Li Auto scores two-digit YoY, QoQ growth in Q4 2022 revenue

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Li Auto Inc. announced on Monday its revenue reached 17.65 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4 2022), surging 66.2% year on year and also soaring 88.9% quarter on quarter. 

In Q4 2022, Li Auto's vehicle sales amounted to 17.27 billion yuan ($2.5 billion yuan), leaping 66.4% from the same quarter of 2021, while also rocketing 90.9% from the third quarter of 2022 (Q3 2022). The company said the year-on-year increase mainly flew from the higher average selling price due to the delivery of the Li L9 and the Li L8 starting in last Aug. and Nov., respectively. Besides, the increase in vehicle deliveries contributed to both the year-on-year and month-on-month growth in Q4 vehicle sales.

Li L9; photo credit: Li Auto

In Q4 2022, gross margin of Li Auto stood at 20.2%, dropping 2.2 percentage points compared to Q4 2021, but rising 7.5 percentage points from Q3 2022.

For the Oct.-Dec. period of last year, Li Auto's vehicle margin came in at 20%, falling 2.3 percentage points year on year mainly due to different product mix between two quarters, while growing 8 percentage points quarter on quarter mainly because of the losses on purchase commitments related to Li ONE in Q3 2022.

In Q4 2022, Li Auto witnessed its R&D expenses shoot up 68.3% from the year-ago period and jump 14.7% over the previous quarter to 2.07 billion yuan ($300.1 million). The year-on-year and month-on-month increase primarily resulted from the rising expenses used to support the startup’s expanding product portfolios as well as increased employee compensation as a result of the enlarged staff roster.

By the end of 2022, the company had a total of 19,396 employees.

Li Auto recorded a net income of 265.3 million yuan ($38.5 million) in Q4 2022, representing a decrease of 10.2% from the 295.5 million yuan of net income for Q4 2021, and compared with the 1.65 billion yuan of net loss in Q3 2022.

As of Dec. 2022, Li Auto saw its balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, time deposits and short-term investments amount to 58.45 billion yuan ($8.47 billion).

Li Auto expects its vehicle deliveries to stand between 52,000 and 55,000 units in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1 2023), which would zoom up 64% to 73.4% from the previous year.

Moreover, the company wishes to gain a quarterly revenue of 17.45 billion yuan ($2.53 billion) to 18.45 billion yuan ($2.68 billion) in Q1 2023, representing an increase of 82.5% to 93% from the corresponding period of 2021.