New York, May 20, 2026, 14:02 EDT
- NIO’s U.S.-listed ADR dropped roughly 3% in afternoon trading, lagging Wall Street’s gains.
- Chinese EV maker releases Q1 numbers before U.S. trading begins Thursday.
- Investors look to see if record deliveries will keep margins steady with China’s premium SUV competition heating up.
NIO Inc. shares traded in the U.S. dropped 2.9% to $5.58 Wednesday, moving lower even as the market gained. Traders moved out of the Chinese EV maker before its first-quarter numbers, set for release before Thursday’s U.S. session begins. The ADR tracks the Chinese company on U.S. exchanges.
The action caught attention as U.S. indexes all traded higher, lifted by gains in chip names ahead of Nvidia earnings. According to Reuters, the Dow was up 1.1%, the S&P 500 rose 1.0%, and the Nasdaq added 1.4% late Wednesday morning.
NIO will release its unaudited first-quarter numbers ahead of the U.S. open on May 21, and management will host a call at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. The timing is notable.
Options traders were betting on an 8% swing for the stock after the results, according to TipRanks. The market was looking for a loss of 8 cents per share on $3.70 billion in sales, higher than the $1.65 billion booked a year ago.
NIO has to prove it can turn higher sales into net income. The EV maker delivered 83,465 vehicles in Q1, up nearly double from last year. Total deliveries crossed 1.08 million through March, the company said.
April saw NIO deliver 29,356 vehicles, up 22.8% from a year ago but coming in under March’s 35,486 units. That’s a drop that may raise questions for investors looking out to May and June demand. Out of April’s total, 19,024 were NIO-brand, 5,352 were ONVO, and 4,980 FIREFLY.
NIO reported a stronger margin in the fourth quarter than it has carried through much of its public history. Vehicle margin hit 18.1%. Total revenue landed at 34.65 billion yuan. Net profit was 282.7 million yuan for the quarter, and non-GAAP operating profit, which takes out items like share-based compensation, reached 1.25 billion yuan.
NIO Chief Executive William Bin Li said full-year 2025 deliveries jumped 46.9% to 326,028 vehicles, adding that smart-EV technology in-house is “delivering meaningful cost efficiencies.” Chief Financial Officer Stanley Yu Qu pointed to fourth-quarter margin gains, citing “strong delivery and revenue growth, an optimized product mix, and cost reduction and efficiency enhancement initiatives.” NIO Inc.
But this setup can swing either way. If NIO’s first-quarter margins slipped after the holiday demand reset, or if management talks about slowing order flow, investors might see the latest delivery growth as less meaningful. Price competition in China is still the main worry on the downside.
Xpeng has rolled out its new GX SUV, a full-size model priced between 279,800 yuan and 359,800 yuan, according to Reuters on Wednesday. The company is aiming for higher-end buyers with this launch. Morningstar’s Vincent Sun expects Xpeng’s 2026 deliveries to climb about 12% to 482,400 vehicles. Reuters also said BYD upgraded its Denza N9 plug-in hybrid SUV, Li Auto pushed out upgraded L9 variants, and NIO plans to launch its biggest SUV, the ES9, next week.
NIO in its April release said it started ES9 pre-sales on April 9, and ONVO launched the L80 pre-sale on April 28. So management has two new models when it talks about the April dip as a short-term move.
Right now, the stock is acting like investors want proof. Delivery base has grown, more brands are in the mix, and management laid out a road to adjusted profit. The question from the market is if that plan held up through the first quarter.
