NEW YORK, March 26, 2026, 18:06 (EDT)
NIO Inc’s U.S. shares lost 3.8% late Thursday, dropping to $5.56 as growth names got hit across the board. The Nasdaq slipped into correction mode while oil jumped, with renewed Middle East concerns stoking nerves.
This shift hits just as NIO was clawing back ground. The stock surged 14% on March 11 after the company notched its first quarterly net profit and set a breakeven target for 2026.
The math’s straightforward at this point. NIO posted 47,979 deliveries for January and February together, and with first-quarter guidance at 80,000 to 83,000, that sets the bar at about 32,000 to 35,000 vehicles for March.
It wasn’t just NIO under the gun. Xpeng’s U.S. shares slid 6.6%, Li Auto dropped 2.8%, and Tesla gave up 3.5%, as a wave of selling hit EV and tech stocks. The Nasdaq tumbled 2.4%, tipping it officially into correction territory—down 10% or more from its recent high.
“It’s the fog of war, all the uncertainty—that’s what’s pushing things right now,” said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, speaking to Reuters. High oil prices have stirred inflation worries again, chipping away at expectations for Fed rate cuts this year. Reuters
NIO posted fourth-quarter net profit of 282.7 million yuan, swinging from a 7.11 billion yuan loss in the same period last year. Vehicle margin hit 18.1%, up from 13.1%, while adjusted operating profit—stripping out items like share-based compensation—came in at 1.25 billion yuan. “Major milestone” for operating performance, said Chief Financial Officer Stanley Yu Qu. NIO Inc.
Management keeps pushing that narrative. On March 11, President Qin Lihong said NIO was targeting overseas sales in the thousands for this year. Chief Executive William Li, for his part, flagged a memory-chip shortage that might tack on an extra 6,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan per vehicle—but insisted the company wasn’t planning a price hike.
The domestic picture remains tough. Earlier this month, Reuters flagged a 15% slump in China’s wholesale auto sales for February. Domestic sales slid 34%. For electric and plug-in hybrids, the drop was 30% across January and February, hit by fading tax breaks, slimmer subsidies, and an extended price war squeezing both margins and inventory.
NIO flagged that Europe isn’t getting any easier—declining EV incentives and pricier electricity are taking a toll. Then, Thursday’s oil spike piled on, threatening to drive up manufacturing expenses and rattle Asian supply chains. All told, the stakes for the next delivery update just got higher.
