Nio (NYSE:NIO) announced on May 2 that it reached 5,074 electric vehicle (EV) deliveries in April 2022. Moreover, its year-to-date (YTD) deliveries reached an all-time record up, 13.5% year-over-year (YoY). This was at the level of 30,842 EVs YTD. If this pace keeps up for the whole year, NIO stock could get a significant boost.

This is quite a feat especially given that the company has faced the shutdown of its plants. This was due to the harsh Covid-19 restrictions by the Chinese authorities starting in late March through April. Nio decided to suspend production on April 9 after the country’s measures to contain the recent surge of Covid-19 cases disrupted operations at its suppliers.

Reuters reported that strict lockdown measures were put in place in Jilin province and Shanghai where the plants of Nio’s major auto part makers and other automakers are located. For example, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has closed its plant in Shanghai since March 28 and only recently started slowly opening up production.

Barron’s magazine reported that during the last week of April Chinese authorities began to allow auto production to restart. However, workers will have to live in factory-based dormitories in what China calls “closed-loop” production. Elon Musk told investors last week that Tesla is back to half of its 2,000 EV production run rate per week.

Where This Leaves NIO Stock

Assuming NIO can get back on track by mid-summer it’s likely that the company, like Tesla, will try to make up for the loss of production. This could actually act as a catalyst for NIO stock going forward. If the company shows a surprise revenue pick up during the second or third quarters, the stock could move significantly higher.

For example, as it stands, analysts still see revenue climbing to $9.53 billion this year, up 72.9% from $5.51 billion in 2021. Moreover, the financial forecasts for 2023 show that 20 analysts predict another 66% gain in revenue next year to $15.82 billion. This implies that over the next two years, sales will almost triple.

As a result, Nio’s valuation at $33 billion today could be very cheap. Once the 2023 revenue figure becomes attainable in investors eyes, the stock will move significantly higher. Right now it’s on a price-to-sales (P/S) metric of just over 2x. By contrast, TSLA stock trades at a forward P/S metric of over 8.1x. That implies that NIO stock could more than double from here, once investors decide to become more positive on its prospects.

On the date of publication, Mark R. Hake did not hold any position (either directly or indirectly) 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.