WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD) Issues Earnings Results

WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. WeRide had a negative net margin of 228.47% and a negative return on equity of 24.69%. The business had revenue of $16.55 million for the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from WeRide’s conference call:

• Q1 revenue rose 58% year over year to RMB 114 million, driven by faster Robotaxi deployment, broader autonomous driving business growth, and strong adoption of the WRD 3.0 ADAS solution.
• Management said the global Robotaxi fleet reached about 1,300 vehicles by the end of April, with around 1,000 in China and about 300 overseas, underscoring continued scale-up in multiple markets.
• WeRide highlighted major international progress, including fully driverless commercial Robotaxi service in Dubai, expanded Abu Dhabi coverage, and the launch of Singapore’s first autonomous public ride service with Grab.
• The company emphasized its GENESIS simulation world model and multi-chip ADAS platform as key differentiators, saying WRD 3.0 has secured production wins across nearly 30 models and is now in mass production on several vehicles.
• WeRide ended the quarter with a RMB 6.22 billion cash reserve and said it repurchased about $61.4 million of shares under its authorized buyback program, while still reporting a net loss and continuing heavy R&D investment.

WeRide Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of WRD opened at $7.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.13 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.10. WeRide has a twelve month low of $6.01 and a twelve month high of $12.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on WeRide in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. HSBC initiated coverage on WeRide in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $11.40 target price on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of WeRide in a report on Monday, January 19th. Zacks Research cut shares of WeRide from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded WeRide from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.48.

Institutional Trading of WeRide

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China UAE Investment Cooperation Fund L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of WeRide in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,443,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in WeRide by 198.5% in the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,175,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,776,381 shares during the last quarter. Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd. acquired a new stake in WeRide during the 3rd quarter worth $26,574,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of WeRide in the third quarter valued at about $25,931,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in WeRide by 4,869.5% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,055,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,348,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,010 shares during the last quarter.

WeRide Company Profile

WeRide Inc (NASDAQ: WRD) is a developer of autonomous driving technology focused on providing Level 4 (L4) self-driving solutions for passenger mobility and logistics. The company’s full-stack platform integrates sensors, computing hardware, software algorithms and vehicle controls to enable driverless taxis, shuttles and goods delivery vehicles. By combining perception, planning and controls in a turnkey system, WeRide aims to accelerate the commercialization of robotaxi services and autonomous fleet operations.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Guangzhou, China, WeRide maintains research and development centers in Silicon Valley and China.