BYD Beats Q3 Analyst Expectations; HSBC Cuts Price Target But Cites Continued Growth

BYD Company Limited BYDDF BYDDY reported earnings for Q3 2023 after the bell in Hong Kong that beat analyst expectations by a wide margin.

The company said that for Q3 it made 162 billion RMB ($22.1 billion) in sales, a 38.49% improvement on the same period a year ago and earned net profit of 9.7 billion RMB, up 81% over the past year. During the first 9 months of the year, the company has made 422.3 billion RMB in sales and 19.3 billion RMB in net profits, up 57.8% and 131% over the same year-ago period, respectively.

The company’s earnings were in line with guidance issued by the company last week, which said it would make between 3.3 RMB and 4 RMB a share in the third quarter.

The company’s results beat analysts’ expectations by about a fifth, which were an average of $0.4 a share. Basic earnings per share for BYD in Q3 were 3.58 RMB ($0.48) per share for the third quarter this year.

HSBC issued a research note on BYD Monday maintaining its Buy rating on the stock but cutting its price target by 4%.

In Hong Kong, shares in BYD are about 2% higher over the past month after the company said that it would report record earnings due out Monday. On the Shanghai Stock Exchange, however, BYD’s shares have fallen 4% over the past month as mainland investors are increasingly wary about the company’s ability to deliver consistent earnings performance in light of a price war for EVs.

Tesla Inc TSLA, Nio Inc NIO, XPeng Inc XPEV and Li Auto LI are all eating into one another’s margins as they slash costs on their EVs to tempt more consumers towards their brands in what is an increasingly saturated market.

HSBC said that Chinese investors are over-concerned about the company’s ability to deliver profit growth now. HSBC further predicts that Q4 earnings will also rise, and forecasts an additional increase in earnings growth of 7-16% for the 2023-2025 period.

Still, the bank cut its price target for BYD from HK$408 to HK$391 as a result of the increase in the A-share and H-share spread, anticipating upside of 58% for the company’s stock now. That percentage is roughly the same as China’s largest EV maker’s earnings discount to rival Tesla right now.