New York, March 13, 2026, 10:18 (EDT)
NIO Inc.’s U.S. shares jumped roughly 5% to $5.83 early Friday in New York, building on earlier weekly gains after HSBC lifted its rating on the Chinese electric-vehicle maker to Buy from Hold. MarketWatch
HSBC’s Yuqian Ding bumped the price target on NIO up to $6.80 from $4.80, citing “better visibility” for 2026 volume growth. Investors care about this call—there’s been a scramble for signs that NIO can boost growth without sacrificing margins, especially now that the market isn’t cutting EV makers much slack. Investing.com
This week, NIO reported its first quarterly net profit, posting 282.7 million yuan ($40.4 million) for the fourth quarter—a sharp turnaround from last year’s 7.11 billion yuan loss. Revenue for the period jumped 75.9% to 34.65 billion yuan. Founder William Li put first-quarter deliveries in the range of “80,000 to 83,000 units.”
Vehicle margin—a key barometer for pre-overhead profitability on car sales—jumped to 18.1%, up from 13.1%. Deliveries surged 71.7%, hitting 124,807 vehicles, as NIO, ONVO, and FIREFLY all posted record quarterly numbers. CFO Stanley Yu Qu described the results as a “major milestone.”
Timing’s a big factor here. Reuters on Friday flagged an 11% drop in global EV registrations for February—China saw registrations for battery-electric and plug-in hybrids slip 32% as tax breaks ended and trade-in incentives dried up. BMI’s Charles Lester summed it up: consumers are still “very price sensitive.” Reuters
Competition is only tightening. Volkswagen has retaken its lead in China car sales for the first two months of 2026, pushing BYD down to fourth place. The German automaker on Friday announced it’s begun mass-producing a model co-developed with Xpeng, a move that highlights the growing pressure on domestic EV makers to hold onto both market share and pricing power. Reuters
The risk side isn’t going away. Li warned this week that the ongoing memory-chip shortage might tack on 6,000 to 10,000 yuan to the cost of every vehicle—potentially enough to “suspend production” if things get worse. NIO, meanwhile, is eyeing thousands of overseas sales this year but is running into headwinds in Europe as EV incentives dwindle and electricity prices climb. Still, the company is sticking to its forecast of breaking even by 2026. Reuters
NIO added 1.46% on Thursday, beating back a sagging Nasdaq, and Friday’s action tacked on more. The ADR last changed hands at $5.83, up about 18% from its $4.94 close on Monday. Even so, shares remain far from their 52-week peak of $8.02, which they hit in October.
