Aug 26, 2026 earnings call — L-Series refresh, new BEVs, and in-house technology
Company expects Q3 deliveries between 95,000 and 100,000 vehicles and revenues between RMB 26.6 billion and RMB 28.0 billion.
Revenue $3.8B (est $3.9B) · EPS $-0.25 (est $-0.01)
Key quotes
"The new generation Li MEGA is scheduled for launch on September 2. We further polished its pioneering design and completely revamped the interior, the cabin experience, intelligent platform, and ride quality."
"To date, shipments of the MACH M100 chip have exceeded 50,000 units, maintaining an excellent quality track record."
"This year, we've seen cyclical fluctuations in upstream raw materials and core components, which has created temporary cost pressures for both the industry and our company, which has further impacted our gross margin."
Analyst Q&A 7
L-Series sales and Li MEGA refresh
Q (Tim Hsiao · Morgan Stanley): First, how has the refreshed L-Series been performing since launch? Second, what are the key highlights of the new Li MEGA and your sales expectation?
A: Management said the full L-Series refresh is complete and high-end models, especially the L9 Livis, have done very well. They said the new L6 retained users and could reach about 10,000 units per month, while short-term disruptions from the refresh are being worked on; they also described Li MEGA upgrades focused on handling, intelligence, and cabin for a flagship MPV over RMB 500,000 and said sales will depend on ramp and market factors.
"Since launch, the L9 Livis account -- the Livis version of the L9 accounts for over 85% of all sales." — Xiang Li (CEO·CHAIR)
Commodity cost and gross margin outlook
Q (Paul Gong · UBS): How much did commodity cost inflation affect Q2 and Q3, and what is your strategy to handle it? What is your latest gross margin target?
A: Management said cyclical price rises in chips, PCBs, memory, and lithium carbonate created temporary cost pressure. They plan to smooth short-term impact via volume commitments and operations, and to rely on in-house tech (motors, controllers, silicon carbide modules, batteries, MACH M100 chip) and supply-chain integration to lower cost; they view a healthy long-term gross margin as between 15% to 20% and said they will not pass price increases to customers.
"In the long term, my view is that a healthy margin for the company will be somewhere between 15% to 20% gross margin, with the main driver here being the raw material costs." — Xiang Li (CEO·CHAIR)
Li i9 product and timeline
Q (Wenzuo Qiao · Citic): What can you share about the upcoming Li i9? Also, what is the progress on co-optimizing the M100 chip and driving models?
A: Management described the i9 as a flagship 6-seater SUV for large families, complementing Li MEGA, with an 800-volt 5C charging platform, in-house motors, MACH M100 ADAS, and a high-performance Qualcomm cabin chip. They said the i9 will launch in mid-September and declined to disclose pricing; the second question on chip/model co-optimization was not answered in this turn.
"In terms of release timeline, the Li i9 will be launched in mid-September." — Xiang Li (CEO·CHAIR)
ADAS improvements and milestones
Q (Yan Xie · Citic): Please update progress on co-optimization between the M100 chip and autonomous driving models, and list key H2 milestones and metrics.
A: Management said MACH M100 began mass production in Q2 and is deployed on new L models, with OTA 9.1 rolling out end of July and a major architecture upgrade coming. They gave Q4 targets: perception range exceeding 250 meters to enable earlier planning and reduce hard brakes and lane changes, 3D object accuracy within 5 centimeters improving success rates in tight scenarios, stronger scene understanding to cut hesitations, and noted MACH VLA 2.0 will launch in early September.
Cash flow and CapEx outlook
Q (Jing Chang · CICC): Operating cash flow nearly turned positive in Q2 but free cash flow stayed negative and cash declined. Will free cash flow turn positive in H2 and how is the cash position?
A: Management said they expect stable quarterly operating cash flow from Q3 with ample cash on hand to support R&D, CapEx, and expansion. They reaffirmed full-year CapEx of around RMB 6.0 billion and said positive operating and free cash flow for the year depends largely on fourth-quarter deliveries, while overall cash flow should be stronger than last year; the follow-up question on intelligent driving chips was not answered in this turn.
"We expect our full-year CapEx to be around RMB 6.0 billion." — Tie Li (CEO·CHAIR)
Value of in-house chips and integration
Q (Yan Xie · CICC): What key contributions do self-developed chips and hardware-software integration bring to advancing intelligent driving?
A: Management said close integration of chip, model, and OS lets teams co-design architectures to fully use MACH M100 compute and optimize training, including reinforcement learning and shadow data, which speeds iteration. They added Halo OS improves resource use and engineering quality, and that dual MACH M100 systems can run full multimodal foundation models on device to enable the vehicle to understand intent and plan tasks as an embodied intelligent agent.
Overseas expansion and R&D plans
Q (Ming-Hsun Lee · BofA): Update your overseas market strategy and progress. Will you keep investing heavily in R&D such as embodied humanoid robots amid competition?
A: Management said overseas expansion is on track. They will focus L-Series range-extended models in Middle East and Central Asia (L9 launched in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in July; Dubai planned in September) and prioritize BEVs in Europe with Li i6 debuting at the October Paris Motor Show and sales in Q4; they also said they will continue long-term R&D investment, keep developing in-house chips and batteries, and start rolling out Li Auto branded batteries across all vehicles in the second half of the year.
"Starting from the second half of this year, we will be rolling out Li Auto branded batteries across all of our vehicles." — Xiang Li (CEO·CHAIR)