Recently, major listed companies in China's construction machinery industry have successively released their performance reports for the first half of 2025. Since the beginning of 2025, China's overall economic performance has been stable and improving, favorable factors for the development of the construction machinery industry have gradually increased, and most enterprises have delivered satisfactory results.

I. Overview of the Performance of Listed Construction Machinery Enterprises

According to statistics, a total of 18 construction machinery enterprises, including XCMG Machinery, Sany Heavy Industry, Zoomlion, and LiuGong Machinery, recorded combined revenue of 311.652 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up 6.14% from 293.631 billion yuan in the first half of last year; their combined net profit attributable to parent company shareholders reached 24.839 billion yuan, up 16.97% from 21.236 billion yuan in the first half of last year.

The growth rate of net profit attributable to parent company shareholders exceeded that of operating revenue, reflecting an overall improvement in the industry's operating quality. In particular, Zoomlion achieved a year-on-year increase of 20.84% in net profit attributable to parent company shareholders on the back of a 1.30% year-on-year increase in operating revenue, indicating continuous improvement in operating quality and industry-leading profitability.

In the first half of the year, all enterprises included in the statistics achieved profitability except Construction Machinery. Among them, 13 enterprises saw growth in both revenue and net profit, and more than 80% of enterprises saw an acceleration in the growth rate of net profit attributable to parent company shareholders. In particular, enterprises such as Sany Heavy Industry and Lonking Holdings grew rapidly, with year-on-year increases of 46.00% and 37.83% respectively; meanwhile, due to a low base, Sunward Intelligent and Yutong Heavy Industries also posted growth rates exceeding 40%.

However, some enterprises still face pressure. Xiagong Holdings saw declines in both operating revenue and net profit attributable to parent company shareholders, and Construction Machinery became the only loss-making enterprise.

From the overall performance perspective, the industry's revenue and profit are highly concentrated. The TOP 4 enterprises (XCMG, Sany, Zoomlion, and LiuGong) recorded revenue of 136.078 billion yuan, accounting for 43.66% of the total revenue of the 18 enterprises, and 54.63% of the net profit attributable to parent company shareholders, showing a significant Matthew effect in the industry.

II. Performance Characteristics of Some Leading Enterprises

Among the leading OEMs, XCMG Machinery's aftermarket revenue grew 33.23% in the first half of the year, and its strategic emerging industries grew 13.25% year on year. In terms of product structure, revenue from new energy products increased 9.43% year on year, and revenue from high-end products increased 41.44% year on year.

Zoomlion's advantageous segments maintained a solid market position. Domestic sales of concrete machinery and engineering hoisting machinery recovered beyond expectations, overseas market share continued to rise, and market share in construction hoisting machinery remained firmly in first place. Emerging segments rose rapidly: revenue from earthmoving machinery grew 22%, accounting for nearly 20% of total revenue; in agricultural machinery, the domestic market share of dryers and wheat harvesters remained among the industry's leaders, while market shares of paddy field machinery, corn harvesters, and tractors increased by 4.7, 4.3, and 1 percentage point respectively.

Sany Heavy Industry's excavating machinery sales revenue reached 17.497 billion yuan, up 15.00% year on year; concrete machinery sales revenue was 7.441 billion yuan, down 6.49% year on year; hoisting machinery sales revenue was 7.804 billion yuan, up 17.89% year on year, with crawler cranes holding an overall domestic market share of over 40%; piling machinery sales revenue was 1.341 billion yuan, up 15.05% year on year; and road machinery sales revenue was 2.159 billion yuan, up 36.83% year on year.

In the first half of the year, LiuGong Machinery's domestic excavator sales increased 31.0% year on year, with the growth rate exceeding the average by 22.9%; domestic and overseas sales revenue of loaders increased 20%. Sales of other machinery and parts reached 5.081 billion yuan, up 8.8% year on year, compared with growth of only 3% for this item in 2024. Among them, domestic and export sales of the crane business grew 30%; the aerial work machinery business achieved significant increases in sales volume, revenue, and net profit, with net profit growth exceeding 100%. The forklift business achieved double-digit growth in sales volume, revenue, and net profit.

Meanwhile, the development of new energy construction machinery is progressing steadily. For example, XCMG's revenue from new energy products increased 9.43% year on year; in the first half of the year, LiuGong's global sales of electric loaders increased 193.0% year on year, a growth rate exceeding the industry average, with electric loader exports accounting for more than 50% of the industry's total electric loader exports.

III. Gross Margins and Overseas Market Performance Stand Out

Gross margin is an important indicator for measuring an enterprise's profitability. The higher the gross margin, the stronger the enterprise's profitability and cost control capability. Judging from the 2025 semi-annual reports, gross margins of major enterprises generally increased, especially gross margins in overseas markets.

In the first half of 2025, Zoomlion's gross margin was 28.15%, up 0.17 percentage points year on year.

The company's overseas revenue reached 13.815 billion yuan, up 15% year on year, accounting for 55.58% of revenue, up 6.48 percentage points year on year.

Sany Heavy Industry's gross margin in the construction machinery industry was approximately 27.57%; the gross margin of its overseas main business continued to rise to 31.18%, up 1.04 percentage points from 30.14% in the same period last year.

Its main business achieved overseas sales revenue of 26.302 billion yuan, up 11.72% year on year, with overseas revenue accounting for 60.26% of main business revenue.

XCMG Machinery's gross margin in the first half of the year was 22.03%, up 0.7 percentage points year on year; its net sales margin was 8.06%, up 0.6 percentage points year on year; and its return on equity in the first half of the year was 7.15%, up 0.72 percentage points from the same period last year.

In the first half of this year, XCMG Machinery's overseas revenue reached 25.546 billion yuan, up 16.64% year on year. The share of overseas revenue rose from 29.07% in the 2022 semi-annual report and 43.17% in the same period last year to 46.61%, a steady increase over three years.

LiuGong Machinery's gross margin was 22.3%, up 0.22 percentage points from the same period last year; its net profit margin was 6.76%, up 0.64 percentage points from the same period last year; and its overseas gross margin was 29.72%, up 1.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

In the first half of the year, its overseas revenue reached 8.523 billion yuan, up 10.5% year on year, accounting for approximately 46.88%. Among them, the overseas market share of earthmoving machinery products increased by 1 percentage point; overseas sales of businesses such as mining machinery, aerial work machinery, cranes, and forklifts increased by more than 40% year on year; overseas sales revenue of the loader segment increased by more than 20% year on year; and overseas terminal sales of the excavator segment increased by 22% year on year.

In addition to the above four enterprises, Shantui Construction Machinery, Zhejiang Dingli, and Sunward Intelligent also regard overseas markets as their development focus, with overseas revenue reaching 60%, 78%, and 64% respectively in the first half of the year. In addition, all OEMs included in the above statistics achieved year-on-year positive growth in overseas revenue.

Overall, in the first half of 2025, the construction machinery industry showed three major characteristics: "breaking through overseas, winners taking all at the top, and tail-end players being cleared out."

First, the growth logic has shifted from domestic stock competition to global competition, and the depth of overseas layout determines an enterprise's ceiling; second, the dimension of competition has upgraded from scale expansion to a contest of efficiency and profit quality (gross margin and net margin); third, the rules of survival have been rewritten, with the Matthew effect becoming more pronounced. Tail-end enterprises will need to seek technological differentiation in vertical fields or integrate into the supply chains of leading players to survive in the future.