Beijing-based digital-twin specialist 51WORLD (06651) reported a sharp acceleration in top-line growth for the six months ended 30 June 2026, underscoring early momentum in its pivot from “Digital AI” to “Physical AI”.
Financial performance • Revenue grew 129.8% year on year to RMB123.67 million, driven by robust demand across core platforms. • Gross profit expanded 150.3% to RMB55.39 million; gross margin improved to 44.8% from 41.1% a year earlier, reflecting a richer mix of higher-margin projects and increased solution reusability. • Net loss narrowed 25.5% to RMB70.05 million, as operating leverage offset a 80.3% rise in R&D spending to RMB54.33 million. • Selling expenses fell 5.6% to RMB32.34 million, while general and administrative costs inched up 5.6% to RMB48.68 million, partly due to foreign-exchange movements. • Net operating cash outflow totalled RMB43.10 million; net cash used in investing activities reached RMB142.80 million, mainly for unredeemed wealth-management products. • Cash and cash equivalents stood at RMB656.05 million at period-end; gearing ratio was 45.8%.
Business mix shift • 51Aes, the company’s foundational digital-twin platform, delivered revenue of RMB72.33 million, up 65.1% year on year. • 51Sim, the Physical AI simulation and synthetic-data platform, posted RMB51.24 million in revenue, a 545.2% jump, lifting its share of total sales from 14.8% to 41.4%. Management identifies 51Sim as the emerging core growth engine. • 51Earth revenue declined to RMB0.10 million from RMB2.09 million.
Operational highlights • Average employee efficiency rose 143.82% following company-wide adoption of AI-native processes. • Restricted share units totalling 0.94 million were granted to 303 staff, aligning incentives with long-term shareholder interests. • Founder and CEO Li Yi exercised 7.65 million options (1.8% of share capital); full vesting is tied to the company reaching a HK$100 billion market capitalisation.
Post-period capital move • On 10 July 2026, 51WORLD completed a placing of 5.47 million new H shares at HK$73.20 each, raising approximately HK$394.50 million under its general mandate.
Strategic outlook Management will continue to scale 51Sim via new product generations (SimOne 3.X and 4.X) and pursue commercial deployment of the AperOne and AperData embodied-AI solutions, targeting deployment of over 1,000 robots within 2026.
Dividend No interim dividend was declared for the period.
Audit review The interim results have been reviewed by the Audit Committee, which confirmed compliance with applicable accounting standards and disclosure requirements.