Embodied intelligence business growth is significant; HeiZhiMa Intelligence's revenue in 2025 increased by 73%, still losing 1.4 billion yuan; 632 million yuan in share placement financing was suddenly terminated due to "business reasons."

Ask AI · What is the impact of the termination of the financing plan on the strategic advancement of Black Sesame Intelligence?

Black Sesame Intelligence International Holdings Limited (2533.HK, hereinafter referred to as “Black Sesame Intelligence”) recently released its full-year 2025 performance announcement. Data shows that the company achieved a total revenue of 822 million yuan for the year, a year-on-year increase of 73.4%, maintaining high-speed growth for three consecutive years; gross profit increased to 337 million yuan, with overall gross profit margin stable at 41.0%. However, the company also reported a net loss of 1.425 billion yuan for the year, with an adjusted net loss of 1.076 billion yuan, narrowing by 17.5% year-on-year. As a core player in China’s intelligent driving chip field, Black Sesame Intelligence has achieved business breakthroughs under the “intelligent driving chip + embodied intelligence + edge AI” triple-driven strategy, but also faces multiple challenges such as intensified industry competition and profit realization.

Steady growth in intelligent driving chips, embodied intelligence becomes new growth pole

In 2025, the intelligent driving chip industry presents a pattern of “high-end competition intensifying and mid-to-low-end accelerating penetration.” Black Sesame Intelligence has broken through with its full product matrix, continuously increasing market share, and has entered the core camp of domestic intelligent driving chips. The company’s core business performed well, with auxiliary driving products and solutions revenue reaching 687 million yuan, a 56.8% increase, accounting for over 80% of total revenue, with a gross margin of 37.4%, becoming the “ballast” for revenue growth.

The main product, the Huashan A1000 series, leveraging five years of mass production experience, has been installed in multiple passenger cars from Geely, Dongfeng, BYD, FAW, and expanded to commercial vehicles from Chery, Shaanxi Auto, and others, as well as to Desay Witi L4-level unmanned logistics vehicles, building a stable shipment base. According to GaoGong Intelligent Vehicle Data, in 2024, the company’s market share among domestic traditional independent brand passenger vehicle NOA integrated domain control computing solutions reached 12.15%, ranking third.

Notably, the company’s strategic layout of embodied intelligence solutions has achieved explosive growth, with full-year revenue of 96.3 million yuan, becoming an important second growth curve. In 2025, the company officially launched the SesameX embodied intelligence platform, relying on the Kalos, Aura, and Liora series of products, covering different complexity levels of robots, and promoting business applications in logistics, manufacturing, and service scenarios.

Additionally, the product matrix continues to improve: the Huashan A2000 chip for high-level intelligent driving has been designated by leading automakers and is expected to be mass-produced by 2026; the Wudang C1200 series cross-domain computing chips have entered mass production to meet the needs of integrated cabin and vehicle control markets; at the end of the year, the company invested 478 million yuan to acquire a 60% stake in Yizhi Electronics, filling the gap of low-power, high-cost-performance AI chips, forming a full coverage layout across high, mid, and low-end segments.

Scale effects begin to show, focus on efficiency in investment

In 2025, Black Sesame Intelligence’s financial data show a characteristic of “growth and loss coexistence.” While revenue increased significantly, the company shifted from profit to loss, with a full-year net loss of 1.425 billion yuan, a sharp decline compared to a net profit of 313 million yuan in 2024. After adjustments, the net loss for the year was 1.076 billion yuan, narrowing by 17.5% year-on-year.

In terms of cash flow, the company’s full-year operating cash flow was -538 million yuan, financing cash flow was 1.105 billion yuan, and investing cash flow was -44.48 million yuan. The large financing scale was mainly used to supplement operating funds and advance R&D projects. As of the end of 2025, total assets amounted to 2.831 billion yuan, total liabilities 1.13 billion yuan, and equity 1.7 billion yuan, with a relatively reasonable asset-liability ratio.

R&D investment is a key support for the company’s core competitiveness. In 2025, R&D expenditure was 1.417 billion yuan, roughly the same as the previous year, but the proportion of revenue has become more rational with scale effects. The company has passed the early wild exploration period, shifting R&D investment toward “focused and efficient” efforts, mainly in optimizing high-end chip architectures, iterating embodied intelligence algorithms, and integrating edge AI technologies. Through a combination of self-research and acquisitions, the company has built a full-stack technical capability from automotive-grade chips to embodied intelligence terminals, creating a moat for long-term development.

High industry prosperity, but financing pressure cannot be ignored

Despite positive progress in performance and business, Black Sesame Intelligence still faces multiple challenges. First is intensified industry competition. The intelligent driving chip market is highly concentrated, with leading companies leveraging technology, capital, and customer advantages to expand their dominance. Horizon Robotics’ revenue in 2025 reached 3.76 billion yuan, 4.6 times that of Black Sesame Intelligence, with a gross margin of 64.5%, higher than the company’s 41.0%. Meanwhile, international giants like NVIDIA and Qualcomm are accelerating their presence in China, which may further squeeze the survival space of domestic chip companies.

Second is the ongoing loss issue. Although adjusted net losses have narrowed, the 1.425 billion yuan net loss attributable to shareholders still puts pressure on the company’s cash flow and financing capacity. The continuous losses also heighten financing pressure. Just two weeks before the earnings release, Black Sesame Intelligence’s key rights issue financing plan suddenly terminated. Public information shows that on March 9, 2026, Black Sesame Intelligence announced its plan to issue approximately 33.54 million new shares to a fund under InfiniCapital, raising a net amount of about 632 million Hong Kong dollars, with China International Capital Corporation and Huatai International acting as placement agents.

Only a week later, on March 18, the company signed termination agreements with the two placement agents, agreeing to terminate the placement, citing “business reasons” without further details. On March 19, Black Sesame Intelligence officially announced the termination, while clarifying that the subscription agreement with Infini Capital remains valid and can proceed once certain conditions are met.

The sudden termination of this financing plan, combined with the company’s ongoing high R&D investment and continuous losses, has amplified market concerns about its subsequent funding ability and operating cash flow, increasing financing pressure. For future development, Black Sesame Intelligence clearly adheres to a “three-wheel drive” strategy: consolidating core market share with intelligent driving chips; expanding diversified applications with embodied intelligence as a new engine; and extending into the AI terminal market with edge AI. The company plans to promote the scale deployment of the SesameX platform in 2026, accelerate the mass production of Huashan A2000, and deepen cooperation with leading automakers and robot manufacturers to enhance product penetration.