Key insights
- WeRide's 2025 report shows strong revenue growth and improved financials, including a significant increase in robotaxi service users and a narrowing of losses. The company's global expansion and high gross margin signal potential for the autonomous vehicle industry. However, its direct impact on US equities is limited, meriting a cautiously optimistic assessment.
The Financials:
Specifically looking at WeRide when they dropped their 2025 full year report today. The revenue hit $98 million, up 90% YoY, meaning the actual sale of robotaxis and robobuses grew over 300%.
Robotaxi service user growth more than 900% YoY
Cash position: they sitting on about $1 billion in cash and equivalents, they also authorized a $100M share buyback.
34.2% narrowing compared to 2024 loss.
Total cost of Ownership drop by 38% in a year. They're claiming a 1:40 ratio for remote assistance now which means one human for 4o cars. The human-in-the-loop cost is starting to evaporate. They are also pushing an asset light approach, keeping vehicles off the balance sheet by leveraging partners and leasing firms. This can help them avoid the massive capital drain for some players.
Global footprint:
The geographic expansion is moving quite fast. Launching driverless commercial in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with Uber and they just entered Slovakia, their 12th country. WeRide is aiming to a fleet of 2600 vehicles by end of this year.
Seeing 30% gross margin of this tech company in this macro environment is extremely rare. I've been a skeptic on autonomous revolution for years now, mostly bc Im tired of seeing CGI trailers instead of real P&L statements but these figures giving me a much more positive outlook on the industry.