- China’s surveillance equipment giant says innovation businesses now contribute nearly one-third of revenue
- The results highlight Hikvision’s transformation from a security hardware vendor into a broader physical AI and AIoT player
Chinese surveillance technology giant Hikvision reported strong first-half earnings on July 24, with profit growth significantly outpacing revenue as its higher-margin AI and innovation businesses gained momentum.
The company posted revenue of 46.82 billion yuan ($6.92 billion) for the first six months of 2026, up 11.97% year on year, while net profit attributable to shareholders rose 39.57% to 7.9 billion yuan. Excluding one-off items, net profit increased 40.5% to 7.71 billion yuan.
Second-quarter performance accelerated further, with revenue rising to 26.11 billion yuan and net profit climbing 41.34% year on year to 5.12 billion yuan.
Innovation businesses generated 15.17 billion yuan in revenue during the period, up 28.93% and accounting for 32.4% of total sales for the first time, making them the company’s largest growth engine.
Storage products grew 88.18%, thermal imaging expanded 47.61%, and robotics revenue increased 28.34%, while all five innovation product lines recorded double-digit growth.
Hangzhou-based Hikvision also announced an interim dividend of 5.5 yuan per 10 shares, representing a planned payout of 5.04 billion yuan, or 63.84% of first-half net profit.
Combined with its previously completed 2025 annual dividend, total cash distributions this year are expected to exceed 11.9 billion yuan.
The company said it expects full-year revenue to surpass 100 billion yuan for the first time, with profit reaching another record high.
Margin expansion fuels earnings
Hikvision’s profitability improved sharply as gross margin rose to 49.97% in the first half from 45.19% a year earlier, exceeding 50% in the second quarter.
The improvement follows the company’s strategic shift away from aggressive price competition since 2024, focusing instead on differentiated, higher-value products rather than low-price bidding.
Domestic operations recovered across all three major business groups, led by its small and medium-sized business division, while overseas core business revenue rose 5.84% to 12.95 billion yuan.
Meanwhile, Hikvision’s AI initiatives have continued to expand. Its Guanlan large language model now serves more than 90 industry verticals, while sales of its AI-powered visual search products have surpassed 100,000 units.
Why it matters globally
Hikvision’s results suggest China’s AI sector is shifting from prioritizing scale to improving profitability.
Revenue grew by about 12%, but profit increased nearly 40%, reflecting stronger margins and a strategy centered on product differentiation rather than price competition.
The company is also becoming less dependent on its traditional surveillance business. With innovation businesses now contributing nearly one-third of revenue, Hikvision has evolved into a broader AIoT company spanning robotics, thermal imaging, automotive electronics and enterprise storage.
As “physical AI” becomes a strategic focus across the industry, Hikvision’s decades of expertise in multimodal sensing—including visible light, infrared, X-ray and millimeter-wave technologies—could position it as an important provider of real-world data for next-generation AI systems.
