Tailin Technology's Hong Kong IPO performance sustainability remains to be tested

Recently, the domestic electric two-wheeler company Tailin Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Tailin Technology”) has submitted a listing application to the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The prospectus shows that in recent years, Tailin Technology has achieved continuous growth in both revenue and net profit. However, behind the eye-catching performance figures, key issues facing Tailin Technology on its IPO “exam” include the company’s high debt, disputes over the rationality of using funds to expand production, and the shifting regulatory landscape as the new national standards for electric vehicles are rolled out and industry oversight tightens.

Steady Performance Growth, Persistently High Debt

Public information shows that Tailin Technology is a leading brand of electric two-wheelers in China. At present, the company offers 50 models of electric bicycles, 38 models of electric motorcycles, and 3 models of electric tricycles, covering use cases such as daily commuting in cities, as well as delivery and freight.

In terms of performance, Tailin Technology has recorded relatively rapid growth during the reporting period. The prospectus indicates that in 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025, the company’s operating revenue was 11.88 billion, 13.60 billion, and 14.84 billion yuan, respectively; net profit for the same periods was 287 million, 472 million, and 823 million yuan, respectively, with the year-over-year growth rate of net profit in the first three quarters of 2025 reaching 122.4%.

From the revenue structure perspective, electric bicycles and electric motorcycles are Tailin Technology’s core sources of income. In the first three quarters of 2023, 2024, and 2025, electric bicycles contributed operating revenue of 6.67 billion, 7.062 billion, and 8.353 billion yuan, accounting for 56.1%, 51.9%, and 56.3%, respectively; electric motorcycles contributed 2.874 billion, 3.184 billion, and 2.912 billion yuan, accounting for 24.2%, 23.4%, and 19.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, Tailin Technology’s battery business has grown quickly in recent years; in the first three quarters of 2025, its revenue share already reached 20.4%, forming the company’s second growth curve in addition to finished vehicles.

Regarding gross margin, in 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025, Tailin Technology’s overall gross margin was 11.3%, 13.0%, and 14.6%, respectively, showing a steady upward trend, yet still lagging noticeably behind peers. According to annual reports disclosed by various companies, in 2024 Yadea Holdings’ gross margin was 15.2%, Aima Technology’s was 17.8%, while Ninebot’s gross margin in the same period was as high as 28.2%. In addition, in the first three quarters of 2025, the gross margin of Tailin Technology’s battery business was only 1.0%, placing it in a “low-price volume-driven” state with limited contribution to the company’s profitability.

It is also worth noting that Tailin Technology’s performance growth is accompanied by continued pressure from high debt levels. As of the end of 2023, the end of 2024, and September 2025, Tailin Technology’s current liabilities were 7.394 billion, 9.395 billion, and 12.615 billion yuan, respectively; and the net amount of current liabilities was 2.082 billion, 2.44 billion, and 2.046 billion yuan, respectively. In the prospectus, Tailin Technology also frankly stated that the company may face liquidity risk; if it fails to obtain external financing in a timely manner, it could have a material adverse impact on business expansion, its financial condition, and operating performance.

Intensifying Stock Competition, Shrinking Market Share

For this IPO in Hong Kong, Tailin Technology clearly outlined the intended use of proceeds in its prospectus, focusing mainly on areas such as capacity expansion, channel development, and research and development upgrades. Among these, capacity expansion is a key point of attention for the market.

The prospectus discloses that Tailin Technology plans to use the IPO proceeds to build, purchase, and install equipment for its Vietnam base, Huizhou tricycle base (Phase III), Chongqing base (Phase II), and Guigang base (Phase II), thereby achieving a significant expansion in production capacity. In addition, the proceeds will be used to expand channels; the company plans to open more than 500 new retail stores within the next five years. The remaining funds will be directed to research and development activities, product matrix upgrades, brand promotion, and marketing activities.

However, the domestic market for electric two-wheelers in China is increasingly approaching saturation, and the characteristics of stock competition are gradually becoming evident. A deep industry report by Northeast Securities shows that by 2024, the number of electric two-wheelers in China had reached 420 million units, roughly equivalent to one vehicle for every three people. Against the backdrop of stock competition, the rationality and feasibility of Tailin Technology’s capacity expansion plans disclosed in its IPO prospectus have become the core focus of market attention.

Apart from overall pressure on industry demand, Tailin Technology’s market share has also declined. According to data released by Aowei Cloud on 2025 electric two-wheeler domestic sales, in 2025 the domestic retail sales volume of electric two-wheelers reached 58.767 million units, up 16.6% year over year. The industry as a whole continued to grow, but the market landscape among leading brands showed a clear split. Yadea Holdings ranked first with a 25.5% market share, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous year; Aima Technology ranked second with 19.4%, up 0.6 percentage point; Tailin Technology ranked third with an 11.7% market share, down 2.4 percentage points, making it the only company among the top three brands whose market share shrank. By January 2026, Tailin Technology was even pushed out of the top three of the industry by Ninebot, whose market share reached 12.7%, posing an increasingly severe challenge to Tailin Technology’s industry position as competition grows fiercer.

While the domestic market faces pressure, Tailin Technology’s overseas expansion remains at an early stage, leaving extremely uncertain growth expectations. The prospectus shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, overseas revenue accounted for only 2.7% of total revenue, and the contribution to overall performance remains relatively limited.

New National Standards Implemented, Industry Reordering Deepens

Tailin Technology’s Hong Kong IPO is taking place at a crucial point amid changes in the regulatory environment for the electric two-wheeler industry. The “Electric Bicycle Safety Technical Specification” (GB17761-2024) (referred to as the “new national standards”) has been fully implemented. The new national standards strengthen safety requirements in multiple areas, including flame retardancy of non-metallic materials, motor power, plastic ratio, and anti-tampering, with the aim of improving the intrinsic safety of electric bicycles at the source.

Meanwhile, the CCTV 3·15 Gala in 2026, which exposed regulatory violations and disorderly practices in the electric bicycle industry, may accelerate the move toward stricter industry regulation. The gala focused on three major compliance issues found with brands such as Hellobike electric rental bikes. First, offline stores openly disassemble and remove speed limiters through decoding, transforming compliant vehicles into “speeding vehicles” with a maximum speed of up to 75 km/h, while also tampering with the instrument cluster to display a false reading of 25 km/h to evade regulation. Second, by using methods such as “registering before production” and “producing with certificates,” companies exploit old compliance certificates to apply for licenses early, bypassing the new national standards’ regulatory system of “one vehicle, one code, one pool, one charge.” Third, they form a full-chain set of illegal operations from license processing to vehicle production and deployment, allowing large numbers of non-compliant vehicles to enter the market under the guise of compliance, severely threatening road traffic safety.

After the 3·15 Gala exposure, regulatory authorities and public security and traffic management departments across the country acted rapidly, focusing on crackdowns on violations such as illegal modifications to remove speed limiters, using fake plates or certificates, false advertising, and products failing to meet quality requirements—practices that previously helped some companies seize market share via “shortcuts” such as illegal modifications and parameter falsification are likely to be continuously targeted.

In addition, it was noted by reporters that the “long-range” label promoted by Tailin Technology has repeatedly come under regulatory scrutiny due to false advertising and parameter falsification. In 2024, Tailin Technology was penalized by market regulators because advertisements for its electric vehicles contained claims that could not be verified or were untrue, in violation of relevant provisions of the Advertising Law. As of March 2026, the Black Cat Complaint platform had received more than 1,400 complaints regarding Tailin Technology’s electric vehicles, with high-frequency issues including “range inconsistent with claims,” “rapid battery degradation,” “false advertising,” and “after-sales service excuses/deflection.” Many consumers report that the gap between the advertised range and the actual range during use is excessively large.

Industry insiders believe that, at present, with the full implementation of the new national standards and the continued tightening of full-chain supervision after the 3·15 Gala, the domestic electric two-wheeler industry has entered a deep reshuffling period. Extensive and low-price competition, as well as expansion driven by violations at scale, can no longer meet the requirements for high-quality development in the industry. Whether it is Tailin Technology or other companies in the industry, they need to abandon short-sighted development thinking, adhere to compliance bottom lines, deepen technological innovation, and earnestly protect consumers’ lawful rights and interests, while fulfilling companies’ social responsibilities. Only in this way can they stand firm amid fierce industry competition, and only then can China’s electric two-wheeler industry truly progress steadily from a “manufacturing giant” to a “manufacturing powerhouse.”