Seres’ 2025: Wenjie takes over the high-end market—robots to open a “second front”

Why hasn’t Cybers High Gross Profit Led to Strong Net Profit Growth?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Jiao Wenjuan

After two consecutive years of profitability, Cybers needs to start accounting like a mature automaker.

In 2025, Cybers’ revenue reached 165.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.7%, with a net profit attributable to the parent of 5.96 billion yuan, a slight increase of 0.18% year-on-year. The Askway series remains the absolute pillar, with a total of 426k units delivered throughout the year, accounting for over 82% of Cybers’ total sales.

The volume increase of high-end models directly boosted profitability. In 2025, the M9 priced above 500k yuan was delivered over 110k units throughout the year, and the M8 in the 400k-yuan segment delivered over 150k units, with the two models together accounting for more than 62% of Askway’s total deliveries. In 2025, Cybers’ per-vehicle gross profit margin reached 28.8%, far higher than most new energy brands’ gross margins. Tesla’s gross margin during the same period was about 17.8%, Li Auto about 17.9%, and BYD about 20.5%. This is the key to Cybers achieving nearly 6 billion yuan in net profit.

The strong performance of the Askway series also further ties Cybers’ partnership with Huawei. During the reporting period, the company paid cash to acquire a 10% stake in Shenzhen Yiwang, held by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., for 11.5 billion yuan. In March 2025, the transfer of this stake was completed, and by September, the full payment was made. Huawei’s rotating chairman Xu Zhijun serves as chairman of Yiwang, and Cybers Group Chairman Zhang Xinghai is a director.

As of the end of the reporting period, Cybers’ cash and cash equivalents reached 426k yuan, an increase of 89.94% compared to the same period last year. The abundant cash reserves also provide ammunition for its second front.

Research and development (R&D) investment is one of Cybers’ major expense items. In 2025, the company’s R&D expenditure was 12.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 77.4%, with R&D personnel increasing to 9,019, accounting for 41.1% of total employees. One of the directions for these investments is the robotics business, which Cybers views as an additional growth point.

According to Cybers’ plan, multiple robot products will be unveiled this year, covering bipedal, quadrupedal, wheeled, and hybrid intelligent robots.

Meanwhile, Cybers has not slowed its main business expansion. In 2026, the company explicitly aims to “achieve the second million-unit target within two years” and accelerate the development and operation system building for overseas markets.

In 2025, China’s new energy vehicle market was mired in a price war, with the overall industry profit margin compressed to 4.1%. “Revenue growth without profit growth” became a common dilemma for most automakers. However, in that year, Cybers’ new energy vehicle gross margin reached 28.8%, an increase of 2.55 percentage points year-on-year.

The high gross profit brought by high-end cars is undeniable. In 2025, the Askway brand delivered 426k new vehicles, with the combined share of the M9 and M8 models priced above 500k yuan and 400k yuan respectively exceeding 62%, pushing the average transaction price up to 391k yuan.

The increased proportion of high-end models raised the overall gross margin, which is the first layer of the high-end story, and cost control also played a crucial role.

Cybers states that the number of Tier 1 suppliers has been optimized from 300 to 100. This “lean and refined” cooperation model not only reduces management costs but also secures better procurement prices through long-term strategic partnerships.

More importantly, the implementation of the “factory within a factory” model, such as CATL embedding two CTP 2.0 high-end battery pack production lines directly into Cybers’ super factory, enables thousands of parts to be “turned around on the same day.” Public information shows that under traditional models, batteries shipped from CATL’s Fujian base to Chongqing would take at least one to two days; now, inventory is compressed to “hour-level.” Eliminating transportation distances saves logistics and warehousing costs. This deep integration allows Cybers to increase the average transaction price without a corresponding rise in manufacturing costs.

However, in Cybers’ current profit structure, the other side of high gross margins is high expenses.

In 2025, Cybers’ net profit excluding non-recurring gains and losses was 500k yuan, a decrease of 7.84%. Although it has achieved profitability for two consecutive years, net profit growth remains insufficient. The main expenses impacting net profit are twofold:

The first is expenses. In 2025, Cybers’ selling expenses were 24.19 billion yuan, up 26.1% year-on-year; R&D expenses were 7.95 billion yuan, up 42.4%. These two expenses totaled over 32 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 20% of revenue. The growth rate of expenses far outpaced the 13.7% revenue increase. To maintain Askway’s popularity and technological iteration, Cybers spends more money than it earns.

By comparison, Cybers’ selling expenses are more than twice those of Li Auto during the same period, which had combined selling, general, and administrative expenses of 110k yuan and R&D investment of 11.3 billion yuan.

The second is costs. During a recent analyst briefing, Cybers mentioned that rising costs of key raw materials like lithium carbonate and memory chips have impacted the company’s profit levels.

Data from the fourth quarter also shows that revenue increased without profit growth. In Q4 2025, Cybers’ revenue was 54.52 billion yuan, up 41.4% year-on-year, but net profit attributable to the parent was only 644 million yuan, down 66.2% year-on-year. CICC’s analysis pointed out that the quarterly performance was under pressure mainly because the proportion of low-margin M7 sales increased by 35.2 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, leading to a 1.3 percentage point decline in gross margin. Meanwhile, the company made a prudent provision of 400k yuan for asset impairments.

Cybers does not want to be just a car-making company.

The Askway series contributed over 82% of sales, with the M9, M8, and M7 models supporting nearly the entire portfolio. When Li Auto fell out of the top new force rankings due to product cycle fluctuations, and NIO and Xpeng were seeking new growth points, Cybers needs to convince the market that it is not just a contract manufacturer for Huawei’s intelligent vehicles.

Going overseas can achieve higher gross margins. Robotics is an extension of vehicle technology into another track, promising longer-term possibilities. Both lines require capital and time, and both are uncertain.

Cybers believes its accumulated technology in vehicle manufacturing can be transferred to robotics. The company stated in its financial report, “The perception, decision-making, control, and system integration capabilities accumulated in assisted driving and intelligent cockpit fields are highly interconnected with the underlying technology of intelligent robots, and have conditions and capabilities to extend and reuse in new scenarios.”

In 2025, Cybers’ R&D investment was 12.51 billion yuan, up 77.4%, with R&D personnel increasing to 9,019, accounting for 41.1% of total employees. This nearly 10,000-strong technical team has been quietly laying out the robotics business over the past two years.

At the end of 2023, Cybers partnered with Chongqing Municipal Finance Bureau to establish Chongqing Cybers Phoenix Intelligent Innovation Technology, dedicated to robotics; in September 2024, it applied to register the “ROBOREX” trademark; in March 2025, it established a wholly owned subsidiary, Chongqing Phoenix Technology Co., Ltd., and half a month later, jointly founded Beijing Cyháng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. with Beihang University.

By October 2025, Cybers announced a cooperation agreement with Volcano Engine, a subsidiary of ByteDance, to jointly tackle “multi-modal cloud-edge collaborative intelligent robot decision-making, control, and human-machine enhancement technology.” Volcano Engine provides AI algorithms and computing power, while Cybers promotes industrialization.

Cybers revealed that it continues to develop various forms of robots, including bipedal, wheeled, quadrupedal, and hybrid wheel-foot robots, forming a preliminary multi-platform technical reserve. According to the plan, multiple robot products will be launched this year, covering bipedal, quadrupedal, wheeled, and hybrid intelligent robots.

Embodied intelligence is already a hot track, with many automakers deploying humanoid robots. GAC launched its “family” of humanoid robots, Xpeng has PX5 and Iron, and Xiaomi has CyberOne. This is a crowded field requiring continuous investment, with no clear timeline for success.

In comparison, going overseas is more practical and urgent.

In November 2025, Cybers listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising funds mainly for R&D of smart electric vehicles, building smart manufacturing bases, and expanding global marketing networks. Currently, Cybers has launched three global models: AITO 9, AITO 7, and AITO 5, focusing on the Middle East and Europe, with deep localization for the Middle Eastern market, and plans to start overseas expansion in 2026. The company also mentioned that the Middle East and Central Asia will be its key markets in 2026, with multiple models to be launched in several overseas countries in the second half of this year.

Profitability of overseas models is significantly higher than domestic ones, which is an opportunity Cybers must seize. The Askway’s average transaction price in China has reached 391k yuan, but the domestic new energy market is highly competitive, limiting further gross margin growth. Exporting, especially to high-consumption markets like the Middle East, means higher per-vehicle profits and a more relaxed competitive environment.

Cybers is standing at a delicate turning point.

On one side, Askway’s continued high-end sales, with a 28.8% gross margin, enough to make most automakers envious; on the other, net profit remains stagnant, with sales and R&D expenses growing at a much faster rate than revenue. On one side, the 87.2 billion yuan in cash reserves provides confidence; on the other, the vulnerability of profit margins, as a slight shift in M7 sales proportion can halve quarterly profits. Perhaps Cybers is not yet at a point to relax.