New stock outlook | From car diagnostics to AISiasun Robot&Automation, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. (688208.SH) real value awaits reassessment?

Recently, Shenzhen Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. formally submitted an application to list on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with CICC serving as the sole sponsor. As a company already listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, if the Hong Kong listing is successful, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. (688208.SH) will establish an "A+H" dual capital platform, further expanding its international financing channels. According to public information, the company was founded in 2004 and has long been focused on the research and development, production, and sales of intelligent automotive diagnostic, testing systems, and related electronic components. The company has achieved a leading global market share in its main business of smart vehicle diagnostics, ranking first in global market share for three consecutive years. In recent years, the company has actively expanded its business boundaries, entering into hot sectors such as smart charging and personal intelligent devices. In the past year, its stock price has shown significant increase. The company's A-share price had the highest increase of 61% in 2025, and by December 31, the cumulative increase exceeded 40%. As of now, its latest market value is approximately 24.8 billion yuan. In the current high growth environment of the Siasun Robot & Automation sector, as a scarce target that is simultaneously expanding in the diagnostic, charging, and personal intelligence sectors, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd.'s listing will undoubtedly attract attention from the capital market. With both revenue and profits growing rapidly, the revenue structure is becoming more diversified. Looking at the financial data, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. has shown impressive performance, with strong revenue and profit growth in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, revenue increased from 2.266 billion yuan to 3.932 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 31.7%; during the same period, net profit increased significantly from 82 million yuan to 560 million yuan, with a compound growth rate of 162.0%. In the first half of 2025, the company achieved revenue of 2.345 billion yuan and a profit of 455 million yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 27.3% and 26.4%, respectively, continuing the growth momentum. However, the company's gross profit margin shows a slight downward trend, with the margin declining slightly from 55.8% in 2022 to 53.7% in the first half of 2025. Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd.'s core business mainly consists of two main sectors: smart vehicle diagnostic solutions and smart charging solutions. The former covers diagnostic terminals and software, precisely matching the industry's demand for digital integration and intelligent solutions; the latter is applicable to various charging scenarios, offering functions such as intelligent data management for charging stations and 24-hour automated customer service. Building on its core business of smart vehicle diagnostics, the company entered the smart charging sector in 2021, and further expanded into personal intelligent cluster solutions in 2024, moving towards a more diversified business structure. In the first half of 2025, the revenue composition for smart vehicle diagnostics, smart charging, and other businesses was 76.4%, 22.5%, and 1.1%, respectively. The smart charging business, in particular, showed remarkable growth: revenue increased rapidly from 96 million yuan in 2022 to 867 million yuan in 2024, mainly due to increased sales of energy-intelligent central products and the continuous expansion of charging software. However, as the main business that the company relies on for over 70% of its revenue, the gross profit margin for smart vehicle diagnostic solutions saw a slight year-on-year decrease of 1.9 percentage points to 58.7% in the first half of 2025, mainly due to fluctuations in the prices of key semiconductor components leading to increased procurement costs and the impact of tax increases in the first half of the year. While achieving high growth in performance, the company continues to expand its accounts receivable, increasing from 691 million yuan at the end of 2022 to 1.053 billion yuan in the first half of 2025. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the total of inventory and accounts receivable reached 2.87 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 42% of total assets. With over 80% of the company's revenue relying on a distribution model, the pace of downstream payments may pose certain pressures on operating cash flow. Furthermore, the company continues to maintain a high level of investment in research and development. From 2022 to 2024, research and development expenses accounted for over 16% of revenue, with research and development spending exceeding 600 million yuan in 2024. As of the end of June 2025, the proportion of research and development personnel exceeded 32%, with a cumulative total of over 1600 global patents, and the company's core technologies such as the MaxiFlash communication system and MaxiOS operating system, supporting its products to be compatible with over 230 automotive brands worldwide. Approximately 70% of revenue comes from overseas markets, with AI expected to become a new growth driver. Looking at the fundamental aspects of Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd., the company's continuous investment in AI and its advantageous position in overseas markets are two major highlights. The company's business footprint has extended to approximately 100 countries and regions worldwide, collaborating with over 800 distributors and serving customers from top energy companies and Fortune 500 companies globally. In the first half of 2025, the company's sales revenue in mainland China remained stable, with overseas businesses becoming the main driver of revenue growth. Benefiting from the expanded customer coverage in the North American and European car charging station markets, increased market penetration, and enhanced distribution and service networks, the North American market contributed 51.6% of revenue in the first half, a 25% year-on-year increase, while the European market accounted for 18.4%, a 32.6% year-on-year increase, with both together contributing about 70% of revenue. According to the "2025 TPMS Brand Insight Research Report" released by the authoritative tire industry media in North America, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. ranked first in both tire pressure monitoring sensors (TPMS Sensors) and tire pressure monitoring system diagnostic tools (TPMS Diagnostic Tools) fields in North America, becoming the only technology company to achieve a double crown; based on overseas revenue in 2024, the company has become the largest provider of intelligent charging solutions in China, ranking fourth in the North American market. More recently, positive news regarding the company's overseas markets has emerged with reports that the company has secured strategic customer orders from two major global convenience retail group C and leading local charging operator E in the United States, indicating significant progress in the North American new energy market and further expanding market share. A research report from China Galaxy Securities pointed out that the acquisition of orders from the two major strategic customers in the United States indicates that the company's profitability in the charging pile business and its overseas expansion potential have been validated. With the landing of orders from high-value customers, the company's economies of scale will become more evident. However, as a company that primarily relies on overseas business, potential adverse risks from international trade policies, tariffs, geopolitical risks, and others will also be considered by market investors. In the first half of 2025, the company's other expenses (mainly including tariffs, logistics and storage expenses, utility and other auxiliary production costs) increased by 85.9% from 20.457 million yuan in the same period last year to 38.031 million yuan, much higher than the 27.3% year-on-year revenue growth. In response, the company has stated that to address changes in the trade environment, it continues to promote global production capacity, setting up three major production bases in Shenzhen, Vietnam, and North Carolina, USA, with a Mexico factory expected to start production in mid-November, resulting in minimal impact from tariffs on the company. At the same time, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. continues to advance its "Comprehensive Embrace AI" strategy, focusing on the "AI+Diagnostics", "AI+Charging", and "AISiasun Robot&Automation" core business sectors, accelerating the deep integration of AI technology with business scenarios. In the "AI+Maintenance" field, the company has launched flagship new product the Ultra S2 Visual Smart Analysis System. This product incorporates the company's independently developed multimodal speech repair model and has launched AI functions like the technician assistant; In the "AI+Charging" field, in September 2025, the company unveiled a new generation of AI-driven intelligent charging network in Berlin, Germany, and concurrently launched the all-liquid cooling ultra-fast charging new product powered by self-developed liquid-cooled power modules. The "AI+Inspection" field saw the establishment of a subsidiary, Daohe Tongtai Siasun Robot & Automation, and a comprehensive cooperation with technology giants to jointly build an "Intelligent Body + Platform + Domain Model" airborne integrated cluster intelligent solution, which has been deployed in multiple scenarios such as oil fields, power grids, highways, and parks. Regarding the company's latest layout of the personal intelligent cluster track (including humanoid Siasun Robot & Automation and other multi-form products), though it has not yet generated revenue, it has been well received by multiple investment banks. For instance, GuotaiHaitong pointed out that the company's "AI+Siasun Robot & Automation" integrated airborne inspection solution is accelerating its expansion and is expected to become the third growth curve for the company. Overall, with its leading global position in smart diagnostics, rapidly growing charging business, and forward-looking deployment of personal intelligent cluster solutions, Autel Intelligent Technology Corp., Ltd. has become a rare investment target that combines stability and growth. Looking ahead, with the dual drive of "AI+Going Global", the company is expected to continue benefiting from the global trend of intelligent and electrified automotive technologies, further consolidating its comprehensive competitive advantage in the global market. At the same time, investors should closely monitor changes in the trade and policy environment that the company's overseas business faces, evolving industry competition trends, as well as the commercialization progress and profitability realization of various AI-related businesses.