Horizon's Lead Grows In Smart Driving Race With New Product Rollouts

The provider of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) technology said its revenue rose 53.6% last year

Key Takeaways:

Horizon Robotics' revenue rose 53.6% last year, as its gross margin jumped nearly 7 percentage points to 77.3% on its shifting product mix

The company forecasts cumulative shipments of its Journey series processing hardware will exceed 10 million units this year

In the race for investor attention from an increasingly crowded field of Chinese smart vehicle technology providers, Horizon Robotics (9660.HK) is rapidly pulling ahead, powered by its latest cutting-edge products and enviable margins.

That company's gross margin, which approached 80% last year, along with a start of mass production for its latest advanced product, were key highlights in the company's inaugural financial report for 2024, following its IPO late last December. Since that milestone event, in which it raised HK$5.4 billion ($695 million), Horizon's shares have nearly doubled from their IPO price of HK$3.99 to HK$7.59 at the end of last week.

The analyst community is also quite bullish on the company, with all 12 analysts polled by Yahoo Finance recommending the stock, including five with "strong buy" ratings. Those analysts expect the company's rise to continue this year, forecasting 58% revenue growth, fueled by the rollout of its latest cutting-edge Journey 6 processing hardware and its latest Horizon SuperDrive products, combined with the ramping up of a two-year-old partnership with Volkswagen and growth in the overall market.

"Smart vehicle transformation is a mega trend that has been reshaping the global automotive industry," Horizon Robotics said in its maiden earnings report. "We anticipate 2025 will mark a pivotal inflection point for the intelligent driving industry, as technological breakthroughs, regulatory tailwinds, and consumer readiness converge to unlock mass-market adoption of autonomous mobility."

Horizon's first post-IPO report shows it logged strong double-digit growth ...