Nio Stock Is Falling Thursday: What's Going On?

NIO Inc NIO shares are trading lower. The company on Thursday launched a smartphone designed to be used with its electric vehicles.

What Happened: Nio has unveiled a new high-end smartphone capable of communicating with Nio vehicles, triggering functions like parking, unlocking the vehicle and picking up the user, per Reuters.

The Nio Phone has more than 30 car-specific functions and will initially only be sold in China, starting Sept. 28. The smartphone will be offered in three different models priced in the range of 6,499 and 7,499 yuan ($890 to $1,030). 

"I believe many of our competitors will learn from our smartphone innovations and I welcome them to do so," said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio.

The news comes after Nio proposed a $1 billion offering of convertible senior notes due 2029 and 2030 this week. Nio said it plans to use some of the proceeds to repurchase existing debt securities. The remainder will mainly be used to further strengthen the company's balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes. 

The Reuters report indicates that some investors fear Nio is taking on too much at a time when it should be focusing on beating out competition in the highly competitive electric vehicle space, which could help explain the decline in shares on Thursday.

Nio shares have faced heavy selling pressure over the last year. The stock is down about 10% year-to-date and more than 50% over a one-year period.

See Also: Cathie Wood's Ark Invest Expects Grid To Be Capable Of Handling Mass EV Adoption

NIO Price Action: Nio shares were down 3.51% at $8.51 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Nio.