While NIO Struggles To Break Q1 Headwinds, What's Going On With Other Chinese EV Makers?

NIO Inc – ADR NIO issued mixed first-quarter results Friday, showing a decrease in gross vehicle margins, and a net loss increase.

What does it mean for other Chinese players in the EV industry?

By The Numbers: NIO reported the loss of 36 cents per share, down from a 13-cent loss in the year-ago quarter, on revenues of $1.55 billion, which came under the $1.56 billion it booked last year’s first quarter.

Vehicle margin was at 5.1%, compared to 18.1% in the same quarter last year and 6.8% in the fourth quarter.

The company delivered 20% more vehicles year-over-year in the first quarter at 31,041 units, but it was down 22.5% against the previous quarter.

For the second quarter, NIO expects vehicle deliveries to be in the range of 23,000 to 25,000, which would be down between 8.2% and 0.2% year-over-year. The company expects second-quarter revenue to fall between $1.27 billion and $1.36 billion, which would be a year-over-year decrease of 15.1% to 9%.

In terms of impact on the Chinese EV industry, Nio is the laggard.

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Li Auto Inc LI is outperforming NIO with strong delivery performance and its financial position. In May, Li Auto delivered 28,277 vehicles, up about 146% from last year, marking the third consecutive month that its deliveries have topped the 20,000 mark.

Li turned a net profit of about $136 million in the first quarter, compared to a loss in the year-ago period. The company also has a strong cash position of $9.5 billion, compared to about $1.7 billion in debt, and is targeting second-quarter deliveries of about 78,500 units, marking a sequential increase of 48%​.

BYD Company ADR BYDDY, the largest EV maker in China with Tesla Inc TSLA in second place.

The company issued upbeat earnings in April. BYD said first-quarter profits came in at $596.56 million, up a staggering 410% from the year-ago quarter, on bookings of $16.857 billion, up 79.8% from last year.

The Warren Buffett-backed company outsold Volkswagen AG VWAGY-branded vehicles in China during the first quarter, according to Reuters.

In terms of ratings on Nio, prominent analysts haven't updated calls since early March, with Barclays and JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM each downgrading the stock.

Barclays issued a downgrade of Nio shares from Overweight to Equal Weight, and lowered the price target from $18 to $10.

JPMorgan issued a downgrade of Nio shares from Overweight to Neutral, taking the price target down from $14 to $10.

NIO Price Action: Shares of NIO are trading 1.54% higher to $7.91 on Friday afternoon, according to Benzinga Pro.

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