Following "Wei Xiaoli", another Chinese new energy vehicle company landed on the U.S. stock market.
On May 10, Geely Holding Group's ZEEKR Automobile was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock code "ZK". Only three years after the brand was launched, ZEEKR has become the fastest IPO in history for China's new energy vehicle companies. The issue price of ZEEKR was US$21 per share, and on the first day of listing, it opened at US$26 per share, and rose to US$29.32 per share, an increase of nearly 40% from the issue price, and the market value once exceeded US$7 billion, and finally closed at US$6.898 billion (about 49.85 billion yuan). 01 Chasing "Wei Xiaoli"
Looking back at the previous three new Chinese EV brands listed in the United States, from establishment to IPO, it took NIO 4 years, XPeng 6 years, and Li 5 years. In contrast, it took only half a year for ZEEKR to go public from submission to listing, and it was only 3 years since the establishment of the ZEEKR brand in April 2021. As a result, ZEEKR became the fourth Chinese new energy vehicle company to be listed in the United States.
The listing of ZEEKR on the New York Stock Exchange broke the silence of Chinese new energy companies going public in the United States after 2021. Previously, NIO was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2018, Li Auto was listed on the NASDAQ in July 2020, and Xpeng Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2020. 2020 and 2021 are undoubtedly the two most popular years for the concept of new energy, and the capital market has responded enthusiastically, and the share price of "Wei Xiaoli" has also hit new highs at that time. However, in the next two years, the new energy sector of the U.S. stock market was cold, and the stock prices of "Wei Xiaoli", Tesla and other new American car-making forces fell sharply, and the new Chinese and foreign car-making forces fell silent whether they were IPOs or backdoor listings.
The ZEEKR IPO seems to have once again lit up the fire of China's new energy vehicle companies going public in the United States, and the capital market has shown a very enthusiastic attitude towards it. Due to the nearly 5 times oversubscription, ZEEKR expanded the size of its IPO, issuing a total of 21 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) at a price of US$21 per share, each ADS corresponds to 10 ordinary shares, raising about US$441 million. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option, the offering will be further expanded to 24.15 million ADSs, raising approximately US$507 million. Geely, CATL, and Mobileye, which are existing shareholders and industry chain partners of ZEEKR, all continued to subscribe in this IPO.
From the perspective of market capitalization, as of the close of trading on May 10, the market capitalization of NIO, Li Auto, and Xpeng Motors in the U.S. stock market was US$10.581 billion, US$28.318 billion, and US$7.303 billion, respectively. The market value of ZEEKR reached $6.898 billion on the first day of listing, and if it can maintain the growth momentum on the first day, it is expected to catch up with Xpeng Motors and NIO.
The reason why ZEEKR is sought after is not only because it is backed by Geely Holding Group, but also because of its good performance. According to the prospectus, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, the total operating income of ZEEKR will be 6.5 billion yuan, 31.9 billion yuan, and 51.7 billion yuan respectively, which is rising. Compared with many peers, ZEEKR's revenue sources are more extensive, covering vehicle sales, three-electric business, R&D and other services. In terms of vehicle sales, as of the end of April 2024, ZEEKR has delivered more than 240,000 vehicles. Among them, the monthly sales in April were 16,089 units, a year-on-year increase of 99% and a month-on-month increase of 24%.
Of course, like the vast majority of new energy vehicle companies, ZEEKR is currently in a state of loss. According to the prospectus, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, ZEEKR will record a net loss of 4.514 billion yuan, 7.655 billion yuan, and 8.264 billion yuan respectively, with a cumulative loss of more than 20 billion yuan in three years. In addition to the increase in R&D expenses and sales expenses, the price war is also one of the reasons for the loss.
However, in terms of profitability, from 2021 to 2023, the gross profit margin of ZEEKR will be 1.8%, 4.7% and 15% respectively, which is a significant increase, reflecting the competitive strength of ZEEKR in the high-end electric vehicle market and allowing investors to see its future potential. ZEEKR itself is also more optimistic, ZEEKR CEO An Conghui has said that based on Hong Kong financial reporting standards, ZEEKR strives to achieve the goal of turning losses into profits in 2024. 02Expand overseas footprint
With the listing of ZEEKR, Li Shufu, the founder of Geely Holding Group, known as the "car madman" and "listing master", ushered in the ninth IPO. Previously, Geely had 8 listed companies: Geely Automobile, Volvo Cars, Qianjiang Motorcycle, Polestar, ECAR, Hanma Technology, Lifan Technology and Lotus.
Behind the IPO of ZEEKR, Geely's ambition to transform and upgrade and move towards high-end is hidden. "The ZEEKR IPO is a microcosm of Geely Holding's overall strategic plan." Li Donghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, said at the launch dinner of Zeekr, "Zeekr is positioned as a luxury intelligent pure electric brand, which is an important part of Geely's electrification, high-end and globalization. ”
"As a luxury pure electric brand under Geely, ZEEKR was born all over the world." At the IPO site, An Conghui particularly emphasized the positioning and strategic development direction of ZEEKR in Geely Holding Group. At present, ZEEKR has 4 models on sale, namely ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 007, ZEEKR 009 and ZEEKR X, and ZEEKR MIX was launched at the Beijing Auto Show in late April this year. Among them, ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR X have obtained the safety certification of the European Union and the United Nations, and are the first to start sales and delivery in developed European countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands.
According to the plan, in 2024, ZEEKR will not only enter the luxury market of 8 European countries, but also enter the markets of 50 countries and regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Australia, and the globalization strategy will be fully accelerated. As of the end of April, ZEEKR has built nearly 380 stores around the world. In addition, An Conghui revealed that based on the Haohan-M architecture, the models customized by ZEEKR and Waymo are about to enter the American travel market. This will undoubtedly further expand Geely's overseas territory and boost its globalization process.
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Text: Zhang Dongmei Editor: Xue Yapei Layout: Li Peiyang
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