NEW YORK, February 2, 2026, 10:47 (EST) — Regular session
- NIO shares dropped roughly 5%, hitting $4.47 in late morning trading.
- January deliveries jumped 96.1% year-over-year, driving total deliveries past the 1 million mark.
- Investors stayed fixated on demand and policy changes as a broader selloff hit China auto stocks, rather than zeroing in on any single company’s headline growth.
Shares of NIO Inc. dropped almost 5% on Monday, slipping to about $4.47 in late morning trading in New York, despite the electric-vehicle company reporting a significant surge in January deliveries.
Why it matters now: investors use monthly deliveries as an immediate gauge of demand, a proxy for sales ahead of earnings reports. The January numbers came out as traders reevaluate China’s EV market, following a pullback in policy support and ongoing fierce price competition.
The mood has soured across the sector. Even solid year-on-year gains get overshadowed once investors fret about the market slowing or demand shifting away from the brands that drove last year’s growth.
NIO reported Sunday that it delivered 27,182 vehicles in January, marking a 96.1% jump from the same month last year. This pushed its total deliveries to 1,024,774 as of Jan. 31. (NIO)
January deliveries dropped 43.5% from December’s 48,135 vehicles. Most of last month’s sales came from Nio’s premium brand, along with its Onvo and Firefly models, a regulatory filing cited by The Business Times showed. The company also highlighted a recent update to its driver-assistance software and reaffirmed plans to expand its battery-swapping and charging infrastructure.
The broader backdrop looked grim. BYD Co Ltd sparked a drop in Chinese automaker shares on Monday after reporting weaker January sales. Investor jitters grew following the announcement of a revised 2026 subsidy scheme, Reuters reported. “Investors were likely surprised by the large degree of the domestic decline,” said Eugene Hsiao, head of China equity strategy at Macquarie Capital. (Reuters)
Over the weekend, other Chinese EV companies released their January figures. XPeng Inc. delivered 20,011 vehicles, and Li Auto Inc. reported 27,668 deliveries—both numbers falling short of last year’s totals. (PR Newswire)
Traders tracking NIO are focused on whether February sales maintain their momentum and if its newer brands can grow without steep discounts. The market often reacts harshly to sequential drops, even when those dips are seasonal.
However, January’s rise comes after a soft month a year earlier, making the boost less certain. The ongoing price war in the industry could quickly sour sentiment. If discounts start up again or demand proves weaker than delivery numbers indicate, margins and funding will stay under strain.
Looking ahead, investors will focus on demand trends tied to the Lunar New Year holiday on Feb. 17, followed by the next monthly delivery update in early March. (Reuters)
