Nio (NYSE:NIO) stock is retreating after the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The company provided Q1 sales guidance that came in well below Wall Street’s average outlook. Nio, however, noted that its Q4 revenue had surged 62% versus the same period a year earlier. At the time of writing, NIO stock is down about 4% in early trading and is down about 58% compared to this time last year.
Other Chinese EV makers are climbing, with Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) advancing 4% and XPeng (NASDAQ:XPEV) adding about 4% as well. Li also reported its Q4 results and provided Q1 delivery guidance, while all three automakers announced their February 2023 delivery numbers.
The numbers suggest that, although Nio may be losing ground in China’s EV race, the country’s EV sector and its EV startups are generally rebounding as the government loosens its anti-coronavirus measures.
Nio’s Q4 Results and Q1 Guidance
Nio reported that it lost 44 cents per share, excluding certain items, last quarter, meaningfully worse than analysts’ average estimates of 23 cents per share. On the top line, its sales came in at $2.33 billion, versus the mean estimate of $2.56 billion.
However, as previously noted, its revenue jumped 62% year-over-year last quarter, while its Q4 deliveries soared 60% year-over-year and rose 27% versus Q3 to 40,052. For the current quarter, on the other hand, it predicts that its sales will come in around $1.6 billion, well below the $2.33 billion of sales that it reported for last quarter and meaningfully lower than analysts’ mean outlook of $2.78 billion.
The Data From Li and Xpeng
Li reported Q4 earnings per share, excluding certain items, of 13 cents, well above analysts’ average estimate of 6 cents. At the same time, its top line climbed 66% year-over-year to $2.56 billion, coming in slightly above the mean estimate.
Further, its EV deliveries rose 31.5% YOY last quarter to 46,319. For Q1, Li predicts that its deliveries will soar 64%-73.4% versus the same period a year earlier to 52,000-55,000. It expects to generate $2.53 billion to $2.68 billion of revenue in Q1, versus the mean estimate of $2.5 billion.
During February, the EV maker’s deliveries soared 97.5% to 16,620.
For its part, Xpeng reported that its deliveries in February had risen 15% versus January to 6,010. However, its deliveries fell 3.5% year-over-year.
XPEV noted that its “advanced driver assistant” feature would be available “in a number of [China’s] cities starting this month.
As of the date of publication, Larry Ramer owned shares of XPEV. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
