Niu Technologies ($NIU)

First in the electric motorcycle category, the segment surged by a second 3x year-over-year increase, including our momentum that begins in Q4 last year with our store product line. we further accelerate our growth in the electric motorcycle market, expanding our footprint directly into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. This is no longer just a temporary trend, is it these market breakthrough proving news ability to rapid scale and capture the minor 1 in this segment. In the electric bicycle segment, the sales have softened. This was fully anticipated as the market remains a transitional winning period as the new center early in last December. We're managing this year deliberately by our new product line in a face approach, ensuring we're perfectly positioned to capture the high-quality volume as consumer demand returns. Now this shift has fundamentally redefined geographic footprint as well. Historically, new has been perceived as a Tier 1 CD brand with the market represents 50% of sales -- in Q1, we sold the Tier 1 new Tier 1 city soften where the Tier 2 and Tier 3 CD grow at a faster pace fueled by the rapid adoption of electric motorcycles. This represents a vastly strategic milestone, improves newsprint equity successfully scaling beyond the urban leads and penetrating the broader mass premium China market. Now this chip has set a part of foundation for 2026 [indiscernible] by through the lower-tier motorcycle market, we have added a new growth engine. When the electric motorcycle market [indiscernible] recovers our total growth to rebound with double the force. We ensure were the first cap today recovery, we may deliver a strategic decision to fund load our investment in branding, R&D and the new product launched in Q1. Now in branding and marketing, recognizing 2026 is a pivotal year for our brands revolution. We made a proactive decision to follow our marketing investment in this quarter. We chose to capture the consumer mind share ahead of the curve by building a massive brand awareness in Q1. We have ensured that the new national standard transition stabilized news while positioned to capture unmet demand. In Q1, we executed 3 major saturation initiatives. First, our 2 global ambassador strategy in late January, we officially announced [indiscernible] global brand ambassador, the first strategy of kind in our industry. [indiscernible] image as a high-performance outdoor enthusiastic resonant with our corporate users, while HMC significantly extend our reach among Gen DF female audiences. This campaign was activated across 40-plus cities and 80-plus global landmarks, generating an unprecedented $3.4 billion impression. Second, our Spring Festival saturation campaign we capitalized on the highest frequency travel period in China, a large still offline campings 37 CDs, 42 transportation hubs and nearly 3,000 cinemas. This generated over 400 million impressions firmly embedded in message premium smart equate in the mind of travelers. Third, the 2026 technology launch event on March 17, we unveiled our next-generation AAM mobility strategy. This event was not just a product review but also repositioning you as a technology leader in the AI era. with over 130 million or less than 460 million pressures we have redefined what smart waters can be. Now those intensive branding activities led to a 4x plus year-over-year increase in the marketing expense for Q1. So this was a onetime front loading of our budget. Historically, the first quarter has seen a lower marketing spend due to a seasonal retail trends harbor we choose to strategically shift our marketing was in Q1 this year to unite the brand momentum for the entire fiscal year. Now as we move into Q2 and beyond, you will see that our marketing to revenue ratio normalized. We have already established e-band equity part to drive our 2026 growth target, now we're transitioned directly from this investment phase to execution in the harvest space. Now in terms of R&D technology, the technology and continuous innovation remains core to news long-term strategy as they are fundamental to our ability to compete are beyond simple pricing and basically hardware specifications. Our primary technology focus this year is to bring the top of AI to the electric two-wheeler industry, zeroing on 3 major development areas. The AI operating system, intelligent chassis system and intelligent writing technology. First on the news AIOS, March '17 event, the new AIOS is our cornerstone period defining the next era of intelligent writing as the industry's first mass-produced AI dashboard system, it represents technology milestones, integrating AI and voice assistant with high performance automotive [indiscernible] operating system. The second is the intelligent chassis platform also introduced our next-generation intelligent case platform. This platform is engineered to integrate an advanced safety and performance system, including [indiscernible], TCS, content, stamping control, battery management system and license system into a single unified vehicle-level architecture. Based on this platform, we aim to introduce several industry-first features for mass-produced 2-wheelers, such as adaptive driving beam AI headlights and adopted CC suspension. And the lastly to a strategic partnership with a leading automotive grade technology companies were bringing advanced rider system functionalities to the 2-wheeler segments. This includes integrating cutting-edge towers like advanced visual recognition systems and the high-performance processing tests. Now supported directly by those core technologies, we launched the industry's first AI-enabled electric bicycles NT2 Ultra as our flagship model. Now talking about our product matrix. Our product strategy in Q1 was clear is driving an aggressive growth in the electric motorcycle segment while building a dominant portfolio for the electric bicycle recovery. First, to lead the electric bike transition, we launched next T2 Series price from RMB 599 to RMB 1,999. The flagship next to Ultra is the industry-first AI-powered e-bicycles, featuring our AIOS-channel, ABS and millimeter way grader. This isn't just a bike. It's a statement that news on the high-end market. Second, we expand our total addressable market with the Y series, official enter the e-momobility segment with the wiser endorsed by our ambassador, Suniti at a competitive arm 300 to 400 price points. And third, next [indiscernible], our new volume engine to capitalize our 2x growth in electric motorcycle market -- we launched Max milestone at RMB 6,499. This model target a long-range family commuters offers a 146-kilometer driver in jet flagship features such as [indiscernible] at a mainstream price point. And the market expense was immediate. Wthin just 5 hours to launch a milestone generate over RMB 91 million in sales. ranking the #1 cross major e-commerce backlog. Those performance proved our hero product strategy is working in Q1. Now we continued to strengthen both the off-line retail sales and online ecosystem operations. In terms of online channels, we delivered another standup quarter, the online sales increased by 53%, accounting for approximately 46% of domestic retail sales. demonstrating a continued strength of our online to offline operation model. Also on doing, we conduct more than 32,000 live streams, generating over 270 million impressions. We also continue to expand [indiscernible] further broaden our digital retail coverage. Now turning to our international operations. We're navigating a delivery structural transition to prioritize a healthy fundamentals. Our high-margin electric motorcycle business remains a key strategic priority and is showing a strong momentum. Shipments reached more than 2,000 units and 29% year-over-year increase. Our European dealer network spending from 307 to 360 active locations this quarter. Now in the micro mobility segment, international sales was down 37% year-over-year. First, this is regarding the channel distribution structuring. During the first quarter, we completed a major structural shift to a leaner distribution model in our key markets like Germany and U.S. This critical action allows us to significantly minimize the ongoing China operation expenses. Consequently, Q1 servers transition phase where the major retail partners, such as [indiscernible] the United States and the medium market in Germany focused primarily on sale of their existing retail inventories. The fresh stock up period under the new distribution model is only in the beginning now in Q2. Second, reflecting our current inventory position, we are holding an elevated volume of micromobility inventories in Europe and the United States, stemming from lower-than-anticipated sales in 2025. Our primary mandates for the remainder of 2026 is clear, is to accelerate unit sales volume and aggressively reduce the inventory backlog back to lean and healthy baseline. To execute this inventory clearance swiftly and protect against long-term operation drag, we're implementing targeted price promotions throughout the rest of the year, especially on motor model products. So those efforts will depress our micro mobility contribution margins throughout the year. While this discounting strategy present a short-term headwind to our profitability metrics. It is necessary with our global macro mobility operation back to a clean optimized and highly stable foundation for the co- -- now looking ahead, we'll continue executing our strategy with a focus on sustainable and quality-driven growth. In China, we expect the electric vice market will recover gradually throughout Q2. And or taking a cautious view to lead this market. We're executing a phase-out rollout of our food compound product mix, anchored by the XT and Y series those position us with a comprehensive premium lineup ahead of the critical Junior ended Q3 selling season. Meanwhile, our electric motorcycle category will continue to be our primary growth engine. We have additional model targeting female writers and technology in [indiscernible] planned for Q2 and second half of the year. and the upcoming 618 shopping festival will be the first major retail test of those expanded portfolios. Now overseas our direct-to-retail strategy in the electric motorcycles is gaining speed. We [indiscernible] dealer count to surpass 400 locations by the year-end, supporting both volume growth and improved profitability. In the micro mobility, as I detailed a moment ago, our [indiscernible] operational priority for the remainder of 2026 is to aggressive inventory normalization and maximizing retail sell-through. We expect our linear operating channel transition to finalize throughout the first half of this year with our broad and promotional clearance and inventory normalization largely concluded by the second half of 2022. So in summary, we had used the first quarter to do the heavy lifting required for a transformative year by frontloading our marketing, investing deeply in our AI technology map and diversifying our product portfolio and clean up our global channels, we have moved beyond the transition phase. We believe those strategic actions have laid a solid foundation to drive sustainable and high-quality growth in Q2, and will serve as a catalyst to accelerate both in the latter half of the year. We're confident in our past and focused on execution. Now I'll turn over to our CFO, Wenjuan Zhou, to talk about the financials.

Thank you, Yan, and hello, everyone. Please note that our press release contains all the figures and comparisons -- and we have also uploaded excel format figures to our IR website for your easy reference. As I review our financial results, I'm referring the fourth quarter figures unless I say otherwise. -- and all monetary figures are in RMB, if not specified. As Yan just mentioned, our total sales volume for the first quarter was 262,000 units, up 29% compared to the same period of last year. 48,000 units were sold in China, while the remaining 14,000 units sold overseas. Over 60% of our sales volume in China came from the top 3 best sellers. The total revenue for the first quarter amounted to RMB 910 million, an increase of RMB 228 million or 33% compared to the same period of last year. China revenue were RMB 854 million, accounting for 94% of the total revenue, of this, this quarter revenue was RMB 774 million, a year-over-year increase of 42%. And this growth was primarily driven by sales volume and improvement in the revenue per schoolers. China scooter ASP RMB 3,120 up nearly 5% year-over-year. While the overseas revenue was RMB 56 million, representing a 6% of the total revenue, the scooter revenue, including electronic motorcycles, MoPath, [indiscernible] and e-bikes amounted to RMB 51 million, down from RMB 60 million in the same period of last year. And this decline was driven by the lower sales volume and reduced revenue per scooters, partially offset by a higher revenue per electronic motorcycle and mopeds, which command higher retail prices. The sales volume in the international market shifted in favor of the electronic motorcycle and moped category. The premium pricing of these products further contributed to a year-over-year increase in the ASP of overseas scooters, which rose from RMB 2,962 to RMB 3,716. The revenue from accessories, spare parts and services were RMB 85 million, a 13% increase compared to the same period of last year. mainly driven by the higher revenue from new services. And the gross profit for this quarter exceeded RMB 159 million. marking a significant improvement compared to RMB 118 million during the same period of last year. The gross margin was 17.4% and higher compared to the same period of last year and 2.1 ppt higher than the previous quarter. The Chinese domestic gross margin improved due to a favorable high-margin product mix, which boosted an overall gross margin by 2 ppt. However, these gains were offset by a 1.9 PBT drag from the lower scooters margin. The operating expenses for the first quarter were RMB 264 million increased RMB 99 million or 60% compared to the same period of last year. The OpEx ratio was 29% compared from the 24.2% in the same period of last year, but down from 30.5% in the last quarter. Selling and marketing expenses rose by RMB 65 million year-over-year to RMB 180 million. primarily driven by the intensified marketing initiatives in domestic market during the holiday season as well as a higher depreciation and amortization expenses and staff costs. Selling and marketing expenses accounted for 19.8% of revenue, up from 16.8% in the same period of last year, but down from 21.3% in last quarter. R&D expenses increased by RMB 12 million year-over-year to RMB 41 million, primarily due to an increase in design and testing costs as well as the staff cost. The R&D expenses representing 4.5% of revenue compared to 4.4% in the same period of last year, but down from 7.3% in last quarter. G&A expenses increased by RMB 22 million year-over-year to RMB 42 million, largely driven by an increase from foreign currency exchange losses. The G&A expenses constitute 4.7% of revenue, up from 3% in the same period of last year and 1.8% in last quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchanges, the G&A expenses were RMB 23 million compared to RMB 30 million in the same period last year. In the fourth quarter, we had a net loss of RMB 94 million with a net loss margin of 10.3% on the GAAP accounting. compared to a net loss of RMB 39 million with a net loss margin of 5.7% for the same period of last year. and the non-GAAP net loss was RMB 88 million with a non-GAAP net loss margin of 9.7%. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow. We ended this quarter with RMB 1.4 billion, remained flat compared to the end of last year in cash, restricted cash, term deposits and short-term investments. Our operating cash inflow amounted to RMB 131 million. CapEx for the first quarter amounted to RMB 70 million, reflecting an increase of RMB 46 million compared to the same period of last year. And this can be primarily attributed to an increase in opening of new stores and module cost in China. And now let's turn to guidance. We expected the second quarter revenue in the range -- to be in the range of RMB 1.57 billion to RMB 1.82 billion, an increase of 25% to 45% year-over-year. Please be aware that this outlook is based on the information available as of the date and reflects the company's current and preliminary expectations, which is subject to change due to uncertainties relating to various factors. And with that, let's now open the call for any questions that you may have for us. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions] Let me turn the call back to Mr. Li for closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for participating on today's call and for your support. We appreciate your interest and look forward to reporting to you again next quarter on our progress. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Speakers, please stand by.