Xiaomi's Robot Clock-In and Daiwa's Target Hike Leave the Revenue Question Unanswered
Published on 11/04/2026 at 20:02 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Xiaomi has given investors two fresh reasons for optimism this week — a humanoid robot completing a full eight-hour shift at one of its electric-vehicle plants, and a price-target upgrade from Daiwa — but neither settles the question that matters most: whether the group can get its top line growing again.
The stock added 3.2% today, though no single company announcement has been confirmed as the driver of that move. Investors would be wise not to hang a decision on one day's headline. The more useful exercise is weighing the signals against each other.
Measured results versus promised potential
October deliveries are the hard evidence. Xiaomi reported more than 50,000 electric vehicles handed over last month, its highest monthly figure of 2026, and Reuters noted the shares rose on Monday once those numbers were out. That link, unlike today's gain, is concretely documented.
The robotics news sits on a different footing. On top of the eight-hour production-station trial, Xiaomi ran a home-environment test of its robotics foundation model, a universal platform aimed at scalable applications that picked up a leading-technology award at the World Internet Conference. Both uses — factory floor and living room — broaden the technological horizon. Neither yet substitutes for proof of commercial effect. A working robot demonstrates an application; rising group revenue would confirm a wider economic shift.
The announced return to the NĂĽrburgring Nordschleife belongs in the same category. It can generate attention, but it is an announcement rather than a completed sporting achievement, and its contribution to the business has yet to be shown.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Xiaomi?
Daiwa moves first on the numbers
Daiwa lifted its Xiaomi price target to HK$35 from HK$30 yesterday and reiterated its buy rating, according to media reports. The brokerage pointed to improved profitability from higher-end smartphones and nudged its 2027–2028 earnings-per-share forecasts up by 1%.
Its note was not uniformly bullish. Daiwa flagged weak demand in connected devices and lower-than-expected EV deliveries in the third quarter of 2026, while projecting that smartphone margins would stabilize and pointing to the October delivery surge. The handset picture remains mixed: Omdia reported shipments down 29% year on year to 30.7 million units.
Separately, Xiaomi plans to take a stake in Sunwoda EVB through subsidiary Hanxing Venture Capital — an investment of RMB 1.7 billion for 5.34% of Sunwoda's EV battery unit, disclosed on Friday.
The bar sits at group revenue
UOB Kay Hian painted a cautious picture for the third quarter of 2026 on Monday — an analyst estimate, not a company forecast — and that is where the real test lies. A strong month in cars can underline the operational momentum of that division without answering whether the whole company is growing. A more durable positive case would require progress that reaches beyond individual business lines.
The bear argument carries real weight: even robust vehicle deliveries could coincide with a declining group top line, precisely the combination UOB Kay Hian's estimate implies. Treating a successful robot trial as a scalable business, or reading the NĂĽrburgring plan as a revenue driver, raises the risk of disappointment.
November 24 is the next checkpoint
Should deliveries hold their momentum and revenue trends come in better than feared, the constructive scenario would rest on firmer ground, with robotics as an additional long-term option rather than the sole justification for the valuation. If the expected revenue weakness materializes instead, the operational announcements lose much of their force for the group as a whole — and any fading in delivery momentum would strip away the strongest measurable growth argument.
The Financial Times expects the quarterly report on November 24, 2026. Until then, the car numbers remain the more reliable anchor, and the new technology projects remain a promise still to be cashed in.
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