Li Auto expects third-quarter revenue to be RMB 8.96 billion to RMB 9.56 billion, below market expectations of RMB 13.98 billion.

Li Auto today reported second-quarter revenue that beat expectations, but guidance for the third quarter fell short of Wall Street expectations, sending the company's shares lower in pre-market trading.

Li Auto reported second-quarter revenue of RMB 8.73 billion ($1.30 billion), beating market expectations of RMB 7.99 billion, according to its unaudited earnings release today.

This was up 73.21 percent from RMB 5.04 billion in the same quarter last year and down 8.68 percent from RMB 9.56 billion in the first quarter.

Li Auto's vehicle sales revenue for the second quarter was RMB 8.48 billion, an increase of 73.0 percent year-on-year and a decrease of 8.9 percent from the first quarter.

Li Auto's gross margin was 21.5 percent in the second quarter, up from 18.9 percent in the same quarter last year, but down from 22.6 percent in the first quarter.

It reported a vehicle margin of 21.2 percent in the second quarter, up from 18.7 percent a year ago but below the 22.4 percent reported in the first quarter.

Li Auto expects to deliver 27,000 to 29,000 vehicles in the third quarter, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.5 percent to 15.5 percent.

The company expects third-quarter revenue to be RMB 8.96 billion to RMB 9.56 billion, up 15.3 percent to 22.9 percent from a year ago. But this is below market expectations of RMB 13.98 billion.

Previous figures show that Li Auto delivered 28,687 vehicles in the second quarter, above the upper end of its guidance range of 21,000-24,000 vehicles.

Deliveries in the second quarter were up 63.23 percent from 17,575 vehicles in the same period last year, but down 9.55 percent from 31,716 vehicles in the first quarter.

This was mainly due to the impact of the Covid outbreak, which led to a significant decrease in its April deliveries.

Li Auto reported a net loss of RMB 641 million in the second quarter, up 172.19 percent from a net loss of RMB 235.5 million in the same period last year and higher than the RMB 10.9 million reported in the first quarter.

The company spent RMB1.53 billion on research and development in the second quarter, up 134.4 percent from RMB 653 million in the same period last year and up 11.5 percent from RMB 1.37 billion in the first quarter.

The increase in research and development expenses is mainly due to higher employee compensation as a result of an increase in the number of research and development staff, as well as increased costs related to new models to be introduced in the future, Li Auto said.

As of June 30, the company's balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, time deposits and short-term investments was RMB 53.65 billion.

As of press time, Li Auto was down 4.74 percent in pre-market trading in the US stock market.

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