NEW YORK, March 28, 2026, 12:02 EDT
VinFast Auto (VFS), trading on the Nasdaq, climbed over 5% to close at $3.39 Friday, hitting $3.41 during the session. The stock bucked the trend as EV peers Tesla, Rivian, and Nio all slipped into the red.
The stock wrapped up a five-session rally with an 18.5% jump after VinFast posted preliminary 2025 numbers on March 16. Full-year EV shipments hit 196,919, more than double the previous year, with revenue up 105.4%. For the first time, about 18% of fourth-quarter deliveries went to overseas buyers, the company reported. Investing.com
VinFast’s challenge continues to be expanding beyond Vietnam. Back in February, Reuters said the company is aiming for 300,000 EV deliveries in 2026, but so far, it’s had a hard time breaking into North America and other international markets, where the competition is fierce and sales growth has lagged. Reuters
Management isn’t complicating things. “Scale and unit cost optimization” are still the focus, according to Chairwoman Thuy Le, describing VinFast’s route toward profit. Chief Financial Officer Lan Anh Nguyen called the fourth quarter the company’s best financial showing yet. VinFast
But there’s more underneath the surface. VinFast’s early numbers for the fourth quarter show net loss expanding to roughly $1.4 billion. Gross margin came in at negative 39.9%, meaning sales still aren’t covering production costs before overhead. On top of that, the company recorded a $235.6 million charge related to the book value of its postponed North Carolina facility. Reuters
Affiliated demand is a separate issue. About a third—33%—of VinFast’s EV deliveries in the fourth quarter went to affiliated parties. VinFast attributed the uptick to increased shipments to GSM’s subsidiaries in Indonesia and the Philippines, shipped ahead of planned 2026 fleet rollouts. The company reported up to $3.1 billion in available funding at year-end, pulling from cash, a Vingroup credit facility, grants from its founder, and a standby share-sale facility. SEC
Caution lingers among some analysts. Ollie Coughlin at Third Bridge points to VinFast’s “high cash burn rate,” which he says leaves uncertainty around how the automaker will pay for new factories and ramp up spending. Reuters this month reported the company is still aiming for a soft launch of its North Carolina plant in 2028, after pushing back construction. Reuters
VinFast described its March 16 numbers as preliminary, warning they might shift ahead of its annual report, slated for an April 30 filing. That’s the next big update for investors, who are watching for audited 2025 results, a deeper look at cash flow and, importantly, more concrete direction on the company’s 300,000-vehicle target. SEC
