A few days before the Chinese carmaker XPeng reports its third-quarter earnings results, Macquarie has increased its price target on the stock.
The Australian investment bank raised the target on the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares by 25.5% to HK$123.
Considering Thursday’s close at HK$105.9, the new target implies an upside potential of 16.1%.
Year-to-date, both Hong Kong and US-listed shares of XPeng have more than doubled.
The company’s market cap has reached a new three-year high at HK$201.9 billion ($26 billion), surpassing both Li Auto and Geely.
Previous Targets
The firm had previously slightly lowered the price target on the HK-listed shares on August 21, from HK$99 to $HK98.
The adjustment came just a week after the target was lifted from HK$93 to $99, ahead of second quarter financial results.
By then, analyst Eugene Hsiao wrote in a research note — obtained by PriceTarget — that, despite higher sales volumes, the company expected a quarter-over-quarter drop in profit.
“We are more focused on vehicle margin expansion, though recent peer beats on FX [foreign exchange] gains could suggest some non-operating upside surprise,” Hsiao noted.
On August 19, XPeng reported narrowing second-quarter losses, higher margins and robust revenue growth, as the company ramps up sales of its new entry-level model.
Automotive revenue jumped 147.6% year on year to 16.88 billion yuan ($2.37 billion), while its margin rose for the eighth consecutive quarter to 14.3%.
Outlook
Since August 19, XPeng‘s stock has surged 37.5% in Hong Kong and 31.5% in the Nasdaq.
On Wednesday, the company’s US-listed shares have closed flat at $27.28, after a 16.15% jump on Monday and a 7.8% rise on Tuesday.
The stock’s performance reflects a series of targets that the company has nearly achieved as the year draws to a close, but also the recent developments announced on robotaxis and humanoid robots.
XPeng has delivered 355,209 vehicles in the first ten months of the year, reaching over 90% of the yearly target of 380,000 units.
Additionally, it has nearly reached its goal to double its presence in overseas markets from 30 to 60 — Cambodia, to which the brand expanded in late October, became its 54th global market.
The jump also came as the company reaffirmed its deal with Volkswagen in China, which includes joint vehicle development but also the deployment of its autonomous driving software to the German legacy automaker’s cars.
The first model from the XPeng–Volkswagen joint venture has been revealed earlier this week.
The ID.Unyx 08 is a fully electric SUV, based on XPeng‘s G9 platform and advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) software.
Mass production is expected to begin next year.
