No. 9 Company's first-quarter revenue rose against the trend; why was its profit halved?

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After the market closed on April 29th, Ninebot officially disclosed its first quarter report for 2026.

Financial data shows that during the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of 5.87 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.82%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 203 million yuan, a sharp year-on-year decline of 55.42%.

At the start of 2026, when the consumer electronics and short-distance mobility sectors are generally facing weak demand and intensified price wars, an almost 15% increase in revenue indicates that its front-end sales continue to maintain momentum; however, the halving of profit intuitively brings to the forefront the complex situation it faces during macroeconomic volatility and strategic investment periods.

Peeling back the surface data, this earnings report with rising revenue but falling profit is essentially a pressure test interwoven by exchange rate fluctuations, raw material cycles, and enterprise strategic investments.

Breaking down the revenue of 5.87 billion yuan, Ninebot’s growth engine remains clearly operational. During the reporting period, the electric two-wheeler business undoubtedly acted as the fundamental base.

Based on data from the past several quarters and terminal sales activity, at a time when traditional two-wheeled electric vehicles have completely become a red ocean and small and medium brands are being quickly cleared out, Ninebot still maintains high terminal premium and sales rate, relying on its smart technology image.

Beyond the core business, self-owned brand retail scooters, all-terrain vehicles, and B2B sales constitute its diversified income matrix. Looking at the evolution of its business lines, Ninebot is attempting to transition from a single short-distance transport manufacturer into a smart mobility platform with "Physical AI" attributes.

This transition from pure hardware to "hardware + underlying system integration" closely aligns with the development logic of China's new energy vehicle industry in smart cockpits and electric drive systems. Its core aim is to break away from low-level price wars by building technical barriers, thus securing software and ecosystem benefits beyond hardware. The countercyclical revenue growth proves that this path still has fundamental support from the consumer side.

If revenue is growing steadily, what caused the over 55% drop in net profit?

First is the unavoidable huge exchange loss.

As a company with a deeply globalized structure, overseas markets have always been Ninebot's source of high gross profit. However, behind the Q1 net profit of 203 million yuan this time, there are large hidden foreign exchange losses.

Second is the rebound in raw material cycles.

Since the start of 2026, the prices of some key raw materials and core components upstream have seen a certain upward trend. For a hardware manufacturing company that is highly dependent on supply chain scale effects and refined cost control, the rigid increase in BOM costs directly compresses the gross margin, causes production costs to come under pressure, and thus drags down the overall net profit margin.

Finally, there is forward-looking R&D investment.

Despite overall industry pressure, period expenses in the financial report remain high, mainly due to the company’s continued heavy investment in R&D for smart short-distance transportation, all-terrain vehicles, and service robots.

Additionally, regular share-based payment expenses were included in Q1's profit calculation. Maintaining R&D input for core technologies and new businesses such as robots during a profit-pressured quarter is a typical financial decision to sacrifice short-term book profit for a long-term technological moat.

Placing Ninebot’s Q1 performance against the 2026 industry backdrop makes it a meaningful sample.

Currently, the domestic two-wheeled vehicle and micro-mobility markets have fully entered a stock competition phase. Major brands launch configuration wars and price wars to capture lower-tier markets. By focusing on mid- and high-end smart mobility ecosystems, Ninebot has avoided the most inefficient price trenches to a certain extent.

At the same time, however, the company’s highly overseas-reliant revenue structure also reveals the double-edged nature: overseas markets do offer higher gross margins, but also make the company’s financials extremely vulnerable to risks from international geopolitics and exchange rate fluctuations.

This is why the company urgently needs to establish hedging mechanisms using financial instruments like foreign exchange hedging.

Overall, Ninebot’s halved net profit in Q1 2026 is more a result of macro black swan events and financial cycles resonating, rather than a collapse of business fundamentals.

For capital markets and industry observers, instead of focusing on short-term profit volatility, two key indicators should be closely tracked:

First, whether its high-end all-terrain vehicles and two-wheelers are hitting bottlenecks in overseas market penetration;

Second, whether the heavily invested service robot business can truly reach a commercial turning point in the next two to three quarters, and become the second growth curve driving the company through industry cycles.

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