Cars and Drivers

Why Chinese Electric Carmaker Nio Shares Are Soaring

Paul Ausick

Published: December 30, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: December 30, 2019 8:51 am

Nio Ltd. (NYSE: NIO) reported fiscal third-quarter 2019 results before markets opened Monday. The China-based electric vehicle maker reported a quarterly adjusted diluted loss per share of $0.33 on revenues of $262.9 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported a net loss per share of $1.48 on revenue of $210.36 million. Third-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for a loss per share of $0.34 and $230.08 million in revenue.

The company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange in September of 2018, raising $1 billion by selling 160 million shares at $6.26, a penny above the low-end of the expected range. Shares dropped 14% on the first day but closed the week up 58%. The stock closed at $2.42 last Friday.

The third-quarter net loss totaled $352.8 million, a year-over-year improvement of 10.3% and a sequential improvement of more than 23%.

Founder and CEO William Bin Li said:

NIO delivered a total of 4,799 ES8 and ES6 vehicles in the third quarter of 2019, representing a 35.1% increase from the second quarter. The electric vehicle sector experienced substantial softness in the second half of 2019 after the reduction of EV subsidies in China. Despite the challenges, NIO’s sales improved solidly since September. … We expect over 8,000 vehicles to be delivered in the fourth quarter, a record of quarterly deliveries in our history. With that, the total aggregate deliveries in 2019 are estimated to reach over 20,300.

At its “Nio Day” event last week, the company announced a new 100-kWh battery pack for the top-of-the-line ES8 and a 20-kWh home fast-charging unit. The 100-kWh battery pack can be swapped in for existing ES8s with the original 74-kWh pack because the two battery packs are designed to fit into the same amount of space.

For the fourth quarter, ending this month, Nio expects to deliver 8,000 units, a 67% sequential increase. Total revenues are projected at $393.2 million, up about 53% sequentially.

Analysts are forecasting a quarterly net loss per share of $0.30 and revenues of $289.19 million. For the full year, the forecast net loss totals $1.49 on sales of $1.03 billion.

The smaller-than-expected per share loss, the higher revenues and the forecast for a jump of almost a third in quarterly revenues has made investors giddy. Shares traded up around 20% in Monday’s premarket, at $2.90 in a 52-week range of $1.19 to $10.64. The 12-month consensus price target is $3.03.