Hesai Shares Surge on Key NVIDIA Autonomous Driving Partnership

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Shares of Hesai Group experienced a significant rally following an announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The catalyst was NVIDIA's qualification of Hesai as the primary LiDAR partner for its next-generation DRIVE Hyperion 10 autonomous vehicle platform. The news combines a major technological integration with concrete manufacturing expansion plans, raising questions about its potential revenue impact for 2026.

The core of the announcement centers on Hesai's ETX ultra-long-range LiDAR sensor being formally qualified for NVIDIA's DRIVE Hyperion 10 reference architecture. This system integrates Hesai's sensor technology with a pair of NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor system-on-chips. The combined hardware delivers over 2,000 FP4 teraflops of real-time computing power, enabling the 360-degree perception required for Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities.

This development marks an evolution in a partnership dating back to 2019. While earlier hardware generations supported testing and Level 2+ functions, the Hyperion 10 platform is explicitly designed for production-ready Level 4 systems, representing a substantial step forward.

Manufacturing Capacity Set to Double

In a move closely tied to the NVIDIA qualification, Hesai revealed plans to dramatically scale its production output. The company intends to double its annual manufacturing capacity, moving from 2 million units in 2025 to over 4 million units by the end of 2026. This expansion is supported by a vertically integrated manufacturing process that currently achieves a production cycle time of ten seconds per unit.

Further bolstering its product roadmap, Hesai confirmed it will begin series production of its ATX LiDAR series in April 2026. The company has already secured design wins for this product with its two most important ADAS customers, who plan to incorporate it into their 2026 vehicle model lines.

Financial and Market Context

The operational roadmap provided by the CES news follows recently upgraded financial guidance. During its Q3 2025 earnings call on November 11, 2025, Hesai's management raised its full-year 2025 GAAP net income forecast to a range of 350 to 450 million Chinese Yuan (approximately $50.1 to $64.4 million USD). The partnership with NVIDIA provides a tangible path to realizing projected growth, especially as future autonomous vehicles are expected to require between three and six sensors each for necessary system redundancy.

In the market, Hesai's stock gained 7.92% on the news, reaching $26.17 per share as of 11:15 AM Eastern Time. This price now sits above the 200-day moving average of $23.02. Investors will be watching for the next quarterly report scheduled for March 9, 2026, which may offer initial insights into revenue contributions from the NVIDIA partnership, ahead of the ATX series production launch in April 2026.