On April 27, BYD disclosed its 2023 first-quarter report on the Hong Kong exchange. The company had an operating revenue of 120.17 billion yuan (17.3 billion USD) which is +80% up compared with Q1 of last year.

BYD also reported a net profit of 4.13 billion yuan (596 million USD) which is a five times increase (+411% up) YoY and 43% down from the last quarter.

The Shenzhen-based automaker delivered 552,076 vehicles in Q1, up 92% YoY and 19% down compared with last quarter.

The gross margin in Q1 was 20.7% – down, compared with the 22.8% gross margin in Q4 2022 and up, compared with 15.6% from the first quarter of the last year, as reported by Jack Shean from Snowbull Capital.

The company also announced that R&D investments grew 164% YoY to 624 million yuan.

Q1 is typically the weakest period of the year as the Chinese New Year takes over two weeks of production and spending. EV makers in China also feel the pressure of the price war that Tesla started in January with its radical price cuts and over-competition between legacies and EV startups launching dozens of new electric vehicles every month.

BYD launched its cheapest EV this week – an entry-level Seagull hatchback, starting at 73,800 yuan (10,700 USD) that aims to become the next best-selling Chinese car. BYD previously announced they plan to sell at least 3 million vehicles in 2023, with a goal to reach 3.6 million sold units. To achieve this, they need to sell an average of 817,000 cars every next quarter.