The American depositary shares (ADS) of Hesai Group, a Shanghai-based developer of sensor technologies used in self-driving cars, rose 11% in their U.S. trading debut after raising USD190 million from its IPO on the Nasdaq. It is the largest IPO by a Chinese issuer in the U.S. market since October 2021, according to Dealogic. Hesai, which is backed by strategic investors Baidu, Xiaomi, Qiming Venture Partners and German engineering conglomerate Robert Bosch, sold 10 million ADS, traded under the symbol HSAI. Hesai’s IPO is the first such transaction underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse since 2021. Founded in 2014, Hesai makes three-dimensional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) solutions that enable a broad spectrum of applications across passenger and commercial vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous functions. As of December 31, Hesai shipped over 103,000 LiDAR units.
According to a Frost & Sullivan report, Hesai was the global leader in the autonomous mobility LiDAR market by 2021 with a 60% global market share. Hesai aims to expand its presence on the global stage. Li Yifan, Co-founder and CEO of Hesai, said the company opted to pursue a U.S. listing over other venues because it wanted more exposure on the global stage. Hesai is talking to several global carmakers for potential business opportunities. “For them to make those decisions, being able to know we are publicly traded, well-funded with a healthy growth margin and cash-flow is tremendously important,” he said. Hesai’s sales have been growing steadily in the past three years. The company’s sales in the first nine months of 2022 reached USD112 million, with its net loss in the period shrinking to USD23 million, according to its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Hesai’s annual gross profit margin from 2019 to 2021 was 70.3%, 57.5% and 53%, respectively. In 2021, it invested CNY368.4 million in R&D, accounting for 51.1% of its net revenue. Duane Kuang, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said the investor looks forward to seeing more technology and product innovations from Hesai to help promote the wider adoption of autonomous driving. “We see many interesting investment opportunities in the intelligent and autonomous driving value chain,” Kuang said.
Straits Research forecast that the global LiDAR market size in terms of annual revenue will likely reach USD6.93 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.27% from 2022 to 2030, the China Daily reports.
