Key Takeaways
- Nio reported first-quarter results below analyst estimates Thursday as deliveries and revenue fell year-over-year.
- The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker posted a larger net loss than expected as lower prices hurt the company’s top and bottom lines.
- However, Nio projects deliveries to more than double in the second quarter compared to last year, with revenue projected to rise around 90%.
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NIO) reported first-quarter results below expectations Thursday, falling short on revenue and posting a wider loss than analysts had expected, sending the company’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) lower in premarket trading.
The automaker delivered 30,053 vehicles in the first quarter, in line with its downwardly revised projections in March, which also sent ADRs lower at the time. In the first quarter of 2023, the company delivered 31,041 vehicles.
Nio Posts Q1 Results Below Expectation
The drop in vehicle deliveries compared to the year-ago quarter was accompanied by a similar drop in revenue, to 9.91 billion Chinese yuan ($1.37 billion), down 7% from last year. Analysts had expected revenue to be roughly flat at CNY10.61 billion, according to consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.
Nio said its revenue was impacted by fewer deliveries and lower average selling price, as firms across the EV industry in China have constantly shifted prices to compete with other domestic companies along with international automakers like Tesla (TSLA).
Nio also reported a loss of CNY5.18 billion, more than 9% larger than a year ago and wider than the CNY4.48 billion loss that analysts had projected. On a per-share basis, Nio lost CNY2.57, more than the CNY2.31 analysts anticipated.
Nio Q2 Deliveries, Revenue Guidance Rosier
For the first two months of the current quarter, Nio has sold over 36,000 vehicles, already surpassing the second quarter of 2023, when Nio delivered 23,520 vehicles. For the full quarter, Nio projects deliveries to more than double from last year, to between 54,000 and 56,000 vehicles.
Nio projects revenue to nearly double to a range of CNY16.59 billion to CNY17.14 billion from the second quarter of last year, when it generated CNY8.77 billion. Analysts expect second-quarter revenue of CNY14.59 billion.
Nio’s ADRs slipped 3.8% to $5.07 about an hour before the opening bell Thursday, putting them down nearly 45% so far this year.