Annual revenue reached a historic high of 803.965 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.46%; net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 32.619 billion yuan, marking an 18.97% decrease year-on-year; new energy vehicle sales hit 4.6 million units, ranking first globally among new energy vehicle manufacturers for four consecutive years, with total vehicle exports surpassing the 1 million unit mark for the first time, reflecting a robust year-on-year growth of 140%.
Despite fierce industry competition and heavy R&D investment temporarily weighing on profits,$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$the company has firmly consolidated its core automotive business, achieving a new record high in revenue scale while maintaining the top position as the global leader in new energy vehicle sales.
BYD released its audited financial results for the full year of 2025 on March 27:
Full-year revenue reached 803.96 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 3.5%, surpassing the 800 billion yuan mark for the first time; annual new energy vehicle sales reached 4.6 million units, securing the global sales leadership position for the fourth consecutive year.
However, profitability faced its most significant compression in recent years:
Net profit attributable to parent company shareholders dropped sharply from 40.25 billion yuan in 2024 to 32.62 billion yuan, marking an approximate 18.9% year-on-year decline; 'revenue growth without profit growth' became the central contradiction in the 2025 performance.
On the positive side, it is also worth noting that overseas exports exceeded one million units for the first time, surging 140% year-on-year, with overseas revenue surpassing 310 billion yuan; cash reserves remained at a high level of 167.8 billion yuan.
Sales reach the top, but price wars erode per-vehicle profits
In 2025,$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$New energy vehicle sales for the full year reached 4.6 million units, ranking first globally for the fourth consecutive year. The company also ranked among the top ten global automotive groups for the third year in a row, climbing one spot higher to fifth place compared to the previous year. This sales achievement is convincingly impressive when compared to any competitor.
However, the impressive shipment volume did not translate into proportional profit growth. The full-year gross profit was 142.66 billion yuan, representing an approximate 5.6% year-on-year decrease, while the gross margin narrowed from 19% to 18%—the lowest point in BYD's gross margin over the past five years.
The root cause lies in the prolonged domestic price competition. As domestic penetration of new energy vehicles historically surpassed 50% in 2025, industry competition officially transitioned from an 'expanding market' to a 'saturated battle'. Management’s report featured unusually direct wording: intensified price competition, frequent excessive marketing, and noticeably squeezed industry profitability.
Despite BYD's relatively leading resilience within the industry, thanks to its vertically integrated supply chain and cost advantages of its Blade Battery, the gross margin of 18% still reflects the intensity of competition. Whether the gross margin can stabilize and rebound in 2026, amidst a potential continuation of price wars in the industry, will be the core variable for the annual performance outlook.
R&D investment hits a historical peak, with a technology-driven strategy continuing to weigh heavily on short-term profits.
In response to shrinking profitability,$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$the company chose to double down on R&D despite the headwinds. R&D investment in 2025 reached RMB 63.4 billion, hitting a historical high and accounting for approximately 7.9% of total revenue—nearly double the net profit attributable to shareholders (RMB 32.6 billion). By the end of the reporting period, the company’s engineering team had grown to over 120,000 members.
Throughout the year, several significant technological achievements were successfully implemented.
First, BYD launched the 'Super e-Platform'—the world’s first mass-produced passenger vehicle全域kilovolt high-voltage architecture, significantly improving charging efficiency and directly addressing the key pain point of 'slow charging' in the electrification race.
Second, the 'God’s Eye' intelligent driving technology matrix now fully covers all five networks and four brands under the company, extending high-level intelligent driving capabilities from premium models to the entire lineup, thereby promoting universal access to intelligent features.
Third, the premium brand portfolio continues to push technological boundaries—the Yangwang U9X achieved two world records in global automotive top speed and lap time, while the Tengshi N9 raised the fishhook test speed to 210 km/h and broke three world records.
Entering 2026, BYD disclosed its second-generation Blade Battery and flash charging technology just before the release of its annual report.
At room temperature, charging from 10% to 70% takes only 5 minutes, and from 10% to 97% takes just 9 minutes, claiming to set a new global record for the fastest charging speed in mass-produced vehicles. From the technology roadmap, BYD is accelerating toward the second half of the electrification race, focusing on the intelligent track, but the corresponding high R&D expenses will inevitably continue to pressure profitability in the foreseeable future.
Overseas exports exceeded one million units for the first time, with globalized revenue accounting for nearly 40% of total income.
2025 is$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$A milestone year in the company's internationalization journey.
The total overseas export volume for the year reached 1.05 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 140%, surpassing the one-million-unit threshold for the first time and securing the top position among Chinese automakers in terms of new energy vehicle exports. Corresponding overseas revenue amounted to RMB 310.7 billion, accounting for about 38.6% of total revenue, further expanding from the previous year. International revenue has become a significant contributor to performance growth.
In terms of regional dynamics, BYD demonstrated a pattern of "Latin America leading, Europe breaking through, and multiple successes across the Asia-Pacific region": Core markets in Latin America consistently ranked at the forefront of sales, serving as the cornerstone of overseas growth; major European markets such as the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France achieved exponential growth; in Southeast Asia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia emerged among the top three in sales; and the Middle East market garnered acclaim by precisely targeting premium mobility needs. To date, BYD's new energy vehicle operations have expanded to cover 119 countries and regions globally, ranking it among the forefront of Chinese automakers in terms of globalization coverage.
It is worth noting that the rapid expansion of the overseas footprint is a double-edged sword.
Multiple localized manufacturing bases are successively entering production or expansion phases, with continuously rising capital expenditures being one of the key drivers behind the company’s net debt turning positive. The successful completion of a USD 5.6 billion accelerated placement in March 2025, which attracted global top-tier long-term investors, sovereign funds, and Middle Eastern strategic capital, provided some support for global expansion but also implies that the pressure of equity dilution on earnings per share cannot be ignored.
Acceleration of premiumization, with sales of three brands surging
Brand premiumization is$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$another clear strategic focus of the company in 2025. The three premium brands—Yangwang, Tengshi, and Fangchengbao—collectively sold nearly 400,000 units for the year, significantly increasing their share of the group’s total passenger vehicle sales compared to 2024.
Among them, Fangchengbao’s annual sales grew by 316% year-on-year, successfully bringing hardcore off-road electric vehicles into the mainstream market by leveraging rugged off-road performance and differentiated design. Tengshi N9 gained market recognition for its safety performance after setting three world records in high-speed avoidance tests. Meanwhile, Yangwang reinforced its technological image in the ultra-luxury segment by setting world records in both top speed and lap times.
The deeper significance of the premiumization strategy lies in structurally improving profitability per vehicle—as the average selling price and gross profit margin of premium models far exceed those of mass-market models. If the proportion of premium brand sales continues to rise over the next two years, it could structurally offset profit erosion caused by price wars in mainstream segments, becoming one of the key pathways for BYD to restore profitability.
Changes in asset-liability structure: Net cash turns into net debt
From the perspective of changes in the balance sheet, net assets (excluding non-controlling interests) increased from RMB 185.25 billion at the end of the previous year to RMB 246.27 billion by the end of 2025, while total assets expanded from RMB 783.36 billion to RMB 883.73 billion, indicating a continued momentum of scale expansion.
However, there has been a thought-provoking shift in the debt structure. The capital-to-debt ratio (total borrowing minus net cash/net assets) surged from -36% in 2024 to +25% in 2025, indicating that the company transitioned from a net cash position to a net debt position. The company's cash reserves at the end of the period stood at RMB 167.8 billion, still substantial, but total borrowings have exceeded this level.
The current ratio slightly rebounded from 0.75 to 0.79, still below 1, suggesting that short-term debt repayment pressure remains significant. Days inventory outstanding extended from 61 days to 72 days, reflecting to some extent a structural change in industry demand or production capacity dynamics. On a relatively positive note, days sales outstanding for receivables were reduced from 35 days to 29 days, indicating improved collection efficiency and showcasing the company’s proactive approach to cash flow management.
Dividends maintained; average annual stock return over ten years exceeds 21%.
Despite a nearly 19% year-on-year decline in net profit,$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$the board still recommended a final dividend of RMB 0.358 per share (including tax) for 2025, maintaining the dividend payout ratio at approximately 30%, demonstrating management’s continued commitment to shareholder returns.
Over a longer timeframe, from 2016 to 2025, the company cumulatively distributed dividends totaling approximately RMB 27.736 billion to shareholders; the ten-year compound annual growth rate of H shares (1211.HK) reached 21.62%, while A shares (002594.SZ) achieved 16.92%, both significantly outperforming the Hang Seng Index (1.58%) and CSI 300 (2.18%) during the same period.
Looking ahead to 2026,$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$With the strategic guideline of "technology as the foundation and overseas expansion as the engine," BYD will continue to deepen the large-scale implementation of core technologies such as the second-generation Blade Battery, the Super e-Platform, and the Divine Eye system. As the new energy vehicle industry officially enters the competitive landscape of the intelligentization phase, how to rebuild profitability amidst the internal challenge of ongoing price wars and the external pressure of capital demands for overseas expansion will be the true test of BYD's strategic resolve and execution capability in the next phase.
Editor/Melody