The 2026 A-share construction machinery interim reporting season has drawn to a close, and the three industry leaders delivered the same "contradictory" report card: revenue grew positive across the board, but net profit diverged markedly. Sany Heavy Industry's revenue reached 535.06 hundred million yuan, up 19.49% year on year; XCMG Machinery's revenue reached 612.47 hundred million yuan, up 11.75%; and Zoomlion Heavy Industry's revenue reached 271.35 hundred million yuan, up 9.17%. On the profit side, however, Sany's net profit attributable to shareholders rose 9.13%, XCMG's fell 9.09%, and Zoomlion's dropped 23.97%.

Same industry, yet revenue is rising everywhere while profits have split into three distinct paths. The answer lies in overseas revenue share, gross margins, and a shared "exchange loss account."

Sany Heavy Industry: Overseas Share of 61.33% Hits a Record High

In H1 2026, Sany Heavy Industry achieved total operating revenue of 535.06 hundred million yuan, up 19.49% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 56.90 hundred million yuan, up 9.13%. In Q2 alone, quarterly revenue reached 293.59 hundred million yuan, up 24.39% — a growth rate even higher than the H1 average, indicating a solid start to the second half.

The most eye-catching figure is overseas: overseas sales revenue from the main business reached 320.40 hundred million yuan, up 21.82% year on year, accounting for 61.33% of main business revenue — a record high for the same period. By region: Asia-Pacific and Oceania reached 134.4 hundred million yuan, up 17.38%; Europe reached 69.3 hundred million yuan, up 12.68%; the Americas reached 63.1 hundred million yuan, up 24.70%; and Africa reached 53.6 hundred million yuan, up 47.66%. All four regions grew positively, with Africa's growth rate nearing 50%.

Product lines also flourished across the board: excavation machinery sales revenue reached 213.06 hundred million yuan, up 21.77%, firmly holding first place in the domestic market; concrete machinery reached 90.22 hundred million yuan, up 21.25%, maintaining its position as the world's number-one brand; and pile-driving machinery reached 21.87 hundred million yuan, a surge of 63.11%. For the latest quotes on Sany's flagship models, feel free to contact us for a detailed configuration sheet.

Backing up this overseas system is genuine investment: Sany has built a channel system covering more than 500 overseas subsidiaries, joint ventures and dealers, with a local workforce ratio exceeding 70% overseas, plus a global warehousing network comprising 6 domestic central warehouses, 2 overseas supply center warehouses and nearly 1000 overseas parts warehouses. In H1, the manufacturing base in Brazil also rolled off its first excavator prototype. For a deeper understanding of the overall trajectory of Chinese brands going global, see our earlier analysis on Chinese construction machinery exports surpassing domestic sales for eight consecutive months.

Sany Heavy Industry H1 2026 overseas regional revenue structure

XCMG Machinery: Revenue Ranked First, Profit Edges Down

In H1, XCMG Machinery's main business revenue reached 612.47 hundred million yuan, up 11.75% year on year, ranking first among the three leaders by revenue scale. But net profit attributable to shareholders was 39.62 hundred million yuan, down 9.09% year on year, making it the only one of the three whose revenue rose while profit fell.

XCMG's problem is not on the sales side but on the expense and structural side. Q2 net profit fell 17.85% year on year, with pressure concentrated in the second quarter. Still, in the same period of 2025 XCMG delivered a record net profit attributable to shareholders of 43.58 hundred million yuan, up 16.63%; this year's decline reflects both a high base effect and industry-wide cost increases.

Worth noting: both Sany and Zoomlion explicitly listed exchange losses as a drag on profit in their interim reports, and XCMG is equally exposed to the translation pressure on overseas revenue from the appreciation of the renminbi. As the revenue leader, XCMG is going through the classic growing-pains phase of "revenue up, profit down."

Zoomlion Heavy Industry: Excluding Exchange Losses, Real Earnings Grew by Double Digits

Zoomlion Heavy Industry's figures are the most revealing. H1 revenue reached 271.35 hundred million yuan, up 9.17% year on year — of which domestic revenue was 116 hundred million yuan, up 5.08%, and overseas revenue was 155.35 hundred million yuan, up 12.45%, with overseas revenue accounting for 57.25%, up 1.67 percentage points year on year.

On the surface, net profit attributable to shareholders was 21.02 hundred million yuan, down 23.97%, but the company stated clearly: excluding the phased exchange losses caused by renminbi appreciation, net profit attributable to shareholders was 28.02 hundred million yuan, up 17.19%. In other words, Zoomlion's real operating profit was in fact growing by double digits — the decline in reported profit is mainly a "paper loss" from exchange rate translation.

Illustration of Zoomlion's emerging business segments' revenue share

Zoomlion's second growth curve is also worth watching: in H1, revenue from emerging businesses such as earthmoving, mining, high-altitude work platforms and agricultural machinery totaled about 125 hundred million yuan, up about 10% year on year, and now exceeds 46% of total revenue. Net operating cash flow was 24.20 hundred million yuan, up 38.12% year on year, with a cash collection rate of 103.82%, showing clearly improved collection quality. The Hungary plant has also entered production. For more details on how Chinese brands are playing the African market, see our case breakdown of Xiangji's African expansion with 80% growth.

The Common Enemy: Exchange Losses of 21 Hundred Million Yuan

Lay the three companies' income statements side by side and a commonality surfaces: exchange rate fluctuations are becoming the "hidden tax" on construction machinery going global.

In H1, Sany Heavy Industry incurred 21.03 hundred million yuan in exchange losses due to exchange rate movements, directly dragging down non-recurring-adjusted net profit by 13.45% year on year; the weighted average return on net assets for the period was 6.16%, down 0.83 percentage points year on year. Zoomlion Heavy Industry's net profit rose 17.19% excluding exchange losses, while the reported figure fell 23.97% — the gap likewise comes from exchange rates. Industry analysis generally holds that the phased appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar in 2026 has squeezed reported profits across construction machinery companies that rely primarily on overseas revenue.

This is a sign of the industry's maturity: once overseas revenue share routinely exceeds 50%, a company's income statement becomes bound to the foreign exchange market. The competitiveness of the leaders going forward will lie not only in manufacturing but also in exchange rate management and global capital allocation capability.

Benchmarking Caterpillar: What Money Are the Overseas Giants Making?

Looking globally, 2026 has been anything but quiet for Caterpillar too. On August 4, Caterpillar raised its full-year 2026 sales growth guidance after releasing its Q2 earnings, citing continued AI data center construction driving equipment demand; the earnings beat pushed the stock up 10.7% in a single day.

By comparison, the common strengths of China's big three are overseas growth and electrification layout, while their weaknesses are high exchange rate exposure and the quality of non-recurring-adjusted profits. On the global top-50 ranking, 13 Chinese companies now make the list — the gap between leading domestic makers and Caterpillar is narrowing but still exists. For a full reading of the ranking, see our in-depth analysis of the Yellow Table 2026.

Competitive landscape comparison between China's three leaders and Caterpillar

Another variable is electrification: in H1, Chinese excavator exports grew 33% year on year, with the share of electric products rising rapidly. The structure of overseas revenue is shifting from "selling more" to "selling for more and selling green."

Final Word: The Divergence Is Only Just Beginning

The 2026 interim reporting season delivered three clear signals:

Overseas is the sole main growth engine: Sany's overseas share is 61.33% and Zoomlion's 57.25%; domestic operations are still in a bottoming-out and recovery phase;

Profit divergence is, in essence, a divergence in capability: exchange losses hit everyone, but Zoomlion's profit excluding exchange losses was +17.19%, showing that real operating quality differences have already opened up;

The industry's logic is shifting from "selling products" to "industrial globalization": localized manufacturing, parts networks and service systems are replacing simple finished-equipment exports as the decisive factor in the next phase.

For buyers, this is good news as well: intensifying competition among Chinese brands, rising supply of used equipment, and more electrified model choices — the cost window for buying used machinery and equipment and for complete-set solutions is opening up.

For the latest quotes and configuration plans for Sany concrete pumps, XCMG cranes or Zoomlion concrete machinery, feel free to contact our sales team. EquipNode provides one-stop support for global customers covering equipment selection, export customs clearance and after-sales service.