BYD Stock Drops As 2025 Earnings Fall 19%. Will Tesla EV Rival Spring Back In A Flash?

BYD (BYDDF), the world’s largest electric-vehicle company, reported a big drop in annual earnings last year, even as revenue rose. A price war in China cut into BYD’s margins, as overseas sales growth barely offset domestic struggles.

Net profit for the Tesla rival dropped 19% to 32.6 billion yuan ($4.72 billion), below the mean estimate of $39.894 billion, according to analysts polled by LSEG. Annual revenue rose 3.5% to 803.965 billion yuan, or roughly $116.32 billion.

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U.S.-listed shares of BYD, which trade over the counter, fell almost 5% on Friday, according to MarketSurge. BYD stock is back below its 50-day line after hitting resistance at the 200-day earlier in the week.

BYD Earnings

BYD hinted at the cutthroat Chinese market in its annual report.

“We also recognize that competition in the NEV industry has reached a fever pitch, and is undergoing a brutal ‘knockout stage,’” Chair Wang Chuan-fu wrote in a letter to shareholders released Friday.

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The price wars in China took their toll on the company’s margins. In 2025, net profit margins fell 110 basis points year over year to 4.1%.

BYD did succeed in growing its international business. About 38% of BYD’s revenue came from outside China, a gain of almost 10 percentage points from 2024, according to the company.

In 2025, BYD sold 4,602,436 new energy vehicles, which include both battery and plug-in hybrids.

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BYD also makes and sells components for cellphones. That business unit, known as the mobile handset components and assembly division, reported revenue growth of 2.7% to 155.24 billion yuan (or $22.46 billion).

BYD’s International Push

BYD plans to sell 1.3 million cars outside of China this year. That push comes as it has lost ground in its home country.

In the first two months of 2026, BYD’s retail sales in China fell 55% vs. the previous year. At the same time, February was the first month in which its overseas sales exceeded those in China. As domestic sales falter, amid stiff competition from the likes of Geely and Leapmotor, BYD has turned to international sales.

In Europe, monthly BYD registrations rose 165% last month. Earlier this year, BYD opened a new factory in Hungary as a way to get around European tariffs on imported Chinese EVs. It also is laying the groundwork for entering the Canadian market, after the government lowered tariffs on a capped number of Chinese-made EVs from 100% to 6.1%.

“China’s NEVs continue to lead the world in technology, product quality, and industrial chain integrity,” Wang wrote in his letter. “This represents a golden window period of opportunity for Chinese brands to go global.”

BYD passenger cars are still unavailable in the U.S. due to high tariffs and national security concerns. However, BYD does have a plant in California that manufactures electric busses and trucks.

Q1 Deliveries And A Spring Recovery?

BYD and other Chinese electric-vehicle makers will release first-quarter EV sales on April 1. Tesla (TSLA) will report Q1 global deliveries on April 2.

As January-February figures suggest, BYD’s Q1 sales will likely be weak, especially at home.

BYD’s recovery hopes start in April. The EV giant has unveiled a number of new or refreshed models boasting flash charging, while rapidly building out a flash-charging network. BYD should see some sort of sales boost, but how strong and for how long?

Keep in mind that Geely, Leapmotor and virtually every EV maker operating in China also are rolling out their latest EV offerings, and with extremely competitive pricing.

The one exception is Tesla, which has even denied reports that it’ll introduce a stripped-down Model 3 in China soon. Tesla stock fell 3% on Friday afternoon, hitting a six-month low.

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