports and AI Driving Push Confront Hefty Profit Decline and Stock Weakness

BYD's Q1 profit plunged 55.4%, stock near 52-week low, but April overseas EV exports hit record 134,500 units (+71% YoY). New Blade Battery 2.0 and God's Eye ADAS could stabilize margins.

BYD finds itself in an unusual bind. Its shares are hovering near a 52-week low and the company just reported a 55.4 percent plunge in first-quarter net profit, yet overseas deliveries hit an all-time high in April and a string of new technologies is rolling out. The disconnect between operational momentum and market sentiment is stark.

The stock closed at 91.60 Hong Kong dollars on Friday, up 1.16 percent on the day, but the week delivered a 6.7 percent loss and the ten-day stretch a decline of roughly eight percent. The 52-week trough of 88.50 HKD is barely below the current level. Two corporate events could provide near-term catalysts: the annual general meeting on June 8 and the ex-dividend date on June 11.

A deeper worry for investors is the earnings picture. Net profit for the first quarter came in at 4.09 billion renminbi, a slide of more than half from a year earlier. Analysts have reacted cautiously, and the home market is a key culprit. The Yuan Plus sold just 5,111 units in April, a drop of 21.9 percent from March, as an intense price war erodes margins.

Yet beyond China’s borders, BYD is charging ahead. April saw roughly 134,500 electric and hybrid vehicles exported, a gain of nearly 71 percent year-on-year. That pushed the export share of total April sales to 42.8 percent. The company has set an ambitious full-year target of 1.5 million overseas deliveries.

On the technology front, BYD is wielding a dual offensive. On May 21 it unveiled the revamped Yuan Plus — known internationally as the Atto 3 — equipped with the new Blade Battery 2.0 and a flash-charging function that can take the pack from ten to 70 percent in about five minutes. Buyers can choose between a 57.5 kWh unit offering up to 540 kilometres of range or a 68.5 kWh version for up to 630 km. The starting price in China is roughly 17,600 US dollars. Higher trim levels pair the SUV with the DiPilot 300 driver-assistance system, which uses lidar and 30 sensors.

Just days earlier, on May 28, BYD will hold a conference focused on its God’s Eye intelligent-driving system. The company says roughly 2.99 million vehicles are already equipped with some form of assist function, feeding more than 190 million kilometres of driving data daily into AI training. BYD plans to detail its development environment, dubbed “AI Agent + World Model,” which simulates rare traffic scenarios. Chairman Wang Chuanfu has flagged tight battery capacity given the surge of new models, but higher-margin software services around autonomous driving could help stabilise profitability — if the conference delivers concrete monetisation plans.

Overseas expansion is accelerating on several fronts. In the UK, the seven-seat plug-in hybrid Ti7 is slated to launch in the second half of the year, featuring a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, two electric motors, all-wheel drive and an electric range of about 127 kilometres. For Australia, BYD plans two new models and two facelifts — including the Atto 3 Evo — with the goal of cracking the top three brands by the end of 2026. In Europe, the Dolphin G compact plug-in hybrid will enter the B-segment from June, with further models for the B and C segments to follow within three years. The company is also in talks with European manufacturers, reportedly including Stellantis, about acquiring unused factory capacity in Italy and France, lured in part by lower electricity prices.

The contrast between a domestic profit squeeze and a global growth surge underscores the strategy pivot: the future lies abroad. Whether the fresh hardware and the AI-driving push can convince the market to look past the quarterly earnings pain will become clearer in the weeks ahead.