By Jiahui Huang
Li Auto shares fell sharply in Hong Kong amid some investor concerns over the Chinese hybrid-vehicle specialist's soft fourth-quarter guidance.
Shares were down 7.1% to 99.80 Hong Kong dollars at midday Friday, or equivalent to US$12.84, among the session's biggest decliners on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
The company reported solid third-quarter results on Thursday after market closed. Its gross margin came in at 21.5% and its net profit fell 0.3% to 2.81 billion yuan.
However, it guided for a topline between 43.2 billion yuan and 45.9 billion yuan. This was slightly higher than its total revenue of 42.9 billion yuan in the third quarter.
The soft guidance has raised concerns about the company's sales pressure in the fourth quarter and is weighing on market sentiment Friday, said Angus Chan, an auto analyst at Bocom International.
Bernstein analysts maintained their outperform rating on the stock but said in a note that Li Auto didn't offer much clarity on the growth outlook next year. The management didn't provide enough visibility to boost investors' confidence, they said.
The automaker also disappointed some analysts in not offering clear guidance for its next full-electric vehicle model, Chan said. Li Auto faced disappointing sales for its first fully electric model MEGA launched in early March, Hence, the market is keen to hear about its future plans for the next model.
Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 01, 2024 00:15 ET (04:15 GMT)
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