With the release of Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd.'s first-quarter report for 2026, the initial complete operational snapshot following its sales system overhaul has been revealed. In the first quarter, the company achieved operating revenue of 53.909 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.54%. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 27.243 billion yuan, rising by only 1.47% compared to the same period last year. Sequentially, compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue and net profit grew by 32% and 53% respectively. However, that period represented a temporary "capacity-building phase" for Moutai just before the sales model adjustment, resulting in a relatively low base for comparison.
At the end of 2025, following Chen Hua's appointment as Chairman, management's strategy underwent a substantive shift: abandoning short-term "strong start" demands in exchange for the long-term health of the distribution channels. Specifically, the company ceased pressuring distributors to take on inventory and gradually suspended some distribution plans. Previously, distributors typically needed to fulfill their annual quotas in the fourth quarter to remain in the system for the following year, but this practice was discontinued in 2025, and quotas were no longer strictly enforced.
As a result, wholesale and agency revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 fell sharply by 58% year-on-year. In contrast, direct sales revenue grew against the trend by 27%, reaching 29.032 billion yuan for the single quarter, indicating a clear divergence in channel structure. This adjustment deepened further in the first quarter of 2026.
In recent years, the number of domestic distributors had generally expanded to support sales growth, with a net increase of approximately 210 distributors throughout 2025. However, in the first quarter of this year, the company saw a net reduction of 255 domestic distributors, abruptly shifting from expansion to the largest contraction in recent years. Although the company explained that the distributor adjustments primarily involved the series liquor system, the sharp 50 billion yuan drop in contract liabilities to 3.027 billion yuan suggests the traditional distribution model is rapidly being phased out.
Concurrently, the "i Moutai" platform, a key tool for implementing market-based pricing and the most closely watched variable in this round of channel adjustments, achieved first-quarter sales of 21.553 billion yuan. This figure surpasses the sales volume for the vast majority of its full fiscal years in the past. The historical peak for i Moutai occurred in 2023, with sales of 22.37 billion yuan. At that time, the platform was in its initial expansion phase, coupled with high prices for Feitian Moutai, increased official supply, and a concentrated release of user purchase enthusiasm, with multiple factors converging to rapidly amplify sales.
Starting in 2024, the market price for Feitian Moutai experienced a noticeable decline, and prices for non-standard products continued to fall. At some points, wholesale prices even dropped below the guidance price, narrowing arbitrage opportunities and gradually cooling user participation. Against this backdrop, to prevent low-price online sales from impacting the price system, the company began actively controlling the supply rhythm on i Moutai. Platform sales in 4 decreased by 10.5% year-on-year to 200 billion yuan.
The downward trend in wholesale prices continued into 2025, with i Moutai's annual sales falling to 13.031 billion yuan, a decline of 34.92% year-on-year. Its proportion within the direct sales channel dropped from a peak of nearly one-third to 15.4%. However, in the first quarter of 2026, this proportion rebounded significantly to approximately 73%, indicating a notable shift back in channel weighting.
As models such as consignment sales are gradually implemented and distributors accelerate their transformation into "service providers earning commissions," the future position of i Moutai is set to become increasingly solidified, establishing it as the undisputed mainstay within the Kweichow Moutai sales system.
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