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Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-18ECARX (ECX) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Motley Fool
ECARX (ECX) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Image source: The Motley Fool. Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Founder and Chief Executive Officer - Ziyu Shen Chief Operating Officer - Peter Cirino Chief Financial Officer - Dylan Jeng Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ECARX Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mark Hankinson. Please go ahead. Mark Hankinson: Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to ECARX's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. With me today from ECARX are our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen; Chief Operating Officer, Peter Cirino; and Chief Financial Officer, Dylan Jeng. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward-looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also apply to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, this call will include discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can be found at the bottom of our earnings press release. With that, I'd like to hand the call over to our Founder and CEO, Ziyu Shen. Ziyu, please go ahead. Ziyu Shen: Thank you, Mark. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Last quarter, we outlined our vision to push the boundaries of automotive intelligence globally and how we are transforming into a truly global business, uniquely positioned to capitalize on the surging demand for higher-value software and physical AI. At our earnings in May, we said we expected a significant rebound in the market from Q2, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipments. The second quarter delivered exactly as expected. We delivered a strong financial result, and we continue to build momentum and make strong progress on our strategic objectives. The second quarter continued to be defined by disciplined execution and accelerating global momentum. Our top line revenue increased 45% year-over-year and up 71% from Q1. We reduced our operating expenses year-on-year despite the increased revenue. We grew gross margin to…Read full documentShow less
Image source: The Motley Fool. Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Founder and Chief Executive Officer - Ziyu Shen Chief Operating Officer - Peter Cirino Chief Financial Officer - Dylan Jeng Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ECARX Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mark Hankinson. Please go ahead. Mark Hankinson: Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to ECARX's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. With me today from ECARX are our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen; Chief Operating Officer, Peter Cirino; and Chief Financial Officer, Dylan Jeng. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward-looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also apply to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, this call will include discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can be found at the bottom of our earnings press release. With that, I'd like to hand the call over to our Founder and CEO, Ziyu Shen. Ziyu, please go ahead. Ziyu Shen: Thank you, Mark. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Last quarter, we outlined our vision to push the boundaries of automotive intelligence globally and how we are transforming into a truly global business, uniquely positioned to capitalize on the surging demand for higher-value software and physical AI. At our earnings in May, we said we expected a significant rebound in the market from Q2, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipments. The second quarter delivered exactly as expected. We delivered a strong financial result, and we continue to build momentum and make strong progress on our strategic objectives. The second quarter continued to be defined by disciplined execution and accelerating global momentum. Our top line revenue increased 45% year-over-year and up 71% from Q1. We reduced our operating expenses year-on-year despite the increased revenue. We grew gross margin to 19.8%, up from 10.8% this time last year. Most notably, we delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. I want to be clear about the market in which we achieved this. Demand in Chinese automotive has remained challenging through the first half of this year and global memory costs continue to be a significant factor. The growth in our revenue and profitability in this environment clearly demonstrates that the lean operating strategy we built through 2025 is doing exactly what we designed it to do. Throughout the quarter, we executed on our core priorities for the year with focus, accelerating our global strategy and investing in our R&D road map. That progress has strengthened our confidence going into the second half of 2026. First, our global expansion was accelerated during the quarter with more new models entering mass production, expanding the visibility and scale of our solutions. Our partnership with Volkswagen Group continues to make good progress. We are now putting the engineering, supply chain and support infrastructure in place across the Latin America region and remain on target for launch in 2027. Second, we continue to invest in our robust product and R&D road map. We expanded in 2 important ways this quarter. In June, we signed a definitive agreement to acquire the entire Flyme software business for approximately $266 million. This brings a highly strategic piece of our full stack ecosystem into the business. Flyme Auto is already deployed in more than 2 million vehicles and Flyme OS is already a core part of our Cloud Peak middleware used globally. So we are acquiring a mature platform that our own business already depends on. Flyme's momentum continues. It has recently been nominated to provide the software for a leading international luxury brand in China. In May, we entered into a strategic partnership with TPK Holdings to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform. As part of the process, ECARX will lead the systems integration capabilities and TPK will provide its manufacturing expertise. We are looking forward to seeing mass production begin in 2028. And lastly, we signed a share exchange agreement with Qualcomm Ventures last month. Qualcomm has been a strategic partner of ours for many years. We have collaborated deeply across multiple generations of solutions, including Zenith, which will be built on the upcoming Snapdragon Elite automotive platform. This agreement reflects another major milestone in our relationship to jointly develop highly specialized and integrated solutions. The progress we made during the quarter all points in the same direction. Our financial results are delivering even in difficult markets. We own more of our technology stack than we did before, allowing us to capture higher value opportunities. And we entered the second half of the year with continued confidence in our strategic and financial direction. I will now pass the call over to Peter Cirino to discuss our operational progress in more detail. Peter W. Cirino: Thank you, Ziyu. Good morning, everyone. At our earnings in May, we described Q1 as being a historically subdued quarter for both seasonal and quarter-specific reasons, and we guided to increasing momentum from Q2 onwards, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipment volumes. This has played out in Q2 as we expected. We achieved the launch and volume rebound we guided to in the first quarter, underscoring our strategy for our global commercial build-out through executing complex global programs across diverse vehicle lineups and markets. Shipments in the second quarter were approximately 550,000 units, an increase of 51% quarter-on-quarter that directly contributed to strong top line growth. Against same quarter last year, volumes were 2% lower. While year-on-year shipments were marginally down, overall revenue and revenue quality was significantly increased. Sales of goods revenue increased both quarter-on-quarter and year-over-year as shipments of our high-end solutions continue to grow and demand accelerates. Shipments of our high-end Antora solutions, in particular, increased 92% quarter-over-quarter and 52% year-over-year. Furthermore, shipments of our high-end performance AI-driven computing platform pikes increased 43% quarter-over-quarter and over 2,000% year-over-year. Antora and Pikes now make up 42% of shipments. These are the direct results of the decision we took during Q2 last year to begin phasing out our lower-margin legacy platform business and concentrate on high-end fully ECARX architected solutions. That decision moderated our unit volumes for a period, but is now improving the quality of what we sell. The second quarter is also where our 2026 model launches began landing at scale. And every launch pulls hardware volume and associated engineering revenue with it. Software revenue decreased from the same quarter last year by 42% due to lower sales volume, whereas Services revenues increased substantially from the same quarter last year by 21%, driven by new model launches. Services revenue comprised of reoccurring software fees, but the bulk of it today tracks the timing of design and development contracts and the vehicle launch cycles they support, so it can be lumpy by nature. We are pleased to see this improvement as we guided to expect 3 months ago. As launches accelerate, we anticipate software and services revenue will accelerate with them. To provide some context here, revenue in any given quarter is a function of 3 things. Those are vehicle model launch timing, shipments driven by end market demand and component pricing. We manage the first through operational discipline, the second through geographical and customer diversification and the third through pricing adjustments to structurally support top line revenue and protect profitability. But this business will show quarter-to-quarter variability, and we encourage you to look at the trailing 4 quarters rather than any single one. Turning to our customer base and growth strategy. During the quarter, we began mass production for 9 new models across 4 brands, of which the majority are using our next-generation Pikes or Antora series solutions. Of these new models, 4 are designated for markets outside of China, including Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. We are pleased to see this type of growth that further reinforces our strategy on transforming into a global company. We now have 12 million vehicles with our technology on the road. As Ziyu mentioned, our partnership with Volkswagen Group continues to drive forward during the quarter as we continue to build out engineering, supply chain and support infrastructure in the first region to support its expected launch in 2027. The program integrates our high-end Antora 1000 with Cloud Peak and Google Built-In for premium segment vehicles, alongside our cost-effective Antora 500 for entry-level segments. I want to again highlight the flexibility and scalability of the unique value proposition we are offering here, one portfolio of solutions that covers the full price ladder. Ziyu has already covered the strategic rationale of the pending Flyme acquisition. Flyme consists of 2 distinct but related pieces of software. The first is Flyme Auto, which is the application layer, which we use for the interface for products sold in China. In international markets, we use Google Built-In for this layer. The second piece is Flyme OS, which is the Android platform that we embed into our Cloud Peak middleware. This is the core of our software stack both in China and internationally. Let me turn to what this acquisition will change operationally in both of these markets. The first is road map control. A competitive advantage of ECARX is our ability to tightly integrate our product solutions across layers from silicon to sensors to software. Owning Flyme allows for deeper hardware and software integration and greater customization. That shortens the integration time lines for automakers, provides them with standardized, flexible solutions for diverse vehicle lineup and accelerates time to market. More importantly, this will also create a competitive moat, strengthening our ability to execute complex vehicle programs at scale. The second is a revenue stream that is not tied to hardware volume. Flyme generates revenues today from software licensing, from custom development work and from intelligent cockpit system delivery. Adding a licensable software asset will allow us to move up the automotive value chain and capture greater margin. The third is interoperability. Flyme OS, which is embedded in Cloud Peak, already spans vehicles, smartphones and wearable smart devices, which means the car connects seamlessly to these devices, which drivers already carry. What differentiates Flyme OS from current products is its speed and close integration with the rest of the stack, delivering a superior user experience. This fully integrated cross-domain ecosystem equips automakers with solutions they can deploy, whether that is Flyme Auto in China or Google Built-In outside of China across the lineup to differentiate their vehicles in an intensely competitive market. We will operate Flyme as an independent software division, which will preserve R&D continuity and ensure a seamless transition for existing customers. Existing operators of Flyme OS will continue to receive updates and user data remains in each operator's ownership. The second addition to our portfolio is our partnership with TPK to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform, making our formal entry into the LiDAR sector. Under that agreement, we will lead system integration, sensor fusion and global commercialization, drawing upon our relationships with international automakers and robotaxi operators. TPK will contribute optical design, engineering and high-volume precision manufacturing. Mass production is scheduled for 2028 at TPK's facility in Thailand, and we're excited about the additional options this will allow us to provide automakers as we continue to drive further hardware and software integration. Before I pass the call to Dylan, I want to leave you with one final thought. What these partnerships and solutions provide are critical to our broader strategy. When a global automaker asks us for a solution, we can answer with our own silicon heritage, our own computing platform and soon our own operating system and our own expanding sensor technology. Very few companies in the industry can offer this sort of closely integrated stack comprising silicon to software to sensors. With that, I will turn the call over to Dylan. Dylan Jeng: Thank you, Peter, and hi, everyone. The second quarter performance is a clear demonstration of the operating leverage we have been building into this business. Revenue rebounded strongly as launches and volumes recovered after a historically weak Q1. Our cost structure continued to improve, and we delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of a positive adjusted EBITDA. We achieved this while managing a memory cost environment that has moved sharply against our industry. Starting with the top line. Total revenue was driven by 4 factors: growing demand outside of China, higher-value products, new model launches and the DDR memory price adjustment flowing through our pricing. Sales of goods revenue was $196 million, increasing 73% sequentially and 50% year-over-year. Software revenue was $0.7 million or a 42% decrease year-over-year due to lower sales volume. Service revenue was $28 million or a 21% increase year-over-year, driven by the new model launches in the quarter. The Chinese auto market remains challenging. However, as we guided in the first quarter, market conditions improved overall in the second quarter, particularly momentum related to the first quarter. Shipment volumes were up 51% quarter-to-quarter. I want to spend a moment on ASPs because arithmetic this quarter points directly at it. While volume was slightly lower year-over-year, revenue was up 45%. This was driven by 2 main factors. The first is the quality of the revenue with our high-end products increasingly accounting for a larger share of our shipments. Our Antora and Pikes solution both increased in volume year-over-year, resulting in combined 71% gains in unit shipments. This is the deliberate mix shift we began executing last year, and it is working as intended. The second is the memory cost. Higher global memory costs have structurally supported our top line revenue as those costs passed through into our pricing. Gross profit was $44.5 million with gross margin expanding to 19.8%, a significant improvement on the same quarter last year where margin was at 10.8%. And looking forward, our margin profile will continue to be influenced by global memory cost. While higher memory costs to drive higher revenue, we continue to expect that gross margin and the operating profitability may be negatively impacted by memory cost dynamics in the coming quarters. Our response to manage this impact is the one we have executed consistently. That means managing our supply chain, controlling our cost structure, maintaining pricing discipline and concentrating R&D on the higher impact solutions. Our new operating strategy continued to deliver substantial efficiency gains. Operating expenses actually declined 11% year-over-year, set that against the 45% revenue growth, and you have the cleanest single measure of how this business has been transformed over the past 12 months. A contributor to efficiency is the internal deployment of AI across our organization. This is changing the cost curve of the software development for us, with over 90% of our developers now use cloud code and other solutions in their workflow. This becomes structurally more valuable as our software footprint expands with the addition of Flyme. On a sequential basis, we realized improvements across almost every key metric, revenue up, cost down, profitability increased. The only exception is the adjusted EBITDA, which remained positive but was down from $4 million last quarter to $0.5 million in Q2 and improved annually by $30.2 million. To explain in more detail, last quarter's adjusted EBITDA of $4 million included that $14 million of partial monetization of our shareholdings in SiEngine, which was a onetime item. And there was no similar onetime item this quarter. We are very pleased to have delivered our fourth consecutive quarters of positive EBITDA, which is a testament both to the recovery in the market that we guided to at Q1 and our robust cost discipline. Our confidence going into the second half of the year rests on 3 things. The first is the launch cadence Peter described it, which leaned heavily towards the second half of this year. And the second is the order backlog underpinning those programs. The third is the historical seasonality of our business, where the second half was consistently carried the largest shares of annual revenue. With that confidence in mind, we are reaffirming our full year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. In summary, the second quarter delivered the rebounds that we guided to in April. Our cost structure continues to improve, and we have added materially to the strategic assets of this business to drive growth. We remain focused on the disciplined execution and creating long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I will hand back to Ziyu for his closing remarks. Ziyu Shen: Thank you, Dylan. As you've heard today, we have made meaningful progress across our strategic priorities for 2026. This positions us for growth in the near and long term. In the first half of the year, we entered into an agreement to expand our capabilities with the addition of the Flyme business portfolio. We extended our global reach with the Volkswagen commercial build-out, and we delivered a strong financial result on both top line and gross profit against a challenging backdrop. And I'd now like to open the call for questions. Operator, please open the line. Operator: [Operator Instructions] We will now take our first question from the line of Wei Huang from Deutsche Bank. Huang Wei: So first, I would like to ask a bit about our gross margin. You have guided in 1Q that -- and in this quarter that our memory prices are going to be pressuring on gross margin this year. But 2Q hardware gross margin was quite strong, actually at 15%, even though memory prices also increased quite a bit this quarter as well. What is the outlook for the second half of the year? Dylan Jeng: Yes. Thanks. We have reiterated our comments about the margins at sets of earnings. And obviously, the higher memory cost to support structurally the higher revenue as the balance is memory cost with our customers. However, this sort of a pass-through does come at the understandably lower margin. And we do the right things, and it doesn't really indicate any negative about this business. And in terms of the Q2, you're right about this was a strong performance, and that was really driven by a few things. And first, with any cost increase in components and some of the -- which that we already have in stock. And there are timing discrepancy between the purchase and purchasing and the passing through. And also the selling higher value products than we did last year. So Pikes and Antora is up significantly, which support both revenues and revenue quality. And very importantly, we also did a great job on managing costs in the business, and we reduced our operating costs year-over-year despite growing revenue by 45%. So I think with all the elements and the reasons that really helped during the second quarter. Huang Wei: Just a follow-up on that. So can I assume that our memory purchase inventory to be depleted and I guess the memory price hike is going to hit us more in the third quarter and fourth quarter? Mark Hankinson: Wei, I'm sorry. The question wasn't very clear. Would you mind repeating it, please? Huang Wei: Yes, no problem. You stated that one of the factors that led to the strong hardware gross margin this quarter was the memory that we had in stock. So I assume as this gets depleted, our memory is going to be -- our margin is going to be more under pressure in the third quarter and fourth quarter. Dylan Jeng: Yes, it is. And we are very working closely our supply chain teams and also working very closely with the marketplace. So we'll continue to manage that going forward, which we do anticipate. Ziyu Shen: Yes. So this is Ziyu speaking, sorry. I'll jump in here. So I will say our supply chain team had a great job. So we built a very strong strategic partnership with [ XT ] and also Samsung. So we are our partner with them. So from a memory supply point of view, we are very leading. And we had a very strong inventory and future pipeline. Also principally, I want to say confidently that most of -- I think most of the increase actually pass over to the customer. So no impact on our gross margin, that's for sure. But we will strongly maintain our good supply chain operation to sustainably support our customers. That's our very strong advantage in market. That's all clear? Huang Wei: Understood. Yes, very clear. And then the second question is on our high-end and current Pikes, you mentioned it increased quite a bit sequentially as well. Did you have a number for what percent of our volume was in the first quarter? Because you said 2Q was 42%. I want to do a comparison [ Q-o-Q ] basis. Mark Hankinson: Yes. I don't know if we have that number at hand. We can come back to you on that. I think we did talk about it at the Q1s, but let us confirm. I don't think we have that number at hand. Peter W. Cirino: Wei, maybe I'll just make some comments. I mean we see very good traction on these 2 product lines, and they continue to roll out across multiple customers for us in China and in the global market. And I think there are 2 strong lighthouse project programs for the organization. So as I mentioned in my comments, Antora saw a 52% increase year-on-year. And I think on a year-on-year basis and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, I do suspect we'll continue to see increases in that platform. Pikes was just launched last year. So we saw over a 2,000% growth year-on-year. And again, I'm very confident it will continue to grow. We're offering a great user experience to our customers on those 2 platforms. And I think they are solid performers for us in the market and show exceptional technology leadership. Huang Wei: Well noted. And I assume our improved product mix is also one of the reasons our ASP has increased to roughly around [ USD 360 ] in the second quarter. Do you have an idea on what's a reasonable level to assume for the third quarter and fourth quarter, assuming with the new product launches and those models upgrading to these new platforms, how much higher can this go? Mark Hankinson: Wei, I'm sorry, the question again was quite muffled. Would you mind repeating it? Huang Wei: Yes, no problem. I wanted to ask about our ASP outlook for 3Q and 4Q since it reached around [ USD 360 ] in the second quarter due to, I assume, a higher shipments of Antora and Pikes. And during the new model launches and the old models upgrading their chips to the newer platform, how much higher can this ASP go? Peter W. Cirino: Yes. So Wei, I don't think we'll announce a specific number on that, but that's a trend that you should see from us, I think, and you see from most of the industry who is investing in new platforms and delivering the high-end user experience, you'll see that as just an industry trend, which will feel as a tailwind. So as our older products roll off and these newer higher-performance products roll on, and the customer experience is actually a net decrease in their vehicle architecture cost because more functions go on to these platforms, more of the vehicle becomes software-defined. It actually enables the automaker to deploy additional features inside their vehicle environment. But with a higher performance computer in the car and higher performance software, we definitely will -- we should continue to see, I would say, an increase in ASP. Huang Wei: Well noted. And my last question is on our software license as well as the service sector business. So gross margin for these 2 actually declined sequentially for the second quarter. Software license went to almost 0 breakeven and service gross margin declined as well. Do you have anything to highlight that contributed to this or just normal business seasonality? Mark Hankinson: Wei, perhaps I comment on that. I mean the software line item in our financials is one that gets a lot of attention because it moves up and down by a big percentage every quarter, but it's a very, very small number. And the way that we think about that is that's generally around, say, $1 million to $2 million a quarter, except when there's a significant event in the quarter. We saw that in Q1 2025, for instance. But we encourage people not to focus too much on the movement within software. I think it's important to understand as well that a lot of what people might think of as software comes into our services line item as well. I think the movements around margin on those are just general business dynamics as the quarters move over. It's principally driven by new product launches and being specified on platform. Operator: [Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back to Mark Hankinson for closing remarks. Mark Hankinson: Thanks very much, operator, and thanks for joining today. The second quarter clearly reflected strong execution. We saw this demonstrated through our financial performance, and we saw it in progress against our strategic objectives. ECARX is positioned to become a leading global supplier of innovative next-generation solutions for OEMs, and we look forward to providing more updates on our progress in the second half of the year. So thank you very much. And with that, we'll conclude the call. Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Ecarx, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ecarx wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. ECARX (ECX) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-11ECARX Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
MarketBeat
ECARX Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Interested in ECARX Holdings, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. ECARX rebounded in the second quarter: Revenue rose 45% year over year and 71% sequentially to support a 19.8% gross margin and the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Management reaffirmed 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Higher-value products drove growth despite nearly flat shipments: The company shipped about 550,000 units, while Antora and Pikes platforms accounted for 42% of shipments and helped lift revenue. ECARX launched nine vehicle models during the quarter, including four for international markets. ECARX is expanding its technology portfolio and global reach: It agreed to acquire Flyme’s software business for approximately $266 million, partnered with TPK on a LiDAR platform targeted for mass production in 2028, and continued preparations for a 2027 Volkswagen program in Latin America. Memory costs remain a risk to margins. ECARX (NASDAQ:ECX) reported a second-quarter rebound in revenue and shipments as new vehicle launches accelerated and higher-end computing platforms accounted for a larger share of its business. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of $1 billion to $1.1 billion while discussing planned investments in software, LiDAR and international expansion. Chief Executive Officer Ziyu Shen said revenue rose 45% year over year and 71% sequentially during the quarter. Gross margin expanded to 19.8% from 10.8% a year earlier, while operating expenses declined year over year despite higher revenue. The company also recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat “The second quarter delivered exactly as expected,” Shen said, citing a rebound in vehicle launches and shipments following what executives described as a historically subdued first quarter. He noted that Chinese automotive demand remained challenging during the first half and that global memory costs continued to affect the industry. Chief Operating Officer Peter Cirino said ECARX shipped approximately 550,000 units in the second quarter, up 51% from the first quarter but down 2% from the prior-year period. Despite the year-over-year decline in unit shipments, revenue increased as sales shifted toward higher-value products and pricing reflected higher memory c…Read full documentShow less
Interested in ECARX Holdings, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. ECARX rebounded in the second quarter: Revenue rose 45% year over year and 71% sequentially to support a 19.8% gross margin and the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Management reaffirmed 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Higher-value products drove growth despite nearly flat shipments: The company shipped about 550,000 units, while Antora and Pikes platforms accounted for 42% of shipments and helped lift revenue. ECARX launched nine vehicle models during the quarter, including four for international markets. ECARX is expanding its technology portfolio and global reach: It agreed to acquire Flyme’s software business for approximately $266 million, partnered with TPK on a LiDAR platform targeted for mass production in 2028, and continued preparations for a 2027 Volkswagen program in Latin America. Memory costs remain a risk to margins. ECARX (NASDAQ:ECX) reported a second-quarter rebound in revenue and shipments as new vehicle launches accelerated and higher-end computing platforms accounted for a larger share of its business. The company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of $1 billion to $1.1 billion while discussing planned investments in software, LiDAR and international expansion. Chief Executive Officer Ziyu Shen said revenue rose 45% year over year and 71% sequentially during the quarter. Gross margin expanded to 19.8% from 10.8% a year earlier, while operating expenses declined year over year despite higher revenue. The company also recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat “The second quarter delivered exactly as expected,” Shen said, citing a rebound in vehicle launches and shipments following what executives described as a historically subdued first quarter. He noted that Chinese automotive demand remained challenging during the first half and that global memory costs continued to affect the industry. Chief Operating Officer Peter Cirino said ECARX shipped approximately 550,000 units in the second quarter, up 51% from the first quarter but down 2% from the prior-year period. Despite the year-over-year decline in unit shipments, revenue increased as sales shifted toward higher-value products and pricing reflected higher memory costs. → 3 Dividend Champion Utilities for a Market That Can't Sit Still Shipments of the company’s Antora high-end solutions rose 92% sequentially and 52% year over year, while shipments of its Pikes AI-driven computing platform increased 43% from the prior quarter and more than 2,000% from a year earlier. Antora and Pikes together represented 42% of shipments in the quarter, Cirino said. The executive attributed the mix shift to ECARX’s decision last year to phase out lower-margin legacy platform business and focus on higher-end solutions designed by the company. During the quarter, ECARX began mass production for nine new vehicle models across four brands, with most using Pikes or Antora platforms. Four of those models are intended for markets outside China, including Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. → Take-Two’s Q1 Results Leave GTA 6 Bulls Stuck in the Fog of War ECARX said it now has technology installed in 12 million vehicles on the road. Chief Financial Officer Dylan Jeng said sales of goods revenue totaled $196 million, up 73% sequentially and 50% year over year. Software revenue was $0.7 million, down 42% year over year because of lower sales volume, while service revenue rose 21% to $28 million, supported by new model launches. Jeng said gross profit totaled $44.5 million. He attributed the improved gross margin in part to a greater contribution from higher-value platforms, cost management and timing differences between the company’s component purchases and pricing passed through to customers. However, management said memory-cost dynamics could weigh on gross margin and operating profitability in coming quarters. Higher memory prices raise reported revenue when costs are passed through to customers, but can result in lower margins, Jeng said. During the question-and-answer session, management said its supply-chain team was working closely with suppliers and the market to manage memory availability and costs. A company representative said ECARX had built strategic relationships with NXP and Samsung and maintained inventory and a future supply pipeline, adding that management expected most cost increases to be passed on to customers. Adjusted EBITDA was positive $0.5 million in the second quarter, compared with positive $4 million in the first quarter. Jeng said first-quarter adjusted EBITDA included a $14 million partial monetization of ECARX’s shareholdings in SiEngine, a one-time item that did not recur in the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA improved by $30.2 million from the prior-year period, he said. ECARX also outlined plans to broaden its technology portfolio. In June, the company signed a definitive agreement to acquire the entire Flyme software business for approximately $266 million. Shen said Flyme Auto is deployed in more than 2 million vehicles, while Flyme OS is a component of ECARX’s Cloudpeak middleware. Cirino said ECARX plans to operate Flyme as an independent software division, preserving research and development continuity for existing customers. The acquisition is intended to give ECARX greater control over its software roadmap, add licensing and custom-development revenue streams, and support integration across vehicles, smartphones and wearable devices. Separately, ECARX entered a strategic partnership with TPK Holding to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform. ECARX will lead system integration, sensor fusion and global commercialization, while TPK will contribute optical design, engineering and high-volume manufacturing. Mass production is scheduled to begin in 2028 at TPK’s Thailand facility. The company said its partnership with Volkswagen Group continued to advance, with ECARX building engineering, supply-chain and support infrastructure in Latin America ahead of an expected 2027 launch. The program is expected to integrate Antora computing platforms, Cloudpeak middleware and Google built-in for Volkswagen vehicles across premium and entry-level segments. Looking ahead, Jeng said management’s confidence in the second half rests on a heavier launch cadence, order backlog and the company’s historical tendency for the second half to generate a larger share of annual revenue. ECARX reiterated its 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. ECARX is a global automotive technology company focused on developing and delivering smart cockpit solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company designs and manufactures a range of in-vehicle computing platforms, central processing units, digital instrument clusters and multimedia infotainment systems. ECARX's core offerings integrate software, hardware and cloud connectivity to create seamless user experiences for drivers and passengers. The company's product portfolio spans telematics control units, over-the-air update frameworks and next-generation human-machine interfaces (HMI). This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "ECARX Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-11ECARX Announces Second Quarter 2026 Unaudited Financial Results
PR Newswire
ECARX Announces Second Quarter 2026 Unaudited Financial Results
LONDON, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Ziyu Shen, ECARX CEO, commented, "Despite a challenging automotive backdrop, ECARX delivered a strong second quarter in both financial and strategic terms. Q2 saw year-on-year revenue growth of 45%, operating and R&D costs down, a near doubling of gross margin, a reduction in net loss, and our fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Our decision in Q2 last year to shift to higher value products saw shipments of our next-generation Antora® and Pikes® products rise 52% and over 2,000% year-on-year, respectively. This strategic shift, and the successful balancing of increased memory costs with our customers, allowed us to significantly increase revenue despite broadly flat shipments reflecting the challenging backdrop. Our lean operating framework allowed us to translate this revenue growth into sustained profitability at the adjusted EBITDA level: overall operating costs were down despite higher revenue, and we were able to implement R&D cost savings due to operational efficiencies and the deployment of AI technologies. Strategically, we continue to capture high value opportunities across the global auto industry. We announced the agreement to acquire the Flyme software business which will allow us to fully control the software layer in our products. We also announced a strategic partnership with TPK Holdings to develop the ORCA LiDAR platform, which will add further capability to our product offering. Our progress on the industrialization of our program with Volkswagen continues well, and last month we were honored with Volkswagen Brazil's Partnership Connectivity Award, which celebrated our leading digital cockpit and vehicle technologies. We are entering a period of growth for ECARX as we continue to develop our full-stack auto-technology capabilities to position the Company for sustained value creation in the near- and long-term, and define the next generation of intelligent vehicles." Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results: Total revenue was US$225.2 million, up 45% year-over-year ("YoY"). Total cost of revenue was US$180.7 million, up 30% YoY, driven primarily by rising memory costs associated with the sales of g…Read full documentShow less
LONDON, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Ziyu Shen, ECARX CEO, commented, "Despite a challenging automotive backdrop, ECARX delivered a strong second quarter in both financial and strategic terms. Q2 saw year-on-year revenue growth of 45%, operating and R&D costs down, a near doubling of gross margin, a reduction in net loss, and our fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Our decision in Q2 last year to shift to higher value products saw shipments of our next-generation Antora® and Pikes® products rise 52% and over 2,000% year-on-year, respectively. This strategic shift, and the successful balancing of increased memory costs with our customers, allowed us to significantly increase revenue despite broadly flat shipments reflecting the challenging backdrop. Our lean operating framework allowed us to translate this revenue growth into sustained profitability at the adjusted EBITDA level: overall operating costs were down despite higher revenue, and we were able to implement R&D cost savings due to operational efficiencies and the deployment of AI technologies. Strategically, we continue to capture high value opportunities across the global auto industry. We announced the agreement to acquire the Flyme software business which will allow us to fully control the software layer in our products. We also announced a strategic partnership with TPK Holdings to develop the ORCA LiDAR platform, which will add further capability to our product offering. Our progress on the industrialization of our program with Volkswagen continues well, and last month we were honored with Volkswagen Brazil's Partnership Connectivity Award, which celebrated our leading digital cockpit and vehicle technologies. We are entering a period of growth for ECARX as we continue to develop our full-stack auto-technology capabilities to position the Company for sustained value creation in the near- and long-term, and define the next generation of intelligent vehicles." Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results: Total revenue was US$225.2 million, up 45% year-over-year ("YoY"). Total cost of revenue was US$180.7 million, up 30% YoY, driven primarily by rising memory costs associated with the sales of goods. Gross profit was US$44.5 million, up 165% YoY, resulting in the gross margin of 19.8%. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to the price adjustment for the sales of goods, as well as higher service revenue margin supported by a more favorable cost structure. As a result, gross margin increased from 10.8% to 19.8% YoY. Research and development expenses were US$29.1 million, down 14% YoY, primarily driven by the continued resource prioritization that enhanced operational efficiencies and synergies from R&D integration and the internal deployment of AI across our business to reduce structural costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses and others, net were US$21.6 million, down 8% YoY, primarily driven by the continued improvement in global operating efficiencies and lower share-based compensation expenses incurred during the quarter. Net loss was US$12.0 million, compared with US$45.4 million during the same period last year. The considerable improvement was primarily attributable to a marked expansion in gross margin, in conjunction with a reduction in total operating expenses including share-based compensation. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) gain was US$0.5 million, compared with adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) loss of US$29.8 million in the same period last year. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measure." Total cash as of June 30, 2026 was US$165.5 million including US$117.8 million reserved for purchase consideration payable for the Flyme acquisition. Looking ahead, our visibility into the remainder of the year gives us the confidence around our strategic trajectory: Recent Business Development Highlights and Updates: Expanding Global Footprint and Automaker Partnerships Around 12 million vehicles on the road globally with ECARX technologies as of June 30, 2026 Honored with the Partnership Connectivity Award at Volkswagen do Brasil's flagship annual supplier summit, The One 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, recognizing ECARX across six evaluation pillars spanning innovation, portfolio competitiveness, program support, delivery speed, cross-functional alignment and product quality Continued industrialization process for the Volkswagen Group program, remaining firmly on track ahead of the anticipated 2027 launch for the Latin American market Deepening Innovation-Driven R&D Ecosystem Entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the full Flyme software business portfolio for approximately US$266 million, comprising Flyme Auto, an in-vehicle cockpit operating system already deployed by ECARX in more than two million vehicles, and the cross-device Flyme operating system, securing end-to-end operating system capabilities above the Cloudpeak® software stack Signed a binding memorandum of business cooperation with TPK Holding Co., Ltd. to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform for global markets, with ECARX leading system integration, sensor fusion and global commercialization and mass production targeted for 2028 at TPK's manufacturing facility in Thailand Strengthening the Balance Sheet Increased the issuance capacity of the 2025 Convertible Notes from US$100 million to US$130 million, with an existing institutional investor subscribing for an additional US$15 million note, and the transfer of an existing 2025 Note to a new investor to support ongoing platform iteration, R&D upgrades, and commercial scaling of the full-stack automotive intelligence solutions Technological Advancements and Product Launches Shipped over 550,000 units during the quarter, with high-end Antora® and Pikes® solutions accounting for 42% of shipments, compared to 20% in the same quarter last year Initiated mass production for 9 new vehicle models across 4 brands deploying Pikes® and Antora® solutions combined with the Cloudpeak® cross-domain software stack and Flyme Auto Secured 33 vehicle design wins during Q2 2026, further strengthening the Company's commercial pipeline and long-term revenue momentum # # # Conference Call and Webcast Details ECARX will host a webcast of its earnings conference call today, Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. EST. To access the webcast, visit the News and Events section of the ECARX Investor Relations website, or visit the following link – https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/46rah66v. To join the earnings call by telephone, participants must preregister at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIe8abcb76ec1e4761a1002346ff30cd05 to receive dial-in information. A replay of the webcast and presentation materials will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website under the results and reports section following the event. About ECARX ECARX (Nasdaq: ECX), headquartered in London, is a leading global automotive intelligence company. ECARX provides the intelligent brain that powers the next generation of software-defined and AI defined vehicles. The company delivers end-to-end, full-stack solutions spanning advanced system-on-chip hardware, high-performance central computing platforms, intelligent cockpit technology, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, cloud connectivity and physical AI, alongside bespoke vehicle software and intelligent operating systems. As automakers transition to software-first and AI-first vehicle architectures, ECARX empowers automakers to streamline integration, reduce systemic complexity and optimize long-term cost efficiency. ECARX's proven technology is deployed in around 12 million vehicles worldwide, and is currently partnered with 18 global automakers and 28 vehicle brands to shape the future of automotive intelligence. Founded in 2017 and listed on Nasdaq in 2022, ECARX operates from 15 major international locations across Europe, the Americas and Asia, with a global team of over 1,400 employees. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's beliefs and expectations as well as on assumptions made by and data currently available to management, appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements regarding, amongst other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. The use of words "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "estimates", "predicts", "believes", "should", "potential", "may", "preliminary", "forecast", "objective", "plan", or "target", and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, future market conditions or economic performance and developments in the capital and credit markets and expected future financial performance, and the markets in which we operate. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, see ECARX's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ECARX undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law. Non-GAAP Financial Measure The Company uses adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expenses. The Company presents this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by the management to evaluate the Company's operating performance and formulate business plans. The Company believes that the non-GAAP measure helps identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of certain expenses that are included in net loss. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to net loss or any other measures of performance or as indicators of the Company's operating performance. Investors are encouraged to compare the Company's historical adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net loss. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data. The Company encourages investors and others to review the financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. For more information on the non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release. Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results We use adjusted EBITDA in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expenses. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to net loss or any other measures of performance or as indicators of our operating performance. Investors are encouraged to compare our historical adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net loss. Adjusted EBITDA presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ecarx-announces-second-quarter-2026-unaudited-financial-results-302848028.html
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-11ECARX Holdings, Inc. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Moby
ECARX Holdings, Inc. Q2 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Performance in Q2 delivered a significant rebound in vehicle launches and shipments, validating the lean operating strategy established in 2025 despite a challenging Chinese automotive market. Revenue growth of 45% year-over-year was primarily driven by a deliberate shift toward high-end solutions, specifically the Antora and Pikes computing platforms, which now represent 42% of total shipments. The company is transitioning into a global entity, with four of the nine new mass-production models launched this quarter designated for markets outside of China, including Europe and Southeast Asia. Operational efficiency improved as operating expenses declined 11% year-over-year, achieved through disciplined cost control and the internal deployment of AI in software development workflows. Strategic partnerships were strengthened through a share exchange agreement with Qualcomm Ventures to co-develop specialized solutions on the upcoming Snapdragon Elite automotive platform. The acquisition of the Flyme software business for approximately $266 million provides a mature, licensable software asset that enables deeper hardware-software integration and higher-margin revenue streams. Entry into the LiDAR sector via a partnership with TPK Holdings allows ECARX to lead systems integration while leveraging TPK's manufacturing expertise for mass production starting in 2028. Management reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion, supported by a heavy launch cadence and strong order backlog for the second half of the year. The partnership with Volkswagen Group remains on target for a 2027 launch, with current efforts focused on building engineering and supply chain infrastructure in the Latin America region. Gross margin and operating profitability may face headwinds in coming quarters due to volatile global memory cost dynamics, despite current success in passing these costs through to customers. The integration of Flyme is expected to create a competitive moat by shortening automaker integration timelines and providing standardized, flexible solutions for diverse vehicle lineups. Future revenue quality is expected to improve as the company continues to phase out lower-margin legacy platforms in f…Read full documentShow less
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Performance in Q2 delivered a significant rebound in vehicle launches and shipments, validating the lean operating strategy established in 2025 despite a challenging Chinese automotive market. Revenue growth of 45% year-over-year was primarily driven by a deliberate shift toward high-end solutions, specifically the Antora and Pikes computing platforms, which now represent 42% of total shipments. The company is transitioning into a global entity, with four of the nine new mass-production models launched this quarter designated for markets outside of China, including Europe and Southeast Asia. Operational efficiency improved as operating expenses declined 11% year-over-year, achieved through disciplined cost control and the internal deployment of AI in software development workflows. Strategic partnerships were strengthened through a share exchange agreement with Qualcomm Ventures to co-develop specialized solutions on the upcoming Snapdragon Elite automotive platform. The acquisition of the Flyme software business for approximately $266 million provides a mature, licensable software asset that enables deeper hardware-software integration and higher-margin revenue streams. Entry into the LiDAR sector via a partnership with TPK Holdings allows ECARX to lead systems integration while leveraging TPK's manufacturing expertise for mass production starting in 2028. Management reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion, supported by a heavy launch cadence and strong order backlog for the second half of the year. The partnership with Volkswagen Group remains on target for a 2027 launch, with current efforts focused on building engineering and supply chain infrastructure in the Latin America region. Gross margin and operating profitability may face headwinds in coming quarters due to volatile global memory cost dynamics, despite current success in passing these costs through to customers. The integration of Flyme is expected to create a competitive moat by shortening automaker integration timelines and providing standardized, flexible solutions for diverse vehicle lineups. Future revenue quality is expected to improve as the company continues to phase out lower-margin legacy platforms in favor of fully ECARX-architected high-end solutions. Global memory costs remain a significant factor; while they structurally support top-line revenue via price pass-throughs, they present a risk to margin stability if supply chain management falters. The Flyme business will be operated as an independent software division to preserve R&D continuity and ensure a seamless transition for existing customers and data ownership. Adjusted EBITDA of $0.5 million in Q2 represents a sequential decrease from $4 million in Q1, which had been inflated by a $14 million one-time monetization of SiEngine shareholdings. Services revenue remains 'lumpy' by nature as it tracks the specific timing of design and development contracts and vehicle launch cycles rather than steady recurring fees. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management noted that Q2 hardware margins were bolstered by strategic inventory purchased before price hikes and the shift toward higher-value products like Pikes and Antora. The company maintains strong partnerships with suppliers like Samsung to ensure supply, and most cost increases are being successfully passed through to customers. Antora shipments grew 52% year-over-year, while the newer Pikes platform saw over 2,000% growth since its launch last year. These platforms are considered 'lighthouse projects' that demonstrate technology leadership and are expected to continue increasing as a percentage of the total mix. While declining to provide a specific target, management expects the upward trend in ASP to continue as older products roll off and higher-performance software-defined vehicle solutions roll on. Higher ASPs reflect increased vehicle architecture complexity where more functions are consolidated into a single high-performance computer.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-08-11ECARX Holdings Inc (ECX) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Revenue Surges 45% on Premium ...
GuruFocus.com
ECARX Holdings Inc (ECX) (Q2 2026) Earnings Call Highlights: Revenue Surges 45% on Premium ...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: Total revenue increased 45% year-over-year and 71% from Q1. Gross Margin: Gross margin expanded to 19.8%, up from 10.8% in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA: Delivered fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, at $0.5 million in Q2. Sales of Goods Revenue: $196 million, increasing 73% sequentially and 50% year-over-year. Software Revenue: $0.7 million, a 42% decrease year-over-year due to lower sales volume. Service Revenue: $28 million, a 21% increase year-over-year, driven by new model launches. Shipments: Approximately 550,000 units in Q2, an increase of 51% quarter-on-quarter; volumes were 2% lower year-over-year. Antora Shipments: Increased 92% quarter-over-quarter and 52% year-over-year. Pikes Shipments: Increased 43% quarter-over-quarter and over 2,000% year-over-year. Operating Expenses: Declined 11% year-over-year. Full Year 2026 Revenue Guidance: Reaffirmed at $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with ECX. Is ECX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 11, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Revenue increased 45% year-over-year and 71% sequentially, driven by strong demand and new model launches. Gross margin expanded significantly to 19.8% from 10.8% in the same quarter last year, reflecting improved product mix and cost management. Delivered fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, demonstrating operational leverage and cost discipline. High-end Antora and Pikes solutions saw substantial shipment growth (92% and 43% quarter-over-quarter, respectively), improving revenue quality. Strategic acquisitions and partnerships (Flyme software, TPK LiDAR, Qualcomm Ventures) strengthen the company's full-stack ecosystem and global competitiveness. Shipments were 2% lower year-over-year, indicating volume softness despite revenue growth. Software revenue decreased 42% year-over-year due to lower sales volume, highlighting volatility in this segment. Adjusted EBITDA declined sequentially from $4 million to $0.5 million, partly due to absence of a one-time gain. Global memory cost increases are expected to negatively impact gross margin and operating profitability in coming quarters. Chinese automotive market demand remain…Read full documentShow less
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: Total revenue increased 45% year-over-year and 71% from Q1. Gross Margin: Gross margin expanded to 19.8%, up from 10.8% in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA: Delivered fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, at $0.5 million in Q2. Sales of Goods Revenue: $196 million, increasing 73% sequentially and 50% year-over-year. Software Revenue: $0.7 million, a 42% decrease year-over-year due to lower sales volume. Service Revenue: $28 million, a 21% increase year-over-year, driven by new model launches. Shipments: Approximately 550,000 units in Q2, an increase of 51% quarter-on-quarter; volumes were 2% lower year-over-year. Antora Shipments: Increased 92% quarter-over-quarter and 52% year-over-year. Pikes Shipments: Increased 43% quarter-over-quarter and over 2,000% year-over-year. Operating Expenses: Declined 11% year-over-year. Full Year 2026 Revenue Guidance: Reaffirmed at $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 6 Warning Signs with ECX. Is ECX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 11, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Revenue increased 45% year-over-year and 71% sequentially, driven by strong demand and new model launches. Gross margin expanded significantly to 19.8% from 10.8% in the same quarter last year, reflecting improved product mix and cost management. Delivered fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, demonstrating operational leverage and cost discipline. High-end Antora and Pikes solutions saw substantial shipment growth (92% and 43% quarter-over-quarter, respectively), improving revenue quality. Strategic acquisitions and partnerships (Flyme software, TPK LiDAR, Qualcomm Ventures) strengthen the company's full-stack ecosystem and global competitiveness. Shipments were 2% lower year-over-year, indicating volume softness despite revenue growth. Software revenue decreased 42% year-over-year due to lower sales volume, highlighting volatility in this segment. Adjusted EBITDA declined sequentially from $4 million to $0.5 million, partly due to absence of a one-time gain. Global memory cost increases are expected to negatively impact gross margin and operating profitability in coming quarters. Chinese automotive market demand remains challenging, posing ongoing headwinds to growth. Q: What is the outlook for gross margin in the second half of the year, given that memory prices are expected to pressure margins, despite the strong 15% hardware gross margin in Q2? A: Dylan Jeng (CFO) explained that while higher memory costs structurally support higher revenue as they are passed through to customers, this pass-through comes at a lower margin. The strong Q2 performance was driven by timing discrepancies between purchasing and passing through costs, a favorable product mix shift toward higher-value products like Pikes and Antora, and effective cost management. Ziyu Shen (CEO) added that the company has strong strategic partnerships with memory suppliers, ensuring a robust inventory and pipeline, and that most of the cost increase has been successfully passed on to customers, mitigating the impact on gross margin. Q: Can you provide more details on the strategic rationale and expected benefits of the Flyme software acquisition? A: Peter Cirino (COO) detailed three key operational benefits: 1) Road map control, which allows for deeper hardware and software integration, shortening integration timelines for automakers and creating a competitive moat; 2) A new revenue stream not tied to hardware volume, from software licensing and custom development, allowing ECARX to move up the value chain and capture greater margins; and 3) Interoperability, as Flyme OS already spans vehicles, smartphones, and wearables, providing a fully integrated cross-domain ecosystem. The company will operate Flyme as an independent software division to preserve R&D continuity. Q: What is the expected impact of the memory cost increases on gross margin in Q3 and Q4, as the inventory purchased at lower prices gets depleted? A: Dylan Jeng (CFO) confirmed that as the lower-cost memory inventory is depleted, gross margin will come under more pressure in the coming quarters. However, he noted that the company is working closely with its supply chain teams and the marketplace to manage this impact. Ziyu Shen (CEO) added that the company has a very strong inventory and future pipeline due to strategic partnerships with memory suppliers, and most of the increase has been passed on to customers, which should help sustain margins. Q: How much higher can the ASP (Average Selling Price) go in Q3 and Q4, given the increased shipments of high-end Antora and Pikes platforms? A: Peter Cirino (COO) declined to provide a specific number but indicated that the trend of increasing ASPs should continue as a tailwind. As older products roll off and newer, higher-performance products roll on, the customer experience improves, and more functions are integrated onto these platforms, making the vehicle more software-defined. This enables automakers to deploy additional features, and with higher-performance computers and software, ECARX should continue to see an increase in ASP. Q: What contributed to the sequential decline in gross margin for the software license and service sectors in Q2? A: Mark Hankinson (Head of IR) explained that the software line item is very small, generally around $1 million to $2 million per quarter, and its movements are not a significant focus. He clarified that much of what might be considered software revenue is captured in the services line item. The margin movements in these areas are attributed to general business dynamics, primarily driven by new product launches and platform specifications, rather than any specific negative trend. Q: Can you provide the percentage of high-end Antora and Pikes shipments in Q1 for comparison with the 42% reported in Q2? A: Mark Hankinson (Head of IR) stated that the company did not have that number at hand and would need to confirm it. Peter Cirino (COO) added context by highlighting the strong traction of these product lines, with Antora seeing a 52% increase year-on-year and Pikes, which was just launched last year, seeing over 2,000% growth year-on-year. He expressed confidence that these platforms will continue to grow and are solid performers showing exceptional technology leadership. Q: What are the key factors driving the strong revenue growth and improved profitability in Q2 2026? A: Dylan Jeng (CFO) attributed the strong performance to four main factors: growing demand outside of China, a shift toward higher-value products, new model launches, and the pass-through of DDR memory price increases. He highlighted that while shipment volumes were slightly lower year-over-year, revenue increased 45% due to the improved quality of revenue and the mix shift toward high-end solutions. Operating expenses declined 11% year-over-year, demonstrating significant operating leverage and the success of the lean operating strategy. Q: What is the company's confidence level and guidance for the second half of 2026? A: Dylan Jeng (CFO) expressed confidence in the second half, citing three key factors: the launch cadence leaning heavily toward H2, the order backlog underpinning those programs, and historical seasonality where H2 consistently carries the largest share of annual revenue. Based on this confidence, the company reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
TranscriptFY2026 Q22026-08-11FY2026 Q2 earnings call transcript
Earnings source - 49 paragraphs
FY2026 Q2 earnings call transcript
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ECARX Q2 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mark Hankinson. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to ECARX's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. With me today from ECARX are our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen, Chief Operating Officer Peter Cirino, and Chief Financial Officer Dylan Jeng. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward-looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also apply to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, this call will include discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can be found at the bottom of our earnings press release.
With that, I'd like to hand the call over to our Founder and CEO, Ziyu Shen. Ziyu, please go ahead.
Thank you, Mark. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Last quarter, we outlined our vision to push the boundaries of automotive intelligence globally and how we are transforming into a truly global business, uniquely positioned to capitalize on the surging demand for higher-value software and physical AI. At our earnings in May, we said we expected a significant rebound in the market from Q2, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipments. The second quarter delivered exactly as expected. We delivered a strong financial result, and we continue to build momentum and make strong progress on our strategic objectives. The second quarter continued to be defined by disciplined execution and accelerating global momentum. Our top-line revenue increased 45% year-over-year and up 71% from Q1. We reduced our operating expenses year-on-year despite the increased revenue.
We grew gross margin to 19.8%, up from 10.8% this time last year. Most notably, we delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. I want to be clear about the market in which we achieved this. Demand in Chinese automotive has remained challenging through the H1 of this year, and global memory costs continue to be a significant factor. The growth in our revenue and profitability in this environment clearly demonstrates that the lean operating strategy we built through 2025 is doing exactly what we designed it to do. Throughout the quarter, we executed on our core priorities for the year with focus, accelerating our global strategy and investing in our R&D roadmap. That progress has strengthened our confidence going into the H2 of 2026.
First, our global expansion was accelerated during the quarter, with more new models entering mass production, expanding the visibility and scale of our solutions. Our partnership with Volkswagen Group continues to make good progress. We are now putting the engineering, supply chain, and support infrastructure in place across the Latin America region and remain on target for launch in 2027. Second, we continue to invest in our robust product and R&D roadmap. We expanded in two important ways this quarter. In June, we signed a definitive agreement to acquire the entire Flyme software business for approximately $266 million. This brings a highly strategic piece of our full-stack ecosystem into the business. Flyme Auto is already deployed in more than 2 million vehicles, and Flyme OS is already a core part of our Cloudpeak middleware used globally.
We are acquiring a mature platform that our own business already depends on. Flyme's momentum continues. It has recently been nominated to provide the software for a leading international luxury brand in China. In May, we entered into a strategic partnership with TPK Holding to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform. As part of the process, ECARX will lead the system's integration capability, and TPK will provide its manufacturing expertise. We are looking forward to seeing mass production begin in 2028. Lastly, we signed a share exchange agreement with Qualcomm Ventures last month. Qualcomm has been a strategic partner of ours for many years. We have collaborated deeply across multiple generations of solutions, including Zenith, which will be built on their upcoming Snapdragon Elite platform for automotive. This agreement reflects another major milestone in our relationship to jointly develop highly specialized and integrated solutions.
The progress we made during the quarter all points in the same direction. Our financial results are delivering even in difficult markets. We own more of our technology stack than we did before, allowing us to capture higher value opportunities. We enter the H2 of the year with continued confidence in our strategic and financial direction. I will now pass the call over to Peter Cirino to discuss our operational progress in more detail.
Thank you, Ziyu. Good morning, everyone. At our earnings in May, we described Q1 as being a historically subdued quarter for both seasonal and quarter-specific reasons, and we guided to increasing momentum from Q2 onwards, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipment volumes. This has played out in Q2 as we expected. We achieved the launch and volume rebound we guided to in the first quarter, underscoring our strategy for our global commercial build-out through executing complex global programs across diverse vehicle lineups and markets. Shipments in the second quarter were approximately 550,000 units, an increase of 51% quarter-on-quarter that directly contributed to strong top-line growth. Against same quarter last year, volumes were 2% lower. While year-on-year shipments were marginally down, overall revenue and revenue quality was significantly increased.
Sales of goods revenue increased both quarter-on-quarter and year-over-year, as shipments of our high-end solutions continue to grow and demand accelerates. Shipments of our high-end Antora solutions, in particular, increased 92% quarter-over-quarter and 52% year-over-year. Furthermore, shipments of our high-end performance AI-driven computing platform, Pikes, increased 43% quarter-over-quarter and over 2,000% year-over-year. Antora and Pikes now make up 42% of shipments. These are the direct results of the decision we took during Q2 last year to begin phasing out our lower-margin legacy platform business and concentrate on high-end, fully ECARX architected solutions. That decision moderated our unit volumes for a period, but is now improving the quality of what we sell. The second quarter is also where our 2026 model launches began landing at scale, and every launch pulls hardware volume and associated engineering revenue with it.
Software revenue decreased from the same quarter last year by 42% due to lower sales volume, whereas services revenues increased substantially from the same quarter last year by 21%, driven by new model launches. Services revenue comprise of reoccurring software fees, but the bulk of it today tracks the timing of design and development contracts and the vehicle launch cycles they support, so it can be lumpy by nature. We are pleased to see this improvement as we guided to expect three months ago. As launches accelerate, we anticipate software and services revenue will accelerate with them. To provide some context here, revenue in any given quarter is a function of three things. Those are vehicle model launch timing, shipments driven by end market demand, and component pricing.
We manage the first through operational discipline, the second through geographical and customer diversification, and the third through pricing adjustments to structurally support top-line revenue and protect profitability. But this business will show quarter-to-quarter variability, and we encourage you to look at the trailing four quarters rather than any single one. Turning to our customer base and growth strategy. During the quarter, we began mass production for nine new models across four brands, of which a majority are using our next generation Pikes or Antora Series solutions. Of these new models, four are designated for markets outside of China, including Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. We are pleased to see this type of growth that further reinforces our strategy on transforming into a global company. We now have 12 million vehicles with our technology on the road.
As Ziyu mentioned, our partnership with Volkswagen Group continues to drive forward during the quarter as we continue to build out engineering, supply chain, and support infrastructure in the first region to support its expected launch in 2027. The program integrates our high-end Antora 1000 with Cloudpeak and Google built-in for premium segment vehicles, alongside our cost-effective Antora 500 for entry-level segments. I want to again highlight the flexibility and scalability of the unique value proposition we are offering here, one portfolio of solutions that covers the full price ladder. Ziyu has already covered the strategic rationale of the pending Flyme acquisition. Flyme consists of two distinct but related pieces of software. The first is Flyme Auto, which is the application layer, which we use for the interface for products sold in China. In international markets, we use Google built-in for this layer.
The second piece is Flyme OS, which is the Android platform that we embed into our Cloudpeak middleware. This is the core of our software stack, due both in China and internationally. Let me turn to what this acquisition will change operationally in both of these markets. The first is roadmap control. A competitive advantage of ECARX is our ability to tightly integrate our product solutions across layers, from silicon to sensors to software. Owning Flyme allows for deeper hardware and software integration and greater customization. That shortens the integration timelines for automakers, provides them with standardized, flexible solutions for diverse vehicle lineup, and accelerates time to market. More importantly, this will also create a competitive moat, strengthening our ability to execute complex vehicle programs at scale. The second is a revenue stream that is not tied to hardware volume.
Flyme generates revenues today from software licensing, from custom development work, and from intelligent cockpit system delivery. Adding a licensable software asset will allow us to move up the automotive value chain and capture greater margin. The third is interoperability. Flyme OS, which is embedded in Cloudpeak, already spans vehicles, smartphones, and wearable smart devices, which means the car connects seamlessly to these devices, which drivers already carry. What differentiates Flyme OS from current products is its speed and close integration with the rest of the stack, delivering a superior user experience. This fully integrated cross-domain ecosystem equips automakers with solutions they can deploy, whether that is Flyme Auto in China or Google built-in outside of China, across a lineup to differentiate their vehicles in an intensely competitive market.
We will operate Flyme as an independent software division, which will preserve R&D continuity and ensure a seamless transition for existing customers. Existing operators of Flyme OS will continue to receive updates, and user data remains in each operator's ownership. The second addition to our portfolio is our partnership with TPK to co-develop the ORCA LiDAR platform, making our formal entry into the LiDAR sector. Under that agreement, we will lead system integration, sensor fusion, and global commercialization, drawing upon our relationships with international automakers and robotaxi operators. TPK will contribute optical design, engineering, and high volume precision manufacturing. Mass production is scheduled for 2028 at TPK's facility in Thailand, and we're excited about the additional options this will allow us to provide automakers as we continue to drive further hardware and software integration. Before I pass the call to Dylan, I want to leave you with one final thought.
What these partnerships and solutions provide are critical to our broader strategy. When a global automaker asks us for a solution, we can answer with our own silicon heritage, our own computing platform, and soon, our own operating system, and our own expanding sensor technology. Very few companies in the industry can offer this sort of closely integrated stack comprising silicon to software to sensors. With that, I will turn the call over to Dylan.
Thank you, Peter, and hi, everyone. The second quarter performance is a clear demonstration of the operating leverage we have been building into this business. Revenue rebounded as strongly as launches and volumes recovered after a historically weak Q1. Our cost structure continued to improve, and we delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of a positive adjusted EBITDA. We achieved this while managing a memory cost environment that has moved sharply against our industry. Starting with the top line, total revenue was driven by four factors. Growing demand outside of China, higher value products, new model launches, and the DDR memory price adjustment flowing through our pricing. Sales of goods revenue was $196 million, increasing 73% sequentially and 50% year-over-year. Software revenue was $0.7 million or a 42% decrease year-over-year due to lower sales volume.
Service revenue was $28 million or a 21% increase year-over-year, driven by the new model launches in the quarter. The Chinese auto market remains challenging. However, as we guided in the first quarter, market condition improved overall in the second quarter, particularly momentum related to the first quarter. Shipped van volumes were up 51% quarter-to-quarter. I want to spend a moment on ASPs because arithmetic this quarter points directly at it. While volume was slightly lower year-over-year, revenue was up 45%. This was driven by two main factors. The first is the quality of the revenue with our high-end products increasingly accounting for a larger share of our shipments. Our Antora and Pikes solution both increased in volume year-over-year, resulting in combined 71% gains in unit shipment.
This is the deliberated and mixed shift we began executing last year, and it is working as intended. The second is the memory cost. Higher global memory costs have structurally supported our top-line revenue, as those costs are passed through into our pricing. Gross profit was at $44.5 million, with the gross margin expanding to 19.8%. A significant improvement on the same quarter last year, where margin was at 10.8%. Looking forward, our margin profile will continue to be influenced by global memory cost. While higher memory costs drive higher revenue, we continue to expect that gross margin and the operating profitability may be negatively impacted by memory cost dynamics in the coming quarters. Our response to manage this impact is the one we have executed consistently.
That means managing our supply chains, controlling our cost structure, maintaining pricing disciplines, and concentrating R&D on the higher impact solutions. Our lean operating strategy continued to deliver substantial efficiency gains. Operating expenses actually declined 11% year-over-year. Set that against the 45% revenue growth, and you have the cleanest single measure of how this business has been transformed over the past 12 months. A contributor to efficiency is the internal deployment of AI across our organization. This is changing the cost curve of the software development for us. With over 90% of our developers now use Cloudpeak code and other solutions in their workflow. This becomes structurally more valuable as our software footprint expands with the addition of Flyme. On a sequential basis, we realized improvements across almost every key metric. Revenue up, cost down, profitability increased.
The only exception is the adjusted EBITDA, which remained positive but was down from $4 million last quarter to $0.5 million in Q2, and improved annually by $30.2 million. To explain in more detail, last quarter's adjusted EBITDA of $4 million included that $14 million of partial monetization of our shareholdings in SiEngine, which was a one-time item. There was no similar one-time item this quarter. We are very pleased to have delivered our fourth consecutive quarters of a positive EBITDA, which is a testament both to the recovery in the market that we guided at Q1 and our robust cost discipline. Our confidence going into the H2 of the year rests on three things. The first is the launch cadence Peter described, which lean heavily toward the H2 of this year. The second is the order backlog underpinning those programs.
The third is the historical seasonality of our business, where the H2 was consistently carry the larger shares of annual revenue. With that confidence in mind, we are reaffirming our full year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion-$1.1 billion. In summary, the second quarter delivered the rebounds that we guided to in April. Our cost structure continues to improve, and we have added materially to the strategic assets of this business to drive growth. We remain focused on the disciplined execution and creating long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I will hand back to Ziyu for his closing remarks.
Thank you, Dylan. As you have heard today, we have made meaningful progress across our strategic priorities for 2026. This positions us for growth in the near and long term. In the H1 of the year, we entered into an agreement to expand our capabilities with the addition of the Flyme business portfolio. We extended our global reach with the Volkswagen commercial build-out, and we delivered a strong financial result on both top line and gross profit against a challenging backdrop. I would now like to open the call for questions. Operator, please open the line.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To raise your question, please press star one and one again. Once again, that is star one and one to ask a question. Please stand by. We will compile the Q&A roster. We will now take our first question from the line of Wei Huang from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much for taking my question. First, I would like to ask a bit about our gross margin. You have guided in 1Q that in this quarter that our memory price are going to be pressuring our gross margin this year. But 2Q hardware gross margin was quite strong, actually at 15%, even though memory prices also increased quite a bit this quarter as well. What is the outlook for the H2 of the year?
Yeah, thanks. Wei elevated our comments about the margins at sets of earnings, and obviously, the higher memory cost to support structurally the higher revenue as the balance is memory cost with our customers. However, this sort of a pass-through does come at the understandably lower margin. We do the right things and it does not really indicate any negative about this business. In terms of the 2Q's, you are right about this was a strong performance, and that was really driven by a few things. First, as with any cost increase in components in some of the, which that we already have in stock. There are timing discrepancy between the purchasing and the passing through. Also, they are selling higher value products than we did last year. Pikes and Antora are up significantly, which support both the revenues and revenue quality.
Very importantly, we also did a great job on managing costs in the business, and we reduced our operating costs year-over-year despite the growing revenue by 45%. I think with all the elements and the reasons that really helped during the second quarter.
Thank you very much. Just to follow up on that, can I assume that our memory purchase inventory is going to be depleted, and I guess the memory price hike is going to hit us more, I guess, in the third quarter and fourth quarter?
Wei, I'm sorry. The question wasn't very clear. Would you mind repeating it, please?
Yes, no problem. You stated that one of the factors that led to the strong hardware gross margin this quarter was the memory that you already had in stock. So I assume as this gets depleted, our margin is going to be more under pressure in the third quarter and fourth quarter.
Yeah, it is. We're very working closely, our supply chain teams and also working very closely with the marketplace. So we'll continue to manage that going forward. We do anticipate.
Yeah. This is Zhou speaking. Sorry, I jumped in here. I would say our supply chain team had a great job. We built a very strong strategic partnership with NXP and also Samsung. We are far partner with them. From memory supply point of view, we are very leading. We had a very strong inventory and future pipeline. Also, principally, I want to say, and confidently, that I think most of increase actually pass over to the customer. No impact on our gross margin, that for sure. But we will strongly maintain our good supply chain operation to sustainably support our customers. That is our very strong advantage in market currently. Is that all clear?
Understood. Very clear. Yes, very clear.
Thank you.
The second question is on our high-end Antora and Pikes. You mentioned it increased quite a bit sequentially as well. Did you have a number for what percentage of our volume was it in the first quarter? You said 2Q was 42%. I wanted to do a comparison year-on-year basis.
I do not know if we have that number to hand. We can come back to you with that. I think we did talk about it at the Q1s, but let us confirm. I do not think we have that number to hand.
Wei, maybe I just make some comments. I mean, we see very good traction on these two product lines, and they continue to roll out across multiple customers for us in China and in the global market. I think they are two strong lighthouse project programs for the organization. As I mentioned in my comments, Antora saw a 52% increase year-on-year. I think on a year-on-year basis and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, I do suspect we will continue to see increases in that platform. Pikes was just launched last year, so it saw over a 2,000% growth year-on-year. Again, I am very confident it will continue to grow. We are offering a great user experience to our customers on those two platforms, and I think they are solid performers for us in the market and show exceptional technology leadership.
Well noted. I assume our improved product mix is also one of the reasons our ASP has increased to roughly around $360 in the second quarter. Do you have an idea on what is a reasonable level to assume for the third quarter and fourth quarter, assuming with the new product launches and the old models upgrading to these newer platforms, how much higher can this go?
Wei, I am sorry, the question again was quite muffled. Would you mind repeating it?
Yes, no problem. I wanted to ask about our ASP outlook for 3Q and 4Q, since it reached around $260 in the second quarter due to, I assume, higher shipments of Antora and Pikes, and given the new model launches and the old models upgrading their chips to the newer platform, how much higher can this ASP go?
Wei, I don't think we'll announce a specific number on that, but that's a trend that you should see from us, I think, and you see from most of the industry who's investing in new platforms and delivering these high-end user experience. You'll see that as just an industry trend, which we'll feel as a tailwind. As our older products roll off and these newer, higher performance products roll on, and the customer experience is actually a net decrease in their vehicle architecture cost because more functions go onto these platforms, more of the vehicle becomes software-defined. It actually enables the automaker to deploy additional features inside their vehicle environment. But with a higher performance computer in the car and higher performance software, we should continue to see, I would say, an increase in ASP.
Well noted. My last question is on our software license as well as our service business. Gross margin for these two actually declined sequentially for the second quarter. Software license went to almost zero breakeven and service gross margin declined as well. Do you have anything to highlight that contribute to this or just normal business amount?
Wei, perhaps if I comment on that. The software line item in our financials is one that gets a lot of attention because it moves up and down by a big percentage every quarter. But it's a very, very small number. And the way that we think about that is that's generally around, say, $1 million-$2 million a quarter, except when there's a significant event in the quarter. We saw that in Q1 2025, for instance. But we'd encourage people not to focus too much on the movement within software. I think it's important to understand as well that a lot of what people might think of as software comes into our services line item as well. I think the movements around margin on those are just general business dynamics as the quarters move over. It's principally driven by new product launches and being specified on platform.
Thank you very much. That's all from me. Thank you.
Thanks, Wei. Appreciate it.
Thank you. To ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone. Once again, that's star one and one to ask a question. There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back to Mark Hankinson for closing remarks.
Thanks very much, operator, and thanks for joining today. The second quarter clearly reflected strong execution. We saw this demonstrated through our financial performance, and we saw it in progress against our strategic objectives. ECARX is positioned to become a leading global supplier of innovative next-generation solutions for OEMs, and we look forward to providing more updates on our progress in the second half of the year. Thank you very much. With that, we'll conclude the call.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-07-28ECARX to Report Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results on August 11, 2026
PR Newswire
ECARX to Report Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results on August 11, 2026
LONDON, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced it will host a conference call and live webcast on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. E.T to report its financial results and business highlights for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. To join the live conference call, please register at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIe8abcb76ec1e4761a1002346ff30cd05 to receive the conference call details as well as international access numbers. Please join at least 15 minutes in advance to ensure a timely connection to the call and webcast. The live audio webcast will be accessible on the investor relations section of the Company's website (ir.ecarxgroup.com) where a replay will also be available approximately two hours after the event. About ECARX ECARX (Nasdaq: ECX), headquartered in London, is a leading global automotive intelligence company. ECARX provides the intelligent brain that powers the next generation of software-defined and AI defined vehicles. The company delivers end-to-end, full-stack solutions spanning advanced system-on-chip hardware, high-performance central computing platforms, intelligent cockpit technology, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, cloud connectivity and physical AI, alongside bespoke vehicle software and intelligent operating systems. As automakers transition to software-first and AI-first vehicle architectures, ECARX empowers automakers to streamline integration, reduce systemic complexity and optimize long-term cost efficiency. ECARX's proven technology is deployed across over 11 million vehicles worldwide, and is currently partnered with 18 global automakers and 28 vehicle brands to shape the future of automotive intelligence. Founded in 2017 and listed on Nasdaq in 2022, ECARX operates from 13 major international locations across Europe, the Americas and Asia, with a global team of over 1,400 employees. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's beliefs and expectations as well as on assumptions made by and data currently available to management, appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements…Read full documentShow less
LONDON, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced it will host a conference call and live webcast on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. E.T to report its financial results and business highlights for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. To join the live conference call, please register at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIe8abcb76ec1e4761a1002346ff30cd05 to receive the conference call details as well as international access numbers. Please join at least 15 minutes in advance to ensure a timely connection to the call and webcast. The live audio webcast will be accessible on the investor relations section of the Company's website (ir.ecarxgroup.com) where a replay will also be available approximately two hours after the event. About ECARX ECARX (Nasdaq: ECX), headquartered in London, is a leading global automotive intelligence company. ECARX provides the intelligent brain that powers the next generation of software-defined and AI defined vehicles. The company delivers end-to-end, full-stack solutions spanning advanced system-on-chip hardware, high-performance central computing platforms, intelligent cockpit technology, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, cloud connectivity and physical AI, alongside bespoke vehicle software and intelligent operating systems. As automakers transition to software-first and AI-first vehicle architectures, ECARX empowers automakers to streamline integration, reduce systemic complexity and optimize long-term cost efficiency. ECARX's proven technology is deployed across over 11 million vehicles worldwide, and is currently partnered with 18 global automakers and 28 vehicle brands to shape the future of automotive intelligence. Founded in 2017 and listed on Nasdaq in 2022, ECARX operates from 13 major international locations across Europe, the Americas and Asia, with a global team of over 1,400 employees. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's beliefs and expectations as well as on assumptions made by and data currently available to management, appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements regarding, amongst other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. The use of words "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "estimates", "predicts", "believes", "should", "potential", "may", "preliminary", "forecast", "objective", "plan", or "target", and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, future market conditions or economic performance and developments in the capital and credit markets and expected future financial performance, and the markets in which we operate. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, see ECARX's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ECARX undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ecarx-to-report-second-quarter-2026-financial-results-on-august-11-2026-302836159.html
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-20ECARX Holdings, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Moby
ECARX Holdings, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributed the 6% year-over-year revenue decline to a deliberate strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy platform business to improve overall revenue quality. The company achieved its third consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, driven by disciplined cost management and a $14 million gain from divesting a portion of its stake in SiEngine. Shipments of high-end Antora and Pikes solutions grew approximately 73% year-over-year, validating the transition toward a high-value product mix despite lower absolute volumes. Global expansion remains a core priority, with management targeting 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030, supported by new R&D hubs in Germany and Singapore. The potential acquisition of a minority stake in DreamSmart Technology is intended to secure the application layer of the software stack, enabling seamless interoperability between vehicles and smart devices. Operational resilience was tested by macro headwinds, including shifting government policies and significant memory component inflation, which were partially mitigated by a robust project pipeline. Management reiterated full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion, citing confidence in the current backlog and accelerating commercial pipeline. Profitability in upcoming quarters is expected to face pressure from global memory cost dynamics, specifically DDR costs which have increased over 300% since September 2025. The company anticipates a significant pickup in shipment volumes starting in Q2 2026, following the typical seasonal low point of the first quarter. The Zenith computing platform, which integrates cabin and ADAS functions on a single chip, is firmly on track for mass production in 2027 to reduce architectural complexity for partners. A strategic partnership with Volkswagen Group in Latin America is moving into the industrialization phase, targeting an anticipated launch in 2027. Entry into the robotaxi market was established through a framework agreement with May Mobility to deliver thousands of autonomous-enabled vehicles. A $40 million gain was recognized from the partial divestment of SiEngine, which management framed as a validation of their ability to incubate and…Read full documentShow less
Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributed the 6% year-over-year revenue decline to a deliberate strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy platform business to improve overall revenue quality. The company achieved its third consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, driven by disciplined cost management and a $14 million gain from divesting a portion of its stake in SiEngine. Shipments of high-end Antora and Pikes solutions grew approximately 73% year-over-year, validating the transition toward a high-value product mix despite lower absolute volumes. Global expansion remains a core priority, with management targeting 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030, supported by new R&D hubs in Germany and Singapore. The potential acquisition of a minority stake in DreamSmart Technology is intended to secure the application layer of the software stack, enabling seamless interoperability between vehicles and smart devices. Operational resilience was tested by macro headwinds, including shifting government policies and significant memory component inflation, which were partially mitigated by a robust project pipeline. Management reiterated full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion, citing confidence in the current backlog and accelerating commercial pipeline. Profitability in upcoming quarters is expected to face pressure from global memory cost dynamics, specifically DDR costs which have increased over 300% since September 2025. The company anticipates a significant pickup in shipment volumes starting in Q2 2026, following the typical seasonal low point of the first quarter. The Zenith computing platform, which integrates cabin and ADAS functions on a single chip, is firmly on track for mass production in 2027 to reduce architectural complexity for partners. A strategic partnership with Volkswagen Group in Latin America is moving into the industrialization phase, targeting an anticipated launch in 2027. Entry into the robotaxi market was established through a framework agreement with May Mobility to deliver thousands of autonomous-enabled vehicles. A $40 million gain was recognized from the partial divestment of SiEngine, which management framed as a validation of their ability to incubate and monetize technology. Corporate governance was strengthened by separating the Chairperson and CEO roles, appointing Lone Schroder as Chairperson to align with global best practices. Memory component inflation remains a primary risk factor, with management indicating that future gross margins will be 'negatively impacted' by these cost dynamics. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management declined to provide specific ASP guidance but confirmed expectations for a significant volume pickup starting in Q2. Reiterated the $1 billion to $1.1 billion revenue target while warning that operating profit and EBITDA will depend on how memory cost dynamics play out. The partnership involves developing a customized central computing platform and a full-stack sensor suite for next-generation autonomy systems. Management views this as a 'huge validation' of their full-stack capabilities and a significant expansion of their total addressable market into the robotaxi sector.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-20ECARX Holdings Inc (ECX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges with Strategic ...
GuruFocus.com
ECARX Holdings Inc (ECX) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges with Strategic ...
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sales of Goods Revenue: $140 million, a 6% decrease year-over-year. Gross Profit: $28 million. Gross Margin: Expanded to 21.4%. Operating Loss: Reduced to $13 million from $25 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA: Positive $4 million, compared to negative $15 million in the same quarter last year. Software Revenue: $2 million, consistent with normalized run rates. Service Revenue: $16 million, down from $21 million in Q1 last year. Research and Development Expenses: Reduced by 32% to $24 million. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses: Decreased by 24% to $18 million. Full-Year 2026 Revenue Guidance: Reiterated at $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with ECX. Is ECX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: May 19, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) achieved positive adjusted EBITDA for the third consecutive quarter, demonstrating improved profitability. The company reported a significant improvement in gross margin, expanding to 21.4%, despite industry headwinds. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) is actively expanding its global footprint, with strategic investments in R&D hubs in Germany and operational infrastructure in South America and Singapore. The company announced a major milestone in autonomous driving, entering the robotaxi market through a partnership with May Mobility. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) is focusing on high-value product mix, with shipments of high-end solutions up approximately 73% year-on-year. Sales of goods revenue decreased by 6% year-over-year, reflecting challenges in the broader automotive sector. The company faces significant cost pressures from increased memory component prices, which may impact future profitability. Service revenue declined from $21 million to $16 million year-over-year, influenced by the timing of design and development contracts. The company anticipates that ongoing memory cost dynamics will negatively impact gross margin and operating profitability in the coming quarters. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) experienced a lower absolute volume of shipments compared to the same period last year due to a strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy platforms. Q: Can you pr…Read full documentShow less
This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sales of Goods Revenue: $140 million, a 6% decrease year-over-year. Gross Profit: $28 million. Gross Margin: Expanded to 21.4%. Operating Loss: Reduced to $13 million from $25 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA: Positive $4 million, compared to negative $15 million in the same quarter last year. Software Revenue: $2 million, consistent with normalized run rates. Service Revenue: $16 million, down from $21 million in Q1 last year. Research and Development Expenses: Reduced by 32% to $24 million. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses: Decreased by 24% to $18 million. Full-Year 2026 Revenue Guidance: Reiterated at $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with ECX. Is ECX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: May 19, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) achieved positive adjusted EBITDA for the third consecutive quarter, demonstrating improved profitability. The company reported a significant improvement in gross margin, expanding to 21.4%, despite industry headwinds. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) is actively expanding its global footprint, with strategic investments in R&D hubs in Germany and operational infrastructure in South America and Singapore. The company announced a major milestone in autonomous driving, entering the robotaxi market through a partnership with May Mobility. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) is focusing on high-value product mix, with shipments of high-end solutions up approximately 73% year-on-year. Sales of goods revenue decreased by 6% year-over-year, reflecting challenges in the broader automotive sector. The company faces significant cost pressures from increased memory component prices, which may impact future profitability. Service revenue declined from $21 million to $16 million year-over-year, influenced by the timing of design and development contracts. The company anticipates that ongoing memory cost dynamics will negatively impact gross margin and operating profitability in the coming quarters. ECARX Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ECX) experienced a lower absolute volume of shipments compared to the same period last year due to a strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy platforms. Q: Can you provide volume guidance for 2026 and insights on how margins might trend throughout the year? A: Dylan Jeng, CFO, stated that while specific ASP guidance isn't provided, they expect a significant pickup in volumes from Q2 onwards, following the seasonal low in Q1. Margins will be influenced by global memory costs and strategic investments, with potential negative impacts on gross margin and operating profitability in the coming quarters. The focus remains on cost control and high-impact R&D projects. Q: Could you elaborate on the collaboration with May Mobility, specifically regarding the regions where the robotaxis will operate and the platform supplied? A: Peter Cirino, COO, explained that the partnership with May Mobility involves developing and delivering thousands of autonomy-related vehicles, including a customized central computing platform and a full-stack sensor suite. This collaboration is a significant growth opportunity, expanding eCarX's presence in the robotaxi market and enhancing their total available market. Q: How did eCarX manage to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA despite the challenging market conditions? A: Dylan Jeng, CFO, highlighted that the positive adjusted EBITDA of $4 million was achieved through strong operational discipline, cost management, and a strategic focus on high-value projects. The partial monetization of holdings in SiEngine also contributed to the financial performance. Q: What strategic steps is eCarX taking to ensure long-term growth and profitability? A: Ziyu Shen, CEO, emphasized the focus on global expansion, capturing higher-value opportunities, and optimizing operations. The company is investing in R&D, forming strategic partnerships, and maintaining robust cost discipline to sustain profitability and drive growth. Q: Can you discuss the impact of the strategic decision to phase out lower-margin legacy platforms on shipment volumes and revenue quality? A: Peter Cirino, COO, noted that while shipment volumes were lower due to phasing out legacy platforms, this strategic shift improved overall revenue quality. Shipments of high-end solutions like Pikes and Antora increased by 73% year-on-year, validating the strategy. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-19ECARX Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
MarketBeat
ECARX Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Interested in ECARX Holdings, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. ECARX said it maintained profitability momentum in Q1 2026, with adjusted EBITDA positive for a third straight quarter at $4 million and operating loss narrowing to $13 million. Revenue came in at $114 million, down 6% year over year, as the company shifted away from lower-margin legacy business. The company reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion and expects a stronger second half, supported by new vehicle launches and its backlog. Management also warned that surging DDR memory costs could pressure gross margin in coming quarters. ECARX highlighted its global expansion and technology roadmap, including a new robotaxi deal with May Mobility, progress on a Volkswagen Latin America program, and continued development of platforms such as Zenith and Flyme Auto. The company is also investing heavily in overseas infrastructure to help reach its goal of generating 50% of revenue internationally by 2030. ECARX (NASDAQ:ECX) executives said the company maintained profitability momentum in the first quarter of 2026 despite seasonality, delayed vehicle launches and higher memory component costs, while reiterating its full-year revenue outlook of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ziyu Shen said the quarter was marked by “continued disciplined execution” and progress on the company’s global strategy. He said ECARX is focused on building high-performance computing platforms for software-defined vehicles and pursuing higher-value software and “physical AI” opportunities across the automotive industry. → Why Applied Optoelectronics Stock May Be Near a Turning Point Chief Financial Officer Dylan Jeng, who joined the company in March, said sales of goods revenue was $114 million, down 6% year over year. He attributed the decline to a challenging market environment, policy changes, delayed vehicle launches and the company’s decision last year to phase out lower-margin legacy platform business. Jeng said that decision weighed on the top line but improved revenue quality. The company reported gross profit of $28 million and a gross margin of 21.4%. Operating loss narrowed to $13 million from $25 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was positive for the third consecutive quarter at $4 million, compared with a loss of $15 million a yea…Read full documentShow less
Interested in ECARX Holdings, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. ECARX said it maintained profitability momentum in Q1 2026, with adjusted EBITDA positive for a third straight quarter at $4 million and operating loss narrowing to $13 million. Revenue came in at $114 million, down 6% year over year, as the company shifted away from lower-margin legacy business. The company reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion and expects a stronger second half, supported by new vehicle launches and its backlog. Management also warned that surging DDR memory costs could pressure gross margin in coming quarters. ECARX highlighted its global expansion and technology roadmap, including a new robotaxi deal with May Mobility, progress on a Volkswagen Latin America program, and continued development of platforms such as Zenith and Flyme Auto. The company is also investing heavily in overseas infrastructure to help reach its goal of generating 50% of revenue internationally by 2030. ECARX (NASDAQ:ECX) executives said the company maintained profitability momentum in the first quarter of 2026 despite seasonality, delayed vehicle launches and higher memory component costs, while reiterating its full-year revenue outlook of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ziyu Shen said the quarter was marked by “continued disciplined execution” and progress on the company’s global strategy. He said ECARX is focused on building high-performance computing platforms for software-defined vehicles and pursuing higher-value software and “physical AI” opportunities across the automotive industry. → Why Applied Optoelectronics Stock May Be Near a Turning Point Chief Financial Officer Dylan Jeng, who joined the company in March, said sales of goods revenue was $114 million, down 6% year over year. He attributed the decline to a challenging market environment, policy changes, delayed vehicle launches and the company’s decision last year to phase out lower-margin legacy platform business. Jeng said that decision weighed on the top line but improved revenue quality. The company reported gross profit of $28 million and a gross margin of 21.4%. Operating loss narrowed to $13 million from $25 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was positive for the third consecutive quarter at $4 million, compared with a loss of $15 million a year earlier. → The Pentagon's AI Pivot Supercharges Defense Stocks Chief Operating Officer Peter Cirino said ECARX shipped more than 360,000 units during the quarter. Although total shipments were lower than a year earlier, he said the decline reflected a strategic shift away from lower-margin legacy platforms and toward higher-end products. Cirino said shipments of the company’s Pikes and Antora solutions increased approximately 73% year over year. ECARX technologies have now been shipped in more than 11 million vehicles, up nearly 30% from the same period last year, and power 28 brands across 18 global OEMs, he said. → Is Everspin Technologies the Next AI Edge Breakout? Jeng said research and development expenses were $24 million, while selling, general and administrative expenses were $18 million. He said the company is prioritizing resources, integrating R&D functions and deploying AI internally to improve efficiency while continuing to invest in key technology programs. Executives also highlighted memory cost inflation as a continuing pressure point. Jeng said DDR costs have increased by more than 300% since September 2025. He said price adjustments and product mix optimization helped offset some of the impact in the first quarter, but cautioned that gross margin and operating profitability could be negatively affected by memory cost dynamics in coming quarters. ECARX reiterated its full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion to $1.1 billion. In response to an analyst question, Jeng said the company does not generally provide specific average selling price guidance. He said first-quarter volumes represented a seasonal low point and that ECARX expects a significant pickup beginning in the second quarter, supported by vehicle launches and shipments. Jeng said the company’s visibility is supported by its backlog and commercial pipeline. He said ECARX expects to benefit during the rest of 2026 from new vehicle model launches, operational efficiency gains and strengthening demand for automotive technology as market conditions improve. Shen said ECARX remains focused on its goal of generating 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030. He said the company is deploying nearly $200 million in capital raised late last year and early this year to support its global expansion, including an R&D hub in Germany, operational infrastructure in South America and an office in Singapore. The company also made governance and management changes during the quarter. Shen said Lone Fønss Schrøder was appointed chairperson, separating the chair and CEO roles. He said the move was intended to strengthen governance and align with global best practices. Jeng joined as CFO, and Mark Hankinson joined as head of investor relations and corporate development. Cirino said ECARX’s partnership with Volkswagen Group in Latin America is progressing and has moved into the industrialization phase, with an anticipated launch in 2027. The program uses the company’s Antora 1000 platform with Cloudpeak software and Google Automotive Services, as well as the Antora 500 for entry-level segments. During the first quarter, ECARX began mass production for four new models across three brands, all using its next-generation Pikes and Antora Series solutions, Cirino said. He also said the company secured a new contract from a leading Chinese automaker outside the Geely ecosystem, with production expected to begin in 2026. Shen announced a strategic framework agreement with May Mobility, a U.S.-based autonomous vehicle company. Under the agreement, ECARX is expected to develop and deliver thousands of autonomous-enabled vehicles for May Mobility’s next-generation autonomy system. Executives said ECARX will provide customized central computing platforms, a full-stack autonomous driving system kit and a complete sensor suite. Shen described the agreement as ECARX’s first entry into the robotaxi market. In the question-and-answer portion of the call, Cirino said the partnership validates ECARX’s expertise in full-stack intelligent driving solutions. He said May Mobility brings Level 4 autonomous software capabilities, while ECARX contributes expertise in central architecture and software-defined vehicles. Cirino did not provide specific operating regions for the robotaxi deployments, but said more details would be discussed at May Mobility’s analyst day. Shen said ECARX is exploring a plan to acquire a minority stake and certain intellectual property rights from DreamSmart Technology, an affiliate and developer of the Flyme Auto operating system. He said Flyme Auto could serve as an application and interaction layer above ECARX’s Cloudpeak middleware, helping enable interoperability between vehicles, smartphones and smart devices such as smart glasses. Cirino also highlighted the company’s Zenith computing platform, introduced at CES earlier this year. Powered by the upcoming Snapdragon Elite Automotive Platform, Zenith is designed as an integrated single-box system for digital cockpit and advanced driver-assistance workloads, including immersive 5K cockpit experiences and Level 2++ ADAS on a single system-on-chip. Cirino said Zenith remains on track for mass production in 2027. Shen also discussed ECARX’s relationship with SiEngine, noting that ECARX recognized a $40 million gain during the quarter from divesting a small portion of its SiEngine shareholding to a third-party investor. He said ECARX remains SiEngine’s largest shareholder and continues to maintain deep technological integration with the company. ECARX is a global automotive technology company focused on developing and delivering smart cockpit solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company designs and manufactures a range of in-vehicle computing platforms, central processing units, digital instrument clusters and multimedia infotainment systems. ECARX's core offerings integrate software, hardware and cloud connectivity to create seamless user experiences for drivers and passengers. The company's product portfolio spans telematics control units, over-the-air update frameworks and next-generation human-machine interfaces (HMI). This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "ECARX Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for May 2026.
Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-19ECARX Announces First Quarter 2026 Unaudited Financial Results
PR Newswire
ECARX Announces First Quarter 2026 Unaudited Financial Results
LONDON, May 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Ziyu Shen, ECARX CEO, commented, "The first quarter of 2026 was defined by continued disciplined execution and continued global momentum, demonstrating the underlying resilience of our core business. Despite traditional seasonality and a complex macroeconomic environment marked by memory component inflation, our disciplined execution mitigated the modest impact on our topline into meaningful profitability improvements. We successfully expanded our gross margin to 21.4% and nearly halved our operating loss from the same period last year. Perhaps most notably, we achieved our third consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA at US$4 million. This resilient performance is the direct result of the strategic framework we established late last year where our focus remains firmly on accelerating our globalization strategy, investing in our R&D roadmap, and optimizing our lean operating strategy to sustain profitability. R&D costs were down 32% YoY, driven by continued resource prioritization and the internal deployment of AI across our business to drive innovation while reducing structural costs. We are rapidly accelerating our transformation into a truly global technology leader. To support our expanding commercial footprint and align with global best practices, we have recently actively strengthened our corporate governance and leadership team, separating the roles of Chairperson and CEO and welcoming Lone Fønss Schrøder to lead our Board of Directors, alongside Dylan D. Jeng as our new Chief Financial Officer. With our offices in Singapore now fully operational, and the capital raised late last year actively being deployed, we are well-positioned to execute our expanding pipeline across Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. We remain firmly focused on our target to generate 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030. Commercially and technologically, our momentum continues to build as we capture higher-value opportunities across our technology stack. Deepening our strategic ecosystem of technology partners remains a core priority, a powerful endorsement of our proven full-stack hardware and software capabilities an…Read full documentShow less
LONDON, May 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECARX Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ECX) ("ECARX" or the "Company"), a leading global automotive intelligence company, today announced unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Ziyu Shen, ECARX CEO, commented, "The first quarter of 2026 was defined by continued disciplined execution and continued global momentum, demonstrating the underlying resilience of our core business. Despite traditional seasonality and a complex macroeconomic environment marked by memory component inflation, our disciplined execution mitigated the modest impact on our topline into meaningful profitability improvements. We successfully expanded our gross margin to 21.4% and nearly halved our operating loss from the same period last year. Perhaps most notably, we achieved our third consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA at US$4 million. This resilient performance is the direct result of the strategic framework we established late last year where our focus remains firmly on accelerating our globalization strategy, investing in our R&D roadmap, and optimizing our lean operating strategy to sustain profitability. R&D costs were down 32% YoY, driven by continued resource prioritization and the internal deployment of AI across our business to drive innovation while reducing structural costs. We are rapidly accelerating our transformation into a truly global technology leader. To support our expanding commercial footprint and align with global best practices, we have recently actively strengthened our corporate governance and leadership team, separating the roles of Chairperson and CEO and welcoming Lone Fønss Schrøder to lead our Board of Directors, alongside Dylan D. Jeng as our new Chief Financial Officer. With our offices in Singapore now fully operational, and the capital raised late last year actively being deployed, we are well-positioned to execute our expanding pipeline across Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. We remain firmly focused on our target to generate 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030. Commercially and technologically, our momentum continues to build as we capture higher-value opportunities across our technology stack. Deepening our strategic ecosystem of technology partners remains a core priority, a powerful endorsement of our proven full-stack hardware and software capabilities and long-term growth potential. Concurrently, our exploration of a strategic transaction with DreamSmart Technology highlights our ambition to own the critical software application layers of the intelligence-centric vehicle experience. Today we announced a landmark strategic partnership with May Mobility, a leading US autonomous vehicle technology company, to bring ECARX's intelligent driving capacity to May Mobility's future autonomous fleet for ride-hail development. We entered 2026 with a clear roadmap, and we are successfully executing against it. Leveraging our strong reputation and proven high-performance computing platforms that power software-defined vehicles, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the surging global demand for higher-value software and physical AI across the automotive industry." First Quarter 2026 Financial Results: Total revenue was US$131.5 million, down 22% year-over-year ("YoY"). Total cost of revenue was US$103.3 million, down 23% YoY, primarily driven by a decrease in the sales volume of automotive computing platform products, as well as in the software license revenue. Gross profit was US$28.2 million, down 15% YoY, resulting in the gross margin of 21.4%. The decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the declined sales of goods volume and one-time software licensing revenue. On the other hand, gross margin percentage increased from 19.8% to 21.4% YoY due to the price adjustment as well as product mix optimization. Research and development expenses were US$23.5 million, down 32% YoY, primarily driven by the continued resource prioritization that enhanced operational efficiencies and synergies from R&D integration and the internal deployment of AI across our business to drive innovation while reducing structural costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses and others, net were US$17.7 million, down 24% YoY, primarily driven by the continued improvement in global operating efficiencies and lower share-based compensation expenses incurred during the quarter. Net loss was US$11.0 million, compared with US$27.2 million during the same period last year. The improvement was primarily attributable to the reduction in total operating expenses as well as the gain from sale of a portion of an equity method investment during the quarter, partially offset by the decline in gross profit, and an increase in interest expense compared to the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) gain was US$4.0 million, compared with adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) loss of US$14.5 million in the same period last year. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measure." Total cash as of March 31, 2026 was US$70.1 million. Looking ahead, our visibility into the remainder of the year gives us the confidence around our strategic trajectory: Recent Business Development Highlights and Updates Strengthening Corporate Governance and Leadership Team Appointed Lone Fønss Schrøder as Chairperson of the board of directors, separating the roles of Chairperson and CEO to strengthen governance and align with global best practices, alongside new Chief Financial Officer Dylan D. Jeng, who will drive financial discipline from the newly operationalized Singapore office Expanding Global Footprint and Automaker Partnerships Over 11 million vehicles on the road globally with ECARX technologies as of March 31, 2026 Today announced that we will partner with May Mobility, a leading US autonomous vehicle technology company, to bring ECARX's intelligent driving capacity to May Mobility's future autonomous fleet for scaling ride-hail development, expanding ECARX's addressable market into the autonomous ride-hailing market Advanced the Volkswagen Group partnership into the industrialization phase remaining firmly on track ahead of the anticipated 2027 launch for the Latin American market Secured a new contract win with a leading Chinese automaker outside the Geely ecosystem with mass-production expected to start in later 2026 Actively deploying the nearly $200 million in capital raised in late 2025 and early 2026 to scale global operational infrastructure across South America and Singapore and build a dedicated R&D hub in Germany Deepening Innovation-Driven R&D Ecosystem Announced a preliminary plan to potentially acquire a minority stake and select intellectual property from DreamSmart Technology to directly integrate the critical FlyMe Auto application layer Recognized a $14 million financial gain from divesting a minority portion of shares in SiEngine to a third-party investor to monetize foundational technology while maintaining deep technological integration as its largest shareholder Technological Advancements and Product Launches Shipped over 360,000 units during the quarter, with shipments of high-end Pikes® and Antora® solutions increasing by approximately 73% year-over-year Initiated mass production for four new vehicle models across three brands deploying Pikes® and Antora® solutions combined with the Cloudpeak® cross-domain software stack and Flyme Auto Debuted the Zenith computing platform at CES powered by the Snapdragon Elite Automotive Platform from Qualcomm Technologies, delivering a highly integrated cabin-to-ADAS system targeted for mass production in 2027 # # # Conference Call and Webcast Details ECARX will host a webcast of its earnings conference call today, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 8:00 a.m. EST. To access the webcast, visit the News and Events section of the ECARX Investor Relations website, or visit the following link – https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/st42j89f. To join the earnings call by telephone, participants must preregister at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI3f07448d8f004da7a74454e66175399f to receive dial-in information. A replay of the webcast and presentation materials will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website under the results and reports section following the event. About ECARX ECARX (Nasdaq: ECX), headquartered in London, is a leading global automotive intelligence company. ECARX provides the intelligent brain that powers the next generation of software-defined and AI defined vehicles. The company delivers end-to-end, full-stack solutions spanning advanced system-on-chip hardware, high-performance central computing platforms, intelligent cockpit technology, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, cloud connectivity and physical AI, alongside bespoke vehicle software and intelligent operating systems. As automakers transition to software-first and AI-first vehicle architectures, ECARX empowers automakers to streamline integration, reduce systemic complexity and optimize long-term cost efficiency. ECARX's proven technology is deployed across over 11 million vehicles worldwide, and is currently partnered with 18 global automakers and 28 vehicle brands to shape the future of automotive intelligence. Founded in 2017 and listed on Nasdaq in 2022, ECARX operates from 13 major international locations across Europe, the Americas and Asia, with a global team of over 1,400 employees. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's beliefs and expectations as well as on assumptions made by and data currently available to management, appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements regarding, amongst other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which we operate. The use of words "expects", "intends", "anticipates", "estimates", "predicts", "believes", "should", "potential", "may", "preliminary", "forecast", "objective", "plan", or "target", and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, but not limited to statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, future market conditions or economic performance and developments in the capital and credit markets and expected future financial performance, and the markets in which we operate. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, see ECARX's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ECARX undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by applicable law. Non-GAAP Financial Measure The Company uses adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expenses. The Company presents this non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by the management to evaluate the Company's operating performance and formulate business plans. The Company believes that the non-GAAP measure helps identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of certain expenses that are included in net loss. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to net loss or any other measures of performance or as indicators of the Company's operating performance. Investors are encouraged to compare the Company's historical adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net loss. Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data. The Company encourages investors and others to review the financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. For more information on the non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release. Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results We use adjusted EBITDA in evaluating our operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net loss excluding interest income, interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expenses. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to net loss or any other measures of performance or as indicators of our operating performance. Investors are encouraged to compare our historical adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net loss. Adjusted EBITDA presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ecarx-announces-first-quarter-2026-unaudited-financial-results-302775855.html
TranscriptFY2026 Q12026-05-19FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript
Earnings source - 38 paragraphs
FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript
Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ECARX Q1 2026 earnings conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers presentation there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question please press star one and one again. Alternatively you may submit your question via the webcast. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Mark Hankinson, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to ECARX's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. With me today from ECARX are our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen, Chief Operating Officer, Peter Cirino, and Chief Financial Officer, Dylan Jeng. Following their prepared remarks, they will all be available to answer your questions. Before we start, I would like to refer you to our forward-looking statements at the bottom of our earnings press release, which also applies to this call. Further information on specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in our filings with the SEC. In addition, this call will include discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures can also be found at the bottom of our earnings release.
With that, I’d like to hand over the call to our Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ziyu Shen. Ziyu, please go ahead.
Thank you, Mark. Hello, everyone, thank you for joining us today. The first quarter was defined by continued disciplined execution and continuing momentum in our global strategy. Our vision for ECARX remains clear, push the boundaries of automotive intelligence globally and lead the industry's transition from feature-centric to intelligence-centric experiences. We are building the high-performance computing platforms or intelligent brains that power software-defined vehicles. We are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the surging global demand for higher value software and physical AI across automotive industry. We have made a strong progress on our strategic objectives since the start of 2026. Building upon the momentum we gained last year. Throughout the first quarter, we executed relentlessly on our core priorities for the year, accelerating our globalization strategy, investing in our R&D roadmap, and optimizing our lean operating strategy to sustain profitability.
First, on our global expansion, we continue to build out of our global footprint and the governance structure, underscored by significant equity and board appointments. Crucially, the nearly $200 million in capital we raised later last year and early this year is now being actively deployed. This is fueling the build-out of our R&D hub in Germany and our operational infrastructure across South America and in our office in Singapore. Second, the global expansion is being fueled by our commercial execution and continuous investment in our R&D roadmap. We continue to make solid progress, driving further technical innovation and winning new business. A critical component of accelerating this innovation is our broader ecosystem of strategic partnerships. Third, we announced a major milestone in autonomous driving. ECARX expects to develop and deliver thousands of autonomous enabled vehicles for May Mobility's next-generation autonomy system.
This marks ECARX first entry into the robot taxi market, a market with significant global potential. Finally, we are maintaining robust cost discipline, reducing our operating costs to sustain profitability. Our results for the quarter demonstrate the disciplined execution driving this next phase of growth and how we are actively accelerating that transformation to build a truly global business. Our results for the quarter demonstrated this disciplined execution driving this next phase of growth. They demonstrate how we are actively accelerating that transformation to build a truly global business and sustain this momentum. While the first quarter is traditionally impacted by seasonality, the broad market also navigated macro headwinds, including shifting government policies and memory component inflation. However, our strong project pipeline and the robust backlog allowed us to largely mitigate the impact of these dynamics.
As a result, we delivered sales of goods revenue of $140 million. A modest 6% decrease year-over-year. This demonstrates the underlying resilience of our core business. Crucially, our disciplined execution translated into meaningful profitability improvements. Overall gross profit was $28 million, driving an expansion in gross margin to 21.4%. We also significantly narrowed our operating loss to $13 million, nearly halving the $25 million loss reported in the same period last year. Perhaps most notably, we achieved positive adjusted EBITDA for the third straight quarter, delivering $4 million compared to negative $15 million in the same quarter last year. This robust performance allows us to confidently repeat our full year 2026 revenue guidance of $1 billion-$1.1 billion. This financial resilience is no accident.
It is the direct result of the strategic framework we established later last year. Let me dive a bit deeper into how we are executing against these priorities, starting with our global expansion. We remain focused on our target of 50% of total revenue from international markets by 2030. To drive the execution of this, we spent the first quarter actively fortifying our corporate governance and global leadership team. As ECARX rapidly scales, it is crucial that we adopt top-tier global governance standards to match our expanding commercial footprint. Last month, we appointed Lone Fønss Schrøder as our new chairperson. This separates the roles of chairperson and CEO to strengthen governance and align the global best practices. Lone has extensive experience across automotive, technology, and finance sectors.
This will be invaluable as we scale and accelerate the expansion of our central computing cockpit and ADAS solution across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. I'm also pleased to officially welcome our new Chief Financial Officer, Dylan Jeng. Dylan joined us in March to drive global financial discipline from our newly operationalized Singapore office. Mark Hankinson, who spoke at the start of this call, joined us as Head of Investor Relations and corporate development, and is based alongside myself and Peter in London. Commercially, our global partnerships continue to deepen. Each vehicle rolling off partner production lines demonstrates the repeatability and scalability of our solutions. This unique ability to scale across diverse brands and markets is perfectly demonstrated by our strategic relationship with Volkswagen Group in Latin America. Peter will speak more about this later.
Today, we are excited to announce a major milestone in autonomous driving through our strategic framework agreement with May Mobility, a leading U.S.-based autonomous vehicle company. Under agreement, ECARX is expected to develop and deliver thousands of autonomous enabled vehicles to May Mobility. This will include customized essential computing platforms, a full stack autonomous driving system kit, and a complete sensor suite for May Mobility's next generation autonomy system. This collaboration brings together ECARX's deep expertise in full stack intelligent driving solution and May Mobility's industry-leading autonomous driving system. It will allow us to leverage the best of both companies' core competence in intelligent hardware and software development. This is exactly the kind of disciplined, high-value commercial execution that will drive our continued growth and profitability, positioning us as a key player in the future of autonomous mobility.
This marks ECARX as the first entry into the robotaxi market, a market with significant global potential. Supporting our global expansion is our robust R&D roadmap. We are continuing to invest in the development of next-generation solutions. This allows us to capture great value across our technology stack and capitalize on opportunities in adjacent sectors like robotics. To accelerate and strengthen our long-term product and technological capabilities, we recently announced our preliminary plan to acquire a minority stake and certain IP rights from DreamSmart Technology, an affiliate and the developer of the Flyme Auto operating system. This is a highly strategic opportunity for ECARX. While our Cloudpeak cross-domain software stack handles the underlying middleware, Flyme Auto acts as the critical application and interaction layer, integrating this technology deeper into our solutions unlocks a powerful competitive advantage.
This will enable true seamless interoperability between the intelligent vehicles, smartphones, and emerging smart devices like smart glasses. These are fully integrated cross-domain ecosystem. It equips automakers with solutions that are easily replicable across vehicle lineups to differentiate their driving experience in a highly competitive market. We view Flyme Auto as a fundamentally strategic piece of our full-stack ecosystem, capturing this vital application layer above our Cloudpeak middleware supports our potential investment, even during a period of strict cost discipline. While this potential acquisition remains at an exploratory stage, it underscores our ambition to own the most critical software layers of the intelligence-centric vehicle experience. Staying with technology, silicon is a fundamental capability for us. We partner with providers like Qualcomm and SiEngine to precisely specify the requirements for our silicon chips to ensure performance and efficiency. These go beyond the standard chip customization.
These are differentiated or remotely optimized SoC core modules, such as SiEngine 7 nm high-performance SE1000 chipset, which powers our highly successful Antora 1000 computing platform. This is not plug-and-play or assembled technology. This is highly specialized and integrated full-stack technology. Another example of our silicon heritage is SiEngine itself. This was established by ECARX alongside Arm China before becoming an independent business. During the first quarter, we recognized a $40 million gain from divesting a small portion of our shareholding in SiEngine to a new third-party investor. This is not just a one-time financial gain. It validates our ability to incubate, integrate, and monetize the value of our technology. This transaction allows SiEngine to diversify its shareholder base for its next stage while we remain its largest shareholder and maintain our deep technological integration.
It proves we can create immense value while maintaining our technological edge. This is exactly the kind of disciplined capital allocation and lean operations that will sustain our profitability and industry leadership. In summary, we enter the 2026 with a clear roadmap, and we are successfully executing against it. We are expanding globally. We are capturing higher value opportunities, and we are optimizing our operations to ensure we can capitalize on the enormous opportunity ahead of us as the automotive industry evolves. I will now pass the call over to Peter Cirino to discuss our operational progress in more detail.
Thank you, Ziyu. Good morning, everyone. As Ziyu outlined, we are rapidly accelerating our clear vision for automotive intelligence. Operationally, the first quarter demonstrated our ability to execute on this vision at scale as we continue to drive our global expansion, deepen key partnerships, and innovate new solutions from our R&D roadmap. Our defining competitive advantage is our ability to seamlessly integrate our full-stack hardware and software into a competitive platform, allowing us to execute on complex global programs across diverse vehicle lineups and markets. By delivering highly integrated solutions, we are translating our technological leadership into compounding commercial momentum globally. Demand for our innovative solutions continues to be strong, with over 360,000 units shipped this quarter. While this represents a lower absolute volume compared to the same period last year, it reflects a deliberate and strategic shift towards a high-end product mix.
As a reminder, we made the strategic decision in the second quarter of last year to actively phase out our lower-margin legacy platform business. While this intentionally moderates our shipment volumes, it vastly improves our overall revenue quality. Validating the strategy, shipments of our high-end Pikes and Antora solutions were up approximately 73% year-on-year. This brings the cumulative total number of vehicles shipped with ECARX technologies to over 11 million vehicles, up nearly 30% from the same period last year. Today, our solutions power 28 distinct brands across 18 leading OEMs globally. This growing scale demonstrates our reliability and reputation as a trusted partner, which we are capitalizing on to unlock higher value growth opportunities from existing new partnerships globally going forward. Our global expansion is leveraging this momentum and continuing to make solid progress during the quarter.
Our partnership with Volkswagen Group is progressing smoothly and serves as the perfect example of our ability to strategically execute projects on a global scale, and how we are leveraging that to develop future large-scale revenue opportunities across EMEA, the Americas, and other emerging markets. This program utilizes the full flexibility of our portfolio to meet diverse market needs. Deploying our high-performance Antora 1000 integrated with our Cloudpeak software stack in Google Automotive Services, alongside our cost-effective Antora 500 for entry-level segments. I am pleased to report that during the first quarter, we successfully moved this comprehensive program into the industrialization phase, keeping us firmly on track ahead of the anticipated launch in 2027.
While the first quarter is typically a quiet period for vehicle launches, we began mass production for four new models across three different brands, all of which are using our next-generation Pikes and Antora Series solutions. Combined with our Cloudpeak cross-domain software stack and next-generation architecture that is compatible with Google Automotive Services and Flyme Auto, they will power next-generation AI cockpit experiences and enable the delivery of in-vehicle AI agents at scale, offering a truly unique intelligence-centric experience. Looking at business development, despite a seasonally quiet quarter in Q1, our pipeline continues to convert. We recently secured a new contract win from a leading Chinese automaker outside the Geely ecosystem. This program, expected to begin production in 2026, represents another key step in diversifying our revenue base and actively validates the standalone technological superiority of our solutions in the open market.
Innovation remains the bedrock of our long-term growth and our strongest competitive moat. We are actively focusing on our R&D roadmap to deliver highly scalable, centralized automotive intelligence architectures that global automakers urgently need. A prime example of this is the debut of our Zenith computing platform at CES earlier this year. Powered by the upcoming Snapdragon Elite Automotive Platform, Zenith represents a breakthrough in integrated single box cabin to ADAS systems. By seamlessly running mixed criticality workloads, such as powering immersive 5K digital cockpits alongside level 2++ ADAS on a single SoC, we are significantly reducing the architectural complexity and cost pressures facing our global partners. Zenith not only underscores our deep, long-standing capability to commercialize industry-leading technologies at scale, but also provides a highly modular, upgradable foundation for software-defined vehicles of the future.
With Zenith firmly on track for mass production in 2027, we are ensuring we remain at the absolute forefront of the intelligence-centric revolution. In closing, our operational execution in the first quarter provides a resilient and highly scalable foundation for the year ahead. We have a growing portfolio of diverse and replicable solutions and a rapidly advancing global footprint, and a disciplined operational strategy to continue to capture growth opportunities and delivering long-term value to our shareholders. With that, I will turn the call over to our new CFO, Dylan Jeng, to review our financial performance. Welcome to your first ECARX earning call, Dylan. The floor is yours.
Thank you, Peter, and hello, everyone. The first quarter of 2026, while seasonally challenging, clearly highlights the resilience of our business model and disciplined execution in navigating complex market conditions. Despite facing significant industry headwinds, we made meaningful progress in optimizing our cost structure and improving our operational efficiency, which is a clear indication of our strategic focus on building a sustainable foundation for long-term profitable growth. On the top lines, our sales of goods revenue in Q1 was $114 million, a modest 6% decrease year-over-year. This performance reflects three main drivers. First, we navigated and anticipated a challenging market environment characterized by policy changes and delayed vehicle launches across the broader automotive sector during Q1.
Second, as Peter noted earlier, our deliberative strategic decision in Q2 last year was to actively phase out our lower margin legacy platform business created a high base effect when compared to Q1 2025. While this intentionally impact our top line, it vastly improves our revenue quality and mix, as is seen by the growth in shipments of our newest Antoras and Pikes solutions this quarter. Third, we successfully balanced significantly higher memory costs we experienced in this quarter, which has structurally supported our top-line revenue. Turning to software, revenue was $2 million this quarter. This is structurally consistent with the normalized run rates we established in quarters two through four last year of around $1 million-$2 million per quarter. For context, the $26 million reported in Q1 last year reflected a specific one-time software license authorization contract recognized in this quarter.
Service revenue was at $60 million, down from $21 million in Q1 last year. Services revenue primarily reflects the timing of the design and development contracts, deliveries and booking schedules. As such, it generally tracks the vehicle launch cycles in Q1, which we fully expect to accelerate it in subsequent quarters. Now turning to our profitability metrics. Despite the revenue headwinds, we demonstrated strong operational disciplines and cost management throughout the quarter. Gross profit reached $28 million, with gross margin expanding to 21.4%. This margin improvement achieved despite significant DDR cost pressures that increased by over 300% since September 2025. Directly demonstrates our ability to manage supply chains in challenges effectively.
Crucially, this margin resilience was supported by price adjustment and product mix optimization, which more than partially offset the margin headwinds caused by the one-time software license authorization contract recognized in Q1 2025. Our lean operating strategy delivered substantial efficiency gains during the quarter. Operating expenses increased by 29% year-over-year to $41 million. Research and development expenses were reduced by 32% to $24 million, driven by continued resource prioritization that enhanced operational efficiency and synergies from R&D integrations, and the internal deployment of AI across our business to drive innovation while reducing structural costs. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by 24% to $18 million, primarily driven by the continued improvement in global operating efficiencies and lower share-based compensation expenses incurred during the quarter. Our operational performance demonstrates resilience despite seasonality and a challenging overall market environment.
Our operating loss came out at $13 million for the quarter, a significant improvement from the $25 million loss reported in Q1 2025. Most notably, adjusted EBITDA was positive for the third consecutive quarter, coming in at $4 million compared to negative $15 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a complete structural turnarounds from early 2025, and was driven by our focus on cost discipline that was complemented by the $14 million partial monetization of our holdings in SiEngine, which is as you spoke about earlier. Looking ahead, our visibility into the remainder of the year gives us the confidence around our strategic trajectory. Based on our current backlog and accelerating commercial pipeline, we are reiterating our full year 2026 guidance of a $1 billion-$1.1 billion in total revenue.
With respect to profitability, our margin profiles will naturally be influenced by the ongoing dynamics and uncertainty around global memory costs, as well as the cadence of our strategic investments. We do expect that in the coming quarters, gross margin and operating profitability will be negatively impact by memory cost dynamics. In summary, while Q1 represents a seasonally slower period for the industry, we're highly encouraged by the underlying strength of our business model and the progress we have made operationally. For the remainders of 2026, we expect to benefit from the launch of the new vehicles models in the quarters ahead, continued operational efficiency gains from our lean operating strategy and disciplined cost management. Strengthening demand drivers for automotive technology as the market environment improves.
Most importantly, we maintain our full confidence in the resilience of our business model and our ability to navigate market cycles effectively. Our focus remains on delivering sustainable growth and creating long-term value for our shareholders. That concludes our remarks today. I would now like to hand the call back to the operator to begin the Q&A session.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question you many need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question press star and one again. If you wish to ask a question via the webcast please type into the box and click submit. Please standby while we compile the Q&A roster. Thank you. We will now take our first question today. This is from Wei Huang from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for taking my question. This is Wei from Deutsche Bank. I have two questions. The first, given regarding guidance. You told us that you expect 2026 to book $1 billion-$1.1 billion in revenue. Can you give us a volume guidance as well? Regarding margin, I know you mentioned that it's gonna be highly dependent on memory pricing throughout the year. Can you give us some guidance on how it would trend in the following quarters and for the whole year? The second question is, can you maybe give us more details on the May Mobility collaboration, regarding, for example, which regions these robotaxis will operate in and which platform will supply? Thank you.
Hi. Thanks. This is Dylan. Well, you have heard the calls that we're reiterating our previous guidance around the revenue, which we expect to be in the $1 billion-$1 billion range as previously, you know, guidance. We don't generally provide any specific ASP guidance, but we do expect volume terms that the year will progress as it is typical for our markets, with the Q1 representing the seasonal low points for volumes. We do expect significant pickup from Q2, both in terms of vehicle launches and shipments. We, in terms of the revenue, we're also reiterating our previous, the revenue that we mentioned.
In terms of profitability, Q1 was a strong performance in the profit, the profitability terms, with us being able to grow the gross margin and deliver our third profitable quarters at an EBITDA level. Going forward, we do expect that our margin profiles will influence by ongoing market dynamics and uncertainty around the global memory cost, as well as the cadence of our strategic investments. So we do expect that in the coming quarters, the gross margin and operating profitability will negatively impact by memory cost dynamics. Profitability for 2026 at the operating profits and EBITDA levels will depend on how this dynamics plays out in the coming quarters.
We remain focused on the cost controls and focusing our R&Ds on the highest impacts projects, and we will remain focused on this during 2026. Thank you.
Hey, Wei, this is Peter Cirino. I'll answer your question on the May Mobility topic. Thanks for the question. You know, overall, we are extremely excited about this strategic partnership. You know, May is a leading U.S.-based autonomous vehicle and robotaxi company. Under the agreement, we're expected to develop and deliver, you know, thousands of autonomy-related vehicles, which include a customized central computing platform and a full stack sensor suite for May Mobility's next generation autonomy system. You know, we see this as being selected for the partnership by May Mobility as a huge validation of our expertise in full stack intelligent driving solutions. We see the partnership as leveraging the strengths of both companies. You know, we bring fantastic core competency in central architecture and, you know, software-defined vehicle.
May Mobility brings a strong capability in autonomy, their level four software stack is very impressive in terms of its performance. You know, for ECARX, it's a huge growth opportunity for us. It allows us to expand into the robotaxi market with this partnership. You know, overall, it absolutely improves our total available market very significantly. I'm excited to be at the May Mobility Analyst Day tomorrow, we'll add more color to the partnership at that stage.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, you can press star one and one again. Alternatively, please submit your questions via the webcast by typing it into the box and clicking submit. There are no further questions at this time. In that case, I will hand the conference back to Mark Hankinson for closing comments.
Thanks very much, and thank you everyone for your attendance and attention today and for your continued interest in ECARX. Please do reach out to me, Mark Hankinson, via email if you have questions or if you would like to meet with management over the coming weeks. We are scheduled to attend a number of investor conferences in the coming months across Europe and the U.S. We would, of course, be very happy to meet with you at these events, please do contact us if you'd like to schedule a meeting. Peter mentioned that he will be attending tomorrow the May Mobility Analyst Day in Arlington, Texas. With that, we will conclude the call. Thank you.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.

