10:57 AM EDT, 03/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- XPeng ( XPEV ) reported a sharp jump in fourth-quarter revenue and a reduced per-share loss Tuesday, with deliveries nearly tripling year over year, and guided for ongoing revenue momentum despite "short-term challenges."

Revenue climbed to 13.05 billion renminbi ($1.84 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from 5.14 billion renminbi the year earlier. Seven analysts were modeling for lower revenue of 12.56 billion renminbi, according to a Capital IQ survey.

The Chinese electric vehicle maker's adjusted loss per share shrunk to 1.98 renminbi from a loss of 2.57 renminbi year over year. Shares of XPeng ( XPEV ) dropped 2.4% in morning trade.

"Our plans on cost reduction through technology and engineering as well as operational improvement have begun to bear fruit," XPeng Co-President Hongdi Brian Gu said in a statement. "Our vehicle margin increased by approximately 10 percentage points quarter-over-quarter in the fourth quarter."

The company delivered 60,158 vehicles in the December quarter, representing an increase of nearly 171% from 22,204 in the same period of 2022. XPeng ( XPEV ) deliveries increased quarter by quarter throughout the year, Chief Executive Xiaopeng He said in a statement.

For the full year of 2023, XPeng's ( XPEV ) revenue climbed about 14% to 30.68 renminbi, missing the Street's view of 31.6 renminbi. Its non-GAAP loss per share bloated to 10.85 renminbi from a smaller loss of 9.84 renminbi in the 2022 period but was narrower than the market's view of a per-share loss of 11.72 renminbi.

For the first quarter, XPeng ( XPEV ) is guiding for deliveries of between 21,000 and 22,500, representing a year-over-year increase of roughly 15.2% to 23.4%. It sees total revenue in the range of 5.8 billion renminbi to 6.2 billion renminbi, implying annual growth of around 44% to nearly 54%.

"Looking beyond short-term challenges, XPeng ( XPEV ) is about to embark on a major product cycle," He said, adding that the company plans to enter more international markets. "We plan to launch more than 10 brand new models over the next three years."

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