BYD's Profit Growth Fails to Silence the Doubters

BYD closed the third quarter of 2026 with more momentum on its top line than on its bottom line — and the market noticed. Revenue for the period climbed 13.59% year on year to 221.488 billion RMB, while net profit attributable to shareholders advanced 28.08% to 10.020 billion RMB, according to figures released on 29 October. The profit growth outpaced the sales increase, yet it still landed short of what brokerage houses had pencilled in.

A Miss Measured in Billions

Estimates had ranged between 11.4 billion and 12.95 billion yuan, leaving the actual result roughly 10 billion yuan — a gap wide enough to weigh on the shares once the numbers were out. Revenue, too, fell short of analyst expectations, Reuters reported on 30 October. The disappointment took the shine off an overseas operation that more than doubled its deliveries.

Exports Do the Heavy Lifting

October offered a reminder of where the growth is coming from. BYD sold 490,168 vehicles during the month, up 11% on the prior-year period and the sixth consecutive month of expansion. Deliveries of passenger cars and pick-ups to foreign markets reached 170,194 units — a jump of 102.8% and a far faster clip than the overall volume. That international demand helped offset soft conditions at home, where sluggish consumption and a bruising price war continue to squeeze the domestic business.

The cumulative picture is less flattering. Over the first ten months of the year, sales totalled 3,621,744 vehicles, still 2.16% below the level recorded a year earlier despite October's advance.

Brussels Draws a Line

Europe is emerging as a second front. Fourteen members of the European Parliament have asked the European Commission to assess possible security risks posed by BYD vehicles, and to examine whether restrictions would be warranted — including a potential exclusion from public procurement tenders. The request covers both a safety evaluation of the cars and the question of access to government contracts. BYD responded that data processed or stored in its vehicles or its cloud cannot be accessed remotely from China.

An Autonomous Bus for Singapore

On the product side, BYD used Singapore Urban Mobility Week to unveil the B90, an autonomous electric bus developed with partner MOGOX. The right-hand-drive vehicle measures 8.5 metres and is engineered for Level 4 autonomous driving. BYD supplied the bus platform; MOGOX contributed the self-driving system, with each partner bringing its own technical piece to the finished vehicle.