Go ahead. Chinese robotaxis may have difficulty navigating the Grands Apple . WeRide aims for a valuation of up to $5 billion for New York IPO ; Pony AI, which is preparing its own market debut there, was valued at $8.5 billion in a private funding round last year, according to IFR. But self-driving car companies have been struggling lately.
Toyota Motor-backed Pony, which runs a fleet of 250 driverless taxis and more than 190 trucks in China, says its technology leaves passengers “with eyes wide open in amazement”. WeRide was the first to offer a paid taxi service using a high degree of automation known as Level-4. according to your prospectusand has developed commercial vehicles, including buses and sweepers. Pilot projects are underway in China, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and France.
But the business model is as futuristic as the cars. Fully autonomous technology is largely limited to test environments, regulations are still evolving, and data needs for digital maps are onerous. Pony’s sales rose a modest 5% to $72 million in 2023, although its net loss declined to $125 million, from $148 million. WeRide is also unprofitable and its revenue fell by a quarter last year.
Meanwhile, investor confidence in the technology is waning. tesla The We Robot event that was closely watched this month was a show without a clear plan for marketing. Mobileye Global has lost around two-thirds of its value in the past 12 months, while New York-listed Chinese lidar maker Hesai has more than halved. Peer Horizon Robotics Hong Kong IPO on Thursday with a high-end price. That put its market value at about $7 billion, about a fifth less than it was at the time. fundraising 2022.
However, companies look for prices that imply rapid growth or high valuations. At $5 billion, WeRide’s equity would be worth more than 100 times this year’s sales, assuming full-year deliveries increase at a similar pace to the first six months of 2024. Pony’s market value Even if it has eroded as much as Mobileye’s in the past year, it would still be worth $3 billion, more than 20 times future sales, using a similar calculation to estimate 2024 revenue. That compares to the average about 4x for a basket of pairs, according to Visible Alpha data.
Unless revenues accelerate dramatically, China’s new automotive upstarts may be asking investors to put robot before car.
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On October 24, Horizon Robotics, which makes software and hardware for self-driving cars, debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after raising $698 million, implying a valuation of $6.7 billion in its initial public offering. . The shares rose 2.8% on the first day of trading to close at HK$4.10. China-based autonomous driving startup WeRide has filed for $119 million in funding IPO on the Nasdaq and a $320.5 million private placement, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters on Oct. 23. Rival Pony AI filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US on October 17. The Toyota-backed company was valued at $8.5 billion in its private Series D round in October last year, IFR reported.
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