Even after a nice bounce, shares of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NYSE:NIO) are still far from their prior peak. However, an eye-opening data release should bolster the loyal shareholders’ optimism. This comes in the form of Nio’s outstanding automobile delivery results for March 2022 and the year’s first quarter.
March was an important month for Nio, as that is when the company commenced deliveries of its flagship premium smart electric sedan, the ET7. Nio delivered 9,985 vehicles in March. That represents a 37.6% year-over-year increase — not too shabby. Deliveries of the ET7 to users didn’t actually start until Mar. 28. Therefore, we’ll have to wait a month to see the ET7’s overall impact on Nio’s automobile sales.
Widening the time frame to the first quarter 2022, we can uncover some astounding stats. In particular, Nio delivered 25,768 vehicles during that quarter, up 28.5% year-over-year and representing a quarterly record for the company.
As of March 31, 2022, Nio counted 192,838 cumulative vehicle deliveries. Clearly, the automaker has come a long way since early 2020, when the outlook for Nio seemed quite grim. On top of all that, the company has been diligently building out its power network. Reportedly, Nio “deployed 884 Power Swap stations, 727 Power Charger stations and 3,832 destination chargers in China” as of March 31, 2022.
Does all of this mean that NIO stock will zoom back to its 52-week high of $55.13 tomorrow or next week? Not likely, but the aforementioned data points should send at least a few Nio bears into hibernation.
For prospective shareholders, there is a terrific opportunity here. The stock still has plenty of room to run and Nio is undeniably in growth mode. Furthermore, the recent start of ET7 deliveries to users could hyper-charge NIO stock in the coming months. Therefore, a long position in Nio shares is recommended if you don’t already have one.
On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
