Li Auto Hits Fresh Highs As Q3 Revenues Surge, Loss Narrows In First Quarterly Report

Li Auto Inc. LI shares, which closed Thursday's session at a record high, are seeing incremental strength after the Chinese EV maker reported its third-quarter results.

What Happened: Li Auto said its total revenues climbed about 29% quarter-over-quarter to 2.51 billion yuan, or $369.8 million.

The non-GAAP net loss came in at 16 million yuan, or $15.7 million compared to a loss of 159.2 million in the preceding quarter. On a per-share basis, the non-GAAP loss was 0.02 yuan per share.

Vehicle sales climbed 64.1% sequentially to $363 million and vehicle margin improved from 13.7% in the second quarter to 19.8% in the third quarter.

Li Auto delivered 8,660 Li ONEs in the third quarter, representing a 31.1% quarter-over-quarter increase and a quarterly record.

Gross margin also expanded from 13.3% in the second quarter of 2020 to 19.8% in the third quarter.

Related Link: Tesla Vs. Nio Vs. Li Auto: How Q3 Deliveries From Electric Automakers Stack Up

"This is our first quarterly earnings release as a public company, and we are pleased to announce robust third-quarter results reflecting not only our strong growth momentum driven by the outstanding value proposition of our products, but also our relentless pursuit of operating efficiencies," said Xiang Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Li Auto.

The balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, time deposits and short-term investments stood at 18.92 billion yuan or $2.79 billion, as of Sept. 30, 2020, reflecting primarily the issuance of Series D private financing, the completion of IPO and concurrent private placements.

Earlier this month, Li Auto shares came under pressure after it announced a voluntary recall of some of its vehicles.

What's Next: Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the company expects to deliver 11,000-12,000 units, representing a 27-38.6% sequential increase. The company guided quarterly revenues to 3.11 billion yuan to $3.3 billion yuan, or $457.8 million to $499.4 million.

In premarket trading, Li Auto shares were rallying 21% to $38.70.

Photo by Jengtingchen via Wikimedia.