Niu Technologies reported its Q2 2026 results, and there is a worrying trend of declining revenues per scooter and falling margins. The progress of 2025 has been undone this year.
First, The Numbers
The company reported revenues of RMB 1,440.4 million (USD 213.5 million), an increase of 14.7% year over year from revenue of RMB 1,256 million in Q2 2025.
This was riding on scooter sales of 435k units, a 24% bump over Q2 2025. In China, sales were 402k units, a 26% increase year on year. International sales are still slow, but have turned the corner, with 32k scooters sold in the quarter. In Q2 2025, the number was 31k.
Caveat: When Niu says “scooter,” it can be a seated scooter or a kick scooter. They do not differentiate. It is for us to figure out (sort of).
However, there has been a deterioration in the quality of financials. The gross margin was 16.0%, compared with 20.1% in the second quarter of 2025. The revenue per scooter is now RMB 3,314. Two quarters back, it had peaked at RMB 3,914.
The company ended up reporting a net loss of RMB 102.2 million, compared with net income of RMB 5.9 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Volume growth is not the problem, but the sales mix has shifted rapidly towards the wrong side.
Selling and Marketing Expenses are More than what the Product Earns
Gross profit per scooter is now RMB 530. Selling and marketing expenses were RMB 238.6 million, or RMB 549 per scooter. Niu now spends more to sell & market a scooter than the scooter earns at the gross line. A year ago the same pair read RMB 721 and RMB 578 — thin, but the right way round.
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R&D expenses were RMB 51.5 million, or 3.6% of revenue, or RMB 118 per unit. That is a healthy number and can be explained by the fast churn and nimbleness in new model introduction.
International is a Drag
At 32k units, overseas sales are just a tick over the 31k number from Q2 2025. International revenue has moved at the same pace, up 3.0%. The international business is now 8.1% of e-scooter revenue, down from 8.9%.
CEO Yan Li describes this as “maintaining a selective approach and aligning products with local demand to support the stability of global operations.”
We read this as: Overseas volumes are flat, kick-scooter margins abroad are explicitly a drag on group gross margin, and Niu is not spending to change either. For a company whose equity story has long rested on being the Chinese two-wheeler brand that travels, that is a meaningful retreat delivered in a subordinate clause.
In the past, Niu has convincingly demonstrated it can sell more scooters. The 2026 question is whether it can sell them for more than they cost to move.