The Chinese electric- vehicle maker NIO delivered a record number of cars in June, sending the stock higher again. Shares of other EV makers selling in China, from Tesla to Li Auto, should benefit from the news.
NIO (ticker: NIO) reported 8,083 vehicle deliveries for June, up from 6,711 in May, marking the first time monthly deliveries cracked the 8,000 mark. For the second quarter, NIO delivered just under 22,000 cars, the high end of the range the company predicted at the beginning of June.
It’s a good result. Not only does it demonstrate that NIO’s production capacity is continuing to grow, it shows demand for EVs in China remains strong. The delivery figure also strengthens the case that the semiconductor shortage that limited global automotive production in the first half of 2021 is starting to fade. The latter two conclusions are good news for all EV manufacturers.
NIO stock was up 2.8% in premarket trading. Futures on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average,meanwhile, are close to flat.
Investors and traders have been anticipating a good delivery result. NIO stock rose 38% in June and is up 18% week to date. Citigroup analyst Jeff Chung increased his target for NIO’s stock price Wednesday to $72 a share, partly because he saw strong demand for EVs.
Recent gains have pushed the stock back into positive territory for the year. NIO stock is now up 9% year to date, though it is still down about 21% from its January 52-week high of about $67.
The gains have pushed NIO’s market capitalization to about $87 billion, putting it past General Motors(GM) and its $86 billion capitalization.
NIO hasn’t offered a forecast for NIO’s full-year deliveries, but Citi’s Chung, however, expects NIO to delivery about 93,000 vehicles in 2020. He says deliveries should increase sequentially in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. For the first half of 2021, NIO delivered almost 42,000 cars.