EL7.AI
StocksMedium•6 November 2026•
4 min read

SAIC’s third-quarter profit plunges 76.70% to 485.5 million yuan

Key Facts

1SAIC’s net profit attributable to shareholders was 485.5 million yuan in the third quarter, down 76.70% year on year.
2SAIC’s revenue fell to 154.63 billion yuan in the third quarter, down 7.34% year on year.
3Net profit excluding non-recurring items fell to 69.54 million yuan, down 95.89%.
4Net operating cash flow fell to 1.997 billion yuan in the third quarter, down 81.68%.

SAIC said net profit attributable to its shareholders was 485.5 million yuan in the third quarter of 2026, down 76.70% year on year, according to its report published on China’s CNINFO disclosure platform. The profit drop coincided with a 7.34% decline in revenue to 154.63 billion yuan over the same period. The company attributed the decrease to the impact of capital markets, changes in the fair value of financial assets and foreign-exchange losses in its overseas business. In its explanation of the results, it said these factors were the main reason for the decline. The report said the third-quarter financial data were unaudited.

The decline in adjusted profit was steeper than the drop in reported net profit: net profit excluding non-recurring items was 69.54 million yuan, down 95.89% from a year earlier. Pre-tax profit also fell 54.84% to 2.618 billion yuan. Basic earnings per share declined 76.80% to 0.042 yuan. These indicators show a broader contraction across more than one measure of quarterly results, alongside falling revenue. The figures put adjusted profit far below reported net profit for the quarter.

Pressure also extended to cash flow, with net cash generated from operating activities at 1.997 billion yuan in the third quarter, down 81.68% year on year. In the first nine months of 2026, net profit attributable to shareholders was 5.638 billion yuan, down 30.40% from the same period. Total revenue for the nine months was 455.221 billion yuan, down 2.94%, while operating revenue declined 2.52% to 449.618 billion yuan. The year-to-date figures show the decline was not limited to the third quarter, although the quarterly profit drop was sharper. Weaker earnings were also accompanied by a steep decline in operating cash flow during the quarter.

Among the factors cited in the report, gains from changes in the fair value of financial assets turned into a loss of 462.34 million yuan in the first nine months of 2026, compared with a gain of 7.238 billion yuan in the same period of 2025. Returns on investments in associates and joint ventures also fell to 1.258 billion yuan from 4.409 billion yuan a year earlier. SAIC said changes in the fair value of financial assets and foreign-exchange losses in its overseas business contributed to the third-quarter profit decline. The impact of capital markets also played a role, according to the company’s explanation of the results. These items provide context on the sources of pressure on profitability during the period, alongside lower revenue.

SAIC sold 406,051 vehicles in September, down 7.67% from a year earlier, while sales of new-energy vehicles rose 18.72% to 224,973. October data, published later, showed total sales of 430,018 vehicles, down 5.28% year on year. In the same month, new-energy vehicle sales rose 25.12% to 258,610. Sales of vehicles exported and those produced at the company’s overseas bases reached 162,500 in October, up 67.28% from a year earlier. The figures highlight growth in new-energy and overseas sales in October alongside a decline in total sales, without changing the reported third-quarter results.

In the broader context of China’s manufacturing sector, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index stood at 49.3% in October, down 0.8 percentage points from September, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The bureau published the report on November 1, covering October activity. The new orders index was 49.4%, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous month; the bureau said this indicated a weaker market demand environment. The composite production index also fell to 49.7%, a decline of one percentage point. These readings place SAIC’s results against a weaker backdrop for manufacturing activity and orders in China, though the company did not attribute its profit decline to the index data.

China’s upcoming economic calendar includes the release of the consumer price index and producer price index reports on November 9, 2026, at 09:30, according to the National Bureau of Statistics calendar. The data will follow October’s readings for manufacturing and new orders and provide the next update on prices in China. SAIC’s results combined declines in profit, revenue and operating cash flow in the third quarter. October sales data also showed a decline in total sales alongside growth in new-energy vehicle sales and overseas sales. The calendar cited here does not include a date for China’s trade balance data.