emaining “in a rapid growth phase with significant structural opportunities ahead.” The company’s net revenue rose 43 per cent year-on-year to RMB49.3 billion, with net profit increasing 22 per cent to RMB3.6 billion.  Accelerating market According to the company, the average monthly number of transacting customers exceeded 100 million for five consecutive months in the second half. Over the year, Luckin added 110 million new transacting customers, bringing its cumulative base to more than 450 million. Annual cup sales surged 39 per cent to 4.1 billion beverages. Management credits part of that surge to food delivery platform subsidies that “significantly accelerated coffee adoption among Chinese consumers.” The discounting wave lowered entry barriers and expanded penetration beyond tier-one cities. But subsidies cut both ways. In the fourth quarter, as platforms reduced incentives during the off-peak season, same-store sales growth for self-operated stores moderated to 1.2 per cent.  Guo acknowledged the volatility.  “Given the evolving food delivery platform subsidy dynamics and the high base created by large-scale subsidies in 2025, we may continue to see some near-term volatility and challenges in same-store performance and profitability in 2026,” he said.  “However, we believe these short-term fluctuations don’t change the underlying drivers of our long-term growth.” Scale as a competitive moat  Luckin’s leadership insists the company’s competitive edge is no longer about one-hit products or aggressive pricing. Guo said that freshly brewed coffee as a business, inherently centred on offline physical locations and comprehensive consumer experiences, derives its core competitive moat not from any single dimension, but from integrated end-to-end operational and systematic strength across the entire value chain. Last year, the company added 1792 net new stores in China, bringing its domestic total to 30,888, including 20,144 self-operated and 10,744 partnership stores. Revenues from self-operated stores grew 32 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, while partnership store revenues rose 39 per cent, driven by material sales and delivery fees.  Luckin relies on what Guo described as an “industry-leading digital site selection and planning system” to maintain an “efficient and competitive pace” while monitoring ramp-up cycles to preserve unit economics. On the product side, the company launched more than 140 new beverages last year, including 30 in the fourth quarter alone. Non-coffee beverages now account for more than 20 per cent of total cups sold.  Testing the model overseas  While China remains the core growth engine, international expansion is emerging as the next proving ground. “Mainland China’s coffee market remains the most attractive globally in terms of growth and upside potential,” Guo said. “But the comprehensive advantages and proven business model we built in China will also form the core advantages for our overseas expansion.” By year-end, Luckin had 160 overseas stores: 81 self-operated in Singapore, 70 franchised in Malaysia and nine self-operated in the US. While in Singapore, after three years of build-out, Luckin ranks among the leading coffee brands there by store count. In Malaysia, it entered through a master franchise model in 2025, representing a more asset-light approach. Guo described the Malaysian business as entering “a phase of accelerated expansion,” supported by lessons from Singapore. The US, by contrast, is considered a long-term exploration. “As one of the world’s largest and most mature coffee markets, the US represents an important long-term opportunity,” Guo said. “At this very early stage, our priority remains on validating our business model and building operational experience.” With just nine stores open, Luckin is focused on refining supply chain, product R&D and consumer insights before considering scale.  The company insists that China remains its core growth engine, but overseas markets offer strategic optionality. A validated franchise model in Southeast Asia could become a replicable template across emerging markets. The US, while higher risk, offers brand prestige and long-term upside if the model can adapt. Disciplined expansion “In a complex and dynamic market environment, we will maintain a disciplined yet agile development approach,” Guo said, outlining a strategy centred on stores, costs and price architecture. Luckin plans to maintain what it calls an “efficient and competitive pace”, leveraging its digital site selection system to capture fast-growing demand while closely monitoring store ramp-up cycles to ensure healthy maturation. Pricing will remain competitive but more flexible. Management plans to broaden the price range and optimise overall pricing architecture, pairing entry-level affordability with higher-end customisation options.  At the same time, management is realistic about headwinds. The fading of delivery subsidies and a high comparison base from 2025 may weigh on same-store sales and margins in the near term. Yet Luckin believes that scale-driven efficiencies, including lower per-order delivery costs and procurement leverage, will offset part of that pressure over time. Further reading: Can Luckin Coffee take on Starbucks in its own backyard?