On March 14, Li Auto released its fourth quarter and full-year financial reports for 2024. Data show that the company's revenue in the fourth quarter was 44.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, slightly exceeding market expectations of 44.21 billion yuan; the company's total revenue for the year reached 144.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%. However, declining profitability has become the core focus of the financial report: adjusted net profit in the fourth quarter was 4.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10%; full-year net profit was 8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 31.9%. In addition, gross profit margins continue to be under pressure, with automobile gross profit margins falling to 20.3% in the fourth quarter and 19.8% for the full year, down 3.2 and 1.7 percentage points respectively from 2023.
Data shows that Ideal’s R&D expenses will increase by 22.1% year-on-year in 2024, exceeding 10 billion yuan for the whole year, mainly used for intelligent driving technology iteration and pure electric platform development. In addition, price wars in the terminal market and supply chain cost fluctuations further squeeze profit margins.
The financial report shows that the company's cash reserves reached 106.5 billion yuan, providing support for research and development and production capacity expansion.
Affected by lower-than-expected performance, Li Auto's U.S. stock price fell before the market opened, and the decline once expanded to 6%. The analysis pointed out that the continued decline in gross profit margin and the slowdown in profit growth reflect the challenges of the new energy automobile industry in the transition from high-speed growth to high-quality development. Overall, Li Auto's annual revenue reached 144.5 billion yuan, and it will remain at the forefront of new forces with a delivery volume of 569,000 vehicles in 2024.