Xiaomi's Hardware Blitz Meets a Cooling Market as Earnings Season Looms

Xiaomi unveils the high-end 17 Max with 200MP camera and 8,000mAh battery, but shares fall 22% YTD amid rising costs and EV investments. Q1 earnings due May 26.

The contrast could hardly be starker. Xiaomi is pushing deeper into premium territory with a new flagship smartphone, yet its shares remain stuck in a prolonged slump. The company has released official teaser images of the Xiaomi 17 Max, a fully revamped model that spares no expense on components, but the market is keeping its distance until the numbers back up the ambition.

Due to hit the Chinese market in May, the 17 Max is built around Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon processor and packs a Samsung 200-megapixel main sensor, flanked by two 50-megapixel lenses for ultrawide and periscope zoom. Leica’s branding remains on the camera module. The battery is the largest Xiaomi has ever fitted to the series: 8,000 mAh, capable of 100-watt wired charging. Lu Weibing, who leads Xiaomi's mobile division, has described the handset as a ground-up redesign. A global launch is under consideration, while the 17T and 17T Pro are expected to debut internationally before the end of the month.

Yet for all the hardware firepower, investor sentiment remains chilly. In German trading, Xiaomi closed on Thursday at €3.49, a year-to-date loss of 22.2% and a 12-month slide of 38.5%. The stock is trading below both its short-term moving average and its long-term trend line, leaving the technical picture clouded.

Management is trying to steady the ship through buybacks. On May 12, Xiaomi repurchased 3.17 million class?B shares on the Hong Kong exchange at prices between HK$31.36 and HK$31.58, for a total of roughly HK$100 million. The transaction falls under a mandate granted by shareholders at the June 2025 annual meeting. Cumulatively, the company has now bought back approximately 380 million shares, equivalent to 1.46% of total equity. While such moves are often read as a vote of confidence, they cannot compensate for operational headwinds.

Rising component costs, particularly for memory chips, are squeezing margins in the core smartphone business. At the same time, Xiaomi is pouring capital into its electric-vehicle arm, a dual burden that makes the stock both a high-risk bet and a potential turnaround story.

The EV business remains the most visible growth driver. In 2025, Xiaomi delivered 411,082 vehicles and surpassed 600,000 cumulative units by mid-February. In April alone, it handed over more than 30,000 cars. The company has set a 2026 target of at least 550,000 deliveries, a steep climb that demands flawless execution across production, supply chains and demand. The SU7 facelift, unveiled on March 19, is expected to provide momentum: reports from early May suggest over 70,000 pre?orders for the updated model, which could lift second?quarter volumes.

All eyes now turn to the quarterly report due on May 26, when the board will approve unaudited first?quarter results. Analysts are forecasting revenue between RMB 99.07 billion and RMB 101.06 billion. JPMorgan expects adjusted net profit to beat consensus, but the margin picture remains fragile. The market will be scrutinising how much the smartphone division can defend profitability while the EV ramp?up consumes cash.

A week after the earnings release, on June 2, Xiaomi will hold its annual general meeting in Beijing. The agenda includes the discharge of directors, re?elections, and mandates for future share issuances and further buybacks. Until then, the latest repurchase offers a psychological floor, but the real catalyst—or spoiler—will be the numbers on the 26th.