Prepared remarks
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Niu Technologies Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. Operator instructions: This call is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. Now I will turn the call over to Ms. Kristal Li, Investor Relations Manager of Niu Technologies. Ms. Li, please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone. Welcome to today's conference call to discuss Niu Technologies' results for the fourth quarter 2025. The earnings press release, corporate presentation and financial spreadsheets have been posted on our Investor Relations website. This call is being webcast from the company's IR site as well, and a replay of the call will be available soon. Please note, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provision of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors. The company's actual results may be materially different from those expressed today. Further information regarding the risk factors is included in the company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Our earnings press release and this call include discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. The press release contains a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results. On the call with me today are our CEO, Dr. Yan Li; and CFO, Ms. Fion Zhou. Now let me turn the call over to CEO, Yan.
Thank you, Kristal, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our fourth quarter 2025 result call. 2025 was a year of continued strategic transformation for Niu. We navigated a complex regulatory shift in China, executed a successful breakthrough in the electric motorcycle segment and overhauled our international distribution for micromobility, all while significantly expanding our gross margins. While our fourth quarter volume reflects the temporary friction inherent in those structural changes, the robust foundation we have built positions us perfectly for accelerated high-quality and profitable growth in 2026. Now let's turn to the numbers. In the fourth quarter, we delivered 172,763 units, representing a 23.8% year-over-year decline. This comprised 158,782 units in China, down 12.9% year-over-year, and close to 13,981 units overseas, down 68.4% year-over-year. I want to spend a minute to dive deep into both figures as they are direct results of a proactive strategic transition we outlined earlier this year.
First, regarding the China market. This decline was fully anticipated and resulted from the transition to the new national standards for electric bicycles. As we highlighted in our previous call, production of old-standard models ceased on August 31, while the retail window closed on November 30. This led to significant inventory front-loading by our distributors and retailers in Q3 2025. Naturally, this pulled sales forward, temporarily reducing our selling volumes for Q4. However, if we evaluate the second half of 2025 as a whole, our China deliveries actually grew 38% year-over-year, confirming that our continued growth momentum for the entire year. Now turning to our overseas performance. The volume decline was deliberately driven by a strategic realignment of our micromobility channels. In key markets like the U.S. and Germany, we have transitioned away from a traditional distributor-led model in favor of direct-to-retailer partnerships.
While this structural shift meant our formal distributors paused orders to clear legacy inventories, it is a necessary evolution. It allowed us to capture higher margins and establish a closer, more agile relationship with our customers. Now zooming out to the full year 2025. The success of our broader strategy is clear. The total sales volume reached 1.19 million units, a robust 29% year-on-year increase. This was fueled by exceptional performance in China, where sales surged 46% to surpass 1.11 million units. While our international volume of 80,000 units, a 51% decline, reflects a year of delivery channel restructuring, we successfully prioritized long-term profitability over empty volume. The total revenue for the year reached RMB 4.31 billion, up 31% year-over-year. Most impressively, our full year gross margin reached 19.6%, expanding by 4.4 percentage points year-over-year, reflecting our premium product mix and operational efficiencies.
Now let me dive deeper into the specific operational dynamics of our China and international markets. Let's first look at China operations. We concluded the fiscal year with exceptional performance across the China market. Total domestic sales volume successfully surpassed the 1 million milestone, reaching 1.11 million units, representing a robust 46.5% year-over-year increase. This was the direct result of our highly integrated domestic strategy. Our momentum was propelled by four key pillars: one, portfolio optimization, expanding into high-growth categories like electric motorcycles while maintaining our high-end market positions in electric bicycles; two, technological leadership, sustained investment in cutting-edge smart riding innovation; three, brand elevation, targeted campaigns that solidified our premium position, particularly among Gen Z demographics; and four, channel expansion, aggressive scaling of our retail network into lower-tier cities.
Together, those initiatives allowed us to capture significant market share and drive high volume growth in our home market. Now first, in 2025, we further fortified our product foundation that was laid in late 2024. Our core NMUF matrix has become the backbone of our business, representing nearly all of total volume. The N-Series continued to be our standout performer, delivering 43% of our total sales and successfully capturing every tier of the market. Throughout 2025, our focus remained on hero-SKU development and rapid innovations. This disciplined approach, where nine major products now account for more than 70% of sales, allowed us to iterate faster and deploy our technology platform more effectively, resulting in a leaner and highly responsive product structure. Perhaps the most defining structural evolution for Niu in 2025 was our breakthrough into the electric motorcycle segment, led by the phenomenal success of FX Windstorm.
The e-motorcycle now represent more than 23% of our total annual sales. This achievement validates our diversification strategy and demonstrates our unique capability to accelerate Niu market categories. The FX Windstorm has democratized high-end performance by integrating high-torque powertrains, a strong durable frame supporting a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour, and flagship technologies like dual-channel ABS and millimeter-wave radar into an accessible RMB 4,000 to RMB 5,000 range. We've created an unmatched competitive moat. As the first high-speed e-motorcycle for the Gen Z segment, its momentum surged to a remarkable 42% of our total sales in the fourth quarter. Beyond its appeal to young enthusiasts, the Windstorm spec—defined by a high-torque powertrain and durability—served as our primary engine to break through the high-growth delivery segment. Recognizing that professional riders were underserved, we responded with a targeted multimodal ladder strategy.
The FX Windstorm, with its robust frame and high-performance motor, was our first model to successfully penetrate the delivery market, proving our consumer technology could meet intensive commercial demand. The NX Windstorm launched in Q4 specifically for delivery professionals who require higher capacity storage, built on our newly developed high-durability frames, with a class-leading 40-liter compartment. The NX contributed 10.5% to our Q4 volume in its debut quarter. And lastly, the NX and FX Windstorm entry-level anchors complete our coverage. These entry-level anchors serve as our high-value entry-level performance offerings, allowing us to capture budget-conscious professionals and daily commuters while maintaining a core Windstorm DNA. This expansion, alongside our premium daily-commute specs, has built a highly resilient and diversified revenue base for the electric motorcycle segment.
Now looking ahead to 2026, we'll continue to scale this leadership by developing tailored e-motorcycle offerings for fulfillment riders and technology enthusiasts, accelerating our growth in the segment. Now moving to our electric bicycle segment. 2025 was a pivotal transition year as the industry prepared for China's new national standard. Our strategy was twofold: maintain our dominance in the premium tier while aggressively populating our pipeline with the next-generation compliant products. To capture high-end demand, we launched the NXT Ultra 2025 and FXT Ultra 2025. The NXT Ultra features ten major upgrades, with 77% of core components redesigned to solidify its position as a premium market leader. Meanwhile, the FXT Ultra also added safety benchmarks such as millimeter-wave radars and dual-channel ABS. The market response was exceptional. We achieved over 20,000 units sold within the first five hours, generating more than RMB 220 million in sales, and ranking as a top-selling item across major e-commerce platforms.
We also continued to iterate our key models. The MT, our best-selling urban commuter, now accounts for more than 20% of our total annual sales. With its compact design, vibrant style, and the OkGo assist system, it has become particularly popular with our female demographics, proving our ability to design for specific lifestyle segments. The U3 Pro, upgraded for Gen Z favorites with a fine-tuned dual-channel ABS, offers a trend-driven design and high-performance safety. Now to lead the transition to the new national standard, we strategically launched two key compliance series. The first, the U1, is our first new-standard-compliant bicycle. The U1 redefined urban style, priced between RMB 4,199 to RMB 4,699, and features a lightweight design and smart integration like TCS and keyless entry. The K-Series, launched in late 2025, is a lifestyle-first platform starting at RMB 3,799. It features an innovative sled-type ring-arm skeleton frame for unmatched stability, a 4.3-inch TFT display, and magic wheel smart features; it is a personalized mobility statement that drives the trend toward intelligent commuting.
Our full matrix of Niu standard products is progressing steadily, with a complete portfolio on track for a full rollout by Q2 2026. In fact, we'll be showcasing a selection of those upcoming products at our launch event tomorrow. Now beyond our product expansion, 2025 was also a year of rapid advancement in our core technology stack. Our R&D strategy focused on two primary objectives: democratizing intelligent technology and pioneering the next generation of system mobility. In 2025, we successfully migrated high-end intelligent safety features previously exclusive to our flagship models down into our midrange and entry-level products. This includes a broader implementation of ABS braking systems and radar technology, significantly raising the safety floor for the entire industry. Furthermore, we introduced a suite of advanced smart functions across more product tiers, including full-screen navigation and our signature magic wheel interface, dual-direction smart throttles and an adaptive hill descent system.
Those features ensure a broader demographic of Niu riders can enjoy a premium, flagship-level experience regardless of price points. At the high end of our R&D, we continue to push the boundary of what is possible in the two-wheel industry. Looking ahead to 2026, our focus shifts toward collaborative and experiential intelligence. We are integrating scenario-based interactions and AI agent capabilities across our entire product ecosystem to create a more intuitive interaction between the rider and the machine. In fact, we're incredibly excited to announce that we'll be unveiling the industry's first AI-enabled smart scooter at our product launch event tomorrow, on March 17. We look forward to sharing more details during this event. And finally, our platform-based R&D strategy continued to deliver significant operational benefits throughout 2025. By standardizing core components and chassis architecture, we have accelerated our product development cycles and improved manufacturing consistency and cost efficiency.
Throughout 2025, we proactively leveraged event-driven initiatives to expand our core user communities while making a targeted effort to solidify our position among critical Gen Z demographics. Over the past year, we hosted more than 50 integrated brand activities, directly engaging over 0.5 million offline participants and generating 346 million total impressions. Those initiatives were strategically synchronized with our product launches to maximize impact. Key highlights included high-profile crossovers such as partnering with popular titles like Game for Peace online gaming to resonate with younger gamers; performance validation, setting up a lab record for electric vehicles at a Shanghai F1 event, showcasing our engineering power; community milestones, our 10th-anniversary play for festivals; and dedicated outdoor scenario-based campaigns, ranging from high-teen to competitive cycling, which embedded the Niu brand deeply within the outdoor enthusiast community.
As we enter 2026, we are strategically pivoting back to brand-driven growth. We initiated this shift with a high-profile announcement of our two global brand ambassadors, Wu Lei and Song Yuqi. Niu is the first in our industry to launch two global ambassadors simultaneously, perfectly embodying our core values of performance, trends and usage. This appointment ignited a media blitz that generated over 3.4 billion online impressions. We leveraged this momentum through a saturated offline presence, activating landmark digital displays and dominating high-speed rail hubs across 35 cities, reaching an estimated 500 million travelers. This integrated brand campaign served a clear purpose: to reinforce Niu's position as the leading premium electric mobility brand. By combining massive digital reach with a physical presence, we are building the brand equity necessary to support our next phase of expansion.
In 2025, we continued to aggressively strengthen both our retail footprint and our digital ecosystem. Our nationwide store network has now surpassed 4,500 locations. Throughout this year, we added over 800 Niu stores, with a strategic focus on lower-tier cities. This distribution expansion is driving deeper market coverage. Our digital channels maintained exceptional momentum in 2025. Total online sales reached approximately 0.5 million units, supported by a remarkable online conversion rate near 50%. This metric is a testament to the health of our consumer demand and the seamless efficiency of our online-to-offline model, which successfully bridges online purchase with physical retail fulfillment. On social e-commerce, Douyin has solidified its position as our primary social e-commerce engine. Our ecosystem is powered by nine official flagship accounts and close to 1,000 dealer-operated accounts, which generated over 95,000 live streams and 2.51 billion annual impressions.
Having a perfected social e-commerce playbook, we plan to rapidly replicate this success model on Kuaishou in 2026. We are also expanding our online coverage to Meituan with 73 of our retail stores having Meituan accounts, another mass online channel for broader reach. Now moving to our international operation. While 2025 was a transition year for our overseas market, the underlying data reveals a significant structural improvement and a much healthier foundation for the year ahead. For the full year, overseas sales totaled 80,000 units, with close to 13,981 units delivered in the fourth quarter. First, our performance in the international electric motorcycle segment was a major highlight. In Q4, we delivered more than 2,000 units, a 187% year-over-year increase. For the full year, sales surged to 9,600 units, up 227% compared with 2024. This success was directly driven by our direct-to-retailer model.
By bypassing the traditional distributor-led model, we significantly expanded our dealer networks from 120 to close to 300 by Q4, surpassing our initial expansion target and giving us direct control of the brand experience and pricing. We also used 2025 to seed our future growth. At ACMA 2025, we unveiled a strong global pipeline, including the FQiX urban series, the NQiX 1000 high-performance motorcycle and XQi 500 offroad series. Those models will enter global markets through our DTR channels in 2026. Furthermore, we pioneered new territories such as North Africa, marked by our successful commercial launch in Algeria with our first 900-unit CKD shipment in June. With this operational foundation in place, we expect continued rapid growth in the electric motorcycle segment throughout 2026. Now in the micromobility segment, we executed a planned transition to prioritize long-term health over short-term volume.
Full-year sales totaled 70,000 units with a year-over-year decline, reflecting our strategic decision to restructure channels in the U.S. and Germany. We have successfully moved away from distributor-heavy models in favor of direct retail partnerships. This transition allows us to capture higher margin, gain greater control of our brands, and respond with much more agility to shifting retail trends. Now the most critical indicator of brand health is at the retail end. We sold over 100,000 scooters activated by consumers this year. The fact that activations are significantly higher than our sales volume is a sign of robust consumer demand. With this new channel model, our priority is to finalize inventory normalization and position this business for sustainable and profitable growth. Now looking ahead, we see 2026 as a year defined by strategic acceleration across our entire diversified portfolio.
Our groundwork in 2025 has set the stage for significant scale in both our domestic and international operations. In the China market in the electric bicycle segment, we expect the market to continue navigating a transitional phase through Q1 2026 as the new standards are fully implemented. We anticipate consumer demand to remain measured in Q1, followed by a pronounced recovery as the regulatory framework stabilizes and the supply chain adapts. To lead this recovery, we'll execute a phased rollout of our new standard product matrix, with a fully compliant lineup on track for completion by Q2 2026. Conversely, our electric motorcycle segment is poised for a major breakout, supported by an increasingly favorable regulatory environment and the powerful market validation of our Windstorm platform. We are strategically positioned to capture accelerated growth in this category. With an expanded product portfolio covering more consumer segments, we believe we have built the most resilient and comprehensive e-motorcycle lineup, capable of capturing market share across both professional and lifestyle segments.
Now turning to our international operations. We are transitioning from a period of restructuring to one of profitable scaling. In the electric motorcycle segment, we project continued and disciplined expansion, fueled by our measured direct-to-retail network. By owning dealer relationships directly, we are seeing significant improvement in brand consistency and service quality, which we expect to translate into higher volume growth. In the micromobility segment, our primary objective for 2026 remains the finalization of inventory normalization by prioritizing healthy sell-through over artificial selling volume and maintaining a lean, agile channel structure while establishing a sustainable baseline for the near future. Now in summary, based on our current market visibility and momentum for our new product launches, we expect total sales volume for the full year 2026 to reach between 1.67 million to 1.91 million units. Now with that, let me turn the call to Fion.
Thank you, Yan, and hello, everyone. Please note that our press release contains all the figures and comparisons you need, 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 to the fourth quarter figures, unless stated otherwise. All monetary figures are in RMB, if not specified. As Yan just mentioned, our total sales volume for the fourth quarter was 172,763 units, a decrease of 23.8% compared to the same period of last year. Specifically, China sales volume was 158,782 units, accounting for 92% of total sales volume. Overseas volume was 13,981 units. For the full year 2025, total sales volume was nearly 1.2 million units, including 1.11 million units in the China market and 80,000 units overseas. At the end of 2025, the number of franchise stores in China was 4,540. Total revenue in the fourth quarter was RMB 676.2 million, down 17.4% compared to the same period of last year.
To break down scooter revenues by region, scooter revenues in China were RMB 544.8 million, down 15.7% year-over-year and accounted for 94% of total scooter revenues. The decrease was mainly due to lower gross volume and revenue per scooter. China's scooter ASP was RMB 3,431, down 3.2% year-over-year and up 5% sequentially, mainly driven by changes in product mix, with a shift from models such as NXP, NLP and NSP to FX, U1 and NX models. Overseas scooter revenues, including electric motorcycles, mopeds and e-scooters, were RMB 36 million, representing 6% of total scooter revenues. Blended scooter ASP increased to RMB 2,600, up 32% year-over-year, mainly driven by the greater sales mix contribution from electric motorcycles, which command higher retail prices. Accessories, spare parts and services revenue were RMB 95 million, up 11% year-over-year and accounted for 14% of total revenues. For the full year 2025, total revenue increased by 31%, from RMB 3.3 billion last year to RMB 4.3 billion this year.
China's scooter revenue as a whole saw nearly a 42% year-over-year increase, from RMB 2.6 billion last year to RMB 3.6 billion this year, taking 93% of total scooter revenues. Overseas scooter revenue decreased by 33%, from RMB 397 million last year to RMB 267 million this year, taking 7% of total scooter revenues. Total overseas revenues, including scooters and non-scooters, contributed nearly 7% of total revenues. Let's take a look at ASP in 2025. The overall scooter ASP increased slightly from RMB 3,203 last year to RMB 3,269 this year. Among this, China scooter ASP decreased slightly from RMB 3,377 last year to RMB 3,264 this year, primarily due to the changes in product mix I mentioned earlier. In 2024, large-scale scooters like NXP, MT and N-Play dominated our best sellers, with average retail prices exceeding RMB 5,000, while the more compact MP scooters, priced between RMB 3,700 to RMB 4,600, emerged as best sellers in 2025.
Meanwhile, large-scale scooters like NXP and NLP still maintained strong sales momentum in 2025. The overseas blended scooter ASP was RMB 3,330, nearly a 40% increase year-over-year and driven by a greater proportion of revenue contribution from higher-priced electric motorcycles and mopeds. The gross margin for the fourth quarter was 15.3%, up 2.9 percentage points compared to the same period of last year. The increase was primarily attributed to continued margin improvement in the domestic market. For the full year 2025, our gross margin was 19.6%, up from 15.2% in the previous year, representing a year-over-year increase of 4.4 percentage points. This increase was primarily driven by the China market, reflecting a strategic shift in the product mix toward higher-margin scooters, for example the MT, NXT, FXT, etc., along with our continued cost reduction in the domestic market. This was partially offset by a lower gross margin for kick scooters in international markets.
The fourth quarter operating expenses were RMB 206.1 million, RMB 13 million higher than the same period of last year, and the OpEx ratio was 30.5% compared to 23.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Selling and marketing expenses were RMB 144.1 million, RMB 8 million higher than the same period of last year, primarily due to higher rental expenses in international markets, along with increased staff costs and higher depreciation and amortization expenses. These were partially offset by a decrease in advertising and promotion expenses in the China market. Selling and marketing expenses accounted for 21.3% of revenue compared to 16.6% in the same period last year and 12.7% last quarter. Research and development expenses were nearly RMB 50 million, RMB 11 million higher than the same period of last year, mainly due to higher staff costs, share-based compensation and increased design and testing expenses.
R&D expenses accounted for 7.3% of revenue compared to 4.7% in the same period last year and 2.6% last quarter. General and administrative expenses were nearly RMB 13 million, around RMB 6 million lower than the same period of last year, mainly due to a decrease in taxes and surcharges, which were partially offset by an increase in foreign exchange losses. G&A expenses accounted for 1.8% of revenue compared to 2.2% in the same period last year and 2.3% last quarter. For the full year 2025, OpEx was RMB 933.2 million, 24.4% higher than last year, and the OpEx ratio was nearly 21.7% compared to 22.8% last year. Selling and marketing expenses were RMB 676 million, RMB 186 million or 38% higher than last year, and about 15.7% of revenue compared to 14.9% in 2024. R&D expenses were RMB 166 million, RMB 36 million or 28% higher than last year, and about 3.9% of revenue compared to 4% in 2024. G&A expenses were RMB 91 million, RMB 40 million or 30% lower than last year and about 2.1% of revenue compared to 4% in 2024.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were RMB 906 million, accounting for 21% of revenues compared to 22.1% last year. In the fourth quarter, we had a net loss of RMB 88 million and a non-GAAP net loss of RMB 82 million. On a full-year basis, we had a net loss of RMB 39 million and a non-GAAP net loss of RMB 12 million. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flow: we ended the year with RMB 1.3 billion in cash, restricted cash, term deposits and short-term investments. On an annual basis, operating inflow was around RMB 350 million, primarily reflecting net income after adjusting for noncash items. Our fourth quarter CapEx was RMB 48 million. For the full year 2025, CapEx was RMB 178 million, RMB 58 million higher than last year because of module costs and store expansion in the domestic market. And now let's turn to guidance. We expect first quarter revenue to be in the range of RMB 887 million to RMB 1,023 million, an increase of 30% to 50% year-over-year.
And the sales volume for 2026 is expected in the range of 1.67 million to 1.91 million units, as Yan mentioned. Please be aware that this outlook is based on information available as of the date and reflects the company's current and preliminary expectations, which are subject to change due to uncertainty related to various factors. And with that, we'll now open the call for any questions that you may have for us. Operator, please go ahead.
Questions and answers
Operator instructions: Our first question comes from the line of Yating Chen from CICC.
Yan and Fion, this is Yating from CICC, and I have two quick questions. First, could you share the current inventory situation for your kick scooters in the overseas market? And how are you thinking about the kick scooter business in 2026? Second, with the implementation of the new national standard for scooters in China, how should we think about the potential cost increase and the company's response?
Okay. This is Fion, I'll take the first question. Regarding the inventory, we already released the balance sheet figures in our earnings release, and the amount is around RMB 650 million for the overall net inventory level. I should say that more than 50% of our overall inventory are aged kick scooters, which means more than RMB 300 million of inventory are from aged kick scooters. That's why Yan mentioned in the call that in 2026 our top priority for kick scooters is to improve the turnover of the aged inventory, especially the kick scooters, and to change the business model into a more lean and straightforward one with our channel partners. On top of that, I think for the whole year 2026 for kick scooters, we are going to focus on the inventory itself instead of importing new models. So we expect to spend 2026 improving inventory clearance and also changing the channel into a healthier business model to support our going-forward kick scooter business.
Yating, this is Yan. To address your second question on the cost increase: we have done a few things. First, with the new standard, because there are material changes, there will be cost increases. We have increased our retail prices, not exactly proportionally, but we have raised prices to cover part of the cost increase. Second, through our cost reduction initiatives—primarily engineering efforts—we are identifying cost-out initiatives to be implemented across scooters through platform standardization and commoditization of some common parts. That will help reduce BOM cost. By doing so, I think we're in a very good position to handle the cost increase from the new standard.
There are no further questions at this time. I'll hand the call back to Dr. Yan Li for closing remarks.
All right. 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.