● Q2 2023 revenue reached RMB440.3 million (US$60.7 million), setting a new high with a YoY increase of 108.5% and marking the fifth quarter of continuous revenue growth.[1]

● Q2 2023 total lidar shipments set a new record of 52,106 units, corresponding to a YoY increase of 946.5%. Out of the total shipments, 45,694 units are ADAS lidars, a 27x YoY increase.

● Total lidar shipments in the first half of 2023 reached 86,940 units, representing a YoY increase of 630.3%. ADAS lidar shipments in the same period reached 73,889 units, exceeding the entire ADAS lidar shipment in 2022.

● Hesai has achieved a second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow of approximately RMB58.3 million (US$8.0 million), a 4-fold QoQ increase.

Today, Hesai Technology (NASDAQ: HSAI), the global leader in the lidar industry, has released its unaudited 2023 Q2 financial report, setting new records for quarterly revenue and shipments. Hesai's Q2 quarterly revenue reached RMB440.3 million (US$60.7 million), marking a YoY increase of 108.5% and the fifth consecutive quarter of increasing revenue.

Record-Breaking Lidar Shipments

Hesai shipped 52,106 units in Q2 2023 - its highest quarterly shipment to date and a YoY increase of 946.5%. ADAS lidar growth has been particularly strong, with shipments reaching 45,694 units, compared to 1,651 units in 2022 Q2. Total lidar shipments in the first half of 2023 reached 86,940 units, representing a YoY increase of 630.3%. ADAS lidar shipments in the same period reached 73,889 units, exceeding the entire ADAS lidar shipment in 2022.

Leading Market Share in Automotive Lidar

As Hesai's cumulative lidar shipments exceed 190,000 units, it has become the leading automotive lidar provider in the world. In Yole Intelligence's 2023 lidar industry report, Hesai was named as the No. 1 global automotive lidar supplier for the second consecutive year, capturing 47% of the worldwide lidar market share by revenue in 2022. Yole's projection also forecasts that the company will maintain its No. 1 position in the market for 2023.[2]

Fast-Expanding Business in both ADAS and AM Sectors

In Q2 2023, Hesai secured new domestic design wins with SAIC Motor for multiple series-production vehicle models. The company also forged two new strategic development programs with two leading global automotive OEM partners, one from North America and one from Europe.

Hesai has already obtained design wins from eleven leading OEMs, six of which will start mass production and delivery before the end of 2023. In the robotaxi sector, Hesai commenced volume shipments for its latest deal, which represents the largest robotaxi lidar contract in the company’s history, with a leading global robotaxi player.

Since 2019, NVIDIA has been one of Hesai's top 10 U.S. customers. In the past quarter, Hesai deepened its longstanding collaboration with NVIDIA and announced the integration of Hesai's lidar sensors with NVIDIA DRIVE and NVIDIA Omniverse ecosystems. This addition will greatly reduce the timespan and cost of developing autonomous driving systems and accelerate the adoption of lidar.

“We are thrilled to announce an exceptional second quarter performance, highlighted by all-time highs across the board. A new benchmark stands tall as we established record-breaking figures in both quarterly net revenues and total lidar shipments, while attaining remarkable milestones in ADAS lidar revenues and shipments. These strong shipments, along with our unwavering focus on operating efficiency, generated positive operating cash flow for the second consecutive quarter,” Yifan “David” Li, Hesai's Co-Founder and CEO, commented. “In the second quarter, we also signed a number of new lidar deals, including new design wins with SAIC Motor for multiple series-production vehicle models and two strategic development programs with two leading automotive OEM partners from North America and Europe, respectively. In addition, our long-standing partnership with NVIDIA, dating back to 2019, served as a solid foundation for a new venture during the quarter – integration of our lidar sensors with the NVIDIA DRIVE and NVIDIA Omniverse ecosystems. Our position as a trusted leader in the lidar market is stronger than ever!” 

Second Consecutive Quarter of Positive Operating Cash Flow

In addition, Hesai has achieved a second consecutive quarter of positive operating cash flow of approximately RMB58.3 million (US$8.0 million), a 4-fold QoQ increase. Hesai's 2023 Q2 gross margin was 30%, and as of the end of the second quarter, Hesai's cash reserves have reached RMB3,254.7 million (US$448.8 million), laying a solid foundation for the company's long-term development.

Louis T. Hsieh, Hesai’s Global Chief Financial Officer, said, “We are delighted to deliver an impressive quarter of top-line growth. Net revenues for the second quarter of 2023 exceeded our guidance with an outstanding 108.5% year-over-year increase, reaching an all-time high of RMB440.3 million (US$60.7 million). Additionally, we are proud to have achieved a record high of 52,106 total lidar shipments, marking a 10-fold surge compared with the same quarter last year. Our cumulative lidar shipments have exceeded 190,000 units, reaffirming our leading position in the global lidar industry. As validation of our market leadership, a couple of weeks ago we were named the No. 1 global automotive lidar supplier for the second consecutive year by Yole Intelligence, a world-renowned independent research company in Europe. Their report indicated astounding growth of 95% in the global automotive lidar market from 2021 to 2022. Notably, Hesai extended its leading position, increasing its global lidar market share from 42% in 2021 to 47% in 2022, clearly surpassing the second-largest player at 15%. Based on reported revenues and shipments in the first half of 2023, we continue to outpace the competition with higher revenues and lidar shipments than our six other US-listed lidar peers COMBINED![3]

Mr. Hsieh continued, “We are also pleased to share that our gross margin for the second quarter of 2023 exceeded our expectations at 30%, attributable to better-than-expected ASPs and continuous improvements in our manufacturing cost structure. We are confident that we will exceed our initial gross margin target of 27% to 30% for full-year 2023. Our unrelenting efforts to improve revenue scalability and cost efficiency resulted in positive operating cash flow for the second consecutive quarter of approximately RMB58.3 million (US$8.0 million), a 4-fold quarter-over-quarter increase, underscoring our clear path to profitability.”

Setting Standards for Safety and Regulation

As a leader in a quickly growing industry, Hesai has always been at the forefront of improving the safety and reliability of its products. Hesai is the first lidar company to be certified with ISO 26262 ASIL B Safety Standard by the SGS. Moreover, experts from Hesai served as the project leader in the pre-research group for new ISO standards for lidar testing, with members from Valeo serving as the co-leader. The pre-research work was accepted by all committee participants, an exceptional result out of many in Hesai's efforts to lead the standardization and growth of the lidar industry.

Hesai's unique in-house production, proprietary lidar technology, and cutting-edge R&D give it the ability to build lidars that are advancing mass adoption and pushing the boundaries of ADAS and autonomous driving. Hesai will continue to work to bring its vision to reality, where smarter technology elevates everyone's lives in a safe and thriving society.

About Hesai

Hesai Technology (NASDAQ: HSAI) is the global leader in three-dimensional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) solutions. The Company’s LiDAR products enable a broad spectrum of applications across passenger and commercial vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicle fleets (autonomous mobility). Hesai's technology also empowers robotics applications such as last-mile delivery robots and logistics robots in restricted areas. As of December 31, 2022, Hesai has shipped over 100,000 LiDAR units in total. The Company’s commercially validated solutions are backed by superior research and development capabilities across optics, mechanics, electronics, and software. Hesai integrates LiDAR designs with an in-house manufacturing process, facilitating rapid product development while ensuring high performance and consistent quality. Hesai has established strong relationships with leading automotive OEMs, autonomous vehicle, and robotics companies worldwide, covering over 90 cities in 40 countries.

[1] Percentage growth represents metrics measured in RMB. The exchange rate is RMB7.2513 to US$1.00.

[2] According to Yole Intelligence, Lidar for Automotive 2023: https://www.yolegroup.com/product/report/lidar-for-automotive-2023/

[3] Derived from publicly disclosed earnings releases. Six US-listed peers are Luminar, Cepton, Ouster, Innoviz, Aeva, and AEye.