Caixin (Cailian She) reported on August 26 (Editor Hu Jiarong): Stimulated by positive developments such as the completion of a large-scale financing for its humanoid robotics business, shares of Xiaopeng Group-W (09868.HK) rose. As of the time of writing, the stock was up 6.56%, trading at HKD 46.14.
Regarding the news, “Pengxing,” the main entity of the robotics business under Xiaopeng Group, has completed its first round of private equity financing of more than USD 900 million. The post-investment valuation exceeds USD 6.3 billion, setting the highest record for a single round of financing in China’s embodied intelligence sector to date.
This round of financing was led by IDG Capital, with participation from GGV Capital. Alibaba and Tencent jointly subscribed for USD 600 million as strategic investors, while USD 300 million was subscribed by related parties controlled by He Xiaopeng and Gu Hongdi. After the financing is completed, the Xiaopeng Group will continue to maintain its controlling position in the robotics business.
Notably, since June this year, He Xiaopeng has personally taken charge of the robotics business, extending the supply-chain advantages accumulated from automobile manufacturing into the embodied intelligence field. The supply chain for the company’s humanoid robot IRON overlaps by more than 85% with XPeng’s automotive business.
According to publicly available information, the IRON robot body has 76 degrees of freedom. At its launch, it is equipped with an all-solid-state battery and three in-house Turing chips. At the underlying architecture level, IRON’s VLA/VLM model, AI architecture, data governance and control, and even organizational structure are all deeply shared with the automobile system.
In addition, the capital expenditure requirements for the robotics business are significantly smaller than those for the automotive business. After production ramp-up, the pace of profitability is expected to be faster. The company has set an 18-month evaluation window for a potential spin-off; for now, it prioritizes maximizing business synergy. Even if a future spin-off occurs, the robotics business will still be 100% consolidated into XPeng Group’s financial statements.
Institutions estimate the option value of XPeng’s “physical AI”
A research report from Dongwu Securities indicates that XPeng’s gross margin resilience is evident. From the third quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, the company’s consolidated gross margin has remained above 20% for four consecutive quarters. Given that the company is a rare “physical AI” exposure integrating new energy vehicles, humanoid robots, authorization of autonomous driving technologies, and Robotaxi, the current market valuation has not yet fully reflected the option value of subsidiary businesses such as robotics. Therefore, the “Buy” rating is maintained.
Zhaozheng International also pointed out that it is optimistic about the massive valuation-release potential of XPeng in the “physical AI” field. The institution expects that the robotics business’s hardware gross margin will be significantly higher than that of the automotive business, while also carrying potential for software service fee revenue. For Robotaxi, over two thousand test orders have already been completed, and the company plans to achieve commercial passenger operations without safety drivers in 2027.