BYD Shares Rally on Record Exports and Q2 EV Sales That Topped Tesla — European Factory Decision Nears

BYD shares surged 7.6% on record June exports and Q2 EV deliveries that beat Tesla, as overseas sales hit 43.5% of total volume. European expansion plans accelerate.

BYD’s stock has staged a sharp rebound this week, powered by a double dose of positive catalysts: a record export month that offset a 22% slump in its home market and quarterly battery-electric vehicle deliveries that blew past Wall Street’s expectations for rival Tesla.

The Shenzhen-based automaker saw its shares climb 7.61% to €8.75 in Wednesday’s session and extend gains by as much as 8.4% in early Hong Kong trading on Thursday — the biggest single-day pop since early 2025. The rally came after the company disclosed June sales data showing total new-energy vehicle deliveries of 403,472 units, up 5.5% year-on-year and the second consecutive month of growth following an eight-month slide.

Exports surge as domestic market stalls

The engine of that recovery is unmistakably overseas shipments. BYD exported a record 175,349 vehicles in June, a 94.7% jump from a year earlier, as international sales swelled to roughly 43.5% of total monthly volume. That export boom helped mask a 22% plunge in Chinese sales, which fell to 228,123 units.

For the first half of 2026, worldwide NEV sales stood at 1,808,511 vehicles — down 15.72% versus the same period last year. Yet analysts at Deutsche Bank expect second-quarter net profit to surge 145% sequentially, driven by the growing share of higher-margin overseas sales.

Q2 EV deliveries overtake Tesla

In the pure battery-electric segment, BYD delivered 201,472 units in June, bringing the second-quarter total to 557,090. That comfortably exceeds the roughly 396,500 vehicles analysts estimate Tesla will report for the same period, handing BYD back the global crown it lost in the first quarter when Tesla held a lead of about 48,000 units.

Plug-in hybrids, meanwhile, continued to gain traction: BYD sold 195,820 of them in June, up 14.7% year-on-year. The company is reportedly investing in a next-generation “Blade” battery and proprietary chips for autonomous driving to sustain the momentum.

European expansion accelerates

Attention is now fixed on BYD’s plans to deepen its European footprint. Alfredo Altavilla, the company’s special adviser for Europe, confirmed that a decision on a second production site on the continent is imminent. Teams are currently evaluating existing factory premises in Spain and France for a “brownfield” investment — a faster route to capacity than building from scratch.

The urgency stems from EU import tariffs that currently apply a combined 27% levy on BYD’s China-built electric vehicles. A second European plant, complementing the factory in Hungary that is set to begin output in the fourth quarter of 2026, would help the company localize supply chains and comply with planned “Made in Europe” rules.

BYD’s European sales grew 270% last year to 188,000 vehicles and have already surpassed 100,000 units in the first five months of 2026. Management aims to establish BYD as a recognized European brand within a decade and expand the dealer network to 2,000 locations by the end of the year.

Turkish plant shelved, stock still deep in the red

While BYD pushes ahead in western Europe, its planned $1 billion investment in Turkey has been put on ice. Executive Vice President Stella Li said the company is now prioritizing facilities in Hungary and the second EU site. The Manisa project, agreed in July 2024 for 150,000 units of annual capacity, has seen no construction activity in 18 months, and BYD’s Turkish sales have dropped sharply in the first half of 2026.

Despite this week’s rally, BYD’s stock remains 40.89% below its 52-week high of €14.80 set in July 2025. It has yet to reclaim its 50-day moving average of €10.05, and on June 30 it touched a 12-month low of €8.03. The company is targeting exports of 1.5 million to 1.6 million vehicles for the full year, and CEO Wang Chuanfu has reiterated his ambition to make BYD the world’s largest automaker within five years.