(Yicai) Aug. 13 -- Lenovo’s shares surged after the world’s biggest maker of personal computers by shipments and market share reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings, driven by the ongoing boom in artificial intelligence-related hardware.

Lenovo [HKG: 0992] closed up 20 percent at HKD34.90 (USD4.45) per share in Hong Kong today, taking this year’s gain to almost 280 percent.

Adjusted net profit soared 176 percent to USD1.08 billion in the three months ended June 30 from a year ago, the Beijing-based company said in an earnings report released a noon. Operating revenue jumped 43 percent to USD26.9 billion, the fastest growth in five years.

“Lenovo just delivered the best quarter in our entire history. Record revenue, record adjusted profit, and record AI momentum,” Chairman and Chief Executive Yuanqing Yang said on the company’s earnings conference call.

AI is now the underlying growth engine for Lenovo, with AI-related business income surging 60 percent in the quarter to a record high of CNY63.4 billion, accounting for about 35 percent of the firm’s total revenue.

“Our years of investment and transformation are already paying off,” Yang noted. “AI is now a clear growth engine across every business group.”

The company also logged an unusual net loss of USD609 million, which was was largely the result of a USD1.7 billion non-cash fair-value loss on warrants issued in 2025 as well as nominal interest of USD30 million on convertible bonds.

At the end of March, Yang announced the company’s goal of reaching USD100 billion in annual revenue within two years. “Given the momentum we’ve built in the first quarter, I'm confident we’re ahead of schedule and on track to achieve it sooner than planned,” he said today.

Lenovo’s three main business groups maintained steady growth. The Intelligent Device Group continued to expand its global lead, with revenue rising 27 percent to CNY116.4 billion (USD17.25 billion), despite overall market pressure. 

The Infrastructure Solutions Group nearly doubled revenue to a record high of CNY57.9 billion. The Solutions and Services Group reported CNY19.6 billion of revenue, up 28 percent, achieving double-digit growth for the 21st quarter in a row.

Lenovo remains the world’s biggest PC maker, with a market share 5.3 percentage points ahead of second-placed HP, expanding its lead for the 10th consecutive quarter.

Editor: Tom Litting