Niu Technologies (NIU) Q1 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Niu Technologies First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, we are recording today's call. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I will turn the call over to Ms. Kristal Li, Investor Relations Manager of Niu Technologies. Ms. Li, please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and hello, everyone. Welcome to today's conference call to discuss Niu Technologies results for the first quarter of 2026. The earnings press release, corporate presentation and financial spreadsheets have been posted on our Investor Relations website. This call is being webcast from company's IR site as well, and a replay of the call will be available soon. Please note, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors. The company's actual results may be materially different from those expressed today. Further information regarding the risk factors is included in company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Our earnings press release and this call include a discussion of certain non-GAAP financial measures. The press release contains a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results. On the call with me today are our CEO, Dr. Yan Li; and CFO, Ms. Wenjuan Zhou. Now let me turn the call over to CEO, Yan.

Thank you, Kristal. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our first quarter 2026 results call. The first quarter of 2026 was a period of high-quality execution and strategic resilience within a complex regulatory environment. The total sales volume reached 261,000 units, representing a robust of 28.7% year-over-year increase. Revenue for the quarter reached RMB 909.52 million, up 33.4% year-over-year. In China, the sales volume increased 35.4% to nearly 248,000 units. This growth was powered by a major structural breakthrough in our electric motorcycle segment, which successfully offset a tempered contraction in the electric bicycle market as a new national standard took full effect. Overseas, the sales of 13,686 units reflected a 32.4% decline. This remains a planned result of our ongoing channel structure optimization and disciplined inventory management. We're staying completely focused on our core objective, prioritizing healthy retail sell-through and long-term profitability over short-term shipment volume. Now let me walk through our China and overseas operation in more detail. In China, our first quarter sales volume reached 247,938 units, a 35.4% increase year-over-year. While this growth is robust, internal data reveals a significant positive structural evolution of our brand. To end this quarter, we must look at the divergence between 2 product categories. First, in the electric motorcycle category, the segment surged by a staggering 3x year-over-year increase. Building on our momentum that began in Q4 last year with our Windstorm product line, we further accelerate our growth in the electric motorcycle market, expanding our footprint directly into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This is no longer just a temporary trend. It's a definitive market breakthrough proving Niu's ability to rapid scale and capture the meaningful volume in this segment. In the electric bicycle segment, the sales has soften. This was fully anticipated as the market remain a transitional weaning period as the new standard rolling out last December. We're managing this period deliberately by our new product lines in a phased approach, ensuring we are perfectly positioned to capture the high-quality volume as consumer demand returns. Now this shift has fundamentally redefined our geographic footprint as well. Historically, Niu has been perceived as Tier 1 city brand with the market represents 60% of sales. In Q1, we saw the Tier 1 and new Tier 1 cities softened with the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities grow at a faster pace, fueled by the rapid adoption of electric motorcycles. This represents a massive strategic milestone and proves Niu's brand equity successfully scaling beyond the urban elites and penetrating the broader mass premium China market. Now this shift has set a powerful foundation for 2026. By breaking through the lower-tier motorcycle market, we have added a new growth engine. When the electric motorcycle market inevitably recovers, our total growth will rebound with double the force. To ensure we're the first to capture that recovery, we made deliberate strategic decision to front-load our investment in branding, R&D and the new product launch in Q1. Now in branding and marketing, recognizing 2026 is a pivotal year for our brand revolution, we made a proactive decision to front-load our marketing investment in this quarter. We chose to capture the consumer mind share ahead of the curve by building a massive brand awareness in Q1. We have ensured as the new national standard transition stabilized, Niu is well positioned to capture this unmet demand. In Q1, we executed 3 major saturation initiatives. First, our global 2 global ambassadors strategy. In late January, we officially announced Wu Lei and Song Yuqi as Niu's global brand ambassadors, the first strategy of its kind in our industry. Wu Lei's image as a high-performance outdoor enthusiast resonate with our core premium users, while Song Yuqi's significantly extend our reach among Gen Z and female audiences. This campaign was activated across 40-plus cities and 80-plus global landmarks, generating an unprecedented 3.4 billion impressions. Second, our Spring Festival saturation campaign, we capitalized on the highest frequency travel period in China and large-scale off-line campaign across 37 cities, 42 transportation clubs and nearly 3,000 cinemas. This generated over 400 million impressions firmly embedded message premium smart equals Niu in the mind of travelers. Third, the 2026 technology launch event. On March 17, we unveiled our next-generation AI mobility strategy. This event was not just a product review, but also repositioned Niu as a technology leader in the AI era. With over 130 media outlets and 460 million impressions, we have redefined what smart 2-wheelers can be. Now those intensive branding activities led to a 4x plus year-over-year increase in the marketing expense for Q1. So this was a onetime front-loading of our annual budget. Historically, the first quarter has seen a lower marketing spend due to seasonal retail trends. However, we choose to strategically shift our marketing weights in Q1 this year to ignite the brand momentum for the entire fiscal year. Now as we move into Q2 and beyond, you will see that our marketing to revenue ratio normalize. We have already established the brand equity required to drive our 2026 growth target. Now we'll transition directly from this investment phase to execution in the harvest phase. Now in terms of R&D and technology, the technology and continuous innovation remain core to Niu's long-term strategy as they are fundamental to our ability to compete far beyond simple pricing and basic hardware specifications. Our primary technology focus this year is to bring the power of AI to the electric 2-wheeler industry, zeroing in on 3 major development areas: the AI operating system, intelligent chassis system and intelligent riding technology. First on the Niu's AIOS launch on March 17 event, the Niu AIOS is our cornerstone to defining the next era of intelligent writing as the industry's first mass-produced AI dashboard system, it represents a technology milestone integrating AI-enabled voice assistant with high-performance automotive grade operating system. Now the second is the intelligent chassis platform. We also introduced our next-generation intelligent chassis platform. This platform is engineered to integrate advanced safety and performance system, including ABS, TCS continuous damping control, battery management system and lighting system into a single unified vehicle level architecture. Based on this platform, we aim to introduce several industry-first features for mass-produced 2-wheelers such as adaptive driving beam AI headlights and adaptive DCC suspension. And lastly, through a strategic partnership with the leading automotive-grade technology companies, we're bringing advanced rider system functionality to the 2-wheeler segment. This included integrating cutting-edge hardwares like advanced visual recognition systems and high-performance processing chips. Now supported directly by those core technologies, we launched the industry first AI-enabled electric bicycles NXT2 Ultra as our flagship model. Now talking about our product metrics, our product strategy in Q1 was clear. It's driving an aggressive growth in the electric motorcycle segment while building a dominant portfolio for the electric bicycle recovery. Now, first, to lead the electric bicycle transition, we launched NXT2 series price from RMB 5,299 to RMB 12,999. The flagship NXT2 Ultra is the industry's first AI-powered e-bicycles featuring our AIOS, 2-channel ABS and millimeter wave radar. This isn't just a bike, it's a statement that Niu's on the high-end market. Second, we expand our total addressable market with the Y Series. We officially entered the female mobility segment with the Y Series endorsed by our ambassador Song Yuqi at a competitive RMB 3,000 to RMB 4,000 price point. And third, the NX Marathon, our new volume engine to capitalize our 3x growth in the electric motorcycle market, we launched NX Marathon at RMB 6,499. This model target a long-range family commuters, offers a 146-kilometer drive range of flagship features such as magic wheel at a mainstream price point. The market response was immediate. Within just 5 hours of the launch, the NX Marathon generated over RMB 91 million in sales, ranking the #1 across major e-commerce platforms. Those performance proves our hero product strategy is working. In Q1, we continued to strengthen both the offline retail sales and online ecosystem operations. In terms of online channels, it delivered another standout quarter. The online sales increased by 53%, accounting for approximately 46% of domestic retail sales, demonstrating a continuous strength of our online to offline operation model. Also on Douyin, we conducted more than 32,000 live streams, generating over 370 million impressions. We also continue to expand on Kuaishou and Meituan and further broaden our digital retail coverage. Now turning to our international operations. We're navigating a deliberate structural transition to prioritize the healthy fundamentals. Our high-margin electric motorcycle business remains a key strategic priority and is showing a strong momentum. Shipment reached more than 2,000 units and 29% year-over-year increase. Our European dealer network expanded from 307 to 360 active locations this quarter. Now in the micro-mobility segment, international sales was down 37% year-over-year. First, this is regarding the channel distribution restructuring. During the first quarter, we completed a major structural shift to a leaner distribution model in our key markets like Germany and U.S. This critical action allows us to significantly minimize the ongoing channel operation expenses. Consequently, Q1 served as a transition phase where the major retail partners, such as Best Buy in the United States and MediaMarkt in Germany focused primarily on sellout of their existing retail inventories. The fresh stock-up period under the new distribution model is only in the beginning now in Q2. Second, reflecting on our current inventory positions, we're holding an elevated volume of micro-mobility inventories in Europe and the United States, stemming from lower-than-anticipated sales in 2025. Our primary mandate for the remainder of 2026 is clear, is to accelerate unit sales volume and aggressively reduce the inventory backlog back to a lean and healthy baseline. To execute this inventory clearance swiftly and protect against long-term operation drag, we're implementing targeted price promotions throughout the rest of the year, especially on older model products. So those efforts will depress our micro-mobility contribution margin throughout the year. While this discounting strategy present a short-term headwind to our profitability metrics, it is necessary to bring our global micro-mobility operation back to a clean optimized and highly stable foundation for the course of 2026. Now looking ahead, we will continue executing our strategy with a focus on sustainable and quality-driven growth. In China, we expect the electric bicycle market will recover gradually throughout Q2. We're taking a cautious view. To lead this market, we're executing a phaseout rollout of our full compound product mix anchored by the NXT2 and Y Series. Those position us with a comprehensive premium lineup ahead of a critical June end Q3 selling season. Meanwhile, our electric motorcycle category will continue to be our primary growth engine. We have additional model targeting female riders and technology enthusiasts planned for Q2 and second half of the year. And the upcoming 618 shopping festival will be the first major retail test of those expanded portfolios. Now overseas, our direct-to-retail strategy in the electric motorcycles is gaining speed. We expect our dealer count to surpass 400 locations by the year-end, supporting both volume growth and improved profitability. In the micro-mobility, as I detailed a moment ago, our operational priority for the remainder of 2026 is to aggressive inventory normalization and maximizing retail sell-through. We expect our leaner operating channel transition to finalize throughout the first half of this year with our broadened promotional clearance and inventory normalization largely conclude by the second half of 2026. So in summary, we have used the first quarter to do the heavy lifting required for a transformative year. By front-loading our marketing, investing deeply in our AI technology road map and diversifying our product portfolio and clean up our global channels, we have moved beyond the transition phase. We believe those strategic actions have laid a solid foundation to drive sustainable and high-quality growth in Q2 and will serve as a catalyst to accelerate growth in the latter half of the year. We're confident in our path and focus on execution. Now I will turn over to our CFO, Wenjuan Zhou, to talk about the financials.

Thank you, Yan, and hello, everyone. Please note that our press release contains all the figures and comparisons you need, and we have also uploaded Excel format figures to our IR website for your easy reference. As I review our financial results, I'm referring the first quarter figures unless I say otherwise, and all monetary figures are in RMB, if not specified. As Yan just mentioned, our total sales volume for the first quarter was 262,000 units, up 29% compared to the same period of last year. 248,000 units were sold in China, while the remaining 14,000 units sold overseas. Over 60% of our sales volume in China came from the top 3 best sellers. The total revenue for the first quarter amounted to RMB 910 million, an increase of RMB 228 million or 33% compared to the same period of last year. China revenue were RMB 854 million, accounting for 94% of the total revenue. Of this, the scooter revenue was RMB 774 million, a year-over-year increase of 42%, and this growth was primarily driven by a sales volume and improvement in the revenue per e-scooters. China scooter ASP were RMB 3,120, up nearly 5% year-over-year. While the overseas revenue was RMB 56 million, representing a 6% of the total revenue, the scooter revenue, including electronic motorcycles, mopeds, kick scooters and e-bikes amounted to RMB 51 million, down from RMB 60 million in the same period of last year, and this decline was driven by the lower sales volume and reduced revenue per kick scooters, partially offset by a higher revenue per electronic motorcycle and mopeds, which command higher retail prices. The sales volume in the international market shifted in favor of the electronic motorcycle and mopeds category. The premium pricing of these products further contributed to a year-over-year increase in the ASP of overseas scooters, which rose from RMB 2,962 to RMB 3,716. The revenue from accessories, spare parts and services were RMB 85 million, a 13% increase compared to the same period of last year, mainly driven by the higher revenue from Niu Services. And the gross profit for this quarter exceeded RMB 159 million, marking a significant improvement compared to RMB 118 million during the same period of last year. The gross margin was 17.4%, 0.1 ppt higher compared to the same period of last year and 2.1 ppt higher than the previous quarter. The domestic gross margin improved due to a favorable high-margin product mix, which boosted overall gross margin by 2 ppts. However, these gains were offset by a 1.9 ppt drag from the lower kick scooters margin. The operating expenses for the first quarter were RMB 264 million, increased RMB 99 million or 60% compared to the same period of last year. The OpEx ratio was 29% compared from the 24.2% in the same period of last year, but down from 30.5% in the last quarter. Selling and marketing expenses rose by RMB 65 million year-over-year to RMB 180 million, primarily driven by the intensified marketing initiatives in domestic market during the holiday season as well as a higher depreciation and amortization expenses and staff costs. Selling and marketing expenses accounted for 19.8% of revenue, up from 16.8% in the same period of last year, but down from 21.3% in last quarter. R&D expenses increased by RMB 12 million year-over-year to RMB 41 million, primarily due to an increase in design and testing costs as well as the staff cost. The R&D expenses representing 4.5% of revenue compared to 4.4% in the same period of last year, but down from 7.3% in last quarter. G&A expenses increased by RMB 22 million year-over-year to RMB 42 million, largely driven by an increase from foreign currency exchange losses. The G&A expenses constitute 4.7% of revenue, up from 3% in the same period of last year and 1.8% in last quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchanges, the G&A expenses were RMB 23 million compared to RMB 30 million in the same period of last year. In the first quarter, we had a net loss of RMB 94 million with a net loss margin of 10.3% on the GAAP accounting compared to a net loss of RMB 39 million with a net loss margin of 5.7% for the same period of last year. And the non-GAAP net loss was RMB 88 million with a non-GAAP net loss margin of 9.7%. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow. We ended this quarter with RMB 1.4 billion, remained flat compared to the end of last year in cash, restricted cash, term deposits and short-term investments. Our operating cash inflow amounted to RMB 131 million. CapEx for the first quarter amounted to RMB 70 million, reflecting an increase of RMB 46 million compared to the same period of last year, and this can be primarily attributed to an increase in opening of new stores and mold cost in China. And now let's turn to guidance. We expected the second quarter revenue in the range -- to be in the range of RMB 1.57 billion to RMB 1.82 billion, an increase of 25% to 45% year-over-year. Please be aware that this outlook is based on the information available as of the date and reflects the company's current and preliminary expectation, which is subject to change due to uncertainties relating to various factors. And with that, let's now open the call for any questions that you may have for us. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions] Let me turn the call back to Mr. Li for closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for participating on today's call and for your support. We appreciate your interest and look forward to reporting to you again next quarter on our progress. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.