Tag Archives: Nio Inc

Business

Fastly has room to run to the upside

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Fastly: “I like it, but it’s caught up in the Zoom, Peloton, you know it’s caught up in the Zscaler. It’s regarded as a high-multiple stock, but I wouldn’t sell it here. I think this one has room to run to the upside. Maybe not all the way back, but certainly to the upside.”

Taiwan Semiconductor: “Taiwan Semi’s got so many orders, don’t know what to do with it. I would buy it at these levels.”

Retractable Technologies: “I think that this kind of stock right now is not going to be working and I would not be a buyer of Retractable.”

Canoo: “Let’s have them on the show, but this group has become very, very tough … I have to just say right now there are other ways to make money that are easier.”

Nio: “Nio’s got to come down. I mean, there’s just too much hot money in some of these. I recognize that [but] that doesn’t mean I don’t like the company.”

Plug Power: “I’ve got to get them on … We’ve got to find out what the hell is going on.”

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Chinese electric car start-ups Nio, Xpeng post strong March deliveries

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Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng stands next to the company’s P7 electric sedan as he addresses media at the 2020 Beijing auto show.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

BEIJING — Two of China’s U.S.-listed electric car start-ups beat market expectations in their March deliveries, with both companies setting quarterly records.

Xpeng said Thursday it delivered 5,102 cars in March, beating implied deliveries of 4,262 cars for that month. The company delivered a total of 13,340 vehicles in the first quarter, topping its guidance of 12,500 for the period.

Nio announced deliveries of 7,257 vehicles in March, marking 20,060 cars for the first three months of the year — the most for any quarter, according to the company.

That falls within Nio’s original first quarter guidance of 20,000 to 20,500 vehicles. Nio had lowered the forecast last week to 19,500 cars after announcing a five-day factory closure due to a shortage in semiconductors.

Shares of both companies rose more than 1% during Thursday’s trading session in New York. The stocks remain in negative territory for the year so far, after surging in 2020.

Xpeng’s March deliveries were roughly split between the company’s P7 sedan and G3 SUV. Among Nio’s three models — all SUVs — the company said its five-seat ES6 saw the most demand with more than 3,000 deliveries last month.

The delivery beat is “a very positive indicator of the China EV market growth trajectory for the rest of the year,” Wedbush analysts Dan Ives and Strecker Backe wrote. They also predict March was a good month for Tesla in China, and expect electric vehicle stocks will climb 30% to 40% higher this year.

BYD’s stellar sales in March

However, the start-ups’ record quarterly deliveries still pale in comparison with Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer BYD.

For the company’s Han model alone — which comes in both hybrid and pure-electric versions — sales topped 10,000 units in March, BYD management told Citi analysts in a call Tuesday. BYD’s total sales of new energy vehicles hit 23,000 units last month, according to Citi.

BYD expects that in December, it can reach sales of 30,000 cars in just the battery-powered category, Citi said.

Another U.S.-listed Chinese electric car start-up, Li Auto, had not released first quarter figures as of Friday morning Beijing time.

The company forecast in February it would deliver between 10,500 and 11,500 cars in the first quarter, or fewer than 4,000 vehicles a month. Li Auto’s only model on the market is an SUV that comes with a fuel tank for charging the battery.

Li Auto shares rose 1% Thursday and are down about 12% year-to-date.

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Business

Stellantis closing five North American plants due to chip shortage

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A United Auto Worker member leaves the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Warren Truck Plant after the first work shift on May 18, 2020 in Warren, Michigan.

Gregory Shamus | Getty Images

A global shortage of semiconductor chips is forcing Stellantis to temporally close five North American plants starting next week, the company confirmed Friday afternoon.

The impacted plants are in Illinois, Michigan, Mexico and two in Ontario, Canada. They build an array of products for the company – from older Ram 1500 pickup trucks and Jeep models to minivans and Dodge and Chrysler cars. The facilities, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler, are expected to be closed from Monday through early or mid-April, according to the company

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the company said in an emailed statement to CNBC. A spokeswoman for Stellantis declined to disclose how many units of production are expected to be lost.

Semiconductors are key components used in the infotainment, power steering and braking of new vehicles, among other systems. Suppliers directed semiconductors away from the automotive industry as multiple plants shut down last year due to Covid.

Consulting firm AlixPartners estimates the chip shortage will cut $60.6 billion in revenue from the global automotive industry this year.

The shortage is impacting every automaker differently. Several manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford Motor and Chinese EV start-up Nio, this week also announced production cuts or plans to extend downtime at facilities that have already been impacted by the shortage.

Vehicles impacted by Stellantis’ production halts include the Chrysler 300 sedan and Pacifica and Voyager minivans, Dodge Charger and Challenger cars, Jeep Cherokee and Compass SUVs and Ram 1500 Classic pickup. A newer version of the Ram 1500 remains in production at a different Michigan plant.

Stellantis is the merged automaker of Fiat Chrysler and France-based Groupe PSA. In the U.S., its core brands include Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram.

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Business

Chinese EV start-up Nio shuts factory for 5 days due to chip shortage

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Employees make checks at an inspection line during a media tour of the Nio Inc. production facility in Hefei, Anhui province, China, on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BEIJING — Chinese electric car start-up Nio said Friday it is shutting a factory for five days due to the global shortage in semiconductors.

The production halt beginning March 29 will reduce Nio’s first-quarter deliveries by at least 500 vehicles, the company said.

That puts expected deliveries for the first three months of the year at 19,500, versus the previously announced forecast of 20,000 to 20,500.

Even with the reduction, Nio is on track for more car deliveries to start 2021 than rivals Xpeng and Li Auto.

Global automakers have announced production halts due to a shortage in semiconductors. The highly specialized supply chain for chips has suffered from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and trade tensions between China and the U.S. that began under the Trump administration.

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Chinese electric carmakers add $13.65 billion in value as Tesla surges

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A Nio ES6 electric vehicle is on display at an automotive experience area of Wanda Plaza on Nov. 28, 2020 in Beijing, China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Three U.S. listed Chinese electric carmakers added a collective $13.65 billion of value on Tuesday as their stock prices surged.

The Chinese start-ups — Nio, Xpeng Motors and Li Auto — followed their American rival Tesla higher.

Tesla shares surged nearly 20% on Wednesday as technology stocks on Wall Street rallied overnight.

On Tuesday, Nio closed 17.44% higher at $41.35, Li Auto was up 8.2% at $23.08 and Xpeng Motors rose 11.33% at $29.97.

The electric vehicle makers were also given a boost by a Reuters report that the three companies could carry out a secondary listing in Hong Kong as soon as this year. Secondary listings in Hong Kong have been a popular route for Chinese companies that are already listed on Wall Street.

Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng have had huge rallies so far. Nio is up over 1,000% in the last 12 months. Xpeng’s share price has nearly doubled since its initial public offering in August.

All three automakers have also released their forecast for vehicle deliveries for the first quarter.

Nio said it expects to deliver 20,000 to 20,500 cars in the March quarter, higher than the December quarter. Xpeng meanwhile expects deliveries of 12,500 vehicles in the first quarter, down slightly from the fourth quarter. Li Auto said it would deliver between 10,500 and 11,500 cars in the first three months of 2021, lower than its fourth quarter deliveries. The first quarter involved the Chinese new year holiday.

In February, retail sales of so-called new energy passenger vehicles reached 97,000, an increase of 675% year-on-year, according to the China Passenger Car Association. In February 2020, almost the whole of China was effectively locked down to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, accounting for a low base. But the February 2021 figures were a decrease of 37.9% from January.

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Business

Xpeng predicts it will deliver fewer electric cars than Nio

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Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng stands next to the company’s P7 electric sedan as he addresses media at the 2020 Beijing auto show.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

BEIJING — Chinese electric car maker Xpeng forecast it will deliver far fewer cars than rival start-up Nio in the first three months of the year.

New York-listed Xpeng announced overnight it would likely deliver around 12,500 vehicles in the first quarter. That implies deliveries of 4,250 cars for March, based on January’s 6,015 figure and drop to 2,223 in February.

Even considering the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February, those figures fall short of Nio’s.

Last week, Nio forecast deliveries of 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles in the first quarter, implying deliveries of at least 7,197 cars in March. The company only delivers SUVs right now, and sells them in a higher price range than Xpeng’s cars.

While Nio plans to deliver a sedan to customers early next year, Xpeng launched its P7 sedan last year, which has accounted for a growing share of deliveries versus its G3 SUV. Xpeng plans to release another sedan later this year.

Li Auto, another Chinese electric car company listed in the U.S., gave the lowest forecast of the three start-ups, at 10,500 to 11,500 deliveries for the first quarter.

Despite the attention on start-ups like Nio and Xpeng, older automakers Tesla and BYD are already selling electric cars in China at a far greater scale. In January alone, Tesla sold more than 14,500 China-made Model 3s and BYD more than 7,200 of its Han model, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association released Tuesday.

After surging in 2020, shares of U.S.-listed electric car companies have fallen in the last two months amid the U.S. stock market’s volatile start to the year.

  • Shares of Xpeng fell nearly 4% overnight and are down more than 35% for the year so far.
  • Nio fell 7.6% overnight and is down more than 25% year to date.
  • Li Auto shares fell 5% to start the week and are down 26% for the year so far.
  • Tesla shares fell more than 5% in Monday’s session and are down 20% for the year so far.

Autonomous driving software

As Nio, Tesla and other car companies race to develop self-driving technology, Xpeng began rolling out its autonomous driving software to some premium P7 sedan customers this year. The technology allows users to automate tasks such as changing lanes and entering and exiting highways.

About one-fifth of more than 20,100 P7 sedans delivered as of February have activated the latest self-driving software, management said on an earnings call.

Xpeng reported total revenue rose 43% from the third quarter to 2.85 billion yuan ($437 million) in the fourth quarter. The company expects revenue to fall slightly to 2.6 billion yuan in the first quarter.

Net losses narrowed to 787.4 million yuan in the last three months of the year from 1.15 billion yuan in the prior quarter.

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Business

Athene, Apollo Global, GE, AerCap & more

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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

Apollo Global (APO), Athene (ATH) – The private-equity firm’s shares gained 8% in premarket trading following news that it will merge with retirement services company Athene in an all-stock transaction that values Athene at about $11 billion. Athene shares surged 19.6%.

McAfee (MCFE) – The cybersecurity company’s shares jumped 10.9% in premarket trading, following news that it sold its enterprise business to privately held Symphony Technology Group for $4 billion in cash.

Walt Disney (DIS) – Disney will be able to reopen Disneyland after more than a year. California officials cleared theme parks and stadiums to open at reduced capacity on April 1. Separately, Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” topped the weekend box office with $8.6 million in ticket sales, though that opening was muted after movie theater chain Cinemark (CNK) declined to show the film. Disney rose 1.5% premarket.

General Electric (GE) – GE is near a $30 billion deal to merge its aircraft leasing business with Ireland’s AerCap (AER), according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. An announcement is expected as soon as today, in what would be the latest restructuring move by GE. Its stock jumped 2.3% in the premarket, while AerCap shares surged 12.3%.

Adaptive Biotechnologies (ADPT) – Adaptive Biotechnologies received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its “T-Detect” test which confirms a recent or prior Covid-19 infection in patients. Its shares soared 11.3% in premarket action.

AT&T (T) – AT&T said Securities and Exchange Commission accusations against three employees are meritless and vowed to challenge them. The SEC alleges that the employees selectively shared information about smartphone sales in 2016, which prompted those analysts to lower their revenue forecasts.

Bumble (BMBL) – The dating service operator received a number of positive analyst recommendations, with Cowen rating the stock “outperform” in new coverage and Stifel and Citi initiating coverage with a “buy” rating, and Bumble shares rose 3.4% Friday. Analysts feel that Bumble is poised for a post-pandemic jump in usage. Despite the positive recommendations, the stock fell 2.8% in premarket trading.

GameStop (GME) – The video game retailer’s stock continues its volatile trading amid more Reddit-related momentum, up 11.4% in the premarket after rising for three straight sessions at the end of last week.

Xpeng (XPEV) – The China-based electric vehicle maker’s shares gained 2.2% in premarket trading after it reported a loss of $120.7 million for its latest quarter, 42% smaller than it had been in the year-ago quarter. Xpeng competitor Nio (NIO) fell 3.1% in premarket action after Jeffries cut its price target on the stock to $38.80 from $60.

Facebook (FB) – A racial bias investigation of Facebook by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been designated as “systemic,” according to attorneys for four plaintiffs who spoke to Reuters. The plaintiffs are accusing Facebook of bias in hiring and promotions, although the EEOC has not brought any allegations against the social media giant and the investigation may not result in any findings of wrongdoing. Facebook lost 1% in premarket trading.

Coherent (COHR) – Coherent said a revised takeover proposal from optical electronics maker II-VI (IIVI) is superior to its pending merger agreement with Lumentum (LITE). Coherent – a developer of laser-based technology – gave Lumentum until 11:59 p.m. PT on March 11 to submit a revised proposal, or it intends to accept II-VI’s proposal of $170 per share in cash and 1.0981 shares of II-VI common stock for each Coherent share. II-VI stock fell 2.2% in the premarket.

VF Corp (VFC) – VF was upgraded to “buy” from “hold” at Pivotal Research, which cited a variety of factors including relatively easy comparable sales comparisons for Vans and a positive outlook for North Face and Timberland.

Pearson (PSON) – Pearson shares jumped 5.9% in premarket action after the educational publishing company announced a strategy update that more directly targets consumers.

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Business

Chip shortage will hit electric car production

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A Nio Inc. ES6 electric SUV at a battery swap station inside a parking lot in Shanghai on March 1, 2021.

Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BEIJING — Chinese electric car start-up Nio said Tuesday a global chip shortage will force it to manufacture fewer cars in the second quarter.

High demand for electronics amid the coronavirus pandemic and pressure from U.S.-China trade tensions on the highly specialized semiconductor supply chain have contributed to a backlog in chip manufacturing.

Major automakers have had to cut production as a result, with China-based Nio the latest to announce such reductions.

The company had ramped up production capacity in February to 10,000 vehicles a month, an increase from 7,500 previously, founder William Li said in a quarterly earnings call Tuesday. But a shortage in chips and batteries means Nio will need to fall back to the 7,500 level in the second quarter, he said.

Nio predicts strong deliveries

Despite competition from Tesla, Nio remained ahead of its start-up rivals in terms of vehicle sales.

The company delivered 7,225 vehicles in January and 5,578 in February amid the week-long Lunar New Year holiday. With a forecast of 20,000 to 25,000 deliveries in the first quarter, Nio anticipates deliveries will rise to at least 7,197 cars in March.

In contrast, Xpeng said Tuesday it delivered 2,223 electric cars last month, while Li Auto expects it will deliver fewer than 4,000 cars a month in the first quarter.

Nio founder Li said that pre-orders for the et7 sedan revealed in January have exceeded that of the company’s other models, but declined to share specific figures. The et7 is Nio’s first non-SUV consumer car and is set to begin deliveries next year.

Li added the company remained on track with plans to enter Europe later this year.

Shares of New York-listed Nio fell 4% in extended-hours trading after reporting a fourth-quarter earnings loss of 0.93 yuan (14 cents) a share. That’s greater than the 0.39 yuan loss per share predicted by analysts, according to FactSet.

The company attributed a nearly 33% quarterly increase in net losses — to 1.39 billion yuan ($212.8 million) in the last three months of 2020 — primarily to the depreciation in the U.S. dollar.

Nio shares soared more than 1,000% last year after the struggling start-up received a roughly $1 billion capital injection from state-backed investors, and traders piled into the stock alongside a surge in Tesla’s shares.

Looking ahead, Nio expects total revenue of 7.38 billion yuan to 7.56 billion yuan in the first quarter, up from 6.64 billion yuan in the fourth quarter.

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Business

Tesla’s China sales more than doubled in 2020

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Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicles are seen during a delivery event at its factory in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020.

Aly Song | Reuters

BEIJING — Tesla’s sales in China more than doubled last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a filing out Monday.

The electric car maker’s sales in China of $6.66 billion last year accounted for about a fifth, or 21% of the $31.54 billion total.

In 2019, Tesla’s China sales reached $2.98 billion, just 12% of the $24.58 billion total.

The U.S. remained Tesla’s largest market, with sales rising 20% last year to $15.21 billion and accounting for roughly half of total sales.

Tesla began ramping up production last year at its factory in Shanghai and selling China-made cars to the local market.

The company’s Model 3 was the best-selling electric car in the country in 2020, according to China’s Passenger Car Association. The automaker also began deliveries of a new model, a China-made Model Y, to local customers this year.

However, Tesla faces competition in the local market from Chinese electric car start-ups like Nio and Xpeng, while regulatory scrutiny has increased.

On Monday, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said on its website that it and four other government departments recently met with Tesla’s local subsidiaries over an increase in consumer reports of vehicle problems.

Among several incidents that garnered attention on Chinese social media in the last few weeks, a Model 3 reportedly exploded in a Shanghai parking garage in January. Last week, Chinese authorities said Tesla needed to recall more than 36,000 cars due to a touchscreen failure.

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Evergrande’s electric car unit gets funding to compete with Tesla, Nio in China

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Evergrande Group Chairman Xu Jiayin attends Evergrande New Energy Auto Global Strategic Partners Summit on November 12, 2019 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

GUANGZHOU, China — Shares of the electric vehicle unit of Chinese property giant Evergrande surged as much as 67% on Monday after the company raised significant funding through a new share sale.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group surged to an all-time-high of 50 Hong Kong dollars before paring some of those gains. Shares of the company closed at 45.35 Hong Kong dollars.

The stock rocketed after the Chinese electric car company issued 952.38 million shares to six investors at a price of $27.30 Hong Kong dollars and raised net proceeds of 26 billion Hong Kong dollars ($3.35 billion).

The funding is another sign that China’s electric car market is heating up, and Evergrande could pose a challenge to Tesla as well as domestic rivals such as Nio and Xpeng Motors.

Last year, Evergrande showed off six new electric vehicles under a brand called Hengchi, with the hope of starting production this year. The company has not sold a single car yet.

In September, the company raised around 4 billion Hong Kong dollars through the sale of shares to investors including Chinese internet giant Tencent and ride-hailing service Didi.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group is also preparing for a listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Science and Technology Innovation Board, or the Star Market.

China’s electric car companies have been aggressively raising capital to ramp up production and take a lead in the competitive market.

Xpeng Motors raised $1.5 billion in an initial public offering in the U.S. last year and this month secured a credit line of 12.8 billion yuan ($1.98 billion).

This month, BYD — the Chinese electric carmaker backed by American billionaire Warren Buffett — said it raised 29.9 billion Hong Kong dollars through the issuance of new shares.

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