CMB International Maintains Buy Rating on Horizon Robotics, Forecasts 44.2% H1 2026 Revenue Growth

Summary

CMB International maintains a ‘Buy’ rating for Horizon Robotics (9660.HK) with a HK$7.8 target price, forecasting H1 2026 revenue to grow 44.2% YoY to RMB 2.259 billion AASTOCKS+ 2. While an interim net profit is expected due to fair value gains, the company’s adjusted net loss is narrowing to RMB 1.1 billion with gross margins holding steady at 60.4% Zhitong+ 2.

Impact Analysis

CMBI’s 44.2% growth projection for Horizon Robotics suggests the company is successfully navigating the transition from pure R&D to commercial scale AASTOCKS+ 2. The interesting part isn’t just the H1 revenue; it’s the expected H2 acceleration driven by BYD’s adoption of the Horizon SuperDrive (HSD) solutions Zhitong+ 2. Basically, Horizon is tethering its growth trajectory to the dominant player in the Chinese EV market.

Don’t be distracted by the ‘interim net profit’ headline—that’s largely accounting noise from convertible bond fair value gains Zhitong. The real signal is the 60.4% gross margin AASTOCKS News. Maintaining 60%+ margins in the middle of a brutal Chinese auto price war proves they have genuine ‘moat’ and pricing power, likely from their ‘algorithm + chip’ integration Zhitong. However, after missing core chip revenue targets in late 2025 瓦斯阅读, management needs to prove that the J6 series can actually deliver the volume promised for H2. I’d read this as a high-conviction bet on China’s ADAS localization, where Horizon currently commands a massive 47.7% market share 腾讯新闻 - 财经.