Shenzhen Robots sell well and go public

The overseas market for robots is booming! From sweeping robots to industrial robots, to snow-sweeping robots, lawn-mowing robots, swimming pool robots, etc., more and more Chinese robot brands have been recognized in overseas markets and achieved brilliant results. Recently, Yuejiang Technology, another robot company that mainly sells to overseas markets, was listed.

Sell ​​robots to more than 80 countries

Recently, Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology was successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with an issue price of HK $18.8 per share and an opening price of HK$19.7 per share, with a total market value of HK$7.672 billion (approximately RMB 7.2 billion). The company has thus firmly won the title of "China's No. 1 Collaborative Robot Stock".

Before going public, Yuejiang Technology received nine rounds of financing, and the most recent D+ round of investment in 2022 valued the company at 3.531 billion yuan. The amount of financing for this IPO was as high as 752 million Hong Kong dollars, and the net amount of funds raised was approximately 681 million Hong Kong dollars.

According to a report by CSI Consulting, based on shipments in 2023, Yuejiang Technology ranks among the top two in the global collaborative robot industry and ranks first among all collaborative robot companies in China, with a global market share of 13.0%. In addition, the company has ranked first in China's collaborative robot exports for six consecutive years.

At the same time, Yuejiang Robotics also ranks first in the industry in terms of the number of patents, with a total of 1,335 intellectual property applications, including 973 patents, 454 invention patents, and 52 PTC patents. The company owns the largest number of registered patents in the global collaborative robot industry.

Yuejiang Technology's main market is overseas, and its products are exported to more than 80 countries and regions, including major overseas markets such as the United States, the European Union, Japan and Southeast Asia, with cumulative global shipments reaching 72,000 units.

From 2021 to 2023, the company's revenue from markets outside China will be RMB 83.9 million, RMB 140 million, and RMB 170 million, respectively, accounting for 48.1%, 58.1%, and 59.1% of the total revenue in the same year.

In the past two years, overseas markets have accounted for nearly 60% of Yuejiang Technology's revenue. In the future, it will accelerate the expansion of overseas markets and is expected to continue to strengthen the construction of overseas sales channels from 2025 to 2029.

Yuejiang Technology was founded in July 2015 and specializes in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of collaborative robots. The founder, Liu Peichao, graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Shandong University, and the core technical team is composed of talents from Shandong University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Harbin Institute of Technology.

In 2015, they successfully developed the first generation of desktop-level intelligent robotic arms and raised US$620,000 on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, setting a new high for similar products in China.

In 2017, less than three years after the company was founded, it grew from 5 people to 300 people. With the expansion of the company and the continuous changes in the market, Yuejiang Technology adjusted its development strategy this year. When deciding whether to sell products in the to C or to B model, Liu Peichao chose the to B end, which has greater technical difficulty but broader development prospects.

In 2019, Yuejiang Technology's CR5 and DOBOT Magician won the China Design Red Star Award and the China Design Red Star Award Silver Award respectively; in 2021, Yuejiang Technology was selected into the list of national-level specialized and innovative "little giant" enterprises.

Following the wave of AI, in April 2024, Yuejiang launched the embodied intelligent robot X-Trainer (the track that Anker Innovations and other industry giants have repeatedly reported trying to enter), which can perform multiple skills such as folding clothes, washing dishes, peeling bananas, and cutting cucumbers, becoming the first company in the global collaborative robot industry to commercialize AI-enabled collaborative robots.

Losses of over 100 million yuan in 2023, poor profits

Although its shipments rank among the top in China and even in the world, and it has won many awards, Yuejiang Technology's financial results are not good, especially its profitability is relatively weak.

Public data shows that from 2021 to 2023, Yuejiang Technology's revenue was 174 million yuan, 241 million yuan and 286 million yuan respectively, but its net losses were 41.756 million yuan, 52.477 million yuan and 103 million yuan respectively, with loss rates of 24%, 21.8% and 36% respectively.

The company's gross profit margins in these three years were 50.5%, 40.8% and 43.5% respectively . In 2022, the gross profit margin dropped directly from 50.5% to 40.8%, a decrease of nearly 10 percentage points. In 2023, the gross profit margin slightly rebounded to 43.5%, and in the first half of 2024, the gross profit margin slightly increased to 43.9%, which is still far below the level of 2021. Coupled with factors such as fierce market competition, it is difficult to reach 50% again .

A company that has been developing for 9 years and has gone through multiple rounds of financing still suffered a loss of over 100 million yuan last year. According to the company's own analysis, the loss was due to high R&D investment and market development costs, especially the price reduction strategy adopted under fierce market competition.

In terms of R&D , from 2021 to the first half of 2024, Yuejiang Technology's R&D expenditures were RMB 46.873 million, RMB 52.054 million, RMB 70.527 million, and RMB 31.423 million, respectively, accounting for 26.9%, 21.6%, 24.6%, 28.4%, and 26.1% of revenue, respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.6%.

In contrast, Yuejiang Technology's sales expenses are much higher than its R&D investment. From 2021 to the first half of 2024, the company's sales and distribution expenses were 63.63 million yuan, 89.274 million yuan, 127 million yuan and 62.519 million yuan, respectively, accounting for 36.5%, 37.0%, 44.4% and 51.9% of its total revenue.

During this period, the net cash flow generated by Yuejiang Technology's operating activities was RMB 6.367 million, -RMB 117 million, -RMB 158 million, and -RMB 70.414 million, respectively.

China's robot industry is accelerating its overseas expansion

This listing, coupled with the dividends from the booming robot market, may promote the healthy development of Yuejiang Technology .

After the listing, Yuejiang Technology plans to use the raised funds to further strengthen its R&D capabilities, expand its production scale, optimize its global sales network, and strengthen its cooperative relationship with international partners to jointly promote the development and application of global robotics technology.

In recent years, the domestic collaborative robot market has also ushered in opportunities for rapid growth. Data from relevant institutions show that in 2023, the scale of China's collaborative robot market will exceed 1.48 billion yuan, and shipments will reach 30,000 units, demonstrating the strong growth momentum and huge potential of the collaborative robot market.

Entering 2024, the domestic collaborative robot market continued the rapid growth trend of last year. In the first half of the year, China exported 4,182 collaborative robots, an increase of 61.72% over the same period last year. Relevant institutions predict that by 2030, the global collaborative robot market will reach US$1.988 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.77% in the next few years.

Behind Yuejiang Technology’s IPO lies huge business opportunities for robots going overseas.

In the wave of robots going overseas, sweeping robots have achieved the most outstanding results. Not long ago, IDC released the global sweeping robot shipment data for the third quarter. Among the top five shipment companies, four are Chinese sweeping robot companies, including Roborock Technology, Ecovacs, Xiaomi, and Dreame.

In addition, Changyao Innovation's lawn mowing robot, Hanyang Technology's Yarbo all-purpose garden robot, Xinsong mobile robot, etc. have all gained good reputation and high sales overseas.

Along with the wave of AI, the embodied intelligent robot industry has begun to explode. Shenzhen Nanshan took the lead in the layout, gathering more than 20 high-quality upstream and downstream enterprises and institutions in the industrial chain, forming a situation led by leading complete machines and agglomeration of software algorithm and core component companies.

In 2024 , Chinese robots will be everywhere in the world , and the industry will accelerate its overseas expansion , contributing to global smart manufacturing and industrial upgrading with superior performance and innovative technology .

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