Caption: Bell ringing diagram of ZEEKR listing
Produced by Radar Finance and Economics|Xiao Sa Editor|Deep Sea
On May 14, Beijing time, Geely Holding Group's high-end electric vehicle brand Zeekr (ZK.US) successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange on the 11th, opening at $26 per share on the first day, and opening at $30 per share on the second trading day yesterday evening, up more than 6% from the closing price on the first day, up nearly 43% from the issue price, with a market value of $7.5 billion.
Listings have risen sharply day after day, which is not the norm for U.S. stocks. In fact, more than 7% of the Chinese concept stocks listed since 2023 have broken down.
ZEEKR's stock rose sharply on the first day of listing, and there were signs of it before. It is reported that on May 8, 2024, ZEEKR ended its subscription one day ahead of schedule, and at this time, the company has been oversubscribed by nearly 5 times. The original investors continue to be optimistic about the long-term investment value of ZEEKR, and CATL and Mobileye, as partners in the industrial chain, continue to subscribe in this IPO.
ZEEKR, which is popular among global investors, has set a new record for new car-making forces in terms of listing speed. According to the data, as a luxury intelligent pure electric brand under Geely Holding Group, the Zeekr brand was released on April 15, 2021. As of the end of April 2024, ZEEKR has delivered more than 240,000 vehicles, continuing to rank first among China's high-end pure electric brands with more than 200,000 sales.
According to An Conghui, President of Geely Holding Group and CEO of Zeekr, the "Zeekr Speed" is due to the 37-year accumulation of the parent company Geely Holding Group and the pioneering exploration of the third track of the new energy vehicle industry. ZEEKR is born in the world, not only has global technology, standards and channels, but also has an open and win-win attitude to create in-depth co-creation with global technology partners.
Radar Finance found that many directors and executives of ZEEKR are from Geely, and have obtained capital, technology, and brand endorsement from Geely. In addition, the company itself attaches great importance to research and development and has a proper strategy, which finally refreshed the record of the fastest IPO of new energy vehicles.
37 months! The fastest IPO in history was born
"Extreme Krypton", "Extreme Krypton", "Extreme Krypton", ...... On May 10, amid a shout about "ZEEKR", An Conghui rang the bell for ZEEKR to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
From the release of the brand to the ringing of the bell, ZEEKR only took 37 months. So far, the fastest IPO new energy vehicle company in history was born.
In this IPO, ZEEKR issued a total of 21 million ADSs (American Depositary Shares) at a price of US$21 per share, raising about US$441 million. ZEEKR said that if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment rights, the size of the offering will be further expanded to 24.15 million ADSs, raising about $507 million.
On the first day of listing, ZEEKR's share price closed up 34.57%, with a market value of more than 50 billion yuan.
How rare is a big rise on the first day? From January 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, a total of 57 Chinese concept stocks were newly listed in the U.S. stock market, and 40 of them broke on the first day, with a breakage rate of 70.18%.
Behind becoming the fastest IPO new energy vehicle company in history, ZEEKR has been running at full speed since its birth. In March 2021, Zhejiang ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., the main operating body of ZEEKR, was established. On the 15th of the following month, the ZEEKR brand and its first model, the luxury hunting coupe ZEEKR 001, were officially released.
As the first model of the ZEEKR brand, ZEEKR 001 has the appearance of hunting suits, the passability of SUVs, the large space of a station wagon and the handling of a sports car. With the blessing of these powerful attributes, ZEEKR 001 has attracted much attention as soon as it was launched.
On September 5, 2021, the world's first ZEEKR Center opened in Hangzhou. An Conghui said: "The opening of the first ZEEKR center means that ZEEKR can share the trend of technology life with users at their doorstep. Next, ZEEKR will launch more diverse and interesting user co-creation activities to provide more and more geeks with the ultimate travel experience that exceeds expectations. ”
It is reported that ZEEKR Center is an important step for ZEEKR to build a sales system and explore a service innovation model. Through its unique design and functional layout, it is not only an experience center, but also a trend center and a co-creation center.
On October 19, 2021, the ZEEKR 001 production model rolled off the assembly line at the Hangzhou plant, and mass delivery began on October 23. As of October 31, 2021, a total of 199 units of ZEEKR's production model, ZEEKR 001, have been delivered in the first week.
On February 9, 2022, the delivery volume of ZEEKR 001 exceeded 10,000 units, which took less than 4 months. According to Frost & Sullivan certification, this is one of the fastest delivered models among China's major mid-to-high-end new energy vehicles and high-end pure electric vehicles.
On October 15, 2022, ZEEKR Automobile announced the official delivery of the 50,000th ZEEKR 001, setting another record for the delivery of the first model of a high-end intelligent pure electric brand.
After the success of ZEEKR 001, on November 1, 2022, ZEEKR launched its second model, the pure electric MPV009, which was officially launched. It is reported that the ZEEKR 009WE version has a range of 702km under CLTC comprehensive working conditions, and the ME version is equipped with CATL Kirin batteries, with a CLTC comprehensive working range of 822km.
In 2023, ZEEKR will launch a new luxury all-round SUV ZEEKR X, a pure electric luxury sedan ZEEKR 007.
At the Beijing Auto Show held at the end of April this year, ZEEKR released the full-scene five-seater ZEEKR MIX SUV model, which was praised by the market as embodying the ideas and concepts of ZEEKR on the product side, and was one of the must-see models of this auto show.
In 2024, ZEEKR will also launch a new medium and large electric SUV.
In addition, ZEEKR is constantly upgrading its technology while launching new models to meet market demand and improve user experience.
Among them, on March 1 this year, the new ZEEKR 001 officially started nationwide delivery. Compared with the old model, the new ZEEKR 001 has been comprehensively upgraded to the exterior and interior, and adopts 800V high-voltage platform technology, which has further improved its product strength.
The rich product matrix and stable delivery capabilities have witnessed the accelerated growth of ZEEKR. According to the data, in April this year, ZEEKR delivered 16,089 units in a month, a year-on-year increase of 99%, achieving a record high in monthly sales.
In the first four months of 2024, ZEEKR delivered a total of 49,148 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 111%, winning the sales championship of more than 200,000 Chinese pure electric brands so far in 2024.
Caption: ZEEKR's sales volume won the sales championship of high-end pure electric vehicle companies
By the end of April 2024, ZEEKR has delivered more than 240,000 vehicles. An Conghui recently said that he is full of confidence in the achievement of this year's sales target of 230,000 vehicles.
With the continuous increase in sales scale, ZEEKR's revenue has also increased significantly. According to the prospectus, the total operating income of ZEEKR in 2021, 2022, and 2023 will be 6.5 billion yuan, 31.9 billion yuan, and 51.7 billion yuan respectively, and the revenue in 2023 will increase by 62% year-on-year.
It is worth noting that, unlike other new car-making forces, ZEEKR's revenue composition is more diversified, including three-electric business, R&D and other services in addition to vehicle sales. Last year, the company's automobile sales revenue was 33.9 billion yuan, and the revenue from the three-electric business, R&D and other services was 17.761 billion yuan.
According to the prospectus, ZEEKR has maintained a positive gross profit margin since its establishment, and the gross profit of the whole vehicle will reach 15% by 2023, second only to Tesla in the field of high-end pure electric vehicles, surpassing Weilai and Xiaopeng Motors, and is expected to become the earliest and fastest profitable electric vehicle company in addition to Tesla.
In fact, ZEEKR is only one step away from making a profit. Dai Yong, deputy CFO of Geely Automobile Group, previously said that under the premise of increasing sales and gross profit, ZEEKR will strive to turn losses into profits in 2024 (according to Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards).
Decoding ZEEKR, 37 years of accumulation has created a "37-month miracle"
The ZEEKR that created all this has only been established for 37 months, how can the speed of ZEEKR be refined? In An Conghui's view, behind all this is the 37-year accumulation of Geely Holding Group, the parent company of ZEEKR, and the pioneering exploration of the third track of the new energy vehicle industry.
An Conghui believes that the new energy wave is a change unseen in the global automotive industry in a century. Different from traditional car companies and new forces, ZEEKR empowers Geely Holding Group's car-making heritage and global resources to a new independent brand, which is the third track opened up by ZEEKR for the global new energy transformation, and it is also the long-term value highlighted by ZEEKR in the global capital market.
In addition, based on the high recognition of the company's long-term value, ZEEKR has also been favored by investment institutions.
Tianyancha data shows that ZEEKR completed a $500 million Pre-A round of strategic financing in August 2021, with strategic investment from five ecological partners: Intel Capital, CATL, Bilibili, Hongshang Group and Boyu Investment. In February 2023, the company raised another US$750 million in Series A financing, with investors including CATL, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Commerce Fund, Quzhou Financial Holdings, and Amnon Shashua.
In terms of technology, ZEEKR 001 is based on the vast SEA architecture, which was built by Geely at a cost of more than 20 billion yuan. The advantages of architecture determine the advantages of car companies, and SEA's vast architecture is undoubtedly Geely's core competitiveness. With the support of such a solid technical foundation, the ZEEKR brand has maintained strong competitiveness since its birth.
Standing on the shoulders of Geely, the management of ZEEKR has adopted a dislocation strategy and has risen rapidly by relying on strong action.
It is reported that the car-making concept of ZEEKR is to start from the most difficult place, start from luxury, and take the differentiated route. For example, the first model, the luxury hunting coupe ZEEKR 001, based on the technological leadership of SEA's vast architecture and the deep insight into user needs, breaks the traditional thinking of sedans and SUVs, and integrates the appearance of hunting suits, the handling of coupes, and the space and passability of SUVs, which is recognized by the market and users, and establishes a value benchmark for pure electric models.
In addition to differentiated product layout, ZEEKR has also established a first-mover advantage in the fields of production and manufacturing, user operation, and energy replenishment system construction.
In terms of manufacturing, based on Geely's flexibility, cost efficiency and control consistency of Geely's widely compatible SEA architecture, ZEEKR's pure electric models can quickly adopt and adapt to the latest and most advanced technologies.
However, ZEEKR is not satisfied with this, and the company has invested another 7 billion yuan to develop the Haohan-M architecture to reconstruct the current spatial form of electric vehicles.
At present, the space utilization rate of most electric vehicles is around 70%, which is not a breakthrough compared with gasoline vehicles. However, under the Haohan-M architecture, the cabin space utilization rate is more than 80%, an increase of more than 10%. It is based on this architecture that ZEEKR has developed the world's first mass-produced car, ZEEKR MIX, in which both the main and passenger seats can be electrically rotated.
Radar Finance noticed that ZEEKR attaches great importance to research and development. According to the prospectus, from 2021 to the end of 2023, ZEEKR has invested nearly 17 billion yuan in R&D. Among them, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, ZEEKR's R&D investment will be 3.160 billion yuan, 5.446 billion yuan, and 8.369 billion yuan respectively, and R&D investment will continue to increase year by year.
In addition, for pure electric vehicles, charging is the main means of energy supplement, and whether it is convenient and fast determines the quality of the user experience. In this regard, ZEEKR provides users with worry-free charging services through home charging solutions, on-road charging solutions and 24*7 all-weather charging fleets.
Especially in terms of ultra-fast charging, ZEEKR has become a global leader. As of the end of April, the number of ultra-fast charging piles exceeded 2,500, ranking first in the industry; The company took the lead in formulating the 360kW ultra-fast charging industry standard, and the peak power of the V3 pole charging pile is 800kW, ranking first in the world. And the company plans to achieve "thousands of stations" in the next two years, and the energy supplement network will achieve breakeven.
Like most new EV makers, ZEEKR's sales channels include directly operated stores, delivery centers, and various online marketing channels. The company also builds different forms of offline direct stores in the commercial centers of core cities, including ZEEKR Center, ZEEKR Space, ZEEKR Delivery Center, ZEEKR Home, etc., and realizes contact and interaction with customers through the operation of the online ZEEKR App.
The multi-pronged approach of products, technologies and services has helped ZEEKR, which has just been established for three years, to rise rapidly and become the "leader" among China's independent brand car companies.
Born in the world, the journey of ZEEKR is a sea of stars
"The road is not lonely, and everyone goes far." For the listing of ZEEKR, An Conghui said that the brand logo of ZEEKR symbolizes the dawn of connecting the future, and ZEEKR will take the listing as an opportunity to further upgrade the governance structure, achieve global compliance, transparent and sustainable development, create the most extreme experience of travel life with global users, and bring stable long-term value to investors; And take greater responsibility in low-carbon manufacturing, corporate ESG, etc., to bring a greener and better tomorrow to the earth.
According to An Conghui, as a luxury pure electric brand under Geely Holding Group, ZEEKR was born all over the world. The company not only has global technology, standards and channels, but also has an open and win-win attitude to create in-depth co-creation with global technology partners. Based on the Haohan-M architecture, which completely subverts the form of electric vehicles, the customized models of ZEEKR and Waymo are about to enter the U.S. mobility market, and its household products will also be launched in China and other markets.
Radar Finance noticed that "going overseas" is no stranger to many domestic brands, but Zeekr, which is backed by Geely, has unique advantages under the global accumulation and empowerment of the former. It is reported that Geely Holding Group has more than 120,000 employees worldwide, one-third of whom are in Europe, and overseas revenue will account for nearly 50% of the group's revenue in 2023.
As a "born to the world" enterprise, ZEEKR's model design fully considers the industry standards and user needs of major markets around the world, and the vast architecture meets the most stringent five-star safety standards in China, the United States, Europe and other countries around the world, ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR X have obtained the safety certification of the European Union and the United Nations, and take the lead in sales and delivery in developed countries in Europe.
Since December last year, ZEEKR has been on sale in Sweden and the Netherlands in Europe.
Caption: Out to sea
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.
"ZEEKR's successful listing on the U.S. stock market is conducive to the company's global expansion." In the view of the famous economist Song Qinghui, listing on the U.S. stock market can allow ZEEKR to gain the attention of global investors, obtain "ammunition" for expansion, and also help enhance the popularity of ZEEKR. At present, ZEEKR has established competitive advantages in a number of key areas, and the company is expected to continue to grow after listing.