NIO Inc.

Last modified by Wilton Risenhoover on 2023/11/06 00:31

Overview

Headquartered in Shanghai, China, NIO Inc. (NIO) develops, manufactures, and markets electric vehicles (EVs), primarily within its home market. Founded in 2014, the electric automaker debut its first vehicle (the ES8 SUV) in 2017, and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018¹.

In the eighteen months following its public debut, Nio experienced many challenges, finding itself on the brink of bankruptcy in early 2020². However, following a $1 billion capital infusion by the Chinese city of Hefei, the company's fortunes began to improve.

Expanding into electric sedans, with the ET7³, as well as benefiting from China experiencing its recovery from the initial outbreak of the coronavirus, Nio's annual revenue went from $1.12 billion in 2019, to $2.49 billion in 2020⁴, with analyst estimating the company's annual revenue to hit $5.62 billion for 2021⁵.

Thanks to its improved results, plus the "EV bubble" that emerged in electric vehicle stocks, NIO stock went from around $2.50 per share in March 2020, to as much as $66.99 per share in January 2021, before experiencing a continued pullback due to several issues.

Recent Developments

As a company, Nio has continued to make progress living up to longstanding expectations of it being a possible competitor to global EV makers like Tesla. Launching in its first market outside China (Norway) in late 2021⁶, it intends to gradually expand into other European markets.

At its 2021 "Nio Day" event, the automaker unveiled a second sedan model, the ET5, a possible rival to Tesla's Model 3⁷. Nio is also making progress with another key part of its gameplan—what it dubs "battery as a service." Throughout China, it has established battery swapping stations, to enable customers to swap empty batteries in lieu of charging them. Now providing an average of 20,000 swaps per day, Nio plans to have 1,300 battery swap stations by the end of 2022⁸.

But while the company continues to thrive, its stock has not performed well over the past twelve months. Falling around 35% in 2021, several factors are weighing it down. First, waning enthusiasm for EV stocks, fueled to some extent by the prospect of a more hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022, which could make speculative growth stocks less appeal.

Second, China's "tech crackdown" has had an indirect impact on shares as well⁹. With Chinese companies with US. stock market listings facing greater scrutiny, there is concern that companies like Nio will opt to delist from U.S. stock exchanges.