EHang Holdings (NASDAQ: EH) was flying high as the trading week came to a close. On Thursday, its American depositary receipts (ADRs) blew up on the stock market, rising to book a more-than 16% price gain on the day. It was little wonder, as the Chinese aerial-vehicle company posted a surprise net-income figure in its latest-reported quarter. By contrast, the S&P 500 index was grounded, posting a decline of 0.8%.

Soaring higher in the second quarter

EHang reported a serious and sharp lift in its second-quarter revenue, which soared a hard-to-believe 920% year over year to more than 102 million yuan ($14 million). Compounding that, the company swung to a non- GAAP (adjusted) net profit for the period; this was 1.2 million yuan ($168,330), or 0.02 yuan ($0.01 per share). The Q2 2023 net loss was considerable, at nearly 52 million yuan ($7.3 million).

With that performance, EHang almost obliterated analyst estimates. Prognosticators following the stock were expecting only 92 million yuan ($12.9 million) on the top line and were modeling an adjusted loss of 0.84 yuan ($0.12).

Much of this outperformance was due to sheer volume, with a clutch of Chinese clients taking out sizable orders from the company. Additionally, the awarding of three production certificates from the country's aviation-industry regulator led to what it described as "a substantial increase in demands and orders."

Triple-digit growth to continue, guidance suggests

With these tailwinds, EHang is expecting continued triple-digit growth. It proferred revenue guidance for its current (third) quarter of approximately 123 million yuan ($17.3 million); if achieved, this would mean a roughly 330% improvement over the year-ago number.

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