ECARX Holdings reports net profitability and 11% revenue growth, driven by strong demand and operational efficiencies heading into 2026.

Good day and thank you for joining us. Welcome to Ecarx's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After management gives their prepared remarks, there will be a question and answer session. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host for today's call, Renee Du, Head of Investor Relations at ECARX Holdings. Please proceed.

Renee Good morning and welcome to ECARX Holdings third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. With me today from ECARX Holdings are our chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ziyusheng, Chief Operating Officer Peter Serino and Chief Financial Officer Chief Financial Officer Joe. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release which will also apply to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the sec. In addition, this call will include the discussions of certain non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can also be found at the bottom of our earnings release. With that, I'd like to hand the call over to Ziyu. Please go ahead.

Thank you Renee hello everyone and thank you for joining us today. Building on the strong momentum from the first half of the year, Quarter three delivered several significant milestones that demonstrate the continued progress we are making in laying a sustainable foundation for future growth. We successfully achieved EBITDA breakeven per our guidance in quarter two and recorded EBITDA of US$8.3 million. Even more notably, we became net profitable for the first time, achieving breakeven with net profit of 0.9 million. Our move to profitability was supported by a recovery in gross margin, enhanced R and D efficiency and ongoing optimization of operating expenses. This all reflected the strength and effectiveness of of our lean operating strategy. Revenue grew by 11% year over year and 41% quarter over quarter, notching US$290.9 million. Gross profit was US$47.6 million up 39% year over year, lifting gross margin to 22%. This growth was fueled by the successful launch of multiple vehicle models incorporating our solutions and a recovery in average selling prices and by strong demand across our portfolio. Our pipes computing platform, built on the Qualcomm A295 Snapdragon chipset, is our latest solution to begin mass production and was a key contributor to our strong performance during the quarter as we began scaling up production. With our growing global project pipeline and expanding partnerships, we are on the trajectory to drive this strong momentum into next quarter and 2026 where we will maintain profitability in quarter four and achieve double digits revenue growth in 2025 and beyond. Shipments stressed in quarter three to approximately 667,000 units up 51% year over year and 26% quarter to quarter and the shipments of our Antora series reached a record high of 196,000 units. The increased deliveries of Antora series is a key driver of our success in achieving profitability and our future growth. We expect our vertical integration capabilities to will further improve profitability as shipments of Antora family account for a larger percentage of total shipments by the end of September. Approximately 10 million vehicles on the road globally incorporated ECAR X Technology A testament to our delivery at scale and the trust we have earned from automakers worldwide. The breadth of our global partnerships with automakers continues to amplify the unique value proposition we offer as a core technology provider. More vehicles integrated with our solutions are hitting the road and driving strong sales growth such as Geely's best selling models the Xinyuan Xinyaoba and flagship gas M9. We also continue to unlock new growth opportunities from existing partnerships. Building on the momentum from our initial project Win last quarter with one of Chinese top five automakers, we secured a second project. We will work with a local partner to integrate our solution into a new model expected to launch next year. Additionally, we secured a new project WIN with another Chinese automaker for its upcoming MPV model. Most importantly, we continue to make meaningful breakthroughs globally, securing a second project recently with the leading European automaker that will add another US$400million in lifetime revenue to our pipeline. This brings total contracted lifetime revenue from global OEMs across Europe and Americas to over US dollar 2.5 billion. This win reflects growing trust in our solutions and is paving the way for deeper strategic collaboration going forward. Our technological leadership is solved in software defined vehicle with full stack capabilities of cloud peak and the integration of Google Automotive service into Antora platforms provides significant value to global automaker allowing them to cut GAS certification time by over 50% to just 8 months. These wins demonstrated the rapid capability and scalability of our core technologies across diversified platforms and geographics, allowing us to forge stronger partnerships and drive significant commercial value. This underscores how our flexible software defined solutions and and platform strategy effectively address the evolving needs of leading automakers worldwide. Furthermore, our capabilities to rapidly integrate Google Automotive service combined with our intelligent manufacturing infrastructure provide a support for competitive advantage. These strengths enable us to both accelerate time to market and efficiently scale up on a global level. Our cross three results clearly demonstrate the strength and momentum we are building. Through operational discipline, a robust project pipeline, a strength global process, and continued investments in technology and infrastructure, we have delivered on our commitment to achieving EBITDA breakeven and becoming profitable. Moreover, the raising up to US$150million convertible notes last week reflect the strong confidence investors have in our strategy and execution as we enter new phase of growth. The offering involves a zero coupon amortized installment structure and an initial conversion price set at a 15% premium to the reference share price at issuance. This additional capital will provide ample liquidity to fuel our international expansion, drive forward new product innovation and explore potential M&A opportunity globally. With this support and solid foundation laid with a profitable quarter three, we are confident this momentum will carry into the fourth quarter. We are now focused on finishing the year strong and driving growth in 2026 and beyond. I will now pass the call over to Peter who goes through the operating results of the quarter in more detail.

Thank you Ziyu Good morning everyone. In Q3 we made strong progress executing our strategic priorities by expanding our global footprint, deepening key partnerships, advancing technology leadership and mass producing new solutions. This disciplined execution is strengthening our foundation and positioning us for sustainable growth. During Q3 we shipped approximately 667,000 units, bringing the cumulative number of vehicles equipped with ECARX Holdings technologies to approximately 10 million units, a significant milestone highlighting the growing size of our installed base and a direct reflection of the reliability of our solutions. To date, we proudly serve 18 OEMs across 2028 brands worldwide. Our global expansion remains a core focus and in Q3 we engaged extensively with automakers around the world. We are increasingly receiving positive feedback and broader interest in our solutions from both new and existing partners. Following last quarter's first project Win with a top five Chinese automaker, we secured a second project for their next model. We will co develop this with a local partner with an expected launch in early 2026. We also secured a project with another Chinese automaker for its upcoming MPV model. Internationally, we've also won a second project with a leading European automaker, highlighting the growing trust in our intelligent cockpit solutions globally. Overall, with our deepening focus global automakers, we have a growing pipeline of programs identified in Europe and the Americas, representing more than 2.5 billion in total lifetime revenue spanning almost all major carmakers in Europe and the Americas we're excited about the future program wins which will come from this substantial pipeline as a core technology partner. Our brand's market presence and ability to redefine in vehicle user experience were validated by several vehicle launches this quarter. Following the successful global launch of the Volvo EX30 across more than 100 countries in 2023, Volvo has integrated the Antora 1000 Pro computing platform and Cloudpeak cross domain software stack into their XC70 Hybrid midsize luxury SUV which launched in August. The Volvo XC70 is the first model to feature Volvo's SMA super hybrid architecture. We collaborated closely with them on every aspect of its design and development including hardware, system architecture, operating systems, HMI application ecosystem, functional safety, information security and quality control. Our Pikes Computing platform and Cloud Peak Cross Domain software stack are having a significant impact on the market. The next generation AI cockpit experience they deliver transforms cockpits from feature centric to intelligence centric environments. The Lynk and CO10EMT launch early in the quarter was the first model to integrate this advanced solution and set new industry benchmarks for AI powered intelligent cockpits. Building on this, the platform was rapidly replicated in Lynk Co's 07 and 08 EMP models, further demonstrating its strong scalability and versatility. The Geely Galaxy M9 global launch further highlights how these integrated solutions are driving sales for our partners, with orders exceeding 40,000 units within 24 hours of pre sales openings. Together, these pivotal vehicle launches exemplify how our solutions can accelerate time to market for automakers and redefine the intelligent cockpit experience. These platforms are fully compatible with flyme Auto and Google Automotive Services ecosystems, highlighting our commitment to driving innovation and adaptability across multiple vehicle segments and markets worldwide. We continue to strengthen our technology leadership in Q3 as we executed on our R and D roadmap. The Antora 1000 Pro received Automotive Spice 4.0 Capability Level 3 certification, the highest rating under the standard, a testament to our relentless focus on R and D quality control and process maturity. Certifications of this kind are prerequisites for collaborations with leading automakers and our growing portfolio validates the strength of our global R and D system and establishes a platform for us to support large scale global mandates such as the ongoing project with Volkswagen Group providing solutions for their vehicles around the world. This certification platform will be pivotal in driving the next phase of our global expansion and meeting the increasingly strict compliance requirements global automakers. We are making significant progress using our cloud based software stack to deliver intelligent cockpit and in vehicle AI at scale. This innovative software stack integrates AI agents, generative UIs and an AI operating system. These unique solutions offer drivers an intuitive and adaptive in vehicle experience. Paired with Flyme Auto 2, they connect AI models to cross domain vehicle functions, transforming cockpits from feature centric to intelligence centric experience. This unique value proposition our software stack offers is driving interest and creating opportunities with European automakers as we continue to advance our R and D roadmap. Our IP portfolio is growing as well. With 730 registered patents and 835 patent pending applications worldwide as of September 30th, this expanding IP foundation reflects our commitment to fostering innovation, protecting our technology assets and maintaining a competitive edge across key technology domains. In summary, the operational and technological milestones achieved in Q3 highlight the disciplined execution of and innovation leadership that underpin our growth trajectory. Through ongoing investments in R and D, expanding market presence and strategic partnerships, we are well positioned to capitalize on accelerating industry trends. Importantly, as Ziyu mentioned, this quarter marks a significant step forward in our journey towards sustainable profitability and we are confident this momentum will carry into Q4. With that, I will now turn the call over to Phil who will review our financial results.

Thank you Peter and hello everyone. Through disciplined execution of strategic initiatives, we achieved a remarkable financial progress this quarter, reaching operating income and net profit breakeven for the very first time. This milestone marks a major step forward on our path toward long term profitability. Total revenue for the quarter landed at 220 million up 11% year over year sales of goods revenue versus US$182 million and 11% year over year increase. The growth was primarily driven by a double digit increase of customer demand, partially offset by strategic price adjustments aligned with our product portfolio strategy. Our in house development strategy continued to generate strong results. Antora, Venado and the Skyline platforms contributed 56% of total sales of goods revenue with combined revenue doubling from 2024. Quarter three meanwhile, our newest computing platform pike successfully entered mass production and accounted for 9% of total sales of goods Learning fueled by these solutions Quarter 3 Average selling price improved by 9% compared to the previous quarter. Software license revenue decreased 92% year over year to US$0.9 million. This decline resulted from reduced per vehicle software license revenue and the lower intellectual property license revenue in the same period last year. Intellectual property license brought in US dollar 5.5 million US dollar revenue. Services revenue reached US dollar 37 million, up 68% year over year, mainly driven by higher number and the value of design and development Service contracts as well as growth in overseas connectivity Service revenue. Gross profit was the US$48million, up 39% year over year with a gross margin percentage of 22%, representing a 4% improvement from the previous year period and 11% improvement from the previous quarter. The strong recovery reflected higher hardware margin from our product transformation and increased service revenue mix. Our commitment to OPEX optimization continue to deliver strong results. Operating expenses decreased by 42% year over year to US$44million, driven by enhanced operational efficiency and a sharper focus on strategic R and D investments. As a result, operating income turned positive at 3 million and net profit at 90. Adjusted EBITDA reached $8 million, a significant improvement from loss of US$32million in the same period last year. This was primarily attributable to higher gross profit and a lower level of operating expenses. Moving on to our balance sheet, as of quarter end, we had US$50million cash and restricted cash to further enhance our liquidity position. We remain focused on strengthening working capital management and improving profitability. In summary, our third quarter financial results mark a pivotal turning point for the company, reflecting strong strategy execution, disciplined operations and a firm commitment to sustainable growth. As we move into the fourth quarter, we will continue this strong momentum and maintain solid execution to drive a scalable and and profitable growth on a consistent basis. That concludes our remarks today.

Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press Star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press Star one and one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q and A queue. Our first question comes from the line of Wei Huang from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Hi Management. Thank you for taking my question and congratulations on a very strong secure result. My first question is regarding your guidance for 4Q. You have previously guided a second half volume of around 1.4 to 1.5 million units. Is that still the same?

I'm happy to address your question. So your question is regarding our full quarter volume. Okay, so in quarter three, as we just reported, we delivered 670,000 hardware units, 51% year growth. This is phenomenal and we will keep strong momentum in Q4 for sure. And everybody knows that Q4 is the peak season and we see both volume and revenue will reach historical highs. We will expect to maintain conversion rate in our key customers and keep a strong growth rate. So this is the answer to your question regarding the volume.

Okay, thank you. My second question is looking into ahead into 2026 there are concerns that the overall industry is going to be weaker due to weakening government policy support and some pull forward demand into the fourth quarter. Do you expect a much weaker first quarter next year? Do you have a guidance for us for volume, revenue and profitability for 2026?

Yeah, we know that Q1 is traditional, normally a traditional low season within a year because the industry has a pattern. However, our disciplined execution of our product strategy, like the rapid growth from our Antora families and the newly launched platform Pyx will carry on and will offset the low seasonality impact. And in quarter three and even in quarter four, we will keep building enough backlogs as much as possible and we will get ready for early delivery in Q1 to mitigate the so called low seasonality. And we also in 202026 financial planning season and validate according to our latest outlook projection, our customers pipeline, you know, and we will also further cooperate our growth in 202026. So what we need to do is just maintain our discipline, maintain our share in those customers and focus on execution. Then we should be able to deliver relatively okay outlook in 202026 Q1. And the meanwhile, as Peter just mentioned, that we are expanding our global progress aggressively and we have lots of pipeline at our hands and we also extended our partnership with the global players and now we are on track to realize we accelerate revenue from those overseas business as well. And you know, software is one of the key, right? The software collaboration with global customers, global OEMs is also one of our key growth drivers. So we will maintain the profitability momentum not only in Q4 this year, but such kind of pattern will repeat in 2026 and beyond.

Thank you. And my last question is regarding the overseas 4 VM business wins that you just brought up. So I think during the last quarter call you talked about, you have four overseas project wins that totaled a billion in lifetime value and in 3Q this has jumped to 2.5 billion. Can you maybe give us an update on how many new projects that you have won during the third quarter? Thank you.

Yeah, Mr. Hong, this is Peter Serino. Maybe I'll take that question. So thank you very much. I think, you know, as we reflect on our business, I think our fundamental belief as we look to, you know, grow ecarx into the European and the global marketplace was that we would be able to provide, you know, advanced technology solutions in the China market and then be in a unique position to scale those globally and work with all the European OEMs and bring that same industry leading technology into the global marketplace. And I think we definitely see that fundamental belief coming to reality now. We've got, we've opened up a significant number of projects as we mentioned, given the size of our pipeline with a number of different carmakers globally. Many of these carmakers in their high volume segments are starting to feel a lot of pressure as Chinese OEMs come to their domestic market and they're seeking new solutions that are industry leading and very cost competitive. And I think ECARX Holdings is in a fantastic position to deliver those great solutions to those customers. So we mentioned another high volume win with a large European automaker that we secured this quarter. We have a very solid pipeline of both software and hardware or software and solution full-solution opportunities with both hardware and software in them. So I think our pipeline is definitely grown substantially and we'll be able to to demonstrate I think significant wins as we go through 2026.

Thank you. That's all from me.

Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Danlin Wren from cicc. Please go ahead, your line is open.

Hello everyone, this is Danielyn Frances out of team speaking. Congratulations on your great results and I have some follow up questions for you. My first question is we are glad to see that we have win multiple orders from Galaxy, from Geely's Galaxy. With sales ramping up quickly. Could you please elaborate on your production capacity planning and the corresponding CapEx road map to support this growth.

Hi Dan, thank you for the question. We are continuing to scale our smart factory in the Fuyang Hangzhou area to support all of our business in China. We've established that facility and continue to ramp it up as we've progressed throughout this year and we expect that continue to ramp next year. So our capacity you know is at about a one million units which is more than doubled since last year and we'll continue to grow that grow our China facility for our China business globally. We're working with a number of manufacturing partners to expand in South Asia, in South America and in Europe to continue to support our supply chain needs in the global market. And we expect to continue to scale those businesses as our global business expands as well.

Thank you. My second question is regarding your product lines based on several platforms. Could you provide updates on your ASP and gross margin levels respectively like for your low number one of your Qualcomm platforms.

Hey, thank you. Dan Ling, this is Phil. I'm happy to address your question regarding the ASP ASP. Actually we launched several computing platform covering from entry level mainstream to high end market segment and the different solutions are addressing different market segment demand and we also manage the product mix selling according to the customer demand. So basically the average selling price covers from 2000 RMB to even 4000 RMB, that is 2000 to 4000. So that's the range and from a hardware margin perspective we are able to maintain something like a double digit 10 to 15%. That is our execution level. And I'd like to offer you more information like you know we always like to launching new platform to the market to support customer demand. For example, in Quadra 3 we successfully launched our Pyx solution which is Qualcomm 8295 and that is to support Galaxy M9 and Leapmotor T10 and let also contribute to our ASP update in quarter 3 and that is a 9% improvement sequentially as I mentioned earlier and this momentum will continue and we have a full confidence in our hardware margin maintenance.

Thanks. Very clear. And my last question is as a trend of integrating copy large models into Veliko's continuous perspective, could you share the common strategic layout or R and D progress in this space?

Yeah, sure Dan, thank you for the question. So for sure Ecarx has a full stack solution to support AI integration into vehicles. We're continuing to deploy solutions in China for China such as DeepSeq or DeepSeq integration to support an AI experience inside the vehicle. Additionally, we are building out our ECARX AutoGPT as a framework to provide end to end solutions for LLMs inside of vehicles and that's been launched in the Geely M9 and other vehicles this quarter like the Lynk & Co vehicles I mentioned earlier. Additionally, we're continuing to work with our global partners on similar developments for the European market, in the Americas and at CES this year. We're quite excited to present our next generation solution with AI integrated into the vehicle cockpit domain as well.

Okay, thank you Peter. That's all my questions. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Elizabelle Pang from dbs. Please go ahead, your line is open. Elizabeth Pang from dbs, your line is open. Please go ahead with your question. Hello?

Sorry, can you hear me?

Yes Elizabeth, we can hear you.

Okay, great. First of all, congratulations on the very strong third quarter results. A couple of questions from me around the gross margins and understand we've discussed a little bit about the improvement in the gross margins earlier, but I would like to have more elaboration on that front. So firstly we've seen that Hardware margins have improved to 15% which is up from 10% in the last quarter and also 9% last year. May I understand more information? The driving factors behind this where gross margin increase is this related to the mass production of the pipes computing platform and do higher end Qualcomm products typically command higher margins? And following up last question on this margin, would this margin be sustainable going into the fourth quarter and also next year? So this is my first question.

Address your question regarding the margin performance in quarter three. Yes, you are right. In the quarter we executed pretty successfully in terms of the number one portfolio selling. In quarter three we booked the services revenue from many programs and which further push up our revenue mix from services and our margin as well. And that is number one strategy we implemented. The second thing is we are able to manage our upstream supply chain cost pretty well in the quarter. We managed to realize a decent cost down or cost optimization through, you know, commercial negotiation and the VA/VE strategy as well. And that is also beneficial for our gross margin improvement in hardware and Moving forward into Q4 and even in next year I think the momentum will continue and the strategy is working and we will further manage the hardware portfolio selling as well as the services software selling as well as the supply chain cost management.

Thank you, that's very clear. And may I just ask another follow up question on the shipment? I'd like to understand more about the shipment mix specifically within ADAS. We'd like to understand a little bit more how has the the Skyland domain controller product sales have performed in this quarter and in the recent quarters and what is our outlook for the future ADA domain controller shipment growth going forward? Thank you.

Yes. Yeah, Peter. Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, Elizabeth, I was just going to say, you know, in certainly the Skyline product has continued to grow. I think we're on a handful of vehicles in the Geely platform and continue to deploy to a few others as well. We also see a significant trend around fusion inside of the vehicle domain. So we're working very aggressively on deploying on our Antora platform as well as a next generation platform as well a fusion solution that will bring to vehicle which utilizes the capabilities that we've built with Skyline around adas as well as our cockpit solutions to provide a very cost effective advanced solution in vehicle to a number of different projects as we go forward. So I think we'll see that continue to develop as we go into next year and hopefully begin shipment in late 26, early 27.

Thank you. That's very clear. That's all from me.

Thank you. Once again. To ask a question, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Our next question comes from the line of Nora Min from ubs. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Hi, this is Nora from UBS. I have two quick questions for Mr. Ziyu Shen. So my first question is among your current order intake, what percentage is from overseas and how fast do you expect this number to increase in the next several years? And the second question is, do you intend to enter into new business initiatives such as humanoid robot, et cetera? And what is your latest progress on LIDAR product development? Thank you, Ziyun.

Hey, Nora, this is Yu speaking. Thanks for the questions. The first one, Overseas revenue. We are strongly moving forward right now. So we are targeting 2025, we hope 30% revenue of the company from overseas outside China. And 2030, we have 50% revenue of the company from overseas outside China that we already had. Very solid pipeline. Also we announced within the last few quarters we already had accumulate 2.5 billion US dollar total overseas revenue order we already had. So we are still running forward next quarter. We will keep updated to the market. That's the answer for your first question. The second one or flash LiDAR based LiDAR is very going well. We are 4 speed R&D with our first customer OEM for robotics provider provider in the market. So we believe we'll be ready to the market next quarter for 2026. That's what we are targeting now. So everything is going well with confidence on that. Yeah, that's the answer to you, Lord.

Yeah. Thank you for your answer. Very clear. Thank you.

Thank you. Nora. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now move on to our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Derek Soderbergh from Cantor Fitzgerald. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Yeah. Hey guys, my other questions have been asked. So just one question for me. You know, we've seen technology companies, you know, SoCs, semiconductor companies become sort of a key negotiating tool for trade talks. Can you just update us on what's changing on that front and how you're. Positioning the company sort of in this newer geopolitical environment. Thanks.

Yes, Derek, this is Peter.

Hey, thanks.

Good to hear from you and thanks for your question. As we look at our business as it continues to scale and grow, we're continuing, as we've talked about in many of these calls, to drive ECARX to be a global player in the marketplace, you know, we see. In the. In the automotive technology marketplace, we certainly see, you know, we've demonstrated with our products that we've launched on Volvo vehicles, the wins we've had with Volkswagen, that we got to announce the additional wins and potential programs in our pipeline, that we have a clear ability to scale the technology globally, delivery very solid, mature, robust solutions into the market both on high volume vehicles as well as high technology applications. And I think we'll be continuing to grow the company in that direction. We announced earlier this year that we're launching a center in Singapore that will drive a lot of our global supply chain efforts. Will house both in Singapore and throughout South Asia, house a lot of our capabilities to deliver global solutions from Those locations into OEMs in the European market and in the Americas. And I think we'll continue then to develop into a framework where we have a fantastic solution in China for China and high technology solutions that we're able to deliver to the global automakers in Europe and the Americas. So I think you'll see us continue to develop down that track.

That's helpful. Appreciate it.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. So I'll hand the call back to Ziyushen for closing remarks.

Okay. Thanks operator. Thanks everyone to join today's earnings call. So we very appreciate that today is very important milestone for the company and for team. So these earnings our results very successful. We achieved the first time the break even and profitable in EBITDA level at a free cash flow level in the company history. So we are so proud of the team because most of the tech company on the modem so they haven't started breakeven profitable. But Etorx is going well. The revenue is bigger and bigger and stronger. So also we are starting to profitable and going forward a very health financing situation. Also we are forced to speed globalization. We have big volume and a strong life cycle not only from China, but also for overseas in the future. Also we already had a big win for the global OEMs also we will force bid with other global OEMs soon. We believe and confidence our advantage will be very obvious and significant in the market. So thanks again and thank you everybody. Thanks.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect speakers. Please stand by.