Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI) reported a record 2025 and raised its 2026 shipment outlook, pointing to accelerating adoption of LiDAR in both passenger vehicles and robotics while outlining plans to commercialize two new non-LiDAR product lines beginning as early as 2026.
2025 results: record revenue, industry-first GAAP profitability
Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Li said 2025 was a “defining year” for the company, highlighted by what he described as the LiDAR industry’s first full-year GAAP net income. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fan reported full-year GAAP net income of RMB 436 million, alongside record net revenues of over RMB 3 billion (or $433 million), up 46% year over year.
On cash and balance sheet metrics, Fan said Hesai generated positive operating cash flow of RMB 117 million in 2025, marking its third consecutive year of positive operating cash flow, and that net assets grew to around RMB 9 billion. Li also highlighted a $614 million dual primary listing in Hong Kong as strengthening the balance sheet and long-term capacity for growth.
ADAS business: design wins, market share, and Level 3 catalyst
Li said Hesai maintained leadership in automotive long-range LiDAR, citing Gasgoo data indicating that its flagship ATX product contributed to a number one position in 2025 with over 40% share of the long-range automotive LiDAR market. He added that Hesai achieved full LiDAR adoption on best-selling models from partners including Li Auto and Xiaomi, and entered the sub-RMB 100,000 vehicle segment with Leapmotor, framing LiDAR’s move from premium option to mainstream safety feature.
Li said Hesai had secured 2,026 design wins with partners including Li Auto, Xiaomi, BYD, Leapmotor, Great Wall Motor, and Changan—“many on an exclusive basis”—and that BAIC and FAW Bestune were joining its start-of-production (SOP) roster. He added that the company has secured ADAS orders from every one of the top 10 OEMs in China and design wins with 40 automotive brands across more than 160 vehicle models. Li also said cumulative ADAS LiDAR deliveries exceeded 2 million, capturing over 40% of ADAS long-range LiDAR demand.
To support scaling, Li said Hesai launched a revamped ATX last November featuring the in-house FMC500 system-on-chip integrating MCU, FPGA, and ADC, with up to 256 channels. He said ATX had an order backlog exceeding 6 million units and is expected to begin SOP in April 2026.
Management positioned Level 3 autonomy as a major value driver. Li said public road approvals for Level 3 models in cities including Beijing and Chongqing mark an inflection point and increase requirements for reliability and sensor coverage. He highlighted Hesai’s FTX blind-spot sensors for 360-degree perception and described its ETX ultra high-performance long-range LiDAR as “purpose-built” for Level 3, with roughly twice the detection range of ATX and incorporating Hesai’s proprietary SPAD intended to eliminate false triggers seen in traditional SPAD architectures. Li said ETX is expected to begin SOP by 2026 and cited recent multi-LiDAR design wins with Li Auto, Xiaomi, and Changan, with SOP planned for 2026–2027. He said multi-LiDAR models typically feature three to six LiDARs per vehicle.
International expansion: Grab partnership and NVIDIA platform selection
Li said Hesai reached a “critical inflection point” internationally, announcing a strategic partnership with Grab in which Grab will serve as Hesai’s exclusive regional distributor in Southeast Asia. He also said Hesai was selected as the primary LiDAR partner for NVIDIA’s DRIVE Hyperion 10 platform and joined the NVIDIA Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab.
During Q&A, Li described NVIDIA’s platform as a full-stack approach—hardware, software, and data—and said Hesai’s inclusion can make it easier for customers to adopt a proven sensor setup without restarting model training, data collection, and system verification that has been built around Hesai LiDAR through existing collaboration. He said Hesai is working closely with NVIDIA to support qualification in different regions and to accelerate current and new programs.
Li also said an exclusive multi-year design win with a top European OEM was progressing, with sample deliveries “firmly on track.” He emphasized a move toward a unified high-performance LiDAR architecture across China and global markets and noted Hesai’s German VDA 6.3 process audit certification.
Robotics: JT series scale, vertical momentum, and 2026 growth expectations
Li said Hesai’s JT series entered mass production in 2025 and shipped over 200,000 units in its first year. He cited industry sources (GGII, Yole Group, and Frost & Sullivan) that he said rank Hesai number one across multiple robotic LiDAR submarkets, including humanoid and quadruped robots, robotaxis, robovans, and robotic lawnmowers. He also said Hesai shipped nearly 240,000 robotics LiDAR units in 2025 and expects that volume to at least double in 2026.
In response to a Goldman Sachs question, Fan outlined several robotics verticals and provided specific expectations:
- Humanoid and quadrupedal robots: Fan said Hesai has orders from customers including Unitree, HONOR Robot, Galbot, MagicLab, and Vita Dynamics, and expects annual shipments in this segment to reach five-digit levels in 2026.
- Robotaxi: Fan cited a Yole report describing Hesai as the world’s largest robotaxi LiDAR supplier, working with players including Pony.ai, WeRide, Baidu Apollo Go, DiDi, and Hello, and said robotaxis may use five to 10 LiDARs per vehicle for 360-degree coverage.
- Robovan: Fan said the market is projected to scale from five digits to six digits of robovans in 2026, with each typically featuring two to six LiDARs, and listed customers including Zelos, Neolix, Meituan, and DoorDash.
- Robotic lawnmowers: Fan said Hesai had partnerships including Dreame, MOVA, and NexLawn, and said the company secured an agreement to exclusively supply 10 million JT LiDARs to Dreame and MOVA.
Separately, Li noted a design win with NIU Technologies for a next-generation electric two-wheel model using Hesai’s FTX LiDAR, pointing to China’s annual sales volume of over 60 million electric two-wheelers as a large potential market.
2026 outlook: higher shipments, Q1 revenue and volume guidance, and new products
Management raised its 2026 LiDAR shipment outlook to 3.0 million to 3.5 million units. For the first quarter of 2026, Fan guided net revenues of RMB 650 million to RMB 700 million (about $93 million to $100 million), implying year-over-year growth of approximately 24% to 33%. He also guided first-quarter shipments of 400,000 to 450,000 LiDAR units, including around 100,000 from robotics, while noting typical seasonality and holiday timing could drive a sequential decline versus the fourth quarter.
On pricing and margins, Fan said blended average selling price could decrease in 2026 due to mix shift toward lower-priced products (including AT, FT, and JT series) and standard annual automotive pricing declines for large OEM customers. However, he said future declines should narrow and cited potential offsets including Level 3-driven multi-LiDAR configurations, higher-priced international ADAS programs, robotics momentum, and cost optimization enabled by scale and in-house technology such as the FMC500 SoC and in-house SPAD integration.
Asked about net income guidance, Fan said the company decided not to provide specific full-year net income guidance due to differing compliance requirements and listing rules for dual-listed companies following its Hong Kong listing.
Management also reiterated plans to launch two new products—described as the “eyes” and “muscles” of physical AI—in the coming months, with initial revenue contributions expected as early as 2026. On operating expenses, Fan said Hesai expects a “modest mid-teen” increase in overall OpEx in 2026, primarily due to RMB 200 million of R&D investment in new products, while OpEx excluding new business spending is expected to be flat or down in single digits.
During Q&A, management also addressed questions about Sharpa, stating that Hesai and Sharpa are fully independent entities with no equity or operational control relationship, while noting potential future collaborations—if any—would be conducted on fair, market-based terms with the objective of maximizing long-term value for Hesai shareholders.
About Hesai Group (NASDAQ:HSAI)
Hesai Group is a technology company specializing in the development and production of advanced LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors and perception software platforms for autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial automation and mapping applications. The company’s core business centers on delivering high-performance, high-reliability LiDAR solutions designed to enable precise three-dimensional sensing and real-time environment perception. Hesai’s product lineup spans mechanical rotating LiDAR units, solid-state and MEMS-based sensors, as well as integrated software stacks for object detection, tracking and data fusion.
Founded in 2014 by a team of laser sensing and robotics researchers, Hesai built its reputation on improving range, resolution and reliability of LiDAR systems while driving down cost and size.
