The quarterly scorecards for the electric vehicle manufacturers are in and despite industry-wide constraints and macroeconomic handicaps, performances for the month of March, as well as the first quarter, have been strong.
Here's a comparative take on first-quarter deliveries of Tesla, Inc. TSLA and the Chinese EV players Li Auto Inc. LI, XPeng Inc. XPEV and NIO Limited NIO:
Q1 EV Scorecard: Tesla delivered 184,800 vehicles in the first quarter, with 99% of these being Model 3/Y vehicles. This represented a 2.3% quarterly increase and a 109% year-over-year jump.
In comparison, Nio's first-quarter deliveries jumped 423% year-over-year to 20,060 vehicles. This represented a 15.6% quarter-over-quarter increase. The company currently sells three SUV models, namely ES6, ES8 and EC6.
XPeng, which has a SUV named G3 and a sedan named P7, said its first-quarter deliveries totaled 13,340. This represents 487% year-over-year growth and a 2.9% quarter-over-quarter rise.
Li Auto, which sells Li ONE SUV, reported deliveries of 12,579 for the first quarter, a climb of 334.4% from last year. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, deliveries fell 13%.
For Nio and Xpeng, quarterly performances represented the biggest ever on record.
Takeaways: Going by absolute numbers, Tesla by far is the largest player in the EV arena. Nio's first-quarter deliveries were roughly 11% of what Tesla sold in the quarter. The EV market is turning out to be a crowded field with legacy automakers, pure-play EV companies, as well as tech companies, all flexing their muscles.
See also: How to Buy XPeng Motors (XPEV) Stock
Against this backdrop, the market is likely to get more fragmented than ever before, and incumbents will have a true challenge in maintaining or growing their share. The first-mover advantage has placed Tesla in a dominant position in the market, which others might find too difficult to challenge.
However, Nio stands out in terms of growth. The company managed to grow decently both on a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis.
Looking Forward: Sell-side is largely bullish on the EV industry as a whole. The Biden Administration's EV commitment and brisk demand in China and Europe are likely to propel the EV sector into a "Golden Age," with a new auto supply of OEMs, battery, recycling, commercial vehicles, trucks and fleet conversions being built over the next decade, Wedbush's Daniel Ives said in a recent note.
Related Link: Why This Nio, Xpeng Analyst Is Bullish After Q1 EV Delivery Updates
The analyst sees EV stocks moving 30-40% higher the rest of the year as the Street further digests this transformational growth on the horizon.
Those firms which pursue innovation in technology and services, are customer-centric and provide value for buyers will leave the others behind in this "hot-and-happening" market.
EV Price Action: Reacting to the quarterly numbers, Tesla shares were up 4.43% to $691.05. Nio and XPeng and Li Auto shares are lower following Thursday's upside in reaction to their numbers.
Nio was down 0.88% to $39.31, XPeng was down 2.54% to $36.01 and Li Auto was down 1.23% to $24.94.
(Photo: Clockwise from top left: Tesla, XPeng, Nio and Li, courtesy of manufacturers)
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
