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Stock prices and profits plummeted, shareholders were in turmoil, but business owners were calm.

In the past two months, the share price of Roborock, which entered the market with intelligent sweeping robots, has plummeted.

According to the announcement, the deviation of the closing price of Roborock shares has reached 70% in 30 consecutive trading days, which has constituted serious abnormal fluctuations. From the high point of 333.5 yuan in early October to around 220 yuan today, the stock price has fallen by more than 100 yuan in less than two months.

Behind the collapse of the stock price is the precipitous decline in Roborock's performance. According to the financial report, the net profit attributable to the parent company in the third quarter fell by 43.40% year-on-year, and the non-net profit fell by 45.25%, the largest decline in a single quarter since 2021.

Some shareholders shouted, this is going to be a thunderstorm? Some netizens said: "Buying your stocks makes me depressed, ask for Mr. Chang, pull a hand." ”

Netizens are anxious, but Chang Jing, the boss of Rock Technology, is very calm, it is said that he is addicted to "playing cars", often going in and out of the western border snow desert, crossing the limit, and is very happy.

Even the secretary of the board of directors was difficult to justify himself, and under the pressure of public opinion, Chang Jing had to come out to respond.

On November 29, Chang Jing posted a video saying that the overwhelming comments had caused him a lot of trouble. He hopes that investors who hold Roborock shares can be patient. Now is a period of strategic transformation, but also a painful period, which is bound to bring about some changes in the company, which are for the long-term development in the future.

It stands to reason that investment is a matter that requires patience, and the development of enterprises has ups and downs, and as an investor, you should pay attention to the long-term value of the enterprise, so as to have a good return.

However, the world knows that China's stock market has never played according to the rules, and that companies can be full of mysteries before and after going public, and only those who understand the ins and have the ability to manipulate them are likely to reap the benefits.

What's even more surprising is that Changjing asked shareholders to wait patiently, but on the other hand, he accelerated cashing out.

According to statistics, from March last year to June this year, Changjing reduced its holdings of Roborock shares through centralized bidding and inquiry transfer, reducing its shareholding ratio from 23.15% to 21.09%, and cashing out about 888 million yuan cumulatively.

It's not easy to make money, but live a chic life. For the grassroots-born Chang Jingle in it.

Chang Jing was born in 1982 and was admitted to South China University of Technology in 1999 to major in computer science.

In

the eight years since graduating, Chang Jing has been working as a 9-to-5 "part-time worker", often troubled by daily problems such as tuition fees and transportation, and occasionally complaining.

In 2014, Chang Jing and three former colleagues jointly invested 200,000 yuan to establish Roborock to lock in the category of intelligent sweeping robots.

At the beginning, the company's development was not smooth, and many investors were not optimistic about this simple small household appliance and refused to invest. Later, under the recommendation of an acquaintance, I found Xiaomi, which was developing the ecological chain, and the two parties hit it off.

With the help of Xiaomi's ecosystem, Roborock has risen rapidly. After that, it successively launched its own brands "Stone Intelligent Sweeping Robot" and "Xiaowa Intelligent Sweeping Robot", and stood firm in the market.

Financial data show that in 2016, 2017 and 2018, Roborock's operating income was 183 million, 1.119 billion and 3.051 billion yuan respectively, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was -11.24 million, 66.9962 million and 308 million yuan respectively.

As a result, Roborock has successively received investment from top institutions such as Xiaomi, GIC, Gao Rong, and Qiming Venture Capital. On February 21, 2020, Roborock was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, stock code: 688169. In the same year, Changjing ranked 33rd in the "2020 Hurun Post-80s Self-Made Rich List" with a wealth of 6.3 billion yuan.

After the listing, Roborock, which was rich and powerful, began to seek transformation and diversification.

In 2021, because of his love for automobiles, Changjing joined hands with Weiqiao Entrepreneurship Group to create the Polar Stone Automobile brand. In 2023, Roborock will enter the washing machine market, planning to spend more than 400 million yuan on washing machine research and development.

However, whether it is building cars or washing machines, Roborock has not caused much turmoil. So far in 2024, the cumulative sales of Polar Stone 01 are only 3,764 units, and the market performance is not satisfactory.

From the perspective of operating data, although Roborock's revenue in the first three quarters increased by 23.17% year-on-year to 7.007 billion yuan, the growth rate slowed down significantly from 30.55% in the same period last year. The third quarter was the worst, with revenue growth falling to 11.91% and core profit margin falling to 14% from 29% in the same period last year, meaning that pre-tax profit per 1,000 yuan of revenue plummeted from nearly 300 yuan to less than 150 yuan.

As for the decline in performance, Roborock explained that it was due to increased market expansion and investment in new products. According to the financial report, Roborock's sales expenses in the first three quarters reached 1.564 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.03%, accounting for more than 22% of revenue. In contrast, R&D investment is only 640 million yuan, accounting for less than 10% of revenue.

This means that Roborock's performance growth mainly depends on a large amount of marketing investment. In the fierce market competition environment of home appliances and manufacturing industry, it is difficult for products without core technology to achieve sustainable development.

Roborock is also in the dilemma of "emphasizing marketing over R&D". Patent shortcomings began to emerge. In June this year, the company was sued by Dreame Technology to the court due to a patent dispute, and the two main products were banned from sale for a time, missing the 618 promotion.

In the German market, Roborock was also subject to a patent lawsuit, and the Düsseldorf District Court ordered it to stop selling the relevant products in Germany.

China's manufacturing industry is upgrading, from extensive copycat assembly to independent R&D and innovation, and the consumer market has higher and higher comprehensive requirements for products.

The market for small household appliances, including smart sweepers, is shrinking at a faster pace. From a peak of 6 million units per year from 2018 to 2020, it has dropped to 4.58 million units in 2023. At the same time, traditional home appliance giants Midea, Haier, LG, as well as Internet companies Xiaomi and Huawei have entered the game, and market competition is becoming increasingly fierce.

Even the field of electric vehicles, where Roborock has high hopes, is experiencing a brutal reshuffle of excess. 99% of China's electric vehicle companies are in a state of loss, and the increase without profit has become the biggest embarrassment faced by new energy vehicle companies in their development.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the retail sales of the passenger car market reached 1.095 million units in February 2024, down 21.0% year-on-year, and the retail sales of the new energy market reached 388,000 units, down 11.6% year-on-year. A large number of new car-making forces, including WM Motor, Ranger Motor, and Singularity Motor, went bankrupt and collapsed.

With internal and external difficulties, what other products does Roborock have to win the market?

Innovation and creativity are not easy, nor can they be achieved overnight. Judging from the current disc presented by Roborock, its transformation is still the same as the old three, and there is nothing unique. In this era of urgency, what investors lack most is patience, because patience means gambling, and they can't see their hole cards.

The boss Chang Jing was lucky to step on the stroke through the intelligent sweeping robot and made a lot of money, but what about the shareholders who followed him, can they withstand this big gamble?

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