Core Viewpoint - Hesai Technology, a leading Chinese LiDAR manufacturer, has secretly submitted an application for a Hong Kong IPO, aiming to capitalize on its recent success and growing market demand for LiDAR technology [1][6][13] Company Overview - Founded by Li Yifan and his team, Hesai Technology specializes in LiDAR for autonomous driving, robotics, and industrial automation [2][4] - The company initially focused on laser gas measurement systems before pivoting to the LiDAR market in 2016, competing against established players like Velodyne [4][6] Recent Developments - Hesai Technology went public on NASDAQ in February 2023, raising $190 million and achieving a market valuation of approximately $2.4 billion (around 16 billion RMB) [6][10] - The company has secured significant contracts with major automotive manufacturers, including Baidu and BYD, and has established partnerships with 22 domestic and international automakers for 120 vehicle models [7][10] Financial Performance - For 2024, Hesai Technology projects revenue of 2.08 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, and has achieved its first annual profit with a net profit of approximately 137 million RMB [10][11] - The company anticipates revenue growth to reach between 3 billion to 3.5 billion RMB by 2025, with a gross margin of around 40% [11] Market Outlook - The global automotive LiDAR market is expected to grow significantly, with a projected market size of $6.92 billion in 2024, driven by increasing demand for autonomous driving technologies [11][13] - Chinese brands are expected to capture 92% of the market share, with Hesai aiming for a long-term market share of over 40% domestically and nearly 50% internationally [13]

Group 1 - Hesai Technology has secretly submitted an application for a Hong Kong IPO, leading to a pre-market surge of over 7% in its US stock price, which eventually closed up 1.84% [1] - In the first quarter of this year, Hesai Technology's lidar shipment reached 104,687 units, capturing a market share of 31.6%, with Huawei and RoboSense following closely at 30.7% and 29.1% respectively [1] Group 2 - The automotive lidar market is experiencing rapid growth, with RoboSense, Hesai Technology, Huawei, and TuSimple leading the market in 2024 [2] - Hesai Technology reported a net revenue of 2.077 billion yuan for the entire year, with Q4 revenue at 720 million yuan, and expects revenue to reach 3 to 3.5 billion yuan in 2025, with ADAS contributing approximately 60% to 65% of total revenue [2] - The company anticipates a total lidar shipment of 1.2 to 1.5 million units in 2025, with 1 to 1.3 million units coming from ADAS and nearly 200,000 units from robotics [2] Group 3 - Hesai Technology's management indicated that top clients like Li Auto, Xiaomi, BYD, and Leap Motor have raised their sales targets and lidar adoption rates for 2025, with some automotive modules making lidar a standard feature [3] - The company expects to deliver a six-figure order of JT series products for MOVA smart lawn mowers in 2025, and has secured orders from Agtonomy for its autonomous agricultural vehicle solutions [3] - A strategic cooperation agreement was signed with Keting Technology to provide 300,000 JT series lidar units for their lawn mowing robots within a year [3] Group 4 - In March, Hesai Technology faced a short-selling attack from Blue Orca Capital, resulting in a stock price drop of over 10%, which the company strongly opposed, claiming the allegations were baseless [4] - Blue Orca Capital questioned the consistency of Hesai's reported revenues with its largest client's purchase volumes and claimed the company had lost its biggest client while laying off up to 30% of its workforce [4] - Data indicated that in 2024, Hesai supplied 238,000 lidar units for Li Auto's models and 100,700 units for Xiaomi's SU7 [4] Group 5 - Blue Orca Capital identified General Motors' Cruise as the American OEM that terminated its purchasing agreement with Hesai Technology following GM's decision to stop funding the Cruise autonomous taxi project [5] - Hesai Technology has consistently maintained its commitment to strict business ethics and compliance standards in response to the short-selling report [5] - After a period of decline, Hesai's stock rebounded, closing at $17.68 per share as of May 16 [5]