Bank of America International: Maintains a buy rating on WERIDE-W (00800) as Robotaxi makes another move

CICC International released a research report stating that in the first quarter of 2026, WERIDE-W (00800) of revenue increased rapidly, while the gross profit margin level remained basically the same year-on-year. The bank has adjusted its profit forecast, expecting the company's revenue to be 1.0/1.39/1.87 billion yuan from 2026 to 2028, with PS ratios of 15.3/11.0/8.2 times. As a leading company in the field of autonomous driving travel services, the company's deployment scale of autonomous vehicles continues to expand, and its light-asset operating business model and leading technological advantages are expected to further improve the company's profitability. The short-term disturbance does not change the long-term positive trend, so the bank maintains a buy rating on the company. Main points of view from CICC International: Events On June 2nd, WenYuanZhiXing and Uber announced their plans to launch the first commercial Robotaxi pilot service in Madrid, expanding the company's global Robotaxi map. On June 3rd, WenYuanZhiXing's Hong Kong shares were officially included in the Hong Kong stock connect list, with the adjustment officially taking effect on June 4th. The company's L4 autonomous driving vehicle scale is expanding, and the light-asset operation model and leading technological capabilities are creating high competitive barriers. The bank maintains a buy rating on the company. WenYuanZhiXing's commercial Robotaxi operation will be launched in Madrid later this year. Madrid is one of the most commercially potential Robotaxi markets in Europe, with strong travel demand, a large urban population, and a positive policy environment. With the support of the Madrid Autonomous Community Government, the commercial Robotaxi service will officially launch later this year. At that time, local users can call Wenyuanzhi Robotaxi through the Uber app. In the initial stage of operation, vehicles will be equipped with professionally trained safety personnel. In the future, as key operating indicators are gradually achieved, WenYuanZhiXing AVOMO and Uber promise to deploy hundreds more Robotaxi, and promote commercial services of pure unmanned Robotaxi to cover the core areas of Madrid. The landing of the Madrid project continues the successful cooperation experience between WenYuanZhiXing and Uber in Middle Eastern markets such as Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Currently, WenYuanZhiXing and Uber have completed layouts in 4 cities, and the remaining 11 cities will be covered by 2030, deploying tens of thousands of Robotaxi globally. In 2026, WenYuanZhiXing's international business map continues to expand. The company's first-quarter report for 2026 shows that in April 2026, WenYuanZhiXing officially launched public operations with Grab in the Punggol area of Singapore. At the same time, it also launched Dubai's first pure unmanned commercial Robotaxi operation with Uber and the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, consolidating its leading position in the Middle Eastern Robotaxi market. The company's services in Abu Dhabi have covered about 70% of the local core areas, and it plans to deploy 1,200 Robotaxi in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh by 2027. In addition, in March 2026, WenYuanZhiXing cooperated with ELEVATE Slovakia to start the first automatic driving project in Slovakia, also the first large-scale commercial deployment of multiple automatic driving products at the national level in Europe, laying the foundation for future pure autonomous driving commercial operation. The expansion of Robotaxi sales scale drives high revenue growth. In the first quarter of 2026, the company's revenue reached 114 million yuan, an increase of 57.6%. Benefiting from the expansion of the sales scale of Robotaxi and other L4 autonomous driving vehicles, the company's product revenue reached 21 million yuan, an increase of 115.8% year-on-year; service revenue also increased by 49.0% year-on-year, reaching 94 million yuan, mainly due to the increase in revenue from intelligent data services and ADAS services. As of April 30, 2026, the company's global fleet of autonomous driving vehicles (including Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan, and Robosweeper) reached approximately 2,800 vehicles, covering 12 countries and more than 40 cities worldwide. Among them, the Robotaxi fleet has expanded to around 1,300 vehicles (with the Robotaxi fleet in China at around 1,000 vehicles). The daily average order volume of Robotaxi in China exceeds 17, with a peak during rush hour climbing to 28. In the first quarter of 2026, the company's gross profit increased by 56% year-on-year, with a gross profit margin of 34.7%, which remained basically the same year-on-year and continued to lead the industry. L4 and L2++ coexist, light-asset operation and leading technological capabilities create competitive barriers. WenYuanZhiXing has achieved large-scale commercial applications in both L4 autonomous driving and L2++ advanced driver assistance fields, and has built the GENESIS general world model to support this strategic layout. In April 2026, the company's one-step end-to-end L2++ ADAS solution WRD 3.0 has been adopted by nearly 30 models from car companies such as GAC and Chery, and is compatible with multiple chip platforms including NVIDIADRIVE, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Xinqing Technology's "Xingchen One", covering different computing power gradients and cost ranges, adapting to different OEM manufacturers' hardware preferences. In addition, the company's light-asset operating strategy can effectively reduce capital expenditure pressure, enhance expansion speed and flexibility, enable the company to focus on core competencies, and drive continuous technological innovation. Formally included in the Hong Kong stock connect, another important milestone for the capital markets. On June 3, the company's Hong Kong shares were officially included in the Hong Kong stock connect list, with the adjustment officially taking effect on June 4. After being included in the Hong Kong stock connect list, qualified mainland investors can buy and sell WenYuanZhiXing's shares traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through the stock connect mechanism, which is expected to further enhance the accessibility and market liquidity of the company's Hong Kong shares, expand the range of investors, and strengthen the company's connection with the mainland capital market. Main risks: Client expansion falls short of expectations, policy implementation falls short of expectations, cost reduction performance falls short of expectations.