Citi has issued a research report noting that BYD COMPANY (ASX: 01211) achieved wholesale sales of 383,000 units in May. This represents a month-on-month increase of 19.4% and a year-on-year increase of 0.3%, surpassing market expectations. The strong performance was primarily supported by robust export sales, which reached 161,000 units, marking a 19% month-on-month and an 80% year-on-year growth.

The bank anticipates that BYD will deliver strong second-quarter earnings and see an update to its revenue structure. It also expects the company's weekly orders to strengthen in the future. Consequently, Citi has initiated a 30-day positive catalyst watch for the stock.

Citi forecasts that if BYD's June wholesale sales remain flat month-on-month, with retail sales for May and June growing by 3% and 8% month-on-month respectively, the company's second-quarter net profit could reach between 10.3 billion and 12.4 billion yuan. This projection is higher than the market consensus range of 8 billion to 9 billion yuan.

Within this forecast, the export business is expected to contribute approximately 9.8 billion yuan in net profit. The domestic market, combined with the Energy Storage Systems business, is projected to generate between 750 million and 4 billion yuan in net profit.

Furthermore, the report suggests that combining the growth in export sales with improvements in the domestic business structure will significantly enhance the visibility of BYD's electric vehicle profitability for the second quarter and the second half of the year.