Pony AI Inc. American Depositary Shares (PONY) Earnings

Management highlights

### Commercial and Operational Progress - Pony AI kicked off 2026 with strong exponential growth across all business lines, achieving record high quarterly robo-taxi revenue and triple-digit overall revenue growth, outpacing internal expectations even in the typically low season for ride-hailing (spring). - The company's dual-engine (China + global markets) strategy and joint deployment model are unlocking diversified revenue streams. Pony AI has scaled its total robo-taxi fleet to over 1,700 Gen 7 vehicles; registered users in China grew more than 200% YoY, and weekly average paid orders as of May 2026 grew over 100% compared to the start of 2026. - Domestic China operations: Expanded into downtown Guangzhou's high-demand Haizhou District (covering Canton Tower, Pazhou CBD and the Canton Fair Complex), increased fleet density in Shenzhen's busiest Nanshan and Bao'an districts, and launched full airport transfer services across Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Unit economics in Guangzhou and Shenzhen have already reached unit-level breakeven. - Global expansion: Established a presence in 9 countries and launched public commercial services in 4 overseas markets, including Europe's first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, Croatia. The company is also expanding its footprint in the Middle East, with ongoing fare-charging services in Doha, Qatar and ongoing driverless deployment initiation in Dubai. - New product development: Launched the L4 autonomous light truck for intra-city urban logistics in April 2026; debuted a 2027 domestic-market robo-taxi model targeting a bill of materials (BOM) cost below 230,000 RMB. Gen 4 robotrucks are on track for mass production in H2 2026, with pre-production vehicles already rolling off assembly lines. ### Technology and Safety Leadership - Pony AI's core competitive advantage comes from its safety-first technology architecture, which differs from L2 systems that rely solely on scaling human driving data or large language models. The company uses reinforcement learning and a world model to deliver safer performance than human drivers, even in complex dense urban environments. - Every robo-taxi features a full-stack multi-layer redundancy architecture for both software and hardware, allowing vehicles to continue operating safely and pull over to a secure location even if individual components fail, and to operate without network/GPS signal or high-definition maps. - The company maintains a three-tier citywide fleet safety net: proactive risk prevention, real-time demand/congestion detection, and rapid dedicated on-road response, which earned official government approval as a recommended transportation option for large-scale high-demand events like major concerts in Guangzhou.

Guidance

- Full-year 2026 fleet size target was upwardly revised from 3,000 vehicles to over 3,500 robo-taxi vehicles. - Full-year 2026 robo-taxi revenue growth target was upwardly revised from 3x 2025 revenue to at least 3.5x 2025 revenue. - Full-year 2026 operational footprint target was upwardly revised to expand the company's commercial service footprint to over 20 total cities across domestic China and global markets. - The company reaffirmed its target to reduce domestic robo-taxi BOM costs to below 230,000 RMB by mid-2027. - Scaled commercial operation of the new L4 autonomous light truck for intra-city logistics is targeted to begin in early 2027.

Segment performance

Pony AI reported total Q1 2026 revenue of $34.3 million, an increase of 145% year-over-year (YoY): 1. Robo-taxi: Revenue reached a record $8.6 million, growing nearly 400% YoY from $1.7 million in Q1 2025. This segment contributed 25.1% of total Q1 2026 revenue. Fare charging revenue grew 456% YoY, driven by fleet expansion into high-demand downtown core areas, growing user adoption and strong order volume growth. 2. Robotruck: Revenue grew 31% YoY to $10.2 million, up from $7.8 million in Q1 2025. This segment contributed 29.7% of total Q1 2026 revenue, with growth driven by scaled long-haul operations and a growing diversified client base of logistics customers. 3. Intelligent Solutions (formerly Licensing and Applications): Revenue grew 246% YoY to $15.5 million, up from $4.5 million in Q1 2025. This segment contributed 45.2% of total Q1 2026 revenue, with growth driven by a 500%+ YoY surge in autonomous domain controller (ADC) shipments for low-speed delivery applications.

Risks & headwinds

No explicit material risks or operational failures were discussed by management during the call. Management noted that supply chain component volatility (such as memory chip shortages) represents a potential uncertainty, but stated that Pony AI proactively mitigated this risk by securing adequate memory chip supply in 2025 and has the experience to manage ongoing supply chain volatility. The company also noted that evolving autonomous driving regulations will likely increase industry entry barriers and consolidate the market, which benefits its leading position, rather than presenting material downside risk.

Analyst Q&A

• Q: How is the evolving global regulatory landscape for autonomous driving impacting Pony AI's business and competitive position? /

  A: Most global regulatory updates focus on establishing standardized safety requirements for robotaxis, which benefits long-term industry development and directly favors Pony AI as an established industry leader. Management noted that Pony AI already has a proven multi-layer full-lifecycle safety system and deep regulatory trust built from years of large-scale safe operation, with no immediate impact to current operations. In the long term, higher safety standards will filter out unqualified players, raise entry barriers, and strengthen Pony AI's market position. The upwardly revised 2026 targets remain on track despite regulatory changes.

• Q: What are the key drivers behind the upward revision of 2026 robo-taxi fleet and revenue targets? /

  A: The upward revision reflects stronger-than-expected Q1 2026 commercial momentum. Domestic operations in Chinese tier-1 cities have accelerated, with rapidly growing paid order volume, user base, and recurring revenue from consistent, reliable service even during peak hours in dense urban areas. Pony AI has already achieved unit-level breakeven in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which has spurred strong interest in its joint deployment model from both domestic and international partners. The joint model improves capital efficiency, enabling faster and larger-scale fleet deployment across more markets, justifying the higher 2026 targets.

• Q: What is the strategic rationale for launching the new L4 autonomous light truck? /

  A: The launch aligns with Pony AI's vision of "autonomous mobility everywhere", which includes expanding its technology across both passenger and logistics use cases, completing the company's full logistics portfolio alongside its existing long-haul robotruck business and low-speed ADC offerings for last-mile delivery. The light truck shares the same core software stack as Pony AI's robo-taxis and can leverage existing operational infrastructure, creating strong synergies that cut light truck operating costs by half compared to human-driven fleets and reduce overhead for robo-taxi operations. The company is co-developing the model with CATL, has a pipeline of logistics customers, and targets scaled operation in early 2027.

• Q: How does Pony AI balance sustaining high growth with increased strategic investment after revising full-year targets upward? /

  A: Q1 2026 results confirm that top-line growth is already outpacing expenditure growth, which has led to significant narrowing of operating loss margins. The company prioritizes sustaining the current high growth trajectory while maintaining a disciplined, value-driven approach to strategic investments. For example, ongoing R&D investment to reduce BOM costs below 230,000 RMB is expected to deliver strong future returns by attracting more joint deployment partners, accelerating future fleet scaling.