Xiaomi’s Hong Kong-listed stock has soared in recent months on its EV success.
The smartphone maker launched its first EV, the SU7, almost a year ago.
Xiaomi aims to deliver 300,000 vehicles in 2025, boosting CEO Lei Jun’s wealth.
Xiaomi is best known for making smartphones, yet its electric vehicle dreams have helped send its stock soaring in recent months.
The Chinese company’s Hong Kong-listed shares are up 31% this year, and 255% over the past 12 months, as investors plug into its ambitious EV plans.
Beijing-based Xiaomi launched its first car, the SU7, almost a year ago — just three years after announcing the move. Its debut came just weeks after Apple abandoned its yearslong attempt to build a car.
Business Insider reviewed the SU7 last year, concluding it simply shouldn’t drive as well as it does, given it’s from a company that hasn’t produced vehicles before. Ford CEO Jim Farley is also a big fan of the car.
The standard SU7 is very competitively priced at 215,900 yuan (roughly $30,000) — about 30,000 yuan ($4,000) less than Tesla’s Model 3 in China.
Xiaomi delivered more than 135,000 vehicles last year and CEO Lei Jun said in December that Xiaomi aimed to sell 300,000 vehicles in 2025. Customers wanting to get behind the wheel of an SU7 face a long waiting list, underlining its popularity.
Bin Wing, head of auto research for Asia at Deutsche Bank, said in a note there were an estimated 41,000 orders for the SU7 in January, compared with about 30,000 in December.
“We attribute this to the notable increase in showroom traffic post the company’s showcase of its second product — the ‘YU7’ SUV. As a result, Xiaomi EV’s accumulated order backlog on hand is estimated to exceed 140,000 units as of January 2025,” he wrote.
Xiaomi is expected to continue facing supply shortages this year due to its order backlog, strong flow of new orders, and the debut of the SU7 Ultra on March 31 and the YU7 in mid-2025.
In a post on X last week, Jun said: “I’ll be working with the team on ways to speed up production without compromising quality or safety.”
Xiaomi’s stock surge has boosted Lei’s net worth, which is up $5.8 billion this year to $35.4 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is in 49th position on the rich list, one spot behind former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
The stock closed 7.3% higher on Friday at 44.70 HK dollars. In a February 6 note, HSBC analyst Frank He maintained a “buy” rating on the stock and raised the target price from 37.90 to 49.90 HK dollars.
