WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD) reported first-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 58% year over year, as management pointed to expanding Robotaxi deployments, broader autonomous driving commercialization and traction for its L2++ advanced driver assistance system.
Founder, Chairman and CEO Dr. Tony Han said total revenue reached RMB 114 million in the quarter. He said the company ended April with about 1,300 Robotaxis globally, which he described as one of the largest Robotaxi fleets worldwide. WeRide’s broader Level 4 autonomous driving fleet, including Robovan and Robobus vehicles, grew to about 2,800 units deployed or tested across 12 countries and more than 40 cities.
Han said the quarter showed “the maturity of our technology” and the company’s growing experience operating thousand-vehicle fleets in multiple cities. He also highlighted WeRide’s GENESIS simulation engine, a closed-loop, world-model-based system that the company says can generate synthetic driving scenarios and accelerate training and validation.
Revenue Rises, Gross Profit Expands
CFO and Head of International Jennifer Li said product revenue increased 116% year over year to RMB 20 million, mainly due to increased deployment of Robotaxi and other L4 vehicles. Service revenue rose 49% to RMB 94 million.
Li said the company’s performance exceeded internal targets despite seasonal effects from Chinese New Year and Ramadan in the Middle East. Group-level gross profit increased 56% to RMB 40 million, with gross margin of approximately 35%.
Operating expenses totaled RMB 469 million, which Li said were stable in absolute terms compared with the prior-year period. Research and development expenses accounted for 77% of operating expenses and rose 12% to RMB 363 million. Administrative expenses fell 33% to RMB 83 million, while selling expenses increased 63% to RMB 23 million.
Net loss was stable at RMB 369 million. On a non-IFRS basis, net loss increased 11% to RMB 326 million, which Li attributed largely to continued R&D investment.
As of March 31, WeRide had total capital reserves of RMB 6.22 billion, including RMB 6.18 billion in cash and cash equivalents and time deposits. The company also had short-term bank loans of RMB 294 million. Under a $100 million share repurchase program authorized in March, Li said WeRide had repurchased about 24.4 million Class A ordinary shares, including American depositary shares, for approximately $61.4 million as of the market close on May 12.
Robotaxi Expansion Continues in China and Overseas
Han said WeRide’s domestic Robotaxi fleet grew to about 1,000 vehicles by the end of April. In Guangzhou, the service area expanded 97% compared with the end of 2025, including additional downtown districts. He said average daily orders per vehicle in China reached 17 trips during the first quarter, with peak periods reaching 28 trips per vehicle.
Internationally, Han said the overseas Robotaxi fleet totaled about 300 vehicles across multiple markets. In the Middle East, WeRide launched fully driverless commercial Robotaxi operations in Dubai with Uber and Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, while Abu Dhabi coverage expanded to about 70% of the city’s core area. Han said the company and Uber remain on track to deploy at least 1,200 Robotaxis across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh by 2027.
In Singapore, the company launched what it described as the country’s first public autonomous driving service with Grab. In Europe, WeRide entered Slovakia in March and is progressing toward fully driverless commercial operation in Zurich. Han said WeRide has permits in eight markets.
Li said international revenue accounted for about one-third of total group revenue last year, and that the company’s Middle East subsidiary was already profitable at the net level. She said WeRide expects international revenue to grow faster this year and contribute a larger share of total revenue.
ADAS Business Gains Production Wins
Management also emphasized growth in WeRide’s L2++ ADAS business. Han said WRD 3.0, the company’s current ADAS system, has been adopted by nearly 30 vehicle models, including vehicles from GAC and Chery. He said GAC Aion launched pre-sales in April for the AION N60, the first mass-production vehicle using WeRide’s solution.
Han said WRD 3.0 supports three major chip platforms: NVIDIA DRIVE, Qualcomm Snapdragon and SiEngine Starlight. He said multi-chip compatibility enables faster mass production, cost optimization and broader adoption by automakers. During the question-and-answer session, Han said the company has secured more than 10 overseas vehicle models for ADAS supply.
Han compared WeRide’s technology approach with industry peers, saying the company uses multi-sensor redundancy for L4 Robotaxi systems while also developing camera-oriented and world-model capabilities for ADAS. He said the company believes high-definition maps remain important for reliable L4 deployment at the current stage, while mapless approaches may help address construction, map changes and other dynamic road conditions over time.
Management Addresses Regulation, Cost Reduction and Partnerships
Asked about reports of China halting new self-driving approvals, Han characterized the situation as a “short-term regulatory adjustment rather than structural change.” He said current WeRide autonomous vehicles remain operational and that the company continues to receive support from central and local governments. Han said tighter safety scrutiny could favor companies with strong safety records and operational experience.
Li said Uber holds more than 5% of WeRide based on its latest public filing and described Uber as both a strategic shareholder and key partner. She said WeRide is deploying with Uber in more cities outside the U.S. than other autonomous vehicle players, while also using a diversified go-to-market strategy with partners such as Grab in Southeast Asia and local operators in Europe.
On vehicle cost reduction, Li said WeRide is focused on hardware and system integration, scale and supply chain optimization, and operational efficiency. She cited improvement in the company’s remote safety officer ratio to 1-to-40 from a previous range of 1-to-10 to 1-to-20, saying remote operation efficiency has a meaningful impact on per-vehicle total cost of ownership and unit economics.
Looking ahead, Li said WeRide remains on track to deploy 2,600 Robotaxis worldwide by the end of 2026, which she described as the first milestone toward a long-term goal of deploying hundreds of thousands of autonomous vehicles by 2030.
About WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD)
WeRide Inc (NASDAQ: WRD) is a developer of autonomous driving technology focused on providing Level 4 (L4) self-driving solutions for passenger mobility and logistics. The company's full-stack platform integrates sensors, computing hardware, software algorithms and vehicle controls to enable driverless taxis, shuttles and goods delivery vehicles. By combining perception, planning and controls in a turnkey system, WeRide aims to accelerate the commercialization of robotaxi services and autonomous fleet operations.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Guangzhou, China, WeRide maintains research and development centers in Silicon Valley and China.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Where Should You Invest $1,000 Right Now?
Before you make your next trade, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis.
Our team has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and none of the big name stocks were on the list.
They believe these five stocks are the five best companies for investors to buy now...
The article "WeRide Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" first appeared on MarketBeat.
