In the complex dynamics of the secondary market, factors influencing stock price movements include a listed company's fundamentals, future growth expectations, as well as short-term event-driven impacts or sentiment fluctuations. It goes without saying that event-driven disruptions can sometimes create market noise and even cause stock price volatility; however, taking a long-term perspective, the true anchor of a company's value remains deeply rooted in its fundamental business health and future growth prospects. Therefore, a price low created by a specific piece of "bad news" might instead represent a "golden opportunity," presenting a valuable chance for strategic position building. It has been noted that on December 29, 2025, MINIEYE (02431), having completed its first year listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, faced the lifting of its share sale restrictions. Prior to this, the stock price of this high-growth company, which has achieved substantial results in the smart driving field, experienced unusual volatility due to the anticipation of this event. The author believes that, given MINIEYE's status as a scarce smart driving stock with potential and the fact that several of its business lines are at a strategic breakthrough point, the recent price fluctuations have clearly deviated from rational bounds.
Furthermore, news emerged that Navinfo Co.,Ltd. (002405.SZ), a significant shareholder and deep partner of MINIEYE, indicated to the public that it is optimistic about MINIEYE's long-term investment value and development potential and is in no hurry to reduce its shareholding. Regarding this, Meng Qingxin, Senior Vice President, Board Secretary, and CMO of Navinfo Co.,Ltd., stated, "We have full confidence in MINIEYE's solid fundamentals and its potential for sustained growth. In the future, we will continue our deep collaboration with MINIEYE on cutting-edge technology R&D and global market expansion, jointly realizing long-term value in the smart driving track." Placed within the industry context of continuous commercialization acceleration and persistently intense competition, unlike the somewhat impatient short-term capital in the secondary market, MINIEYE's major shareholder's firm choice to "hold the shares" demonstrates a conviction that undoubtedly stems from strong confidence in MINIEYE's future.
Seeing a leopard through its spots, such a highly regarded company as MINIEYE certainly warrants investors taking a fresh, serious look at its investment value. Having passed the "major test" of listing and continuously delivering on its potential, this smart driving stock has just concluded a year, 2025, that was destined to be extraordinary for the smart driving industry. During this period, the narrative of "democratizing smart driving" swept through the automotive sector, accelerating the industry's journey towards a new era of widespread smart driving adoption. However, beneath the surface, a new round of industry shakeout has already begun, evidenced even by the recent sudden halt of operations at a smart driving unicorn backed by a leading automaker. The industry's shift from being a magnet for capital to a phase of increasing rationality reveals that companies must now establish a stable balance between technology implementation, cost control, and commercial viability, while continuously strengthening their self-sustaining capabilities to navigate volatility and emerge victorious.
Looking back at MINIEYE, as a veteran in the industry, its successful listing on the capital market at the end of 2024 can itself be viewed as passing a "major test" set by the market, thanks to its solid fundamentals and strong growth prospects. After all, among the multitude of smart driving companies, merely remaining in the game is proof of sufficient capability, let alone being accepted and successfully listed by the discerning capital markets. Following this "test," MINIEYE, as a scarce smart driving player, once enjoyed strong market enthusiasm. In the initial months after its IPO, MINIEYE's stock price successfully doubled from its issue price. The underlying logic for this stellar performance lies in MINIEYE being one of the few listed companies simultaneously developing both L2 front-load and L4 autonomous driving technologies, successfully validating a feasible growth path from "evolutionary" to "revolutionary," which earned market recognition for its long-term prospects.
The trend in MINIEYE's core financial data also serves as strong evidence of its continuous potential realization. From 2022 to 2024, MINIEYE's annual revenue grew rapidly at a compound annual growth rate exceeding 50%. In the first half of last year, its revenue surged 46% to RMB 346 million, maintaining its high-growth trajectory. Against a backdrop of generally tighter financing conditions in the industry and survival challenges for many firms, MINIEYE leveraged its listed status to complete two strategic financing rounds, amassing sufficient resources for subsequent R&D initiatives and market expansion. Admittedly, irrational selling behavior emerged among some investors recently due to the approaching lock-up expiration, but in the author's view, this expiration has not altered MINIEYE's growth fundamentals. This is further underscored by the fact that both company executives and the major shareholder Navinfo Co.,Ltd. have chosen to extend their lock-up periods, all signs pointing to MINIEYE being potentially severely undervalued, creating a "golden opportunity."
Standing at the one-year anniversary of its listing and reviewing the progress made, it is clear that this smart driving pioneer, leveraging its integrated "algorithm + software + hardware" capabilities and platform-based development system, has achieved breakthroughs across several core segments including ADAS, DMS and OMS, and vehicle-road coordination. For instance, in the front-load segment, MINIEYE's partner network continues to expand. As of June 30, 2025, MINIEYE had mass-produced for 42 automakers, covering mainstream and joint venture brands like SAIC and Changan. Moreover, its solutions have been adopted for multiple export models by several OEMs, targeting markets including the EU, Australia, and Mexico; and through collaborations with international Tier 1 suppliers, MINIEYE has also successfully entered the supply chains of global automakers.
The steady expansion of MINIEYE's influence is closely linked to the continuous iteration and upgrade of its front-load products. Taking its smart driving products as an example, MINIEYE intensively launched solutions like iPilot 4 Plus and iPilot 4 Max in the first half of 2025, matching the rapidly growing market demand for mid-to-high-level smart driving with high-quality supply. Due to strong product capabilities, the iPilot series recently secured orders for multiple flagship models from a leading independent brand. Smart cockpit solutions, which significantly enhance driving safety and comfort while synergizing with smart driving systems to amplify overall effectiveness, are another area where MINIEYE is making rapid progress. Also in the first half of last year, MINIEYE launched the iCabin Lite, an integrated DMS product for smart cockpits, and introduced its cabin large model "Smart Butler BamBam," achieving upgrades in personalized and scenario-based functional experiences. Previously, its cockpit business secured a project designation from a globally renowned automaker, with total lifetime order value of approximately RMB 320 million.
As the automotive industry accelerates towards high-level assisted driving, MINIEYE is also intensifying its focus on L4. Since last year, the potential of its L4 business has been rapidly unleashed. The company first launched its inaugural unmanned minibus project in Suzhou in February 2025, followed by winning major contracts in the second half, such as the Ezhou Huahu Airport and the Tongxiang Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integrated Traffic Perception Project. It also served as the official designated vehicle provider for the World Internet Conference, offering shuttle services. Coincidentally, MINIEYE launched its unmanned logistics brand "Xiao Zhu" in September last year, debuting two models, the T5 and T8. By the end of November, orders for Xiao Zhu unmanned vehicles had reached 1,400 units. The potential of MINIEYE's L4 business is beginning to be realized, with revenue from this segment already exceeding tens of millions of RMB in the first half of 2025 alone, indicating a clear trend of volume growth. It is conceivable that in the near future, the L4 business could become a new growth engine for MINIEYE. This implies that beyond its traditional strengths, MINIEYE's fundamentals continue to generate new points of interest, and the company's growth momentum should not be underestimated.
The smart driving industry is developing orderly amidst alternating trials by fire and ice, and as the timing gradually matures, supportive policy tailwinds are also arriving. Mid-month, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially announced China's first batch of approvals for L3 conditional autonomous driving models. Approved vehicles will conduct road tests in designated areas of Beijing and Chongqing, marking the official transition of L3 autonomous driving in China from the testing phase to commercial application. From an industry perspective, within defined Operational Design Domains and speed boundaries, L3 is expected to be replicated and promoted first in highway, closed, or semi-closed scenarios, accumulating regulatory, data, and operational experience for urban NOA and higher-level autonomy. Requirements for perception, computing power, and system integration are significantly increasing, thereby driving up the value per vehicle across various components. 2026 is anticipated to be the inaugural year for L3/L4 autonomous driving. In this process, companies possessing L4 high-level R&D capabilities and massive L2 front-load data accumulation are poised to stand out.
Leveraging its full-stack, self-developed platform-based system, MINIEYE can both downscale advanced algorithms and safety redundancy experience validated in L4 to its L3 solutions, while also utilizing complex scenario data collected from mass-produced L2 vehicles to feed back into model optimization. This creates a technology-data closed loop, laying a solid foundation for the mass production of L3 systems. It is important to note that the policy benefits for MINIEYE extend beyond this. According to a mandatory national standard draft related to smart driving safety released by the MIIT in September, which emphasized "driver status monitoring," MINIEYE's deeply cultivated DMS solutions might potentially become a "mandatory industry standard" in the future. The smart driving and smart cockpit industries represent a long runway with deep snow, offering substantial long-term potential. Having successfully carved out a distinctive growth path from "evolutionary" to "revolutionary," MINIEYE's future visibility and growth elasticity are highly promising. Viewed this way, it is understandable why Navinfo Co.,Ltd., as a major shareholder, chooses to continue holding its shares.
In fact, MINIEYE's scarce investment value is indeed being recognized by more astute capital. Recently, Hang Seng Indexes Company included MINIEYE in the "Hang Seng Stock Connect Hong Kong Electronic Theme Index." As the Hang Seng Index is a key market barometer, MINIEYE's inclusion in this index carries significant indicative meaning worthy of investor attention. As policies press the "accelerator" for industry development, MINIEYE, having already built comprehensive L1-L4 technological capabilities and achieved deep synergy between its smart driving and cockpit businesses, has reached a critical stage where a value reassessment is urgently needed. While short-term event disruptions and sentiment have indeed impacted MINIEYE's stock price, for long-term focused investors seeking to share in the smart driving industry's growth红利, this反而 represents a rare opportunity. Looking ahead, with the resonance of policy红利 and market catalysts, the central tendency of MINIEYE's stock price to回归 to a reasonable level is likely just a matter of time, and the present moment may well be a precious window for accumulation at lower levels.
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