Autohome (02518) Releases Q3 2026 Financial Results: One-Stop Transaction Services "Infrastructure Takes Shape," Multiple Business Segments Poised for Breakthroughs

On the evening of November 4, Beijing time, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A (ATHM.US; 02518) disclosed its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2026. In the quarter, the Company achieved total revenue of RMB1.31 billion, and adjusted net profit attributable to Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A was RMB253 million. The Company continued to solidly advance the construction of its one-stop automotive ecosystem service platform, achieving breakthroughs across multiple areas including content ecosystem, product tools, new retail transactions, innovative AI applications, and used car businesstransaction service capabilities are moving from "single-point pilots" to "network collaboration," the one-stop transaction service infrastructure has taken initial shape, and ecosystem collaboration is on the eve of realization. In the quarter, competition in the domestic automotive industry continued to intensify, OEM marketing budget structures continued to adjust, and revenue from traditional advertising placements and dealer lead generation came under pressure, driving a year-over-year decline in operating revenue and adjusted net profit for the period. Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A is transitioning from an automotive content platform to a full-chain automotive service ecosystem, continuously increasing investment in innovative businesses such as new retail, constantly optimizing product and commercialization capabilities, and leveraging its user advantages to build a sustainable new growth curve. User experience continues to improve, AI citation remains at the top Securing the first entry point for car-buying decisions with "content + tools" In the quarter, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, driven by the dual wheels of "content breakout + tool refinement," continued to consolidate its professional moat in the car-buying decision segment: on the content side, it promoted brand rejuvenation and IP breakout; on the tool side, it lowered decision thresholds through refined innovation; user scale and AI source discourse power rose in tandem, further deepening the moat in users' minds. On the content side, IP breakout and brand rejuvenation advanced together, with content momentum directly driving transaction decisions. The Company joined hands with Mango Excellent Media to create the "818 Global Auto Festival," leveraging innovative formats such as TV-internet linkage, celebrity and influencer guessing games, and AI digital editing to drive younger and more breakout-oriented automotive content, with live broadcast exposure across all channels exceeding 1.8 billion. The project connected multiple business lines including the Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A mall and Kataichi, establishing a collaborative of "content seeding - car purchase services - benefits driving conversion." The annual key IP "China Smart Manufacturing Exploration Plan," jointly initiated by the News and Publicity Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, has launched three episodes, transforming hardcore technology into content that the public can perceive and discuss, strengthening the platform's content influence and brand awareness among young users. On the tool side, the product matrix continued to be refined, further lowering decision thresholds. The model library launched a "understand at a glance" feature, presenting 8 major highlights and 5 scenario-based tools in a single image to help users quickly grasp core model information; targeting the complex pain point of new energy vehicle configuration, it launched a "configuration selector" to simplify the configuration process and lower decision thresholds; the AI intelligent reach decision engine enables "thousands of people, thousands of faces" intelligent distribution to precisely match user interests. These refined improvements, together with the model database and user review matrix, form synergies that continuously consolidate the professional moat in the car-buying decision segment. On the base side, user scale grew steadily, and AI source discourse power established a new fulcrum. QuestMobile data shows that Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's mobile daily average users reached 79.14 million in September, up 3.4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, a QuestMobile report noted that Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A's vertical source citation rate ranked first among six major AI platforms for three consecutive months, with a comprehensive citation rate of 83.2%. This indicates that Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, beyond traditional traffic entry points, is establishing content discourse power in AI information distribution scenariosthe professional capabilities accumulated in content and tools are transforming into information distribution advantages in the AI era. New retail builds a transaction closed loop, used car exports achieve a 0-to-1 breakthrough The one-stop transaction platform transformation is moving toward the value realization period Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A is accelerating its advancement from an information platform for "viewing and choosing cars" to a full-chain transaction service platform for "viewing, choosing, buying, and using." In the third quarter, the new retail business formed the O2O transaction backbone network with online malls and offline stores, while the used car business formed extension channels with standardized services and a cross-border export platform; the transaction closed loop covering the entire user car-purchase lifecycle has taken initial shape, with value realization in sight. The new retail segment completed the systematic construction of four core capability systems, filling key shortcomings in transaction fulfillment. First, transaction system capability: building the Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co., Ltd. integrated transaction foundation, connecting the digital links of vehicle sources, customer sources, and inventory management to achieve a standardized transaction closed loop. As of the end of the third quarter, the Zhijia Mall's "online car purchase" model had covered 38 cities nationwide, with more than 1,700 onboarded dealers and more than 600 models on sale. Second, channel delivery capability: establishing a unified-standard offline store delivery network to lay a solid foundation for scaled delivery. Third, vehicle source cooperation capability: deepening OEM collaboration, focusing on mainstream new energy model cooperation, and accumulating procurement, sales, and joint operation experience. Fourth, user service capability: building the Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co., Ltd. linked car-purchase service system, supporting benefits, car products, and marketing activities, and improving value-added service guarantees. On the offline side, "Jiajia Haoche" franchise stores expanded steadily, with more than 170 stores and cumulative transactions exceeding 700 units; as the offline fulcrum of the new retail strategy, Jiajia Haoche undertakes physical vehicle delivery and after-sales service through "online traffic diversion + offline delivery," focusing on filling service gaps in lower-tier cities and complementing the online mall. Online assets and offline channels collaborate in both directions, the O2O ecosystem network effect is gradually emerging, and the platform's overall transaction service system continues to improve. The used car segment is driven by both domestic standardized business and cross-border export business, advancing in synergy. The domestic full-process car-selling service platform expanded from 2 pilot cities initially to 6 cities in the third quarter, accumulating a standardized service system through refined regional operations, with transaction efficiency and user satisfaction continuing to improve, laying a solid practical foundation for subsequent nationwide scaled rollout. The cross-border export service platform connects multilingual online international sites with an offline fulfillment network, linking the entire vehicle export chain and continuously improving cross-border transaction collaboration efficiency; in the third quarter, the platform's online daily average vehicles for sale exceeded 3,000 units, and since the first export order was landed in July, transaction scale has climbed month by month, with steady business growth momentum. Leveraging the brand credibility of its dual listings in Hong Kong and New York, the brand trust accumulated by Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A in overseas markets continues to transform into customer acquisition competitiveness, building differentiated channel advantages for domestic vehicle sources going overseas. Consolidating core AI capabilities, building a full-scenario empowerment system Cheese Car Steward connects the full-chain services of choosing, buying, using, and trading In the AI innovation field, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A, with its self-developed Cangjie automotive industry large model as the foundation, runs AI capabilities through the entire chain of employee efficiency, B-end operations, and C-end services, building an AI full-scenario empowerment system of "internal efficiency improvement, merchant empowerment, and customer fulfillment." On September 5, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A officially released the AI-native application "Cheese Car Steward," fully covering the entire lifecycle chain of automotive choosing, buying, using, and selling, and providing online intelligent consultation and offline store service connection. For users, Cheese Car Steward aggregates the first-hand consumption experience of nearly 200 million existing car owners, more than 100 million real reviews, and more than 5 million real word-of-mouth entries, providing credible references for car-purchase decisions, and offering one-stop services such as discount inquiries, test drives, transactions, valuation testing, and charging and maintenance. For merchants, the business covers nearly 400 cities, linking more than 30,000 4S stores, 100,000+ used car dealers, and more than 100,000 car service providers, helping dealers and aftermarket service providers complete digital operation transformation. On the B-end, with full-chain multi-agent collaborative AI capabilities as the core, it connects the entire value chain of marketing customer acquisition, lead conversion, and business management, driving the automotive industry to complete the leap from digital tools to AI-driven operations: stores build digital employees, promoting AI from assistance to business implementation and undertaking operating goals; brands build expert agents, connecting brands and stores to improve system operation efficiency; the industry explores cross-entity intelligent collaboration networks, forming a human-machine collaborative industrial ecosystem. In terms of internal efficiency improvement, leveraging integrated AI capabilities to realize digital employees, AI avatars, and business capability orchestration, boosting efficiency for both merchants and internal operations. Conclusion In the third quarter, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A continued to advance toward a one-stop automotive ecosystem service platform. Judging from the progress this quarter, the collaboration logic of each segment is becoming clearer, and the transaction service closed loop is gathering momentumcontent and tools provide the traffic and trust foundation for transactions and AI products, new retail and used car businesses provide implementation scenarios and fulfillment networks, and AI products enhance matching efficiency and user experience across all links. At the same time, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A announced a cash dividend plan totaling approximately RMB1 billion, effectively rewarding the broad shareholder base. Looking ahead, Autohome Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A will continue to consolidate the foundation of its information platform, strengthen its advantages in traffic and user mindshare, vigorously advance the implementation of transaction business, and step up innovative applications of AI agents; at the same time, it will adhere to the strategic direction of strengthening long-term competitiveness, maintain a streamlined and efficient cost structure, and create long-term value for users, customers, and shareholders with one-stop automotive ecosystem services.