On April 25, Nine Company released its first quarter report for 2024. According to the report, in the first quarter of this year, the operating income of No. 9 Company reached 2.562 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 54.18%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 136 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 675.34%.
The performance soared, and the Nine Company opened up the gap with the Mavericks, who also focused on the high-end market. However, in recent years, the products of No. 9 Company have been found to be unqualified in the sampling inspection of relevant departments many times. On the relevant complaint platform, consumers also complain about the quality of their products. A No. 9 electric bicycle owner told the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society that the car has been used for two years, and the car suddenly cannot be started, because the maintenance store is far away, and it has not been repaired so far.
Nearly half of the revenue comes from electric two-wheelers
According to public information, Nine Company was founded in 2012, focusing on innovative short transportation and robotics, and its products include intelligent electric balance vehicles, intelligent electric scooters, electric go-karts, intelligent electric two-wheeled vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, mecha chariots, service robots and intelligent sharing scooters. On October 29, 2020, Nine Company was successfully listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.
In the first quarter of this year, No. 9 Company's total revenue was 2.562 billion yuan, an increase of 54.18% year-on-year. As for the sharp increase in revenue, Nine said that it was due to a significant increase in sales of electric two-wheelers, robots and all-terrain vehicles.
Nearly half of Nine's revenue in the first quarter was contributed by electric two-wheelers. According to the report, in the first quarter, the No. 9 electric two-wheeler sold a total of 416,900 units, bringing 1.19 billion yuan in revenue, 151,700 self-owned brand retail scooters sold in revenue, with a revenue of 303 million yuan, 5,487 all-terrain vehicles sold with a revenue of 215 million yuan, and 33,100 lawn mower robots were sold with a revenue of 180 million yuan, an increase of 2.67 times year-on-year.
In addition, the company's direct revenue from ToB products was 422 million yuan, and other income was 252 million yuan.
The main accounting data and financial indicators of Nine Company in the first quarter of this year.
It is worth mentioning that although the scooter brought 300 million yuan in revenue to the ninth company, the electric balance car and scooter do not meet the mainland's motor vehicle safety standards, and are not in the non-motor vehicle product catalog, so some provinces, cities and regions restrict electric balance vehicles and electric scooters on the road.
Nine also mentioned this risk in its annual report last year, saying that if more cities implement the ban policy in the future, the company's product sales will be adversely affected.
In terms of net profit, Nine's net profit soared more than six times in the first quarter, which it explained was mainly due to the increase in gross profit due to the increase in operating income.
A reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society found that the surge may be related to the lower data in the same period last year. In the first quarter of last year, the net profit of No. 9 Company was only 17 million yuan, far lower than the 205 million yuan, 156 million yuan and 219 million yuan in the second, third and fourth quarters. Nine did not explain the reason in its earnings report.
In addition, the gross profit margin of Nine Company in the first quarter was 30.48%, an increase of 2.26 percentage points over the same period last year. Nine said that it was mainly due to the continuous increase in the gross profit margin of products such as electric two-wheelers and all-terrain vehicles.
Company Nine all-terrain vehicle.
Pull away from the Mavericks
In the field of electric two-wheeled vehicles, Nine Company and Maverick Electric are both "new forces" focusing on technology and intelligence, and the two are often compared. However, the data of the past two years shows that when No. 9 stepped on the accelerator pedal, the Maverick was no longer a "cow".
Last year, Maverick Electric had a net loss of 271.8 million yuan, a further increase from the loss of 49.5 million yuan in 2022. A few days ago, Maverick Electric disclosed its sales in the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter, the total sales of Maverick electric vehicles reached 129,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 37%. Among them, sales in the Chinese market were 110,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 35%, and in the international market, 19,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 48%.
According to industry analysts, in the current involuted electric vehicle market, it is not easy for Maverick Electric to recover the decline, and it needs to solve many practical problems such as slow technology iteration.
Maverick electric sales store.
Although it has opened a gap with Maverick Electric and is firmly in the high-end market, Nine Company is also facing new competitors.
As the electric bicycle industry enters the stock game stage, the competition between major brands is becoming more and more fierce. The low-end has become a red sea, and some brands that were originally deeply involved in the low-end market, such as Yadea, have also begun to hit the high-end market.
In addition, there are "spoilers" such as Wuling who enter and try to get a piece of the pie. There is a view that for Wuling and other automobile companies, entering the two-wheeled electric vehicle market is like a dimensionality reduction blow.
Quality problems are frequently complained
In addition to chasing soldiers, products are frequently exposed to quality problems, which is also the hidden concern behind the wild run of Nine Company.
In March 2022, Mr. Lin, a citizen of Guangzhou, placed an order for an electric bicycle with the model Bamx90 at the No. 9 electric mobility flagship store on JD.com, and paid 5,549 yuan after using the coupon.
He said that in the process of use, the car had many small problems, such as the horn did not sound, the Bluetooth connection could not be connected, and the turn signal did not light up, but fortunately, the store was repaired free of charge. In addition, on April 14 this year, he found that the car suddenly did not start, and when the battery was fully charged, he put the key card on the dashboard and nothing happened.
"It's very likely that the motor is damaged. He said that because the repair store is a bit far away, he needs to find a truck to pull the electric car over, and he has not repaired it so far.
The reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society also found that many netizens complained about the quality of the No. 9 electric vehicle on the black cat complaint network. Since March this year alone, some netizens have complained that "the motor is broken in less than six months", "the new battery is broken after 3 months", "the positioning is inaccurate and various faults, and I often go to the store for maintenance during a year", "the battery suddenly loses power during riding, and I almost fell down to affect safety", "the lithium battery is suspected of being bulging, and the store cannot issue a test report", etc.
In addition to quality problems, there are also many complaints related to indiscriminate after-sales charges, non-invoicing, slow delivery, and price reductions soon after purchase.
In addition, in the sampling inspection of relevant departments, the No. 9 electric vehicle was also found to be unqualified.
In April this year, the Shandong Provincial Administration for Market Regulation announced the results of the provincial supervision and random inspection of the quality of electric bicycle products in 2023, in which the product of No. 9 Company's model TDZ001L was detected as "charger and battery - battery tamper-proof, reflector, lighting and horn device - lighting brightness value" was unqualified.
In August last year, the Ningbo Municipal Market Supervision Bureau of Zhejiang Province released the 2022 Ningbo Municipal Product Quality Supervision and Random Inspection in the Circulation Field, and the products of No. 9 Company's model TDT033Z were detected to be unqualified in vehicle quality.
In 2022, the list of unqualified enterprises in the field of product quality supervision and random inspection in Ningbo municipal-level circulation.
In May last year, the Fujian Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau organized a provincial supervision and random inspection of the quality and safety of electric bicycles, and the products produced by No. 9 Company with a model of TDT043Z were found to be unqualified in quality.
Written by: Liu Lanlan, reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Agency