SenseTime forecasts first profit since Hong Kong listing

SenseTime issued a positive profit alert on August 16, 2026, forecasting a first-half net profit of approximately 500 million to 700 million yuan (approximately $74.2 million to $103.9 million), compared with a loss of approximately 1.489 billion yuan (approximately $221.0 million) in the same period last year. Shares jumped more than 13% intraday on August 17, lifting market capitalization to roughly HK$64.6 billion (approximately $8.2 billion).

The projected result would be SenseTime’s first consolidated profit since its 2022 Hong Kong listing. The company, once one of China’s AI Four Dragons with Megvii, Yitu, and CloudWalk, has faced US sanctions, the ChatGPT-led shift toward generative models, shrinking smart city revenue, the death of founder Tang Xiao’ou, and a short-seller report from Grizzly Research. Its headcount fell from 6,114 to 2,472.

Generative AI has become the center of the business, producing 3.63 billion yuan (approximately $538.7 million) in 2025 revenue, 72.4% of the total, while vision AI contributed 1.08 billion yuan (approximately $160.3 million), or 21.6%. SenseTime has also reduced training costs by optimizing model architecture and adapting to domestic Chinese chips, but its larger challenge is building a durable moat without the traffic and ecosystem advantages held by larger platform companies.