Haidilao International Shares Jump on Delivery Growth Surge

At a table crowded with side dishes, a four chambered hot pot simmers between diners passing chopsticks and phones in equal measure, broth bubbling in sections divided by spice and clarity. It is an ordinary scene repeated across thousands of tables daily, yet behind that shared pot sits a business whose latest results just moved markets. Haidilao International shares rose more than 7 percent in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after the company's first half results showed a business quietly reshaping itself well beyond the dining room.

What the Numbers Actually Show

Haidilao's revenue rose 7.9 percent year on year to 22.34 billion yuan, roughly 3.32 billion dollars, in the six months to June, with core operating profit, a non IFRS measure, climbing 4.4 percent to 2.51 billion yuan. Steady growth of that kind, in a mature restaurant chain, would ordinarily draw modest attention. What moved the stock further was the composition of that growth, not simply more diners at more tables, but a business model expanding beyond the dine in experience altogether.

Delivery as the Real Driver

Delivery revenue jumped 121.2 percent to 2.05 billion yuan, more than doubling within a single half year period, while revenue from other restaurant operations surged 113.1 percent to 1.27 billion yuan. Those figures suggest Haidilao has found genuine traction outside its traditional hot pot dining rooms, a meaningful shift for a chain whose brand has long been built around communal, in person dining rather than takeout convenience.

A Brand Built on the Dining Room, Now Betting Beyond It

Haidilao's reputation rests heavily on its dine in service culture, elaborate tableside preparation, attentive staff, and a hot pot format that practically demands a shared table rather than a solo delivery order. Growing delivery revenue at this pace, without a corresponding brand built for that format, represents a genuine operational pivot, one that raises the question of how much of the company's signature service culture can realistically translate into a delivery box.

New Formats Entering Wider Rollout

Haidilao indicated that some newer restaurant formats under its Pomegranate Plan are now entering what the company describes as large scale replication, language suggesting these concepts have moved past pilot testing into active expansion. For a chain long associated with a single dominant format, diversifying into multiple restaurant brands under one corporate umbrella mirrors a broader strategy increasingly common among large restaurant groups seeking growth beyond their flagship concept's natural ceiling.

What Analysts Are Watching Next

Citi has projected faster top line growth for Haidilao in 2027, a forecast that appears to rest heavily on continued momentum from both delivery expansion and the newer restaurant formats scaling up. Whether that growth materialises as projected will depend significantly on how well Haidilao manages the operational complexity of running multiple brand formats alongside its core hot pot business, a balancing act that has tripped up other restaurant groups attempting similar diversification.

What a Rising Share Price Doesn't Show

None of Wednesday's market reaction changes what happens at the table itself, the same simmering broth, the same shared bowls passed between diners, the same ordinary evening repeated across thousands of locations. What has changed sits mostly in spreadsheets and delivery apps, a reminder that a restaurant chain's most visible experience and its most consequential business decisions increasingly happen in entirely separate places.

More information is available on the official website at haidilao.com. Further reading on the restaurant industry is available at hospitalitycareerprofile.com.