BYD's Overseas Push Drives Quarterly Profit Growth — update

By Jiahui Huang

BYD's net profit rebounded despite slightly lower revenue in the second quarter, showing that the world's top electric-vehicle seller may have turned a corner with the help of its rapid overseas expansion.

China's leading carmaker has been working to put soft domestic sales in its rear-view mirror following an intense price war and slowing demand in the world's largest auto market. Its exports now account for a rising share of total sales volume as the EV maker bets on overseas growth, especially in Europe and Latin America, to drive its next phase of expansion.

The Shenzhen-based company said Friday that net profit for the first half of 2026 fell 21% from a year earlier to 12.33 billion yuan, equivalent to $1.83 billion. Revenue fell 7.1% to 344.82 billion yuan.

That put second-quarter net profit at 8.25 billion yuan--a 30% jump on the year--given net profit of 4.08 billion yuan in the first quarter, a Wall Street Journal calculation showed.

Quarterly revenue was 194.59 billion yuan, down 3.2% from the previous year, given revenue of 150.23 billion yuan in the preceding three months.

Both figures fell short of market expectations. Analysts had expected net profit of 8.99 billion yuan on revenue of 216.55 billion yuan for the three months ended June, according to a Visible Alpha-compiled consensus.

The results come as BYD's growth engine is shifting overseas, where the company has found faster growth and higher margins.

Indeed, its gross margin stood at 18.85% in the first half, up from 18.01% a year ago.

BYD continues to face pressure in China, where slowing demand and intense competition have forced automakers to cut prices to defend market share. The company has a wide range of models across different price categories, but it is becoming harder for strong sales volumes to translate into a sustained recovery in domestic profitability.

Its overseas business tells a different story. BYD has been increasing its presence in Europe and Latin America, and is considering local manufacturing as it builds a more resilient global footprint. Australia, the U.K. and Brazil have also emerged as important markets for the automaker.

Beyond the overseas expansion, technology upgrades and new model launches will be key drivers for BYD's second-half earnings, analysts said. The auto giant is falling behind the pace needed to hit a reported sales target of 5 million to 5.5 million units this year, having sold 2.23 million vehicles through July.

Still, the company's Hong Kong-listed shares have rebounded from their June low, sitting 27% higher this quarter as robust overseas exports offset concerns about a domestic sales slump.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2026 08:04 ET (12:04 GMT)