Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) stock is on a winning streak.
The Chinese electric vehicle producer saw shares surge after it reported record deliveries in March 2023. Since then, it has been trending upward, proving that it is not content to live in the shadow of peers Nio (NYSE:NIO) and Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV). LI stock has been rising steadily all month, with gains of more than 22%.
Today it is up more than 16% after reporting earnings for Q1 2023. The company blew past analyst expectations for earnings per share, reporting 20 cents over the forecasted 1 cent. While Li missed on revenue, it only came in slightly below Wall Street projections, reporting $2.74 billion against the predicted $2.75 billion. Overall, this puts Li in an excellent position to keep rising steadily as it pulls into the next quarter.
As InvestorPlace contributor Joel Baglole reports:
“Strong delivery numbers have helped to propel LI stock higher since last fall. In this year’s first quarter, Li Auto delivered 52,584 EV models to customers, a 65% year-over-year increase. In all, the company has now delivered more than 300,000 EVs, mostly within the domestic Chinese market. … Growth is expected to continue as China goes all-in on electric vehicles, and EV stocks like Li are set to capitalize on the tailwinds.”
With that in mind, it is easy to see why Li is being described as having the potential to rival Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in China. While it isn’t the only automaker that could dethrone the EV leader, there’s no denying that LI stock could easily be a star.
On top of that, interest from hedge funds and leading financial institutions is still strong and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Let’s take a look at the top institutional investors maintaining large positions.
Top 5 Institutional Investors Betting Big on LI Stock
Here are the top investors in LI Stock as of the end of 2022, according to Yahoo Finance.
- Vanguard Group: 19,101,217 shares.
- Renaissance Technologies: 10,195,000 shares.
- Viking Global Investors: 9,090,065 shares.
- Brilliance Asset Management: 7,708,862 shares.
- Norges Bank Investment Management: 6,233,104 shares.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient 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.
